more lunch ideas

Had some feedback that a couple of you liked my idea of making a big salad on a Sunday and spooning out each of the five portions over the the work week. Thought I'd share a few more of those salads with you:

Sweet potatoes
500 g sweet potatoes, steamed, chilled and cubed
250 g frozen green beans, parboiled and blanched
200 g wafer-thin chicken, sliced
lime juice-coriander dressing (juice of two limes, chopped coriander, 1 tbsp olive oil)
+baby spinach (about 25g a day) and a boiled egg

Ham and black olive
500 g salad potatoes, boiled and chilled
250 g wafer-thin ham
150 g light cream cheese
100 g black olives, sliced
chopped parsley (handful)
+baby spinach (about 25g a day) and a boiled egg

Classic potato with chicken
500 g salad potatoes, boiled and chilled
200 g chicken (ideally leftover from a roast, but wafer-thin is fine)
4 stalks of celery, chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
50 g light mayo
2 tbsp mustard
+baby spinach (about 25g a day) and a boiled egg
(WARNING: you'll need an apple after those spring onions!)

Pea and potato
500 g salad potatoes, steamed and chilled
200 g wafer-thin chicken, sliced
250 g peas, steamed and blanched
3 tbsp dijon vinaigrette (vinegar, dijon mustard, rapeseed oil, water)
+baby spinach (about 25g a day) and a boiled egg

Tomato and peppers
500 g salad potatoes, steamed and chilled
200 g wafer-thin chicken, sliced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
100 g feta, crumbled
sun-dried tomato vinaigrette (4 sun-dried tomatoes - leftover from an antipasti, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp tomato puree)
+baby spinach (about 25g a day) and a boiled egg

And for next week, I'm thinking:

Celeriac
500 g celeriac, grated
200 g carrot, grated
250 g mushrooms, sliced
handful of parsley, chopped
100 g feta, crumbled
lemon-garlic dressing (juice/zest of two lemons, 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic, 1 tbsp rapeseed oil)
+baby spinach (about 25g a day) and a boiled egg

Feel free to mix, match or add your own suggestions below! I'm always looking for ideas...

lunch idea: a yummy and healthy potato salad

Okay, so I’m sick of chickpeas, tired of couscous. Have no time for pitta bread. I’ve been running out of ideas for a simple work lunch that will keep my attention and my stomach full. It needs to be cheap, easy to reproduce and about 300 calories. Here’s my latest idea, and I think it works well:

Salad with chicken, baby potatoes, peas, spinach, feta, boiled egg and lemon-parsley dressing
serves 5 (Monday to Friday)

250 g frozen peas, boiled and blanched
75 g wafer thin chicken, sliced
100 g feta cheese, crumbled
500 g salad potatoes, boiled
100 g cucumber, deseeded and chopped
5 medium eggs, boiled and blanched
150 g baby spinach

for the dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Combine the first five ingredients in a large container with a top. Make the dressing by blitzing the three required ingredients with a hand blender and add to the container. Mix through. Chill in the refrigerator.

Each morning, scoop out 1 of the portions of the potato salad and add to a Tupperware dish with one egg and 30 g baby spinach. All of the ingredients will last the week.

Calories per serving: 296

easy peasy: pea, feta and basil pasta salad

This is perfect for an easy Friday night dinner. It's even better, since I made it on Thursday evening. Boil the pasta, boil the peas, blanch them, then add olive oil, feta and basil. It's so simple!

Pea, feta and basil pasta salad
(serves 4)

500g wholemeal pasta shells
250g frozen peas
100g reduced fat feta
a large handful of basil leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Boil the pasta shells and rinse with cold water. Put to the side. Then boil the peas for about 4 minutes. Blanch the peas in ice-cold water so that they don't keep cooking.

In a large bowl, mix together the pasta, peas and oil. Season well. Crumble the feta and mix through. Chop the basil leaves right before serving, and mix through. (If you want to make this ahead of time, I'd recommend adding the basil at the last minute - otherwise it will turn black.)

Calories per serving: about 550.

This calls for quite a lot of pasta - and if you're trying to watch your own calorie intake then adding more peas and less pasta is a good idea. Or, keep the amounts the same, but prepare them in two bowls - one with more pasta, one with less. That will keep other diners happy as well as you. (I keep the feta amounts even - it's a treat I don't like to go without).

are salads sexy?

Well, Delicious magazine certainly thinks so, if it’s July issue headline is anything to go by. The salad on their cover certainly looks pretty good. It's a Gordon Ramsey creation: fennel, pea and broad bean salad (as pictured above).

I think salads can be pretty sexy. They can also be pretty boring. But here’s the problem: sometimes in the act of “tarting” them up, they become worse for you than other, less healthy dishes! Making a salad desirable shouldn’t mean making it bad for you. We don’t need any James Dean salads here.

Making a salad desirable means adding ingredients that you wouldn’t necessarily think to add. Or, if you’d normally include them, putting a twist on them instead. Lots of fun fresh herbs (like dill and mint) are an easy way to add flavour. Adding fruit (like peaches, in one of my favourite salads) really jazzes up the salad. Different colours and textures are key to making it interesting.

What do you think? Are salads sexy?

happy cinco de mayo

Cinco de Mayo - the excellent Mexican holiday that evolved in the US into drinking margaritas and eating tacos. But without the guilt, of course.

I actually didn't end up making any Mexican-inspired foods today - it's Bank Holiday in the UK, so we have the day off, and Monday felt more like a Sunday, and therefore required a lovely roast chicken.

But should you want to celebrate this wonderful cuisine, try here for a few recipes and a little bit of spice. Fancy a healthier Cinco de Mayo? Drop the margaritas and keep the tacos - I love fish tacos but any will do. Fancy going even healthier? Try my guilt-free favourite any time of year - Mexican salad. As good in October as it is in May. Ole!

my new favourite salad

Twice. Twice in a row I've had this salad for lunch this week. And liked it. It's a sign.

I don't take salads lightly. It's not as though I cast them off when a new, more exciting salad comes along. A salad is for life. It's like an old acquaintance - maybe you move away, but every time you visit, it's just like old times.

What I really like about this salad, which I've been bringing to lunch, is that it's a year-round, cupboard-loving salad. Chances are, you have most of these ingredients. If you don't, it's cheap and easy to stock up. It's filling, it's healthy - and - wait for it - it transfers really well to a sandwich, ideal for those few salad-avoiding men who feel that too much lettuce negates their masculinity.

Tuna and butter bean salad
(serves 2)

1 tin of butter beans, rinsed and picked
1 small tin of sustainable yellowfin tuna in spring water
1 tbsp of light mayonnaise
1 lemon, sliced
2 stalks of celery, rinsed and chopped
1 small bag of lamb's lettuce (or chopped romaine)

Mix the butter beans, tuna, mayonnaise, celery and seasoning in a bowl. (If using half of the mixture for the next day, ideally use a bowl with a cover.)

Spread the lambs lettuce on a plate and top with half of the mixture. Serve with lemon wedges.

For those who prefer a sandwich, just add the mixture and salad leaves between two slices of wholemeal bread. And voila! Makes a great Saturday lunch too.

it's definitely greek to me

The produce is definitely improving. The tomatoes are getting less watery and more juicy. The cucumbers have more flavour. That lends itself to a good old fashioned salad.

Greek salad is one of my favourites, but it's often done wrongly. Too acidic, too bland, too watery. It's possible to go wrong at so many points. But here's a good 'un.

greek side salad
(serves 2)

1 large beef tomato, chopped
100 g cucumber, chopped thickly
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly
15 black olives, pitted
75 g reduced fat feta, crumbled
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
squeeze of a lemon
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper
6 leaves of romaine

Mix all the ingredients but the last one together and allow to marinate for about 15 minutes. Serve on a bed of romaine lettuce with your main course.

Tonight, the meal took only 20 minutes to make. The salad marinated while I seared a few boneless skinless chicken thighs. Clean and fresh like the lovely spring evening.

rice is nice

Somewhere along the way rice got a bad name. Perhaps it was in the days of the Carbohydrate Inquisition, when all rices – white, brown and wild alike – were cast off the average person’s shopping list for fear of enormous weight gain. As we level-headed eaters know, rice is not bad for you at all; in fact, wholegrain rice is actually very good for you.

Like other grains, it’s not particularly low in calories, but the wholegrain variety is quite filling and has a subtle nutty flavour. A 50g portion (dry) will set you back just under 200 calories, so portion-control is important to keep in mind when cooking and eating.

Another misconception about rice is that is only really goes well in ethnic cuisines – rice is such a staple in countries like China, India and Thailand that it’s often ignored when cooking ‘domestic’ dishes.

Rice rocks out in warm and cold dishes, and after a long winter filled with root vegetables, I’m ready for a change, which is why I cooked what I did last night. (You’ll note the not-so-subtle ingredient choices – I’ve very obviously pretending that spring is in full fling in efforts to bring the sun out.) I ate it warm last night, and cold today for lunch. If I had to choose, the cold version works better.

Roasted cherry tomato and courgette rice salad with feta and dill
(serves 2)

150 g wholegrain rice
2 large courgettes, halved, then cut into 1-cm sticks
400g cherry tomatoes, halved
10 sprays of olive oil
1 good glug of red or white wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large handful of dill, stems removed, chopped
1 large handful of parsley, stems removed, chopped
100 g reduced-fat feta

Preheat the oven to 200 C. In a foil-lined roasting tin, combine the courgettes, tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the rice and bring back to the boil, and then reduce to a simmer for 30-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, crumble the feta and prepare the dill and parsley.

When the rice is done, drain. If serving immediately, split the rice into two bowls and top with the roasted vegetables. Make sure to add the juice too. Sprinkle the feta, parsley and dill over top.
If serving cold, allow the rice and vegetables to cool before combining it all and putting in the refrigerator.

Calories: 2 equal-sized servings: under 500. One serving with 50 g rice: about 400 calories.

Should you be in the mood for other rice dishes (I’m loving the idea of pea, feta and mint), try this recipe site.

potato salad with a kick

Potato salads scream summer to me. Served alongside barbecue ribs and corn-on-the-cob in the hot sunshine and all that. But given as potatoes are fairly seasonal all year long, it makes sense to have a cold-weather version to me.

Last night I knocked one up to be served alongside grilled haddock and steamed green beans. In went perfect boiled and cooled Charlotte potatoes, plenty of freshly chopped dill, reduced-fat creme fraiche, lemon juice and...the killer ingredient...smoked salmon. An excellent mixture of tangy, creamy and fluffy flavours in one bite.

If you're not a smoked salmon fan, or it's a bit expensive, the salad would still taste very nice without.

smoked salmon potato salad
(serves 2)

250 g Charlotte potatoes, cleaned and cut in half, widthwise
50-75 g smoked salmon, sliced thinly
juice from 1/2 a lemon
5-6 sprigs of dill, finely chopped
3 tbsp reduced fat creme fraiche
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Drop the potatoes into boiling water and allow to bubble away for 15-20 minutes. Drain and plunge into cold water, with ice if necessary.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Once the potatoes are cool enough, add and mix well, without breaking the potatoes. Chill if required.

carrot, celeriac, mushroom, garlic, parsley and feta salad

I've gone and given the boat away in the title, but I think this salad deserves a bit more discussion. I have had it for at least five lunches this week and would happily munch away on it all next week. There's no lettuce or spinach, so it just feels different. The flavours are new and exciting - and perfect for this time of year.

Because there's no lettuce, this salad can be made ahead of time without worrying about whether it will wilt. Actually, I encourage you to make it ahead of time, so the flavours seep in and the celeriac becomes something quite amazing. Then, when putting your lunch together in the morning, simply scooping a bit into a container saves loads of time.

grated celeriac and carrot salad
(makes 2 servings)

1 large carrot, grated
200 g celeriac, grated (about 1/3 of an average celeriac
125 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 large handful of parsley, chopped finely
50 g reduced fat feta, crumbled
1 tsp olive oil
juice of 1/2 of a large lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix to ensure all of the flavours are evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate, ideally for at least 2 hours before serving. It will keep for a few days in the fridge.

brightly-coloured salad for a rainy day

Autumn is grey now. Gone are those lovely marigold-tinged and rust-tinted leaves hanging precariously from tree branches. They’re all on the ground now (at least in London), turned to mush by the deluge of rain we’ve had this week.

The only place I’m going to be conjuring up autumn thoughts is in a bowl. It’s not too hard: start with soft green baby spinach, and add some bulgur wheat (100 g, cooked weight, which nets about 110 cals), sliced cooked beetroot (in rounds, which looks great), and that year-round staple, lanky orange carrot, peeled and sliced into thick matchsticks. Top it off with a bit of reduced fat feta (about 25 g crumbled), some freshly-ground pepper, and a capful of white wine vinegar. Divine.

I’ve had this for lunch most days this week, complemented by half a pot of M&S country vegetable soup (in the chilled section, and only 105 cals per half pot!), and loved it each time.

spinach salad with roasted swede, pear and feta

Try as I might, sometimes this whole “cooking for two” thing doesn’t pan out. Last night I was determined to make a meal out of what was already in the freezer, refrigerator and cupboards. But there weren’t many protein sources around, and I was not keen for another pasta dish.

But in the freezer, for VERY rainy days, sat steak and kidney pies, chips and peas. (These are normally here for nights when I’m away). Now, I’m not about to have that for dinner, but the thought popped into my mind that perhaps it would be easiest for me to cook that for my husband, leaving me time to experiment with something for myself. Hmmm….

Swede, lonely and dejected, sat in my vegetable drawer, crying out for someone to spice it up. I decided to roast them in the oven with the pies and chips and use them in a salad. Warm salads can be lovely – if done right.

The fun part with the swede was deciding which spices to roast them with. I decided on something sweet, warm and earthy – a few fennel seeds, a pinch or two of cinnamon and a bit of pepper. But what about the other ingredients?

I decided upon concorde pears (hands down the best pears I have tasted this year), chopping one up and reserving a bit of flesh for a puree in a vinaigrette. The pears I knew would match perfectly with the rusty cinnamon.

What about protein? Obviously I needed some, but what? Options: mozzarella, cheddar and feta. In a perfect world, I’d go for blue vinney or perhaps parmesan. I felt something strong was needed, so mozzarella does not work. Cheddar, perhaps, but “it doesn’t sound good in a recipe title,” my sage husband surmised. (Perhaps he pays more attention than I thought.) I settled on feta.

Ding! Chips and pies onto one plate, swede into a bowl with spinach leaves, feta and pears. (For the vinaigrette, spray a bit of olive oil into a bowl with lemon juice, pear puree, salt and pepper and whizz with a hand blender. It’s less about having a full-blown dressing and more about ensuring the salad isn’t too dry.)

This salad is pretty low-calorie: about 300, actually. I was trying to make amends for a rather lovely smoked salmon and brie Panini I ate earlier in the day. But I believe it would work lovely as a first course for dinner – or as a soup/salad combo for a light Saturday lunch.

pasta please

Not too much to report from dinner last night - just a quick, simple Italian-inspired meal of (wholewheat) spaghetti with a cherry tomato sauce and a side salad.

Normally I'd make the sauce from tinned cherry tomatoes, but my shop doesn't carry them anymore. I tried instead a stir-in sauce of roasted cherry tomatoes and parmesan, which, actually, was quite nice.

For the salad, I tossed romaine lettuce, a tomato, just a tiny bit of reduced-fat feta for protein (splitting 25 g between the two of us), a couple tablespoons of capers, some crunchy cucumber and a splash of red wine vinegar. Though quite salty because of the capers, the salad still held its own with the pasta, and I found myself going back and forth between the two dishes because I couldn't decide which to eat.

Obviously, pasta is not a particularly low-cal choice (100 g dry weight totals about 315 calories). But it's a good source of energy, and when combined with a tomato-based sauce and a salad, the overall meal is quite healthy - perhaps about 600 calories.

a healthy and filling cold-weather salad

I was flipping through Jamie Oliver’s new cookery book Jamie at Home this weekend, which I have to say I quite like, overall, if we excuse the atrocious recipe names (i.e. the motherload sauce or absolutely fantastic partridge stew) and the messy presentation. It’s not too often these days that I take away four or five ideas from a first read, keen to try them out.

The book is separated by seasons, and in the winter chapter, there’s a winter salad section. And I really like some of these: asian duck and squash salad and and another that reads like a list of crudités, but with a milky parsley dressing.

But it got me thinking (and hungry) on Sunday afternoon. Knowing I was going to concoct a roasted root vegetable stew with cheesy dumplings that evening, I wanted something light, but filling; tangy, yet sweet. I think what I came up with was just the thing.

The blue vinney (the best reduced-fat blue cheese out there) is a critical ingredient in the salad. It is just key to keep the portion size reasonable – i.e. 30-35g. Use 2/3 of it crumbled in the salad, and use the remainder in the salad dressing – that way, the light taste of blue vinney will distribute throughout the salad.

To bulk this up, serve with some wholemeal bread – or if there’s someone fearful of food without meat, a few grilled slices of Danish bacon is quite nice. (I’ll admit I did make this salad while I was on my own.) But the variety of crunches with the soft creamy bites of blue vinney made for quite a pleasant meal.

Spinach salad with apple, celery and blue vinney
(serves 1)

for the salad:
50g spinach leaves
2 stalks of celery, trimmed, sliced lengthways, then chopped
1 royal gala apple, cored and sliced, saving one slice for the dressing
2 spring onions, chopped
20-25 g blue vinney, crumbled

for the dressing:
2-3 tbsp of white wine vinegar
flesh of one slice of apple
a few sprigs of fresh parsley
10 g blue vinney
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the salad ingredients into a large salad bowl. In another smaller bowl, combine the ingredients for the dressing, and whiz with a hand blender.

Pour the salad dressing over the ingredients in the large bowl and toss throughout.

a lunchtime switch

The clocks have gone back. There’s no hint of summer (or sun) around, and I’ve swapped berries for squashes in my desserts. So why haven’t I changed my lunch until now?

Partly, I suppose, because I get stuck into a routine. In go spinach, chickpeas, reduced fat feta, cucumber and tomato, a lovely salad for a summer’s day. It’s light and doesn’t sit too heavy in my stomach.

But now things are different. By 1pm, I’m craving filling foods, and if I don’t get them, I’m likely to sneak out of the office for a piece of cake by 3pm, which completely defeats the purpose of bringing a healthy lunch to work.

So what to do?

First off, I recommend leftovers, especially if your workplace has a microwave. Making a bit of extra pasta, or another piece of chicken, at dinner will save lots of time in the morning and make lunch more satisfying.

Bringing a soup to work isn’t a bad idea, either. Warming and filling, it just might carry me through the afternoon. But prepared soups are often loaded with salt and sugar, which isn’t suitable. But next time you make a soup, double the quantities and freeze half of it.

Finally – rejuvenate your salad. Instead of summery chickpeas, introduce some root vegetables (roast a load on Sunday afternoon and save some for lunch).

Or, as I’ve done today, change it completely. I made a bit of extra penne last night for my pumpkin pasta, saving enough for two future servings.

sardine pasta salad with spinach and chopped tomatoes
(serves 1)

1 tin of sardines in spring water
75-100 g (dry weight) pasta, cooked
½ a can of chopped tomatoes
1 small handful of baby spinach

Drain the sardines and remove any visible bones. Add to the pasta. Rip up the spinach (if the leaves are large) and add through. Pour half of the can of chopped tomatoes through (save the rest for tomorrow). Mix (or close the Tupperware dish and shake).

Writing this after lunch, I realise it would probably be best to puree the chopped tomatoes, or use a combination of chopped tomatoes and passata, to prevent the salad from having a watery texture.

Don’t worry about the fat or calories in the sardines – it’s a small 120 g tin, and it only brings about 150 calories, which is not bad for a wintertime salad. The protein and fat should help sustain the body through the afternoon (and don’t forget, there’s no cheese in the salad, which helps to balance the fat content).

The only thing you might worry about is the sardine smell – warn your colleagues and make sure you wash your hands right after preparing the salad, lest your skin will carry the odour around all day…

mexican night, without the guilt

Growing up in the US , I grew to love what could arguably be called the country’s national cuisine: Mexican food. I absolutely love it, from fast food drive-thrus to taco night at home, from upscale Mexican eateries to California-style fresh mex.

And then I moved to the UK , and everything changed. The UK ’s understanding of Mexican food is completely different and somewhat centred around the idea of “Tex-Mex,” which entails barbecue fajitas.

I thus learned to cultivate my favourite Mexican dishes at home, and set about perfecting (in my mind) those flavours.

This Mexican salad brings the excellent flavours together but keeps it healthy by not using taco shells or wraps. Trust me, in this case, they are not missed, though I sometimes like to make tacos in their shells as a special treat.

This dish is preparation-intensive but light on cooking time.

To make the salad

Extra lean ground beef (an absolutely yummy vegetarian option is soya mince), sautéed with the mexican seasonings (cumin, oregano, thyme, cayenne are an absolute must).
Crunchy lettuce such as romaine, roughly chopped
Red cheese such as red Leicester , grated
Salsa (see below)
Guacamole (see below)
Black olives, sliced
Crème fraiche, dollop of


The best salsa

Salsa is very personal, and to be honest, I cannot recommend exact quantities, because I know how I like it. And there’s a bit of the ‘whatever’s available’ mentality to whipping one up. But in my opinion these are the crucial elements, though that’s not to say they could not be changed to personalize the sauce.

Ripe red tomatoes, chopped
Red onions, chopped
Red peppers, finely diced
Garlic, minced
Lime juice
Mexican seasonings: cumin, oregano and thymeChilli pepper, deseeded and chopped
Splash of vinegar
Small handful of chopped fresh coriander
Spoonful of tomato puree (optional)

Chop and mix together. For a less chunky salsa, use a hand blender to pulse the mixture for a second or two. Allow to sit overnight if possible to bring out the flavour.

My favourite guacamole

I hate store-bought versions of guacamole, as cream is absolutely not necessary in the mixture. Neither are tomatoes. The best guacamole to my mind is simply mashed avocado (as ripe as you can get it) with a few extra ingredients.

Avocado, peeled, pitted, stoned
1 clove garlic, minced very small
Fresh coriander, minced very small
Lime juice

Mash the avocado with a fork and combine with the other ingredients.

a lunch of leftovers

Lunchtime yesterday was great - roasted chicken breast with tabbouleh. Why such a fancy lunch, some might ask, used to me flogging my spinach and butter bean salad every day?

Well, actually, this 'fancy' lunch was actually as easy as it gets, because it was entirely from leftovers - roasted chicken from Sunday lunch and then leftover tabbouleh from dinner the night before (which I didn't mention on the blog, but it was grilled mackerel with cumin and lemon served with tabbouleh and green beans, one of my favourites).

Making lunch that morning was certainly easy enough -combining the contents of two Tupperware dishes from the refrigerator into one and dropping it in my lunch bag with a couple pieces of fruit.

A few weeks ago, while on a training course, I headed into Pret a Manger for lunch and picked up one of their salads - Chicken Tabbouleh and Yogurt Dressing Salad, which the company's website describes as "chicken breast in a light yoghurt dressing, tabbouleh (Israeli cous cous, broad beans, chick peas, red peppers, flat leaf parsley), red peppers....finished with French dressing." I have to admit, it was quite nice, especially for a store-bought salad, and I didn't even need the French dressing. The salad, minus the dressing, was 189 calories, say Pret. But it was also expensive, setting me back £4, which is a lot for a takeaway, especially one that's not particularly big.

The brilliance of leftovers is that they're so easy to make, and if you plan ahead, you can "build in" leftovers to your cooking. When I was making the tabbouleh the night before, I knew that a 50g serving per person of bulgar wheat was plenty, but I threw in an extra serving; this way, if my husband wanted a bit more, he could have it, and if he didn't, I knew exactly where it would be going - my lunch box the next morning.

Tabbouleh is extremely tasty on its own for a lunchtime salad as well, and creative cooks - tabbouleh purists may consider them heretics - can add feta cheese or olives too. I like it with feta cheese sometimes, but actually, it's not necessary.

Tabbouleh

(serves 2)

100 g bulgar wheat

3 medium size ripe tomatoes, chopped and deseeded

150 g cucumber, diced and deseeded

A small handful of mint, chopped

A package of parsley, chopped

Juice of 1 large lemon

Salt and pepper

Cumin, to taste

Prepare the bulgar wheat as per the instructions, allowing it to cool. In a separate bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cumin. Mix together.

Add the bulgar wheat (when cooled), mint and parsley, mixing to distribute evenly.

Taste and add more seasoning if necessary. The mixture should be very parsley-heavy.

Serve immediately, or for added flavour, allow the juices to soak into the bulgar wheat for a few hours in the refrigerator. Either way, it's great.

One serving: around 200 calories.

I am actually already thinking about the next time I will make tabbouleh. But for now, since it's my lunch break, it's back to my old friend the spinach and butter bean salad...

a supper-sized salad

I picked up fresh peaches from Lower Marsh market today. They were too ripe, too good not to put in a fresh, tangy salad with creamy avocado, fresh mozzarella, crispy bacon, and clean leafy spinach. The trick is to find ingredients that are delicious but not over the top with fat. After the rich flavours of the dinner party the night before, a light dinner could not be a more ideal choice.

(serves 2)
200 g spinach leaves
2 peaches, quartered
1 peach, mashed
1 lemon, juice of
1 large ball of reduced-fat mozzarella (like Tesco's Healthy Living)
1 pack danish-style trimmed bacon (again, Tesco's Healthy Living makes good ones)
1 avocado, chopped
basil leaves
salt and pepper

combine all the ingredients into individual bowls. Place the 8 rashers under the grill - I like them crispy, but grill them to your liking. For the dressing, combine the peach mash, lemon juice and basil leaves with salt and pepper - use a hand blender to make the dressing. Drizzle over the top of the salad and top with the bacon rashers.

My favourite thing about this salad is the peach oil-less vinaigrette. The flavours are amazing - so alive. If anything, oil would drag it down in my opinion.

If you prefer, toss the salad leaves with the dressing first, then add the avocado, mozzarella, peaches and bacon.

Serve in large bowls.

Calories per serving: 390. Great for a light dinner - or a Saturday afternoon lunch.

another summer salad

I humbly present yet another salad for your consideration. The thing is, although many eschew the salad as rabbit food, I really enjoy salads. And it’s not just a former-vegetarian-aching-to-return thing, as others enjoy salads too. Even men, and even my husband. The trick is (surprise, surprise) to make it full of flavour and have loads of complimentary ingredients.

This one was inspired by the leftover olives from the penne puttanesca night. Here’s a quick and tasty greek salad, which, if the fridge is kept stocked of its staple ingredients, should be a flash to prepare:

greek salad
(serves 2 equally)

10 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red pepper, chopped
10 sprays of Fry Light olive oil spray
100 g cucumber, sliced lengthways
10 black olives, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
50 g (2 oz) reduced fat feta, crumbled
½ a tin of chickpeas
Lemon juice, to taste
Seasonal salad leaves

To prepare, just add all of the ingredients in a bowl. If you have a bit of time ahead, marinating the peppers in the olive oil and lemon is nice, but if you don’t it’s still great.

Serve with fresh fruit if you desire (I used plums – they’re just starting to come into season. But strawberries are a great June choice as well.

Calories (per serving): 273.

A quick note: the protein in the cheese and chickpeas is vital to this lunch dish holding you over until the late afternoon.