salmon summer salad

As part of my “cook what you have” drive in the kitchen, I’m bound and determined to use and enjoy every last morsel of what’s in the kitchen. So a lone salmon fillet in the freezer was fair game. Obviously, a single fillet won’t go very far in your average “fish and two veg” scenario unless you’re just cooking for one. But alas, I’m cooking for two.

So what to do? Since I’ve only got one fillet, salmon needs to be a team player rather than the star of any dish I make. Since it’s summer, I thought a salad might do the trick. Not your conventional salad, necessarily, but one that combines the best of the early English summer. By that I mean baby new potatoes, fresh spinach, cucumber and, of course, salmon. With a twist of lemon and a dollop of mayonnaise (or tartar sauce) at the end, the dish is delicate yet filling.

Salad with poached salmon and steamed potatoes
(serves 2)

1 large salmon fillet (at least 150g)
500g baby new potatoes, scrubbed (and halved if necessary)
200 grams of cucumbers, sliced into sticks
1 lemon, cut into wedges
150g spinach or baby spinach, washed, with stems removed
a couple of peppercorns
a bay leaf
2 tbsp of mayonnaise or tartar sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, set the potatoes to steam. They’ll need about 15 minutes.

Bring a pan of water (with the bay leaf, juice of half the lemon and the peppercorns) to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the salmon fillet (ensuring there’s just enough water to cover the fish. Simmer for about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the plates with the spinach and cucumber. Add a wedge of lemon to each plate as well as the mayo (or tartar sauce).

When the fish is done, remove from the water and allow to sit for a minute or two. Flake the fish and divide it evenly between the two plates. Season with black pepper to taste.

When the potatoes are ready, add them to the plates too, dividing them in whatever ratio you like (I took 2/5, leaving 3/5 for the heartier eater between us).

Serve immediately.

Calories per serving: with 200g potatoes – 385 calories, which is excellent, considering all the protein, carbs and healthy fat you’re consuming. (For the record, that’s about 23g of protein, 39g of carbohydrates and 16.5g of fat)

here comes the sun...

I've just woken up on this Monday morning to a weather forecast predicting - what's this - no rain for the entire week! What's more, we're to expect - what's this - sun!

That's all it takes - my mind is racing for lovely summer lunches. For lunch today, a green bean salad - I'm still using frozen but I've defrosted some and they've kept their crispness. I'm quite a big fan of frozen foods, but I've done a bit more research on the tinned/frozen/fresh question - I'll post a bit more later this week on my other blog http://theculinarydigest.blogspot.com/, so check back later this week.

green bean salad
(serves 1)

200 g fine green beans
10 small cherry tomatoes, halved
1 yellow pepper, sliced thinly
1 tsp basil infused olive oil (or if you don't have any, use some olive oil and shred some fresh basil leaves)
1/4 tin chickpeas
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all in a dish (or your tupperware for lunch) and shake. By lunchtime, the dish will literally taste like summer. Eat it in the park for maximum effect (I think I will...)

Calories: 183 calories - very reasonable, so if you want to add more to it, you could. To bulk it up more, perhaps add some pine nuts if you have some in the pantry... carrots would also be lovely if julienned.

italian rice salad

Salads with rice are often overlooked, I think. This may be due to the temperature dilemma – either serve a rice salad very cold, in which case it must be made in advance, or serve it warm. The latter option means that the complimentary ingredients must be well thought out to avoid wilting or the odd consistency of mismatched temperatures on the tongue. I’m not particularly keen on cold rice salads at home, though some of the takeaway rice salads in, say, Marks and Spencer are decent.

I do, however, really enjoy warm rice salads, and have created what I think is a great summer version – replete with flavour. “This is scrummy,” murmured my husband, happily forking his way through the bowl on Thursday evening.

If nothing else, follow this tip: with rice salads, the rice must be braised. Otherwise, it can become gloopy, and for a salad, the individual grains of rice must be separate.

This salad is very summery and has the lovely aroma of pizza.

italian rice salad (serves 2 – either one very large and one modest portion, or two medium-sized portions)

200 g long grain brown rice
250 g baby plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
50 g spring onions
1 ball (125 g) of reduced fat mozzarella
1 tbsp and 1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp oregano (dried is fine, though fresh would be lovely)
60-100 g wild rocket

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large saute pan. Once the oil is hot, add the rice and garlic and stir so that all the grains are coated. Allow this to sizzle over med-high heat for a few minutes. Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes and put a roasting tin with white wine vinegar, oregano and a tsp of olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Add the hot stock to the rice pan - a little at first but then pour it all in. It should boil furiously for a minute. Then reduce heat to med-low and cover. By the time the stock boils off, the rice should be done. Check about 20 minutes in - if the rice isn't done or close to being done, but the liquid is nearly gone, add a bit more.

Meanwhile, chop the spring onions and shred the mozzarella. Split them into equal piles to mix through the rice. Prepare large bowls by putting about 50 g of wild rocket at the bottom of each bowl. The rice will go on top once it has cooked.

Then top with the cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and spring onions and mix through the rice slightly. The dish should smell amazing.

Calories: for a small serving, 415; for a medium serving, 600; for a large serving, 775.

Dishes like these are perfect for a group - some may want more rice, some less, but the flavours in the tomatoes and garlic stay strong no matter what the portion size. My husband had the large portion but the same amount of tomatoes as I had in my small portion.