Recipe for chicken livers with bacon, leeks, broad beans and parmesan

Every time I’m out visiting my in-laws in Stock, I always stop by Lathcoats Farm Shop. I love their apples and enjoy the trawling the various shelves for something new.

Last time, in addition to the bags upon bags of Egremont Russets, I happened upon some chicken livers from Essex Birds. I think I’ve only had chicken livers maybe once in my life, and certainly not cooked by my own hand, but I’ve been keen to try them for a while – they’re cheap, protein-tastic, and rich in flavour – a little goes a long way, really. So a small 220g pack from Essex Birds (for a pocket-pleasing 99p!) went in my basket and onto my freezer to wait patiently for a bout of inspiration on my part.

Cue the gloomy weather and chicken livers suddenly sounded perfect – earthy and filling. I considered stew – but wanted something that took less than 30 minutes, not more. I wanted as healthy as possible – so out went the creamy dishes.

My internet search revealed that if you want to eat liver, you really should pair it with bacon. I dutifully agreed, deciding to add broad beans (also out of the freezer, to remind us of sunnier days), leeks and a bit of parmesan on top. Sounded perfect to me.

But I’m no fool – there’s no way that was going to fill my husband, who’s recently gotten back into swimming daily at the London Fields Lido. The man needs (even more) carbohydrates – broad beans just won’t pass muster. So into his portion of liver loveliness went 150 g of bucatini (wonderful thick spaghetti with holes down the middle, presumably to increase surface area and soak up even more saucy goodness…)

I know livers turn some people off, but I highly recommend giving them a try. This recipe is really simple and quick, too. Just remember – don’t take a bit of just chicken livers EVER. Ensure there’s a mix on your fork at all times. You’ll thank me.

Chicken livers with bacon, leeks, broad beans and parmesan

(serves 2)

220 g (a small pack) of chicken livers, rinsed and separated into chunks

4 rashers of streaky bacon, chopped

300 g frozen broad beans

1 tsp olive oil

200 g leeks, chopped

25 g parmesan, grated

salt and pepper.

optional: pasta to accompany

Heat the olive oil in a pan and bring a pot of water to the boil (two, if you’re including the pasta). When the oil is hot, add the chopped bacon and fry for a few minutes. When the water is boiling, add the broad beans to one pot and parboil for about three minutes. If you’re making pasta, add it to the second pot of boiling water and cook according to the package instructions.

To the bacon and oil, add the chicken livers, searing on each side for 2 minutes. Add in the leeks and stir well, ensuring everything is coated with the various flavours. Add a ladle of the pasta or bean cooking water to the pan as well as the drained broad beans and reduce heat to medium – season well and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes. Add half the parmesan and mix through before plating up.

If you’re having the dish sans pasta, just split in half and serve in shallow bowls, perhaps along with any other vegetable you’d like (though I quite liked it on its own). If one person is having pasta, then plate up half the mixture, and then add the pasta to the mixture in the pan and stir, ensuring its gets fully coated. (Perhaps needless to say here, but if you’re both having pasta, mix it all in together before splitting the mixture evenly.) Top with the remaining parmesan and enjoy!

The bottom line... 

For a standard serving - 410 calories. 

For a standard serving with 100 g pasta - 726 calories

Spanish-style butter beans and mussels with tomato, chilli and garlic

Well, this pretty much does what it says on the tin! It was a perfect quick Tuesday night dish to prepare before scoffing down and heading to the Shoreditch WI meeting (first time - and very interesting!)

Spanish-style butter beans and mussels with tomato, chilli and garlic
(serves 2)

1 tin butter beans, drained
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small chilli, chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
4 tsp oil (I used a mixture of olive and chilli oil)
250 g mussels (out of their shells) or 1 kg of mussels (in their shells)
2 tbsp Total 0% greek yogurt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and saute the onions for about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for a further two minutes before adding the butter beans. Stir to coat the butter beans with oil, and then pour the chopped tomatoes in to the pot. Bring to a simmer.

If using mussels in their shells, add to the mixture and simmer for 10 minutes. If using pre-cooked mussels - allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes before adding the mussels for the final 5. Season and top with the yogurt and serve with a green vegetable of your choice.

Calories per serving: about 440, before the green veg. I steamed some green beans for us both - though also cooked 50 g of wholegrain rice for my husband - otherwise he would have been straight into the cupboards, hunting for any snack he could find...

love your cupboard

Not all great meals have to be made with fresh produce. A wealth of tasty, healthy options can be found behind the cabinet door.

Take for example this Delia recipe, which I cooked last night. Sardines? Check. Chopped tomatoes? Check. Linguine (or other long pasta)? Check. Capers? Chilli? Garlic? Well, in the fridge, but check.

Sardines may not be the most exciting ingredient ever, but they’re great and really flexible. Sardines on toast, or in salads, are easy (and cheap) ways to add some protein to your meal. A tin is usually less than 40p (and given the current economic climate, that’s real value). If you choose the ones in olive oil, too, then you can use some of that oil in the cooking rather than your own olive oil. Extra flavour at no extra cost.

The only ingredient that really has to be fresh here is the basil, I think. Chillis and garlic, while usually on hand in their fresh versions anyway, can be used in their jarred forms (or even in their dried spice forms). But if you don’t have basil, a spoon of pesto wouldn’t hurt here, I should think…

One suggestion: use a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes rather than a 200g tin. You’ll get a saucier consistency, ensuring the pasta doesn’t dry up or get sticky.

Calories for a serving with 100g linguine: 428. Not too shabby, really. Should you want to bulk out the meal with some fresh ingredients, a fresh spinach salad would be lovely.

squash and celeriac bake (for three)

Comfort food, comfort food, comfort food: repeat this mantra as much as necessary through the winter months. But that doesn’t mean diving into macaroni and cheese (much as we’d all like to).

Instead, it means using those healthy, low-calorie root vegetables to their best.

Last night, I planned a one-pot dish with two of my favourite root vegetables, squash and celeriac. I’ve seen other combinations – parsnip and celeriac, parsnip and squash, and so on. But I fancied something a bit more savoury, but with the lovely orange colour of the squash. So borrowing from some of these, I’ve come up with one to try.

I was worried this veggie dish may not be enough for our dinner guest, but actually, it turned out really well. Only problem was that everyone wanted more:

Squash and celeriac bake
(serves 4)

1 large squash, about 1 kg, peeled and chopped
1 med/large celeriac, about 600 kg, peeled and chopped
Fresh thyme
4 tbsp single cream
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the topping:
2 pieces of whole grain bread, torn into pieces
75 g parmesan, grated
25 grams sliced almonds (though walnuts would work well too)
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 195 C. Add the squash to a large pot of water and bring to the boil. After about 2-3 minutes, add the celeriac and boil for about 10 minutes. Drain.

Return the root veg to the pot and add plenty of fresh thyme, the single cream, 1 tbsp of olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper. Mash well.

Spray an oven-proof dish with olive oil spray and add the mash mixture. Spread evenly.

To make the topping, combine the bread pieces, almonds, olive oil, parmesan and salt and pepper in a food processor or use a hand blender. Scatter the topping evenly across the root vegetable mash. Bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve with a mixed side salad with balsamic dressing.

Calories: 435 per serving.

I absolutely adored this dish – it felt so good to try something new and just love it. I would definitely make it again. It was filling, but not too filling, and the salad with a balsamic dressing cut through the savoury bake just perfectly.

This dish would be excellent for lunch at a brasserie.

And though it’s no brasserie, I took the leftovers (I say leftovers, though it was intentional) for lunch today. Lunch was fantastic.

veggie chili with all the trimmings

On a chilly January evening, a spicy savoury chili dish, with hints of cumin, oregano, chilli amongst chopped tomatoes and kidney beans really hits the spot. I’ve been thinking about this as a dinner idea for about a week, imagining the pot bubbling away. I normally like to let it simmer with a bit of beer in it, but seeing as I don’t have any in the house, I most virtuously abstained. Besides, with all those lovely spices in my cabinet, it’s bound to be a warm and earthy success.

I used kidney beans, so I’m going to forego having any rice, and eat this more like a soup or stew. But my husband isn’t going to let that fly, so I’ve boiled him some brown rice.

As for toppings – reduced fat crème fraiche, reduced fat cheddar and loads of spring onions grace the surface of the chilli.

It was so wonderfully filling, I didn’t even think about my stomach for the rest of the night.

Spicy kidney bean chilli
(serves 2)

10 sprays of olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 big green chillies, chopped (discard some of the seeds if you don’t like it that hot)
2 stalks of celery, chopped
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
1 can of kidney beans (preferably organic), drained and rinsed
spices: Tony Chachere’s is great, but if you don’t have it use a combination of cumin, chilli powder, oregano, salt and cracked red pepper (or use them all – that’s what I did)

1 large bunch of spring onions, chopped
100 g of reduced fat mature-cheddar, grated
4 tbsp of half fat crème fraiche

Heat the olive oil in a pot and add the onions, celery, and half of the chillies. Sauté for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the rest of the chillis and the garlic and sauté for a further 3-4 minutes.

Add the kidney beans to the pot and stir well. Then add the chopped tomatoes and all the spices, again stirring. Bring to a light boil and reduce to a simmer for at least 15-20 minutes.

Check the seasoning at the end and add more if needed.
Split evenly in two large bowls and garnish generously with the spring onions, grated cheese and crème fraiche.

Calories: 430 per serving (If you’re adding 50 g (dry weight) of rice, that’s another 175 – to be honest, I don’t think you need it, it’s plenty filling on its own.)

The flavours in this were incredible – just the right about of heat, with the lovely, soft kidney beans and the creamy, tangy crème fraiche mixing with the viscous tomatoes. For a more Southwestern kick, smoked chillis would be great though I would make this again exactly as I did last night.

sausages served with parsnip and apple cakes and steamed cabbage

The inspiration for this dish struck on a Saturday, about a year or so ago. I remember as it was Hugh-Fearnley Whittingstall’s first food column in the Guardian Weekend, and it was all about apples. His recipe for parsnip and apple cakes struck a chord in my heart, I think it’s fair to say.

My first thought was to pair these cakes with sausages and a dab of Colman’s mustard. But sausages aren’t exactly the healthiest option on the block. Last time I made these, I only allowed myself two sausages, but they were approximately 180 calories each, which is quite a lot, especially considering the saturated fat content.

But voila! I was walking through the supermarket last week and spied Sainsbury’s extra lean Cumberland sausages. I was immediately suspicious, and snatched them off the shelf to check pork content – miraculously, over 70%. But only 75 calories a sausage – hooray!

But the taste test had yet to ensue. Not only did these extra lean gems had to pass muster with me, they had to please the Yorkshire-born and bred husband, who is, shall we say, partial to sausages. He’s very protective of which ones we eat, and I did wonder if extra-lean ones would somehow demasculinise him. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I had successfully convinced him that we should purchase them, under the understanding that if he did not enjoy them, we would never, ever, ever buy them again.

Phew. We made it out of the supermarket unscathed. But come Saturday evening, it was the final test.

Parsnip and apple cakes
(serves 2)
click here for Hugh’s recipe.

Basically, you need 300 g of grated parsnip, 300 g of grated apple, 2 tbsp of flour, 1 egg (beaten) and plenty of salt and pepper. Mix together.

(I contemplated adding some thyme into the mix, although I decided against it as I didn’t want it to overpower the delicate flavours.)

Make into eight patties, squeezing out excess juice (this part is crucial). Fry in two batches in groundnut oil. Hugh calls for enough to cover the pan generously, but I maintain you should stick to about 2 tsp of oil per batch. You just need to keep an eye on them and make sure the heat isn’t too high, so that they burn.

Fry for 10 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes. Keep the first batch warm while you do the second.

Serve with grilled sausages, steamed shredded savoy cabbage, and a dollop of Colmans.

Calories: 450 for 2 sausages, 4 parsnip and apple cakes, 150-200 g cabbage, 1 tsp of Colmans

The verdict? My husband loved the sausages and said he’s happy for us to buy those again. He had three sausages with dinner, which is a good way to bulk up the meal for anyone who’s especially hungry.

fish from the freezer feat

Thursday night’s gym night, then straight back to the flat to start dinner. It’s almost the end of the week! I planned on doing a freezer raid, and I came out with frozen smoked haddock, frozen peas and frozen green beans. Perfect! It may not sound gourmet, but the results were extremely satisfying.

Smoked haddock with pea puree and green beans
(serves 2)

2-3 Youngs frozen haddock fillets (depending on size – total, about 350 g)
300 g frozen peas (garden peas or petit pois)
200 g frozen green beans
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tartar sauce

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Wrap the haddock fillets in a foil parcel and bake for 30-35 minutes. (Add a lemon wedge if you like, but it’s not necessary)

Ten minutes before the fish is due to finish, steam the green beans and the peas. (I like to use a two tier steamer.) Remove the peas and puree with a hand blender, adding salt and pepper.

Divide the pea puree equally on the two plates. Add the green beans to the side, and then the fish, angling it so that one end is propped up on the puree. Add additional pepper and a dollop (1 tbsp) of tartar sauce. Serve immediately.

Because it was gym night, I split the portions 50/50 with my husband, cutting the third fillet in half. Other nights I might give him both, or just make two fillets.

Total calories for one serving: 445 – very healthy and really, just scrummy. The smoked haddock gives such a wonderful savoury flavour, and the pea puree is divine. My husband loved it – it even beat chip shop mushy peas, he said. (No doubt they are healthier too, at about 70 cals per 100 g. If you wanted to cut the calories, just don’t have the tartar sauce – it will reduce your count by about 80 calories.

This has been one of my favourite dinners all week, topping even the swede curry.

the perfect winter curry

I don’t normally like to list the number of calories first in a list of virtues about a particular food, but it’s worth a mention when it comes to swede. Per 100 g, there are only 23 calories! Add that to the fact that swede is filling, tasty, and, quite importantly, cheap, and it’s obvious that this is a vegetable not to be ignored.

The history of the humble swede (also called rutabaga) is such that many people avoid it like the plague. In wartimes and famine, the vegetable continued to be cultivated, so that it was an everyday meal. I can understand how that might get a bit boring.

Here’s the fun part – coming up with exciting and different ways to use swede. Try this one – I did last night, with excellent results.


Swede, lentil and spinach curry

(serves 2)



1 medium onion, chopped roughly

1 clove of garlic, chopped

50 g lentilles vertes, rinsed

1 swede (about 500 g), peeled and chopped into 2-3 cm cubes

1 can of chopped tomatoes

water

10-20 sprays of olive oil

3 large handfuls of spinach, rinsed

150 g brown rice, rinsed

spices, to taste (feel free to add your own mixture), including:
curry powder (or garam masala),
cinnamon,
ground ginger,
ground coriander,
turmeric,
mustard seeds,
cumin seeds and/or ground,
ground cardamom,
cloves




Preheat the oven to 200 C. Add the swede to a saucepan with cold water and parboil for approximately five minutes. Drain and add to a foil-lined roasting tin with a few sprays of olive oil and plenty of curry powder. Roast for 30 minutes.



Add the lentils to a small saucepan with plenty of water and boil for 10 minutes, then reducing to a simmer for 30 minutes.



Add the rice to boiling water. Bring back to the boil and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 30 minutes.



When 10 minutes are left until the swede is done, heat the olive oil spray in a wok. Once hot, add the onion and all of the spices and stir quickly to toast the spices while making sure they don’t burn. Add the garlic. Stirfry quickly for a couple of minutes, then adding the chopped tomatoes. Fill the can with water (or stock, if preferred) add add to the mixture. Bring to a bubble and then reduce the heat to medium. Check the sauce for taste, adding spices as desired.



Add the lentils, first draining excess liquid if necessary. Remove the swede from the roasting tin, mixing well to ensure the swede is covered by the sauce. Allow to bubble for at least another 10 minutes, though you can leave it longer if you like to allow the flavours to really soak in.



Add the spinach and mix through until wilted.



Drain the rice and transfer to large bowls. Spoon the curry over the rice and serve immediately.



Half of the curry + a 50g serving (dry) of brown rice = 425 calories.


I gave my husband 100 g worth of rice, partly to fill him up so he won’t snack on a lot of rubbish later in the evening! He absolutely loved it, and I got the official seal of approval: “We can have this again.”