It's Christmas!

Or at least it was. Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty was perfect for our Christmas food. To start a Winter slaw.
Chopped caramelised macadamia nuts (with added chili flakes), crunchy cabbages, coriander, chili, mint, and sweet juicy mango. Used a simpler dressing, than that in the recipe, of a mix of soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, sesame oil and freshly squeezed lime juice. Delicious.
For a main, Brussels sprouts. After all, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas, without sprouts. Marinated tofu, peppers, spring onion, sprouts, in a sweet and spicy sauce.
Served with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and rice. A very tasty Christmas treat.

Salad servings...

Sensible. Giant couscous, halloumi, parsley, tahini yogurt sauce, salad.
Silly. Sweetcorn, salad, potatoes and feta cheese teeth.

Fresh!

Salad including freshly podded peas, served with halloumi.
Fresh peas remind me of two things. Firstly, my grandad.
He had an allotment (as well as a greenhouse and plenty of growing space in the garden). I have memories of being round my grandparents house and being given a big bowl of peas to shell, to prepare for Sunday dinner. I think for every pea pod that got emptied in to the bowl, one or possibly two got emptied in my mouth! The second pea memory is Roskilde festival.
We went in 2006, it was ace, though super hot. The world cup was also on, and we spent much of the week buying a crate of Tuborg to sit on (and drink the contents), watch the football, and eat a bag of podded peas. Fresh peas go surprisingly well with Danish lager. Continuing the fresh theme, this morning I was up early to go to my local S'n'B, and made a fruity smoothie to kick start the day.
It contained a huge ruby grapefruit, half a honeydew melon, a lemon and plenty of ice cubes. Delicious. I was inspired by this amazing smoothie flowchart. Smoothies will never be the same again. Also check out the eating rules breakfast flowchart too - very cool.

More bread and a bit of salad too...

This is becoming a bread themed blog! This time I used this recipe from Doves Farm, though made the flour 50/50 white and wholemeal, and added seeds during kneading. This recipe takes a little longer, as you leave the dough to rise twice, but I think this helps make the bread much lighter.
To go with this fresh bread I made three salads.
Firstly a tricolore salad - containing plenty of tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, topped with olive oil and pepper.
I served this in an amazingly kitsch bowl, which I found dumped in a box outside our building - don't worry it has been well washed!
Secondly a garden salad, including some lightly blanched broccoli.
And finally a salad of butter beans, red pepper, red onion and spinach, with a tangy dressing made of olive oil, juice of one lemon and a teaspoon of chopped red chili.
Very tasty indeed!

Feeling hot hot hot...

We are having our British summertime. My forehead is a bit pink, despite factor 30. And I have more freckles. Time for hot spicy food!
Stir fried veggies, which had been marinated in chili, garlic and paprika. Mixed bean salad with feta cheese. Shredded lettuces and cucumber. Topped with Mrs Renfro's habanero salsa and more jalapenos. Served with plenty of plain yogurt for cooling!

Pumpkin & Chick Pea salad with Tahini sauce

With half a pumpkin sitting in the fridge I searched the net for ideas. I stumbled upon this warm pumpkin and chick pea salad with tahini, and was inspired!
Firstly I chopped pumpkin, green pepper and courgette into a roasting dish. I added oil, chili flakes, grated nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice, and then put in to the oven.
Meanwhile in a large bowl I added half a chopped red onion and a drained tin of chick peas.
Once the veggies were soft, I added them to the chick pea mixture and stirred well. This mixture was then spooned onto a bed of simple salad (spinach, tomato, cucumber and lettuce).
For a tahini sauce, I added a tablespoon of tahini and crushed garlic clove to about 4 tablespoons of plain yogurt. Stir well, and add lemon juice to taste. If the sauce is too thick/strong, dilute with further yogurt. Spoon the sauce over the salad & serve with some tasty breads.
Absolutely delicious if I do say so myself. Though the raw onion / garlic combo does mean no snogging immediately after :)

Avocado & Mozzarella salad

Last week I bought a pack of 4 avocados, after waiting (for what seems like an age) for them to ripen, they are now super soft for eating. I'm now scratching my brain trying to think of uses for them, other than the traditional guacamole. The fridge was full of tomatoes today, so that led to this salad. It is very colourful and tasty!


Ingredients:

• Tomatoes
• Avocado
• Mozzarella
• Salad leaves
• Sweetcorn
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil

Firstly, roughly chop up tomatoes. I used cherry plum toms & some big beefy fellas. In a bowl add some olive oil and balsamic vinegar to the toms, and leave to settle for a little while.
On a plate arrange some salad leaves (I used a mixed salad leaf pack and fresh rocket). To this pile on the tomatoes, chopped avocado, mozzarella and a sprinkle of sweetcorn. Drizzle a little more oil & serve. Yum!

Sunny Salads

Today is the longest day & the sun is shinning. Perfect for tasty salads. Firstly sprouting beans, carrot, red pepper, celery, cucumber & lettuce. Mixed with a little oil & balsamic vinegar. I love the colours - truly a feast for the eyes!
Secondly veggie chorizo, cherry tomato, pesto & cous cous. Very more-ish!
Served with a feta & olive pasty from the fantastic Grassroots.
Enjoy the sunshine :)

Warm Paneer, Courgette & Pepper Salad

This is a spicy tasty salad for summer nights. For a vegan alternative replace the paneer with tofu. Firstly make a marinade by mixing together in a large bowl...

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 inch grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• half teaspoon of mustard seeds
• half teaspoon of turmeric
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes (adjust to personal preference!)
• half a teaspoon of fenugreek leaves
• 5 cardamon pods

Add to the marinade one courgette, two peppers (I used red & yellow for colour) and about 6 spring onions (all cut into chunky pieces). Also chop up a block of paneer and add this to the marinade. Stir in to the mixture, cover and leave for about an hour. Then put into an oven proof dish, and place under a medium grill for 20mins (approx) stirring occasionally.
Serve with a simple green salad. Handy tip - take out the cardamon pods before serving, cause you really don't want to bite in to one!