Under the Weather and Winter Salad

We’re a household suffering from a heavy cold at the moment, originating from the smallest member of the family who caught it from his nursery pal.  I used to be fairly OCD about getting ill, if you rummage through my bag you are likely to find at least one pack of anti bacterial wipes and if you go through my desk drawers at work it’s likely you’ll find more so perhaps the OCD hasn’t quite left me but I am now resigned to the fact that I am going to spend the next few years catching every germ that comes my way courtesy of little people and trying to relax about it.

In a bid to eat a healthier lunch at work in 2016 I’ve been making this salad in various forms.  Salad in January always sounds very wrong to me but salad in January made with roasted winter vegetables seems just about right.  I tend to use whatever vegetables we have that are in season so carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, you get the idea.  I chop them up, roast them in olive oil and then once cooled mix with salad leaves such as little gem, cos, romaine and sometimes chard.  I also throw in some tomatoes, cucumber, avocado and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds.  Really you can use whatever you like or have to use up.  To this mix I add a large dollop of houmous.  It is quite literally the glue that holds the salad together and makes it extra delicious.  I think houmous and cold roasted vegetables are a match made in heaven. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten everything up.  So far I’ve been really enjoying my work lunches but I can’t say that all the extra vitamins are doing much for my ability to ward off errant toddler germs but then who can stay well when a little snot covered hand wants to explore your face. 

Roasted Summer Vegetables and a Rosy View

There is a rose in our garden coming out in full bloom.  If you knew what bad gardeners we are you would be impressed.  A few weeks ago my husband cleared an over grown and mostly dead flower bed which had been doing a good deal of looking very ugly for the past year.  We took ourselves off to the garden centre and set about buying plants having no clue what we were doing except that we wanted a few hardy shrubs and a rose bush.  We returned home somewhat out of pocket but with a car boot full of promise.  My husband dutifully planted everything while I idled with a book in a chair offering up helpful and sometimes not so helpful directions.  He planted, we watched, we waited.  The centrepiece of our new flower bed is an English rose bush and I’m happy to report this morning there are two lovely heads in bloom.  The rosemary we bought is thriving, the fuscia is doing well.  As for the others, the less said about those the better.  You can’t win them all.  The tenuous link to this salad being that we can now sit outside and enjoy our lunch with a decent view.

I’ve been enjoying roasted vegetables in various incarnations so far this summer.  I buy whatever is in season but the main players have been fennel, courgettes, carrots, tomatoes and of course kale.  In this version I used up some potatoes and threw in an avocado but I’ve also mixed roasted veg with pasta, quinoa and even millet.  The flavour comes from the roasted veg as they caremelise in the oven, the lemon zest adds a bright note to the whole affair, toasted nuts or seeds add crunch and of course goats cheese for tang.

Serves 2

1 large potato peeled and cut in to chunks

2 carrots peeled and sliced to your liking

½ large fennel bulb or whole bulb if smaller, cut in to wedges.

8 or so small plum tomatoes cut in half or quarters if larger

1 bunch of kale or other greens

1 avocado peeled and sliced

Handful of pumpkin seeds, toasted

Goats cheese

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

Zest of half a lemon

Teaspoon rosemary

Preheat oven Gas Mark 7, line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Parboil the potatoes, drain and set aside to steam.  Prepare the other vegetables.  Add the potatoes, carrots and fennel to the first baking sheet.  Sprinkle with rosemary and olive oil.  Place on the shelf of the oven.

Lay the tomatoes cut side up on the other baking sheet.  Drizzle with oil and roast in the bottom shelf of the oven.  Keep an eye on the vegetables, turning occasionally.  Everything should be done after about 40 minutes.  The vegetables should be golden and the tomatoes should be beginning to caremelise.

Once the vegetables are ready add the kale to the baking tray to allow it to slightly wilt for about one minute.  Remove from the oven and grate over the lemon zest.  Serve up the roasted vegetables and kale in bowls, top with the tomatoes, avocado, goats cheese and pumpkin seeds.  Season to your liking.

Roasted Butternut Squash Rice Bowl

I’m making an early appearance this week due to a hectic weekend ahead.  I’ve a free evening, home alone with too loud Bon Jovi to keep me company (sorry neighbours).  Rather than stare at the walls I thought I’d talk to you lovely people instead.

I feel like I should almost apologise for posting yet another of my rice bowls but I can’t seem to stop making them.  Once I discovered the magic that some toasted nuts, dried fruits and a bit of goat cheese can bring to a bowl of brown rice and vegetables it seems to be an unstoppable express train headed for my mouth.  You can totally make it your own and just throw in whatever combination of roasted vegetables, nuts and dried fruit you want.  I’m having a thing for butternut squash at the moment so here I used it to add a vibrant touch of orange to my bowl of rice.  There is no end in sight to my love affair with pistachios and for a little festive seasonal colour I used cranberries as my dried fruit of choice.  Kale or some sort of green always makes an appearance.  I made a quick dressing out of olive oil and maple syrup.  Honey would be a good sub.  I think roasting the butternut with a little maple syrup would also be a good plan.  I don’t think I need to write this one up.  Here’s the bones of the recipe, mix it up to suit your own style and tastes.  I roasted the butternut for 35 minutes at Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Super Seed, Kale and Rice Salad

It’s August bank holiday weekend and I feel like summer is trickling away too fast.  The way I know this is by all the wonderful summer produce I can’t keep up with.  I had so many things in my head that I wanted to make with fresh peaches, strawberries and raspberries and now suddenly we are at the end of August.  The garden is full of blackberries, more than we can pick, plums and figs are turning up at the market.  I literally can’t keep up!  So instead I bring you a kale salad which may be a poor substitute for summer fruit but hopefully those summer fruit will be making an appearance in some form soon.

I understand if you are asking yourself, does the internet really need another kale salad?  It seems I can never get enough of the stuff which is just as well because my favourite variety, cavolo nero, has just become available here again.  I’ve returned home from the market today triumphant with two big bags full...give me all the kale!  I’m guessing by now I only have die hard kale fans still reading so I’ll get on with it.  This salad came together one lunch time when I had put a pot of rice on to boil but hadn’t really got my act together regarding what I was actually going to eat with it.  After hunting around in the cupboards I decided to toast up some seeds for a bit of crunch.  Sesame seeds are a great source of protein and they add a subtle nutty flavour to a dish.  Pumpkin seeds also pack a powerful punch when it comes to your health.  They are high in protein, iron, zinc and magnesium.  I threw in some dried cherries for their sweetness and finished off with crumbled goat cheese.  Feta would be a good substitute.  Kale of course provided the vegetable element with its dark green leaves it is a great source of iron, calcium, vitamin C and is packed with antioxidants.  We’ve since had this rice dish a few times with roast chicken and with salmon which was delicious.

Super Seed, Kale and Rice Salad Serves 2

75g red camargue and wild rice or brown rice is fine.

Handful of kale leaves roughly chopped and stems removed

Toasted sesame and pumpkin seeds

Dried cherries

Hard goat cheese

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Dressing:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Juice half a lemon

1 teaspoon honey

½ teaspoon cyder vinegar

A few chives finely chopped

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F

To make the dressing combine the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Cook the rice according to the pack instructions.  While the rice is cooking toast your seeds.  When the rice is ready drain, rinse and set aside to steam away any excess water.  Put the extra virgin olive oil in a baking tray, add the kale and cherries and toss.  Place in the oven for 2 minutes until the kale is just wilting and the cherries are plumping up.  Remove from the oven and add the rice and the toasted seeds.  Finally add the dressing and toss everything together.  Serve topped with crumbled goat cheese.  If you don’t want to use the oven for this you could make everything in a skillet or frying pan on the hob.  

My Week in Lunches

Whenever I have some time off work and I’m spending it at home I like to abandon my work day sandwiches and eat something a little different for lunch.  It’s an opportunity to eat a little bit healthier.  I’ll generally just create something for myself out of whatever is in the fridge and needs using.  It has to be something that comes together quickly as I am usually coming in and going out again.  This week a bag of kale was sitting patiently in my fridge so it featured pretty heavily in my lunch time munching.  The general pattern is veggies, a grain and some protein, usually an egg, cheese or toasted nuts of some description.  I might write up a couple of these as recipes in the coming weeks.  It’s back to sandwiches next week sadly.  What have you been having for lunch lately?

Beetroot Falafel!



These deserve an exclamation mark.  I know the exclamation mark is over used in life and more often than not by me but these falafel are that good.  Healthy and with a lovely vibrant colour, the sweet earthiness of the beetroot works perfectly with the warming spice from the cumin.  I made gluten free flatbreads to go with these.  The falafel kept in the fridge for a couple of days and we used them in our lunches so they’re pretty versatile too.

Find the recipe here at BBC Good Food.  I halved the recipe which made 12 falafel.  I didn’t use the egg as it’s pretty hard to halve an egg but the mixture held together really well without it.  I used gluten free bread for the breadcrumbs.  I baked the falafel in the oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  The yoghurt dressing is a great compliment or natural yoghurt on its own works just fine.  I think hummus would also be a great addition.  Serve with salad of your choosing.  I used lambs lettuce, baby chard and avocado.

Flatbread recipe here, (also originally from BBC Good Food).

 

Winter Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

This is my concession to salad this winter.  I struggle with eating salads at this time of year.  My body tells me it wants soups and stews, comfort food.  Salad is not in vogue around here come January.  This is probably why I shy away from New Year resolutions involving cleansing and dieting.  It stands to reason that when it’s cold out your body craves warmth.  This salad bridges the void between a plate of lettuce leaves and the comfort food I crave.  The combination of my favourite winter vegetables with toasted almonds for crunch, goat cheese or feta for tangy flavour and dried cherries for a hint of sweetness is perfect.  It’s bright and colourful too which doesn’t hurt when the sky is grey.

 

Inspired by Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl.

You can use any combination of winter vegetables you like.  I think beetroot would be superb in this but I didn’t have any at the time!

Serves 2 (amounts are approximate depending on the size of your vegetables)

½ celeriac head peeled and chopped in to chunks.

2 parsnips peeled and cut in to batons.

2 carrots peeled and cut in to batons.

1 shallot cut in to wedges.

1 tsp dried rosemary (optional).

Handful of flaked almonds, toasted.

Feta or hard goat cheese, crumbled.

Salad leaves (I used a mixture of lambs lettuce, baby chard and spinach).

Dried cherries (or other dried fruit)

Dressing:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp honey

1 tsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 200°C, 400°F.

Peel and chop your vegetables.  Place them in a roasting tin, sprinkle with dried rosemary if using and douse with olive oil.  Roast for 30 – 40 minutes turning occasionally until golden.  About five minutes before the vegetables are done add the flaked almonds to the roasting tin to toast. Then with a minute or so left add the dried cherries so they plump up a bit.  I often chuck them in and turn the oven off so they just soak up the heat rather than roasting.  Arrange the salad leaves on plates, top with the roasted vegetables, almonds, dried cherries and crumbled cheese.  Dress and eat.

To make the dressing combine the ingredients and mix well. 



 

 

Roasted Vegetable Rice

I have a tendency to get addicted to things.  I gorge for however long and then suddenly that’s it, we’re through.  I’m not talking people of course but I am talking music (currently irritating my poor husband by listening to this album on repeat), television programmes (Recently it was The Walking Dead, now it’s The Killing), films, authors, favourite clothes (I won’t bore you).  Food is no exception.  I’ve been making a variation of rice salads quite a bit this year, using whatever vegetables are in season.  We have this for dinner at least once a week.  As time has gone by I have become more adept at cutting corners and the number of pans I use.  It’s a healthy, colourful dish with enough variety to keep things interesting.  You don’t have to keep it vegetarian, you can add whatever combination of meat and vegetables, nuts etc. you like.

 

Serves 2

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Zest ½ lemon

Juice ½ lemon

75g brown rice (here I used a mixture of wild rice and red camargue rice)

1 parsnip peeled and chopped

1 carrot peeled and chopped

½ cup of celeriac peeled and chopped

½ cup red cabbage chopped

½ cup kale chopped

Handful of unsweetened coconut flakes (I’ve also used flaked almonds)

Handful of pumpkin seeds (optional)

Dried cherries (or cranberries work well)

Hard goat cheese (or feta would be fine)

2 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 200°C, 400°F

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the rice according to pack instructions.  Mine took 35 minutes.  Once cooked drain and rinse.

While the rice is cooking combine the olive oil, parsnip, carrot and celeriac in a large baking tray.  Roast for 20 – 30 minutes checking to turn the veg half way through until beginning to brown.  Add the cabbage, coconut flakes and pumpkin seeds and return to the oven for a further ten minutes.  Finally add the kale and cherries and return to the oven for five minutes more until the kale has wilted and the cherries are plump.

When everything is ready add the cooked rice to the baking tray and mix with the vegetables, then mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest and a drizzle more of olive oil if you like.  Serve on plates topped with crumbled goats cheese and the boiled eggs.  I quite often throw a chopped avocado in at this point too.

 

Lunching at Home

After our trip to Paris I’ve been enjoying the rest of the week at home.  Having time to cook a lunch at home is such a luxury for me.  I am a tad frustrated with my work lunches.  We don’t have a proper kitchen at work and I swear the fridge warms food up rather than cools it down.  That combined with a long commute means I don’t often take cold foods to work.  As a result my lunch comes down to almond butter sandwiches with gluten free bread or oat cakes, rice cakes, sometimes a salad.  Not very inspiring... So, I love this time at home to make wholesome lunches from scratch.  It feels so much more healthy and satisfying.  This week I made this warm beetroot and kale salad bowl with millet inspired by a recipe from The First Mess blog.  (There are about a million things I want to make from this site).  I have to confess I’m rubbish at cooking millet, it always ends up looking more like mash potato but I keep trying.  Either way this dish was lovely.  The earthy rich flavour of the balsamic beets with the kale work so well together and the sugar gives a hint of sweetness.  The tangy goats cheese adds a salty element and rounds out the flavours perfectly.  I changed a few things from the original recipe, mainly dialling back the sugar and vinegar as I love the strong flavour of roasted beets on their own.  I also wilted my kale in the oven with the beets for a couple of minutes.  I find this is a great way to cook kale and saves on washing up.  Try to catch it before it crisps up although crispy kale is pretty good too.  Come Monday morning I will be making sandwiches at 6am again and it will be dark outside.

Recipe adapted from The First Mess

Serves 2

1 large beetroot cut in to wedges

Bunch of kale (I used cavolo nero aka black kale)

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp demerara sugar

Extra virgin olive oil

Goats cheese for the top

Quinoa or millet to serve

Preheat oven Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F.  In a baking dish toss the beets with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Sprinkle with demerara sugar.  Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.  Check the beets and give everything a mix, remove the foil then return to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes.  Wash the kale and roughly chop.  About five minutes before the beets are ready add the kale to the baking dish and coat evenly with the oil and vinegar mixture.  Return to the oven for five minutes until the kale has wilted.  Meanwhile cook your quinoa or millet according the pack instructions.  Serve the beets and kale over the quinoa/millet and crumble the goats cheese on top.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil if you like.  Season with salt and pepper as desired.

 



 

I’m Keen on Quinoa

I made a salad using that super grain quinoa with my roasted tomatoes and it was deeelish.  I threw together what was hanging around in our fridge (now, sort of working again).  Roasted fennel, creamy avocado, roasted tomatoes and lemon zest quinoa. Perfect.  This weekend has seen us out for walks, more blackberry picking, buying two pairs of shoes for autumn (me, not him), having guilt about buying two pairs of shoes, lots of cooking and eating, burying my head in new cookery books, drinking tea and reading, writing very long sentences, just relaxing.  I think I recommend it.

 

I haven’t specified amounts here as this really is a thrown together salad depending on how many people you are feeding.  I made this for just little old me.

Quinoa

Tomatoes, roasted

Fennel bulb chopped and fronds removed

Lemon zest

Squeeze of lemon juice to taste

Extra virgin olive oil

Avocado peeled and chopped

Preheat oven gas mark 5, 190°C, 375°F

Roast tomatoes using this method.  Spread fennel across a baking tray and roast for approximately 30 minutes.  You will probably need to have the fennel on the top shelf of your oven and the tomatoes below if you are making them at the same time.  You may need to adjust your oven temperature accordingly.  Cook your quinoa according to the pack instructions.  (I really like this video for cooking quinoa from Sarah at My New Roots). Once the quinoa is cooked add the lemon zest and leave it to steam with the lid on until everything else is ready.  When you are ready to serve your salad fluff the quinoa with a fork and combine with the tomatoes, fennel and avocado.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil and eat at room temperature.

 

Roasted Beetroot Salad

Here is the salad I made with the beetroot I roasted.  Travelling home from work on a packed train today, I was lucky enough to get a seat but then found myself sitting next to a girl with a terminally runny nose.  This roasted beetroot salad would go down a treat giving me a good dose of vitamin C to combat those cold germs!  I’m not big on salad dressings, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice is all I need.  The earthy taste of the beetroot together with the toasted walnuts and sweetness of the dried cherries had plenty of flavours going on for me. Throw the ingredients together in a bowl, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and eat.

Beetroot Love

Growing up the only beetroot I saw came precooked in a vacuum pack.  It was the messy pinky, purple thing that was added to salads along with other horrors like pickled onions.  I wasn’t keen.  Now beetroot is the pretty purple vegetable that I can roast, or grate, or use to make soup.  It brightens my plate and tastes slightly sweet, slightly earthy, rich and deep flavoured.  It is also a power house of antioxidants and nutrients, including vitamin C.  Beetroot is back in my good books.  All is forgiven.

Here is my favourite way to cook beetroot.  Preheat oven to Gas Mark 6, 200°C, 400°F.  Scrub your beetroot clean then...

Cooking times may vary depending on the size of the beetroot.  Beetroot salad recipe soon!