Valentine's Day Meal

Yesterday I cooked a three course meal for my husband and I using the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall book and a great recipe I found on the Good Food Guide website. I was really pleased with the results and the whole cooking process took me under two hours. My husband spent an hour washing up though ;-)

For starters we had the Cambodian Wedding Day Dip. It tasted amazing (better than it looks). It was really creamy with a hint of crunch from the peanut butter. I also made a salad of green beans and roasted tomatoes in a tahini dressing (inspired by H F-W)

For the main meal I made the courgette and rice filo pie, which we had with the remainder salad. I loved this dish as the rice cooks in the courgette juices inside the pie.

Dessert was made using a recipe from the Good Food Guide:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3431/chocolate-brownie-cake

This was made even more calorific with Hagen Daaz chocolate cookie ice cream :-)

Such a lovely evening. And enough food left over to have the exact same meal today. Happy Days!

Hugh F-W - my new crush!

Whilst I haven't abandoned my quest to cook all of Delia's recipes in her Vegetarian book, I have ignored it of late in favour of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Veg book. I followed the TV series and am now addicted to the recipes. I have found them straight forward, very tasty and, most importantly, different from other recipe books. Instead of replacing meat with tofu, or relying heavily on eggs and cheese, he simply celebrates the veg!

Here are a selection of dishes I have made using his cook book:

Stuffed Squash with Leeks

Kale and Mushroom lasagne

Swede speltotto

Spinach, penne and cheese spouffle

And here are some of the dishes my husband has made:

Squash and walnut toastie

Tahini dressed courgette and green bean salad

Kale speltotto with goat's cheese

My husband loves Hugh too.

Winter Warmer

The cold weather has arrived, which is a perfect time for soup!

I love making soup as it's the best way to use up any veg in the house and it's super healthy. For this Winter Warmer I fried off some onions then added chopped sweet potatoes, runner beans, a chopped courgette, two grated parsnips, chick peas, pearl barley and about a litre of veg stock. The secret ingredient that makes the soup spectacular is roasted tomatoes. We tend to make huge batches of roasted tomatoes, blend them up and then freeze them so they are ready for pasta sauces, soups etc.

Grated cheese and some bread on the side completed the dish :-)

The first of many Winter Warmers

Aduki bean burgers with parsnip chips and sweet potato humous

I wanted a super healthy post-run meal that wouldn't take too long to cook, but would still be a bit special with lots of different tastes. I thought that if I put most of the veg in the oven and cooked the beans on the hob I could leave them whilst I ran for 45 minutes and it would all be done by the time I got back (well, I had my husband to prod them every ten minutes or so). It didn't really work out like that as it took about 50 minutes to assemble everything when I got back from the run (with 10 minutes inbetween to have a shower). So, this was a great meal, but potentially not one to do mid-week if you want a run too!






So here's how it goes:

Aduki bean burger

200g aduki beans soaked overnight and then simmered in water for 45 mins
1 onion
2 bulbs of garlic
Handful of almonds
Handful of fresh herbs - your choice
Handful of breadcrumbs
lemon juice
A few cherry tomatoes
Mozzarella cheese (optional - could be made vegan)
Breadcrumbs (to coat)
olive oil to fry

1. Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil
2. Place the onion and garlic mixture with the above ingredients - except for the cheese and breadcrumbs to coat - into a food processor and whizz until the mixture is slightly chunky (you don't want it too smooth)
3. Divide into how ever many burgers you require - I made three big ones, but I think this mixture could make 4 average-sized ones or maybe a few even smaller ones
4. Divide each burger ball into two and make two burger shaped patties (i.e if you are making 3 burgers you will have 6 patties altogether). Then on one of the patties place a spoonful of mozarella cheese and then cover with another pattie, squash slightly and make sure the edges are sealed. Do this for each burger and then roll in breadcrumbs and lightly fry in olive oil.
Make sure they don't stick to the pan (inevitably, a lit bit always does)

Parsnip chips

1. Par-boil some parsnips (however many you want)
2. Lightly shake in a colunder and coat with olive oil, honey and wholegrain mustard
3. Roast in oven for 45 minutes

Sweet potato humous


I can't claim this recipe as my own as I found it on this blog:

http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/2010/10/sweet-potato-hummus.html

Amazing humous - it involves roasting sweet potato in the oven for 45 mins beforehand...


I also roasted some figs and then mixed them with sundried tomatoes and feta cheese. This didn't really go with the meal so I would leave that out in future!

A hunk of wholemeal bread was a lovely finishing touch.

Ratatouille - post run bliss!

I have spent the last few days on holiday (in a very wet and windy Cornwall) and so the training has taken a bit of a hit. I have also consumed too much rich food and am feeling quite sluggish. To combat this (and because the 10k race is THIS Sunday) I have run two days in a row and have made a super healthy dinner that's lasted my husband and I two nights. I also have enough left for lunch tomorrow. :-)

Here's my ratatouille with cous cous and wholemeal flat bread:

It was very easy to make and great for using up vegetables and tinned beans. I just fried off some onions and garlic in a little olive oil, added about 8 chopped tomatoes and a couple of handfuls of chopped runner beans (yep, they are still growing!) and let it all simmer. I also fried up some mushrooms, peppers and courgettes in a separate dish and then added them to the tomato mixture - with all the juices - and some olives and tinned butter beans. To accompany the ratatouille I made some simple cous cous (wholemeal) and chucked in some capers, a tin of sweetcorn and some feta cheese. To finish it off I grilled some flat bread sprinkled with a little extra virgin olive oil, garlic and thyme. Oh, I also added some houmous. It's the kind of dish that lends itself to any vegetables - it just needs a good amount of tomatoes (and I would always go for fresh ones when available)

It tasted great post run and felt healthy too :-)

Runner Beans!

 Well, it seems only right that my first blog about food should be regarding runner beans! Every year my husband and I grow runner beans in our garden - basically they are one of only a selection of veg that we are able to grow really well. And we have hundreds of the little beans every year. I don't find them the most versatile of vegetables, but I have found a great little recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall called: Runner Beans with tomatoes. Here's the link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/05/borlotti-runner-french-bean-recipes?INTCMP=SRCH

It's quite easy to make (which is always a plus point) and goes really well with cous cous.

 Fruits of the garden

The result! Food photography is something I've yet to master...