04May / 2016

Thai Crab Cakes and Papaya Salad

I was a little worried that the crab cakes would come out floppy but once cooled they were the perfect consistency. If you want to eat straight away it might be worth making the crab cakes in advance ready to go in the oven and then leaving them out for half an hour to dry out a little.

Makes 5 lunches

Crab Cakes

75g celeriac

6 lime leaves

zest of 1 1/2 limes

1 stick of lemon grass

3 spring onions

7cm ginger root

2 small/1 big clove of garlic

2 small/1 big chilli

3 170g (120g drained) cans of white crab meat

3 tbsp millet or oats

1 tbsp olive oil

Salad

2 handfuls of bean sprouts

1 – 2 red peppers

1/2 chinese cabbage or any crunchy lettuce

1 papaya

1 bulb of fennel

3 tbsp cashew nuts

1 large handful of coriander leaves

Dressing

1 1/2 limes (use the zested ones as we just need the juice)

3 tbsp coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 170C.
Boil the kettle and heat up a hob.
Remove the tough outer skin of the celeriac and cube into 1cm pieces.
Add to a medium saucepan with boiling water and bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, top and tail and peel the other crab cake ingredients as necessary, except for the millet and the crab. Roughly chop and blitz in a food processor and leave it in there.
Drain the crab and flake into a large bowl.
When the celeriac is done, drain well, pat dry with kitchen roll and add to the food processor and blitz once again. Add the contents of the food processor to the bowl with the millet to soak up some of the moisture. Mix well.
Oil a couple of baking trays. Using your hands shape the crab cake mixture into little patties about 4cm in diameter. Arrange on the baking trays.
Cook for 25 minutes turning halfway through. ( You might want to wash up the bowl at this point unless you have more than one!)
To make the salad, simply chop out the core of the pepper and discard. Cut into 5mm strips and cut each strip in half.
Shred the cabbage.
Cut off the core of the fennel, cut in half lengthways so the pieces aren’t too big and shred using a mandolin.
Remove the skin and the seeds from the papaya and chop into bite sized chunks.
Finely chop the coriander.
Add all the salad ingredients including the bean sprouts and cashews to a large bowl.
Mix the coconut milk and juice of the limes together and use that to dress the salad.
Arrange into bowls/tupperware and top with the crab cakes when you are ready to serve.

Permalink Leave a comment

19Apr / 2016

Broccoli, Almond and Tahini Soup

This soup was a happy accident. I forgot I already bought broccoli and also had some leftover. It’s a great way to use up leftovers and surprisingly filling. I also realised recently that almonds have quite a bit of protein in them so that’s probably the reason. It was delicious! If you have the vegetable stock already made and in the freezer it’s also very quick to make.

Serves 2

2 heads of broccoli

100g whole almonds

10g butter (optional)

1 1/2 tsp tahini

400ml hot vegetable stock

Salt to taste

Cut off the florets from the head of broccoli so you’re just left with the stalks. Set aside.
Trim off any gnarly bits from the stalks and chip into large chunks (5cm long)
Boil and then simmer the stalks and almonds in water with a pinch of salt for 15 minutes.
Add the florets and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
Drain and reserve some of the cooking water. Put the vegetables and nuts back in the pan.
Add the stock and butter and blitz with a hand blender until it is as smooth as you can get it. The almonds will remain a little chunky.
Season to taste. If it’s looking a little thicker than you would like, add in the reserved cooking water.
Swirl in the tahini and serve.

Permalink Leave a comment

17Apr / 2016

Falafel Salad with Tahini Dressing

Apologies for not including the carrot in the picture, it was hiding in my grater and I completely forgot about it!

Makes 5 lunches

Falafel

200g dried chickpeas (makes about 400g when rehydrated)

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

1 handful of fresh flat leaf parsley (leaves of)

1 handful of fresh coriander (leaves of)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

A pinch of cayenne pepper

A pinch of all spice

10 cardamom pods

1 egg

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Salad

1 large carrot

2 red peppers

1/2 cucumber

5 medium sized tomatoes

1/2 red cabbage

70g rocket

15-20 kalamata olives

Dressing

1 lemon

2 1/2 tbsp live full fat yohurt

2 tbsp tahini

To serve

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Soak the chickpeas overnight.
In the morning, wash through twice, put on the boil and simmer for 45 minutes until soft
Put a small frying pan on a medium heat and add 1/2 a tbsp of the oil
Dice the onion and saute on a medium heat for 5 minutes
Crush the garlic clove into the same pan and saute for a further minute
Use a pestle and mortar to grind the cardamom pods and remove the outer shells.
Drain the chickpeas and add with the cooked onion, garlic, cardamom and all the other ingredients for the falafel apart from the oil into a food processor. Blitz until everything is mixed but still slightly chunky.
Shape into small balls (about 4cm in diameter) and flatten slightly to make a patty.
Put a clean frying pan on a medium heat, add a little more oil and fry the falafel. The ones in the centre need only 3 minutes per side but as you move the ones that are done to the edge, the others will need a little longer. Add a little oil at a time so it isn’t soaked up all at once.
Once done leave the falafel to cool.
Slice the red cabbage into wedges and remove the stalk. Using a mandolin on the thinnest setting, shred the cabbage.
Cut the cucumber into 3 and slice each piece lengthways using the mandolin on the thickest setting. Cut each tomato into quarters and remove the stalk. Slide each quarter into 3 slivers.
Peel, top, tail and grate the carrot.
Remove the stalk and seeds from the peppers and dice small (about 5mm)
Squeeze the juice from the lemon into a bowl, add the yoghurt and tahini and stir vigorously.
Arrange the salad (not forgetting the rocket and olives) with the falafel on top, drizzle over the dressing and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.

Permalink Leave a comment

10Apr / 2016

Wholemeal Spelt Tagliatelle with Roasted Aubergine and Tomato

Sorry to labour the point about good quality tomatoes but it makes all the difference! I used wholemeal spelt tagliatelle in this recipe but if you can’t find it, use wholemeal tagliatelle instead, I know they definitely sell it in Sainsbury’s. I managed to find wholemeal spelt pasta in Rome and also in Home Sense! Both times it gave the ingredients in Italian: farina di farro. This is a quick, simple recipe and really good after doing exercise. I garnished with fresh marjoram as I have it growing in my garden and it tastes a little like oregano but this is optional!

Serves 1

1 aubergine

1 tbsp olive oil

2 medium good quality fresh tomatoes

1/2 can good quality chopped tomatoes

2 balls of wholemeal tagliatelle/100g other wholemeal pasta

1 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C
Chop the aubergine into 1cm thick rounds and then cut right across each round 3 times to make into bite sized segments.
Put the aubergine into the medium sized roasting tin and drizzle with the oil and season. Toss through the with your hands to ensure everything is evenly coated.
Put into the oven and set the time for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile chop each tomato into quarters, remove the green part of the core and chop each quarter into 2. Season with salt and pepper.
Boil the kettle for the pasta and preheat a hob at a medium heat (4).
2 minutes before the aubergine timer has finished, add the boiled water and pasta to a medium saucepan on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for 12 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
Once the 10 minutes is up, bring the aubergines out of the oven and use a fish slice to scrape them up and turn them over. Add the fresh tomatoes and return to the oven for 8 minutes.
Once the 8 minutes are up, take the roasting tin out of the oven, pour in the canned tomatoes, mix and return to the oven for 2 minutes.
One the pasta is cooked, drain. Take the tin out of the oven, add the pasta and oregano to the sauce and mix so that the pasta absorbs all of the lovely flavours.
Plate up and enjoy!

Permalink Leave a comment

10Apr / 2016

Mango Chicken Salad with Lime and Coriander Mayonnaise

I will stretch this out to a week’s worth of lunches but you might want to add more chicken and spices if you think you will need more sustenance. When you make mayonnaise from scratch you realise just how much oil is in there! However, you can also make sure that you only put in the oil that you like and have much more control over the flavour. The mint and mango combination reminds me of mojitos – delicious!

Makes 4 – 5 lunches

For the chicken

3 chicken breasts

1 tsp dried thyme

2 small or 1 large clove of garlic

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 pinch of cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

For the lime mayonnaise

1 medium sized egg

1/4 tsp salt

10 tbsp olive oil (or other light oil of your choice)

1/2 lime

1 large handful of coriander leaves

For the salad

1 large red pepper

1 courgette

250g mango chunks

small handful of mint

1/2 lime

100g baby leaf spinach

Preheat the oven to 200C
Put slashes 4 into the chicken each side going against the grain so that it will cook quicker and you can get more flavour into it.
Add the thyme, spices and seasoning and rub into the meat.
Crush over the garlic and push it into the slashes in the meat.
Place the chicken breasts in a small roasting tray and put in the oven for 12 minutes each side.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the mayonnaise.
Crack the egg into a food processor and add the salt. Blend the mixture and add the oil, one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is thickened but not too firm. We want it to be a dressing and not a dipping sauce.
Add the juice from the lime half and coriander and blitz again until all of the ingredients are mixed and the coriander is chopped finely.
Now for the salad. Chop the pepper into 5 mm strips discarding the centre with the seeds. Chop each strip in half so they are easier to eat without chopping.
Chop the courgette lengthways and using a mandolin, thinly slice so that you have half moons.
Finely chop the mint and chop the mango into bite sized chunks if it isn’t small enough already. Add all of the salad ingredients into a bowl. Squeeze in the other half of the lime and toss to dress.
When the time is up, check the chicken is completely cooked through otherwise return it to the oven and keep checking every 2 minutes. It should be white all the way through with no pink.
Leave the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
If you want to serve the chicken warm then chop it into bitesized pieces, otherwise leave it to cool and rip along the grain and the slashes.
Serve the chicken on top of the salad and drizzle over the mayonnaise dressing.

Permalink Leave a comment

09Apr / 2016

Creamy BBQ Beans

Serves 2 as a side

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion

1 clove garlic

1 can haricot/cannelloni beans drained

1/2 can good quality chopped tomatoes

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp mustard powder

pinch of salt and pepper

1 tbsp creme fraiche

1 tbsp of coriander leaves

Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium hob (3)
Finely dice the onion
When the oil is hot, saute the onion for 5-10 minutes until it is soft
Add the garlic and stir fry for 1 minute
Add all of the other ingredients, stir and leave it simmer for 20 minutes to bed in the flavours. Stir every now and then.
Halfway through, if it is getting a little dry, add a splash of recently boiled water
At the end stir in the creme fraiche and top with the coriander leaves. If you don’t like a big hit of coriander you can always chop these finely and add.
Serve with sourdough toast, steam green vegetables or omelette.

Permalink Leave a comment

09Apr / 2016

Chinese Duck and Orange Salad

I don’t personally like raw spring onions so I took them out in the end.

Makes 5 lunches

2 duck breasts

5cm ginger peeled and grated

2 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 tsp chinese 5 spice

4 spring onions (optional)

10 cm cucumber

100g radishes

1 medium carrot

100g baby leaf salad leaves

100g peanuts

4 oranges

Dressing

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 lime

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Heat a medium saucepan on a medium low hob (3). You do not need to add any oil to the pan.
Using a sharp knife, slash the skin of the duck breasts, diagonally 4-5 times. Add the chinese 5 spice and rub in both sides of the breasts
Add the ginger to the duck, it may end up looking a bit “hairy” because of the fibres in the ginger mixed with the spice but you can always remove these bits at the end.
Add the breasts to the pan skin side down and crush the garlic onto the side facing upwards. After 18 minutes, turn and cook for 6 minutes or less if you like it rare. I like mine medium, slightly pink in the middle.
While the duck is cooking, finely slice or mandolin the radishes and spring onion if using. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways and mandolin or finely slice to make half moon shapes.
Peel and grate the carrot.
Blitz the peanuts in the food processor so they are roughly chopped. Keep an eye on them as you don’t want them to be a too small.
Once the duck is cooked, remove it from the pan and put onto a chopping board. Leave it to rest.
Segment the oranges.
Squeeze the juice from the lime into a small bowl and add the sesame seed oil and extra virgin oil to make a dressing. Dress the leaves.
Add the cucumber, radishes and carrot.
Finely slice the duck.
Top the salad with the duck, orange and then peanuts and spring onion if using.

Permalink Leave a comment

28Mar / 2016

Greek inspired chicken salad

Spring 2016 019b.jpg

Serves 2

Chicken

1/2 lemon

2 tbsp full fat probiotic yoghurt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp oregano

1 clove of garlic

2 chicken breasts

Salad:

1/2 romaine/cos lettuce shredded

6cm of cucumber cut into bite sized chunks

5 small-medium tomatoes cut into bite sized chunks

12 purple kalamata olives cut in half

20 pistachios shelled

1 squeeze of lemon juice

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Slash chicken breasts against the grain, place in a sealable tupperware and add the yoghurt, oregano and paprika. Crush in the garlic and squeeze in the lemon. Mix, seal the tub and place in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200C.
After 20 minutes place the chicken into the oven on a baking tray for 12 – 15 minutes each side depending on the size of the chicken breast.
Check it is cooked all the way through and then leave to cool.
Shred or chop into bitesized pieces
Add to the salad ingredients and mix well

Permalink Leave a comment

16Mar / 2016

Moroccan Chicken with Pomegranate Salad

Serves 2 large portions or 3-4 small lunches

Salad

50g Quinoa

1 small handful mint

2 large handfuls parsley

6cm cucumber

4 tbsp pomegranate seeds

2 tbsp flaked almonds

1 lemon

1/2 red onion

4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Chicken

2 tsp each of cumin, coriander and cinnamon

4cm ginger root

2 cloves of garlic

2 oranges (for zest)

2 birds eye chillis

4 tbsp full fat probiotic yoghurt

2 breasts of chicken

4 small good quality tomatoes

1/2 courgette

Salt and Pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

Boil the kettle, heat one hob and preheat the grill
Put the quinoa and 600ml water in a small saucepan on the hob, bring up to the boil and simmer for 23 minutes until the water is absorbed. In the last couple of minutes stir the quinoa to prevent burning. Leave enough time after it is done for it to cool a little.
In a bowl place the cumin, coriander and cinnamon with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Crush in the garlic. Grate in the ginger. Zest the oranges and finely chop the chills and add to the bowl. Finally, add the yoghurt and mix well.
Cut each chicken breast in half lengthways and then into 3-4cm chunks. Add to the yoghurt mix and stir to ensure everything is completely coated.
On a new chopping board, cut the courgette in half lengthways and into 1cm thick half moons. Quarter the tomatoes.
Skewer the ingredients in the following sequence, courgette, chicken, tomato, chicken ending at tomato on each skewer. If you run out of ingredients just ensure that 2 chicken pieces are not directly next to each other. Leave a gap if needs be.
Place under the grill for 8 minutes each side.
Meanwhile, continue with the salad. Finely chop the herbs and onion. Cut the cucumber into 1cm slices and each slice into small cubes.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan over the hob until very light brown.
Add all the ingredients to a bowl reserving some almonds for a topping.
Add the cooled quinoa, juice of the lemon and extra virgin olive oil.
Stir well and serve with the chicken. Sprinkle over the remaining almonds.

Permalink Leave a comment

14Mar / 2016

Thai Style Fish Soup

I investigated my local oriental shop and was amazed at how cheap it was compared to supermarkets. For example, 99p for 4 lemongrass stalks, £2.50 for 250g of cashew nuts. It costs £4.50 for 300g in Sainsbury’s! It was called a wholesaler but you could buy in small quantities.

I made the fish stock in advance as I don’t like processed stock and usually contains yeast.

Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a starter

Base:

1 stalk of lemongrass bashed with a rolling pin

1 birds eye chilli, stalk removed

2cm root ginger peeled

1 clove garlic peeled

1/2 lime (juice from)

3 lime leaves

Coriander stalks from 1 handful of fresh coriander

Herby tops from the fennel bulb

Other ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

2 spring onions

1 fennel bulb

2 pak choi

250g any white fish

1 litre fish stock

1/2 can coconut milk

1/2 lime

Salt and pepper

To serve

1 large handful of beansprouts chopped into thirds

1 large handful fresh coriander leaves chopped

100g chopped cashew nuts

Begin by heating the oil in a large saucepan
Then put all of the base ingredients into a chopper or blender and blitz until fine
Finely slice the spring onion. When the oil is hot, turn down to medium and saute the onion for 5 minutes
Slice the fennel in half lengthways and remove the core from each half. Finely slice and shred the fennel into bite sized strips.
Add to the onion and cook for another 2 minutes
Add the base and saute for 30 seconds longer
Then add the fish stock, coconut milk and juice from the other half of the lime.
Bring to the boil and season to taste
Whilst it is boiling chop the fish into bite sized chunks and thinly slice the pak choi from top to tail and once boiled, turn the soup down to a simmer.
Add the fish and pak choi for 4 minutes until the fish is cooked all the way through but still maintaining its shape.
Take off the heat and add chopped coriander, cashew nuts and beanspouts to serve.

Permalink 1 Comment

← Older posts

Recent Comments

JO on Chicken Fajita Salad for …
Healthy Tacos | Rasp… on Guacamole
Adventures in Sourdo… on Hummus from dried chickpe…
Hummus from dried ch… on Millet and Spelt “Oatcak…
Millet and Spelt… on Guacamole

Archives

May 2016

April 2016

March 2016

February 2016

June 2014

Categories

Breakfast

Dessert Alternatives

Dinner

Lunch

Other

Pescatarian

Side Dish

Snacks

Uncategorized

Vegetarian

Raspberry Sundays

Category Archives: Lunch

Thai Crab Cakes and Papaya Salad