Easy Fresh Panzanella with Mint and Marjoram

What is it? It’s an Italian bread salad, made with hot croutons freshly made, then sauced up with a delicious vinaigrette and fresh veggies and herbs. It’s absolutely delicious on a hot day or easily taken on a picnic. I bet it would even go nicely with a grilled piece of chicken or fish. I got the herbs from my garden but you traditionally use basil, but since I didn’t have any I just improvised and it was fantastic. It’s best when the croutons are fresh hot out of the oven, but just as delicious after resting at room temperature. This recipe makes about 4 servings but you can easily double it for 4 large portions. Enjoy!

Fresh and healthy!

Ingredients:
200g baguette (rustic baguette preferred and slightly stale)
2-3 medium tomatoes
1 small red onion sliced finely
½ yellow pepper sliced
½ red pepper sliced
½ long cucumber
4 tbsp. olive oil (1 for toasting, 3 for dressing)
½ tsp. Dijon mustard
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
Few sprigs mint and marjoram
Salt and pepper

To start:
Cut the baguette into 1x1inch cubes. Make sure your bread is crusty and stale if it isn’t cut into cubes and leave to rest for 1hr before toasting.
Drizzle 1 tbsp. of olive oil around and salt and pepper tossing it with your fingers to combine.
Put in a 200F oven for about 10 minutes, watch them so they don’t burn!

For the Salad:
Dice the tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in nice big chunks.
Make sure the onions are sliced finely.
Finely chop the herbs
Salt and leave aside.

For the Dressing:
Whisk 3 tbsp. oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic until well combined.
Add the herbs and stir.

To Combine the Salad:
When the croutons are hot out of the oven mix them with the vegetables.
Next dress the salad with the dressing and stir to combine.
Stir well so that the dressing gets absorbed by all of the croutons.
Enjoy!

Warm Broad Bean Potato Salad with Mint, Marjoram, Garlic and Lemon

We’re just on the cusp of broad bean season! I can’t wait, I absolutely love broad beans. I got my hands on some of the first ones at the supermarket and they were delicious. They happened to be babies but I love them nice and tender. The only thing about them when they’re that small is they are a bit more tedious to peel. I peeled mine for the purposes of this lovely picture but generally I can’t be bothered to go through all of that! If you want to do it fast, keep your beans in the freezer, boil a kettle and soak them for a few minutes under the boiled water. They should pop out of the case very fast. I wanted to try something fresh, and there’s nothing fresher than fresh boiled new potatoes boiled until al dente and tossed with a few humble ingredients. Simplicity at its best…this serves about four people as a side dish and as a vegetarian main course two. Enjoy!

Broad beans and mint are best friends!

Ingredients:
600g new potatoes boiled till al dente
100g frozen peas
150g broad beans shelled
1 tbsp. good olive oil
Zest of one lemon
Handful mint and marjoram
Garlic cloves
Salt

To Assemble:
Get the potatoes boiling and peel the broad beans.
Zest the lemon and chop the herbs.
Crush as much garlic as you are happy to eat!
Put the frozen peas in a colander and drain the potatoes over them to thaw.
Mix the hot potatoes with the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic and herbs.
Serve immediately, or is okay served room temp or even cold!

Halloumi Stuffed Peppers with a Spicy Tomato Sauce

I love a good vegetarian dish for supper as well as a good Moroccan spiced dish. This fortunately combines both! It’s fairly easy to put together as well, but once it’s together you shove it in the oven and forget about it. There are also a million things you can do with the couscous stuffing. You can eat it as a side by itself or stuff it into a chicken or lamb roulade. You could also integrate other ingredients; the options are endless! I made this dish to serve as a main course for two people making 4-5 peppers. It can easily be a side dish as well, just up the ingredients a bit.

Light lunch, dinner or a side dish!

Ingredients:
1 400g tin of tomatoes
2 medium onions
75g dried whole wheat couscous
225g block halloumi
4 large peppers
3 cloves garlic
50g dried dates
50g dried pistachios
2-4 tbsp. ras el hanout rub
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. olive oil

For the Sauce:
Dice one onion and chop garlic.
In a saucepan combine tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, and 1-2 tbsp. ras el hanout.
Bring to a boil and let it reduce until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes. (You might need to add half can of water)

For the Couscous:
Dice the other onion and garlic.
Slice the dried dates and pistachios.
In a small pan heat the oil and fry the onion, garlic, and dates until soft.
At the end add the pistachios and take off heat.
In a bowl mix the dried couscous with the friend onions, garlic, dates, and pistachios.
Pour about 250ml boiling water on to the couscous, cover with cling film and set aside.

To Assemble:
When the sauce is done take off heat.
Cut the tops off the peppers and remove seeds and veins.
Cut the halloumi in about 24 chunks (six pieces for each pepper)
Place a ladle of sauce at the bottom of the dish.
Place halloumi in each pepper arranged so you can still fill with the couscous mixture.
By now the couscous should be rehydrated and ready to fluff and fill. Use a large table spoon to fill each pepper evenly and repeat for all of the peppers.
Pour the rest of the sauce over the peppers.
Cover with foil and bake for about 45mins-1hr at 180.
Enjoy!

Southern Corn Casserole

First of all, let me start by giving many apologies for not blogging recently! Life has gotten quite busy and is always throwing me new twists and turns. Sometimes things get neglected but hopefully I will be back with enough inspiration to keep everyone’s interests up!

This is a recipe for corn casserole, ever heard of it? It’s a southern thing similar to cornbread but much more moist. I took inspiration from several recipes for this one. I was craving cornbread but one with much more of a light almost soufflé type feel. I dove right in and tried my hand at it without a recipe and I think it came out brilliantly. The great thing about this recipe is that it was made completely with your waist in mind. It’s a very low calorie dish with about 150 calories a portion. Give it a try! It makes an absolutely lovely accompaniment to roasted meats, buffalo wings, and I also split it in half and put it under the grill and served it with a poached egg on top for breakfast. Really delicious! This makes 8 servings. Enjoy!

You can use any type of cheese you want.

Ingredients:
100g yellow cornmeal (or polenta if you have it)
100g plain flour
20g silver spoon half spoon (if using regular sugar use 40g)
160g tinned sweetcorn drained (frozen will work if thawed)
1 400g tin of Green Giant cream style corn
½ c chopped onion
2 chillies – green or red for colour
3 egg whites whipped slightly
150g fat free natural yogurt
100g grated light cheddar
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp. garlic powder
Spray oil.

To start:
Preheat oven to 180C or about 375F
First things first, in a non-stick pan, spray with a few sprays of oil and warm it up.
Dice the onion and chillies and get them in the pan to soften. You don’t have to do this step but it takes the crunch off of the veg.

Moist light little bites.

For the batter:
In a bowl sift together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk three egg whites gently to get some air in them about 1-2 mins.
Add the creamed corn, tinned sweetcorn, and yogurt.
Gently whip up and add the dry ingredients a little at a time.
Add a little more than half the cheese and mix up, saving some for the top.
When all combined add the onions and peppers.

To bake:
Spray a square or rectangle pan with spray oil.
Pour the batter in and spread evenly throughout.
Sprinkle on the remaining cheese.
Place in a hot oven for about 45mins to 1hr. Check with a toothpick for doneness.

Green Jerk Marinade

Jerk seasoning is becoming one of my new favorite experiments. I absolutely love layering spices and herbs and creating depth of flavour. This was such a simple recipe that didn’t take long to put together. I marinated my chicken for a few hours but I suspect you could get away with not marinating it at all because the spices are so pungent. I used bone in chicken breasts which are always a favourite. You could easily use duck or even pork, I think this would go lovely with pork tenderloin or some other light meat. This marinade will do for about 4 chicken breasts. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 tsp. black peppercorns
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2-3inch small stick cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
3-4 tbsp. chopped coriander
Zest of one lime
Juice of one lime (two limes if it’s not juicy)
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 scotch bonnet pepper
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp. salt

To Make:
In a small blender, carefully add all ingredients and blitz up until it’s smooth.
Scrape every little bit out and pour over some meat (if it's too thick add a little water to smooth it out)!
I cooked my chicken breasts for about 35-40 minutes at 200C

Creamy Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole is such an American classic, typically associated with Thanksgiving dinner. I think it’s such a great dish and could be made with any special dinner. I really enjoy making it, but I was tired of the canned cream of mushroom soup that makes the sauce. I sought out recipes, and was open to the idea of something dairy free that didn’t require a load of cream or butter. I stumbled on a few recipes and here is my rendition of what I found! This is mostly adapted from a vegan recipe that got great reviews. Once I tried it I was hooked. This is quite possibly the most delicious green bean casserole I’ve ever made! The pictures show a half version that I did but the recipe is for the full version. I will be making it in the future. This recipe serves about 8. Enjoy.

Ingredients for the Green Beans:
500g-1kg fresh green beans rinsed and chopped (you can use tinned/frozen)
1 whole onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. pepper
Salt to taste

For the Casserole:
1 diced onion
1 diced green bell pepper
2-3 cloves garlic
200g chestnut mushrooms (any mushroom, just not shitake)
1 tsp. fresh thyme
1 glass white wine
Pinch paprika
Olive oil
Fried onions for garnish (the French’s American ones)

For the Sauce:
1 c. unsalted cashews soaked in water for 1hr
1 tsp. corn starch
1c. +1c to thin the sauce vegetable stock (I use marigold vegan bouillon powder)

To start:
Get your cashews soaking immediately.
Make your stock.
Clean up your green beans and get them on to boil.
Boil them for about 30-45 minutes or until very soft.
Drain and set aside.

For the Casserole:
Dice your pepper, onion, garlic and slice the mushrooms.
Make the sauce; in a blender (a small fast one works well for this), blend the soaked cashews, corn starch, and stock for at least 3 minutes until thick and creamy. Set aside.
In a big sauté pan, heat a couple table spoons of oil, and begin to sweat off the onions, and peppers. When the onions are soft, add the mushrooms and the garlic.
Salt the mushrooms, and as they begin to soften add the white wine.
Cook off at a boil for a few minutes.
When the wine is cooked off, turn down the heat and add the sauce and sauté for a few minutes.
Next add the drained green beans, paprika and thyme.
Stir to combine, add more stock as it thickens and let cook for about 2-5 minutes until thick.
Put in a casserole dish and sprinkle with French’s fried onions and bake at 175C or 350F for about 30 minutes.

Cannellini Bean Soup with Sausage and Kale

I absolutely love bean soups, any type I’m there. I got some more kale in the veg box, which I don’t mind so much as long as I have a solution of what to do with it! I had some frozen sausages and some dried cannellini beans and presto, bean soup. I love the smell of beans cooking on the stove all day on a cold day. It’s glorious, and with this recipe there’s plenty to go around and plenty for seconds. Serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
250g dried cannellini beans (half pound)
4 lean sausages, thawed meat removed from casing
2 c chopped kale
4 large carrots
1 large onion
1 tbsp. bouillon powder
2 tbsp. tomato puree (or tomato paste)
2 liters of water and a big pot
Salt + pepper to taste

To cook:
Rinse the beans and put them in a big pot with the 2 liters of water and turn the heat on high.
Peel and chop the onions and toss them in along with the bouillon powder and tomato paste.
Remove the casings from the sausage and dollop the sausage meat all over the pot (not an exact science here!)
Bring up to a boil and then reduce to low, and simmer for about 2-3hrs or until beans are soft.
Salt to taste when they’re done, and voila!

Pork and Prawn Summer Rolls

These are my absolute favourite part of a Vietnamese meal. I always order these before I order my pho or bun thit nuong. I haven’t tried my hand at the fried spring rolls but maybe another time. This is really a no brainer; it’s not difficult at all. I literally can throw these together in a few minutes. The only prep is the vegetables that you want to go inside. I generally get all of the fillings set up and sliced beforehand so that you have everything you need when you’re ready to roll up. They’re such a great snack and actually pretty good for you. This makes 8 rolls. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
8 Sheets of rice paper
100g vermicelli rice noodles
100g cooked prawns
50g pork shoulder
4 spring onions sliced lengthwise
1 large carrot shredded
50g mint leaves
50g coriander leaves
100g shredded iceberg lettuce
Hoisin sauce and srirracha for dipping

To start:
Place all of your veg in little piles on a large plate or cutting board.
To cook the pork and prawns, bring a small pot of water to boil with a dash of salt.
Drop the pork in first and boil for about five minutes, then add the prawns boil until pink about 1 more minute.
Take out the pork and slice very thinly. Set aside.

To assemble:
In a large bowl pour 1 litre of half boiled water from the kettle in. (If you boil the kettle it will be too hot for you to get the rice paper out).
Get one rice paper and dip it into the water until it goes limp in the warm water, and then dunk the rest of the paper in, only for a few seconds or until it becomes very floppy and pliable.
Pull out and place on a plate try to get it as flat as possible.
Start to add some noodles, across the length of it on the edge closest to you, repeat with carrot, herbs, lettuce, shrimp and pork.
Next fold the sides of the rice paper over the mound and tuck and roll it, folding more rice paper inwards as necessary.
The paper sticks to itself so no need to worry about it coming undone.
Repeat for the rest of the rolls and serve with the hoisin sauce and srirracha for dips.

Easy Dal Curry with Veggies

I’ve made this several times, and each time I add something different, and change it up. It’s so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. I enjoy this as a simple bowl of goodness with a piece of naan bread and a dollop of yogurt and chutney. This also makes amazing leftovers so keep them to eat them! The recipe itself serves about 4. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 c. Dal – red split lentils
1 eggplant
1 large onion
1 chili
1 green pepper
3 large tomatoes (can use tinned)
2 medium potatoes
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tbsp. curry paste (I use madras)
3 cups water
1-2 tbsp. butter
Mango chutney
Yogurt

To start:
Chop up the potatoes and add to a large saucepan with the lentils, cumin, half the ginger, coriander, turmeric and water. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to a gentle simmer and cover.

Next:
While that’s cooking, chop/dice the eggplant, onion, green pepper, chilli.
In a pan big enough to hold all the veggies, heat the butter until melted and add the chopped vegetables, and crush in the garlic.
Stir around until veggies become fragrant and then add the curry paste, fenugreek seeds, and remaining ginger, continuously stirring.

To finish:
Once the veggies have softened, add them to the lentils and potatoes and stir around. You may need to add a bit of water if it’s too thick.
Dice the tomatoes and toss in.
Salt to taste and leave to simmer for about 10 more minutes.
Serve hot with naan bread, or rice, and a dollop of chutney and yogurt.

Gina's El Charro Pinto Beans

This is just my recipe for pinto beans, and one of my most requested recipes. This recipe can also be borracho beans, which are traditionally with beer, but I generally prefer without, but still love all of the peppers and onions added to the beans. It just adds a different flavour that I think adds a lot of depth. There are so many things to do with the beans after they’re done cooking so I made a section at the bottom with a few ideas in case you’re stumped for ideas! This will feed a giant crowd, and can also be cut in half for practicality if you don’t have a large pot. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
500g dried pinto beans
½ green bell pepper
1 large onion
200g smoked bacon or ham hock
2 tsp. black pepper
100g ( ¼ can) diced tomatoes
2 jalepenos or chillies
1 bunch of coriander
3 cloves garlic
salt to taste

To start:
Rinse the beans until nice and clean and pick out any stones or anything else foreign.
Place the beans in a large pot of water, cover them by at least 3-4 inches.
Turn on the heat to high.
Chop onions, chillies, bacon, bell pepper, and garlic.
Add to the pan along with the pepper.
Do not add salt! (yet)

To cook:
Bring to a boil and then turn down to a low simmer for about 2.5-4hrs.
They are ready to test at about 2.5hrs and cook to your desired softness.
You can now add salt to taste, as well as the tomatoes.
Add handful of chopped coriander when you take it off the heat.

To EAT: (A new section!)
You can do so many things with these beans.
Eat them as a ‘soup’.
Mash them up and make a bean dip.
Mash and make ‘refried beans’.
Add to a chili.
Have as a side dish to any meat.
Freeze what you won’t use in 2 days. It will be good for several months in the freezer.

Note: As a general rule it’s important not to salt beans at the start of cooking. Waiting until the end lends a softer bean and more flavorful in my opinion.

Incredi'blue' Cheese Coleslaw

This weekend, I decided to do a BBQ dinner inside to compensate for the lack of sunshine! Needless to say it came out pretty good. I made a few dishes that I’ll be blogging about periodically so keep an eye out. I can’t say that I’ve ever eaten this before, but I absolutely love cheese coleslaw sold here in the UK, so I decided that it would be nice to bring it up a notch and add some proper blue cheese and give it some love. Whether you’re interested in blue cheese or not, you can always try this with less blue cheese, or none at all. The recipe for the slaw is great with or without the cheese. Enjoy!

For the dressing:

½ c. mayo

¼ c. non-fat Greek yogurt

¼ c. milk

½ tsp. celery salt

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. grated onion (about ½ onion pulp)

For the Slaw:

½ head white cabbage

½ head (or more) purple cabbage

3 carrots

½ small onion

100g blue cheese (I used Colston Basett)

To Start:

Shred by either knife or food processor, cabbage, carrot. You can do this step far in advance and mix the dressing before you serve.

For the dressing:

I find a jar works perfectly for this recipe, but if you don’t have one, use a wisk in a bowl.

Combine all ingredients (except cheese) until well mixed, and set aside in the fridge until mixing.

To finish, mix slaw and dressing, pouring a little dressing at a time. When you're at the consistancy you like crumble in the cheese. Enjoy!

Moroccan Rice Pilaf

Wow, I have really been on a Moroccan kick lately! I’ve made some really tasty things, and I’m happy to share with you. As promised, the side dish to my Moroccan chicken! It's really easy and simple. It doesn’t even have to go with Moroccan food, as it’s just a lovely side dish for any type of meat or vegetarian dish. Try it out!

Ingredients:

¼ red onions

½ red peppers

½ c frozen broad beans

1 clove garlic

Small handful of pistachios

4 dried whole apricots

3-4 dates

1 c. rice

Pinch of saffron

1 tsp. ras el hanout

1 c. rice

2-3 tbsp. olive oil

To start:

Cook the rice.

When cooking rice a good ratio to remember is 2:1 liquid to dry.  Follow this and you’ll have perfect rice every time.

Put the water and rice on a high heat and let come to a boil, add the ras el hanout and saffron.

When at a vigorous boil, cover and turn down to the lowest setting for about 10-15 minutes.

For the vegetables, fruit and nuts:

Dice the onion, pepper, nuts and dried fruit.

In a sauté pan, heat half the oil and fry until veggies including frozen broad beans, until soft, turn off heat and set aside.

To Finish:

When the rice is cooked thoroughly, add to a large bowl and mix the sautéed vegetables and fruits together adding the rest of the oil to moisten and get it all mixed together.

Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Note: I realize I use a lot of ras el hanout, but I think it's such a fabulous ingredient(s) and shouldn't be missed. Try to find some or make your own. I will post a recipe for it in the future if I find a good one myself.

Simple Spring Courgette and Parmesan Salad

Over the weekend I was looking for a light lunch snack type thing, and I came across a courgette. I had previously eaten raw courgettes, but I decided to do it up into a little salad and it was absolutely delicious. It’s really filling as well. It also helps stretch one ingredient to appeal to the eye as a generous amount of salad. This is very simple to make as it took barely any effort! As you can see the ingredient list quantities is just dependant on how you like it.  Give it a try; I am sure you will thoroughly be surprised.

 

Ingredients:

1 medium courgette (zucchini to anyone else)

Half of a lemon

Sea salt

Black pepper

Handful of parmesan shavings

Extra virgin olive oil

To assemble:

Wash courgette thoroughly, and chop off the ends.

Using a peeler (I have a Y shaped peeler), lay the courgette flat and begin to peel it into long strips.

When you’ve peeled nearly the whole courgette, lay it on a plate and spread out so the ingredients can get in all the crevices.

Shave your parmesan.

Sprinkle with some nice crunchy sea salt and pepper.

Squeeze the lemon all over the courgette strips, next drizzling a couple table spoons of the olive oil on top.

You can toss to combine but I didn’t.

Lastly sprinkle the parmesan shavings and enjoy!