Roasted Cauliflower + Chickpeas with Mustard and Parsley

The bloggers cardinal sin - not posting for 3 months! Eeeeeek. No excuses other than the seesaw of loving/ hating social media but the table has turned and gearing up to begin regular posts again..... honest!! So to ease me back in offering this perfect recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's book. Light but filling, super easy and very cheap - bonus! It's all about mustard here at the moment. I can't get enough of it so this really hits the spot!

1 can chickpeas

1 head cauliflower

extra virgin olive Oil

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 handful of parsley

Preheat the oven to 200c 

Toss the chickpeas and cauliflower together in a large roasting pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of salt.Roast stirring now and then, until everything is dark brown and the cauliflower is quite soft (about 45 mins).

Meanwhile whisk together the mustards, vinegar and 4 tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper. While the chickpeas and cauliflower are still warm toss them in the dressing and stir in the parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yoghurt Pot Cake

I know the current culinary trend is for no sugar, no gluten, no dairy, no fun.... well, this is not that. Taken from Nigellisima it is full of everything bad and will have you smiling a sugary grin. It is plain but perfect as well as super easy. There is no need for scales as you use the yogurt pot as you measure and believe me when I say I am a cr*p baker. NOTHING I bake rises properly but this cake always does - it truly is fool proof....

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150 grams plain yoghurt
150 ml vegetable oil (plus some for greasing)
3 eggs
250 grams caster sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of ½ unwaxed lemon
175 grams plain flour
75 grams cornflour
1 teaspoon icing sugar (to serve)

This cake best in a ring shape, ciambella (pronounced “chambella”) as it’s known in Italy, and a 22cm/9-inch savarin or ring mould is a fairly standard baking tin here in the UK, too, but do use a 22 or 23cm/9-inch springform tin if that’s easier for you: the cake won’t be as high, but don’t use a smaller diameter because, without the hole in the middle, the cake wouldn’t cook properly in the centre if the tin were any deeper.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4/350°F, and grease your ring mould (or springform tin); you can use vegetable oil for this or a special baking spray.
2. Separate the eggs and put the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another. Whisk the whites until you have firm peaks, then set aside while you get on with the rest of the cake.
3. Scrape the yogurt out of its pot and on to the egg yolks, then use the emptied yogurt pot to measure out your other ingredients – so, next, add 2 pots (just) of sugar and whisk with the egg yolks and yogurt until airy and light.
4. Now fill your yogurt pot up with vegetable oil and, beating all the while, slowly add this to the egg yolk mixture. Then beat in 2 capfuls/teaspoons of vanilla extract and the zest of half a lemon.
5. Still beating, add 2 yogurt potfuls of flour followed by 1 yogurt potful of cornflour or potato starch, then scrape down and fold in with a rubber or silicone spatula. Now, with a large metal spoon, dollop in the whisked egg whites, and fold them in with the spatula.
6. Fill the prepared ring mould with the smooth, soft batter – it will come right to the top – and bake in the oven for 30–35 minutes; when cooked, the sides will be coming away at the edges and a cake tester will come out clean.
7. Remove it from the oven to a wire rack, letting the cake sit in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out.
8. Once cooled (although I love this still slightly warm), transfer it to a serving plate or stand and dust with icing sugar. Traditionally, this cake would be placed on the plate with the smooth side uppermost, but I rather like it turned back up the way it was baked, with its rustic cracks and uneven surface visible.

Brown Risotto Rice

This is my new store cupboard gem. Biona's Brown Risotto Rice - we have, over the last 6 months, switched nearly all our white floured foods (pasta, bread, rice etc) to brown ones for obvious health benefits. The kids didnt even really notice and brown 'stuff' is so much tastier so it has been an easy switch all in all. However, and it's a big however, I have not been able to find an arborio risotto rice alternative. We love risotto and so this Biona one is perfect. After a lot of trial and error I have found a cooking technique that works for us - it has still got that thick soupy consistency of conventional risotto, is healthier and best of all requires none of that tedious constant stirring!

1) Soak 250g of the rice in water overnight. (The packet says to do this but I ALWAYS forget so at most it gets 10 minutes and a lot of rinsing - seems ok.....)

2) Fry 1 white onion and 2 celery sticks in olive oil in a large heavy based casserole pan.

3) Add the rice to the onion and celery along with 250ml white wine and 600ml of chicken stock.

4)) Bring to the boil and gently simmer for about 45 minutes. You may have to top up the liquid with water if the rice is not cooked when it has absorbed all the stock.

5) Flavour at will - this one is pea, mint and pancetta but anything goes.... mushroom; goats cheese, pine nuts and kale; prawns, pea and mint; butternut squash and parmesan......

I buy it from our local health food shop for £2.60 for 500g but you can buy in bulk on Amazon

Worth a go!

Chocolate Chia Cookies

I am a huge cliche. It's true. ANY fad, diet, craze going I will be the first in line to join up with such gusto I truly believe this is the one that will make me glow internally and look like Natalie Portman externally. Well...... the current vegan, coconut cooking oil, nutribullet and of course chia seed hype sweeping the nation has me firmly in it's coils (if you ignore the wine, steak and cadburys creme eggs, of course). These cookies from Deliciously Ella were this weeks experiment and I have to say they are really quite tasty and the fact they are guilt free makes them more tasty. Lenny's reaction of "can't I have a custard creme" slightly burst the healthy living bubble but hey.... small steps.....

Makes 10 cookies

- 1 cup of almonds

- 1 cup of hazelnuts

- 1 cup of quinoa or buckwheat flour

- 1/3 of a cup of pure maple syrup

- 1/4 of a cup of medjool dates

- 1/4 of a cup of water

- 3 heaped tablespoons of raw cacao powder

- 3 tablespoons of chia seeds

- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Simply place the nuts into a food processor and blend for a minute or two until a flour forms, then add all of the remaining ingredients and blend again until a sticky cookie dough forms.

Scoop about a tablespoon into your hands, roll it into a ball and then flatten it using a spatula onto the baking tray so that they are nice and thin. Keep doing this until all the cookies are on the tray.

Bake for about twenty minutes at 180C, until the cookies are firm and starting to slightly brown. Then leave them to cool for a few minutes before enjoying!

Wahaca's Soft Baked Feta

If this baby comes out looking like hunk of emmental, a slice of applewood cheddar or a crumble of feta I would not be at all suprised. Cheese. I cannot get enough of it. On crackers, with apple slices, melted on toast.... yes please.... this is my latest fancy. It is taken from Wahaca Mexican Food at Home. If you have not been to Wahaca in London yet - do - it is lovely and fairly easy on the bank balance - lots of spice, tang and salsa and a favourite to meet my girlfriends in as it's platter sharing which I love. In the meantime try this at home - spicey, salty and zesty - just scoop it up with a crusty loaf.....

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

Drain and slice the feta and lay it out in an earthenware bowl wide enough to hold the 

slices in a single layer.

Finely chop the garlic and the herbs, and roughly chop the chillies. Sprinkle them over the 

feta with the lime juice and zest. Finally, pour over the extra virgin olive oil.

Bake for 10–15 minutes, until the cheese is soft and squidgy and smelling irresistible.

Chickpea, Carrot & Coriander Falafels

For every 10 'brown rice' mega healthy recipes I try out on the kids they actually try, eat and enjoy 1. This a recent hit. Super easy, very cheap and I have been known to eat a whole batch to myself. It is taken from A Girl Called Jack which is awesome for veggie pulse and grain based dishes. Of course my boys smother theirs in sweet mango chutney but other than that they really are health food disguised as mini burgers.

Makes 12ish falafels (4–6 per person) - I have never made this stretch to this many..... 8 is my limit!

1 onion
1 carrot
a generous shake of ground cumin
1 tablespoon oil, plus 2 tablespoons to fry the falafel
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed thoroughly
a handful of chopped parsley
a handful of chopped coriander
1 tablespoon flour, plus extra to shape the falafel

Peel and finely chop the onion and wash and grate the carrot.

Put in a frying pan, add the cumin and fry together in the 1 tablespoon of oil over a low heat for a few minutes until softened.

Tip the cooked onion and carrot into a large mixing bowl along with the chickpeas, add the chopped parsley and coriander and stir in the flour. Mash it all together with a potato masher or fork until the chickpeas have broken down into a mush. The oil from the carrots and onion will help combine the chickpeas together, but you may need to add up to 2 tablespoons of water so the mixture can be shaped.

Flour your hands and mould the mixture into about 12 golf ball shapes. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the sauté pan and fry the balls until golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside – this will take about 10 minutes.

Tip: Instead of making falafels, shape the mixture into 4 burger patties and fry on each side. These are delicious with mango chutney or ketchup.

Pearled Spelt Risotto with Watercress, Lemon and Goat's Cheese

I am staring out the window at a dismal grey and rainy day - not even the steamy mug of Earl Grey and Christmas cake to my left are cutting through my dreary mood. So my mind is turning to dinner and this is just the ticket. A lovely warming risotto made with spelt for extra nutty richness. It is taken from my new favourite cookery book Take One Pot - it's full of family friendly easy to follow and hearty food - right up my strada. I have tweeked the original recipe a teeny tiny bit as I don't like it too lemony and for me risotto should also have celery but hey - each to their own! So put your slippers on, pour yourself a large Malbec and settle into risotto and some TV trash - yep, I'm rock and roll.

prep time 10 minutes cook time 30 minutes

serves 4

25g butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

(for mine I use 2 sticks of celery too)

200g pearled spelt (alternatively, use risotto rice)

125ml dry white wine

1 litre hot vegetable stock

75g bunch of watercress, washed and roughly chopped (I add a little bit more - more like 120g)

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon (I only use juice of 1/2 a lemon)

50g Parmesan, grated

A few rounds of goat’s cheese, to serve

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Heat half of the butter and all the oil in a large pan. Add the chopped onion and garlic (and celery if using) and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the pearled spelt (or risotto rice) and stir for 1 minute until the grains are coated in the buttery oil.

2 Pour in the wine and simmer over a high heat until nearly all has evaporated. A word of warning: there are times for drinking alcohol, but not within a risotto – take the time to allow the alcohol to evaporate.

3 Reduce the heat to gentle and begin to add the hot stock, a ladleful at a time, letting each ladleful be absorbed before adding the next. Keep adding the stock and stirring constantly until all of the liquid has been absorbed. This will take 18–20 minutes.

4 Remove the risotto from the heat and add the remaining butter, the chopped watercress, lemon zest and juice and the Parmesan. Stir until the watercress has just wilted, check for seasoning, and then serve with a round or two of goat’s cheese resting on top.

Chicken Sweetcorn Chowder

This is my latest hit with the boys. Although having said this tonight they both pushed the bowls away and growled at me. Nice. Does anyone else's children show no rhyme nor reason as to food they love/ hate one day to the next?! It drives me so crazy when this happens I have to bite my lip not to completely loose my temper and walk out of the front door. When this episode was followed by grapes and yoghurt simply being thrown on the floor it was curtains to supper and a series of V deep breaths and calming thoughts for this mummy. GRRRRRRR.

Luckily is is totally yummy for grown ups too. It is based largely on a Jamie Oliver recipe from his Saving with Jamie series. Yes, he is my hero. I cannot link the recipe to his though as I only saw it on the TV once, cannot find it on the internet and do not have the book (Father Christmas?!) so he may well do things a little differently. I know he serves it with Matzo crackers but I never seem to have any to hand!

Its great a use of leftover roast chook and super quick and easy.

Ingredients
Left over chicken
800g Chicken Stock
100g Single cream
2 Carrots
1 Potato
1 Onion
300g Frozen Sweetcorn
6 Rashers streaky bacon
Bunch of parsley
Salt and Pepper

Sweat the onions and carrot in olive oil for 5 minutes. Cut and cube the potato and add to the pan with the chicken stock. Simmer over a medium heat until the potato is cooked. Fry the bacon until crispy and set aside. Add chicken, cream and sweetcorn to the soup and simmer for 5 more minutes. Season to taste. Serve with a chopped fresh parsley and crumble the crispy bacon on top.

Jools' Pregnant Pasta - sausage and fennel

This is my ultimate in comfort food. I am a pasta fiend and given the chance (and the metabolism) would eat it for every meal. It is taken from Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals. His wife Jools craved this when pregnant and, having a bun in the oven myself, I completely understand. It is delicious - meaty, sweet and tangy yet with a subtle heat from the chilli and fragrant warmth from the fennel..... okay, okay I'm not going to get a job writing for Masterchef anytime soon but you get the picture.....

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 4 spring onions
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick of celery
• 1-2 fresh red chillies
• 1 x 6-pack of good-quality sausages (approx. 400g)
• 1 heaped teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 500g dried penne
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• A few sprigs of Greek basil, or regular basil

 - Trim the spring onions, carrot and celery. Roughly chop all the vegetables, then blitz in the food processor with the chillies (stalks removed). Add the sausages, 1 heaped teaspoon of fennel seeds and 1 teaspoon of oregano. Keep pulsing until well mixed, then spoon this mixture into the hot frying pan with a lug of olive oil, breaking it up and stirring as you go. Keep checking on it and stirring while you get on with other jobs. Put a large deep saucepan on a low heat and fill with boiled water. Fill and reboil the kettle.

- Top up the saucepan with more boiled water if needed. Season well then add the penne and cook according to packet instructions, with the lid askew.

- Crush 4 unpeeled cloves of garlic into the sausage mixture and stir in 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and the tinned tomatoes. Add a little of the starchy cooking water from the pasta to loosen if needed.

- Drain the pasta, reserving about a wineglass worth of the cooking water. Tip the pasta into the pan of sauce and give it a gentle stir, adding enough of the cooking water to bring it to a silky consistency. Taste, correct the seasoning, then tip into a large serving bowl and take straight to the table with the rest of the Parmesan for grating over. Scatter over a few basil leaves.

Nice Ice

I would love to say that my children live without sugar, additives and E numbers but that would be a bare faced lie. A big one. They have far too many biscuits, chuppa chups, haribo.... so when I am feeling particularly guilty I turn to rather more wholesome folk for advice - this recipe is from Gwyneth Paltrow's book It's All Good - lollies with 3 ingredients that are indeed all good. Perfect for sunny treats this weekend.

Disclaimer: Lentil and the Mint takes no responsibility for clothes ruined in the eating of these lollies and highly recommends consuming while naked. 


Ingredients

2 Cups of Frozen Fruit
2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk

Method

Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor and serve immediately or pour into lolly moulds and put in the freezer.

Puffy Pea and Potato Pie

Ok, so this dish does not photograph that well (the pic in the book looked rather more impressive) but you will have to trust me that this pie taste lip smackin' good. It is from Jamie Oliver's Save with Jamie - he slices a lid off his cooked pastry leaving delicate layers to fill and encase - I, having tried this several times and getting more and more frustrated with the dogs dinner mess I made, now simply pile the filling on top of the pastry - tastes just as good and gives a more 'rustic' (uch um) feel.......

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp plain flour, plus extra for dusting

375g ready –rolled puff pastry

1 large egg – beaten in a bowl

1 onion – finely chopped

Olive oil

1 large potato – peeled & diced

500g frozen peas

1 large knob of unsalted butter

½ ice berg lettuce – finely shredded

1 vegetable stock cube

1 tsp English mustard

1 tsp mint sauce

4 heaped teaspoons cottage cheese

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. On a floured surface, unroll the puff pastry (it should roughly be 25cm x 40cm), then transfer it to a large baking tray. Score a 3 cm border on to the pastry (do not cut all the way through), then lightly score the inner section in a large criss-cross pattern. 

Egg wash the whole thing and bake for about 17 minutes or until golden, risen and cooked through. Once done, remove from the oven let it cool slightly.

Using a sharp knife, lightly score round the border, cutting through the top few layers of pastry only, then use a fish slice to carefully lift up and remove the inner section (like a lid), leaving a layer of pastry at the bottom, and put to one side.

Cook the finely chopped onions with a lug of olive oil, about 10 minutes, or until soft, stirring know and then, add the peeled and diced potatoes to the pan with the peas, butter and flour. Add the shredded lettuce and cook for another 10 minutes, then crumble in the stock cube and pour in 300ml of boiling water. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Stir in the mustard and mint sauce, then season with salt and pepper. 

Pour evenly in the pastry case, ripple through the cottage cheese, then carefully top with the pastry lid and serve with a big salad for lunch or dinner

Baby Potatoes with Asparagus and Caper Dressing

Capers are my new love. Can't get enough of 'em. This salad is delicious and perfect for summer - serve it with a barbied lamb steak for a match made in heaven or for a more instant hit try smoked mackerel. Or, like me, make it the main event with a nice crisp chablis.... mmmmwwwarrrrrr.....

The recipe is taken from What Katie Ate.

Ingredients

10 small/medium sized baby potatoes
1 tsp fine salt
1 large bunch thin asparagus (about 10 spears), woody ends removed, spears cut into 3/4″ pieces
Handful of watercress leaves, washed and torn

Caper Dressing

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c salted capers, rinsed and finely chopped
Handful of dill fronds, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Half-fill a large saucepan with cold water and add potatoes and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked through. Drain and leave to cool completely before cutting into halves or quarters (depending on their size – you want bite sized pieces).

Meanwhile, half fill a medium sized saucepan with water, bring to a boil and add the asparagus. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then drain and plunge into a bowl of iced water.

To make the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Place the potatoes and asparagus in a large bowl, then coat with half the dressing. Turn out onto a large, flat serving platter. Dress with the torn watercress leaves, drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve.

No cook picky lunch

In our family, immediate and wider, a platter of bits and bobs plucked from the fridge and presented as lunch is called 'picky'. Choose your own combination and eat in any order. It is a favourite of all ages particularly frazzled mums who are constantly wondering whether they can really present their children with yet another cheese sandwich at midday (me?! No......) We use compartmentalised plastic plates (rather like those used in prisons?!) which Lenny loves as he can legitimately eat the yoghurt raisons first.... true, I am lucky to have very greedy boys who will always return for the ham and cucumber but it may be worth a go even for the fussy eaters - who knows, remove some rules and see if they take to eating falafel on their own? OK, if not, cheese sarnie it is.

Here are some no-cook (aside from boiling the odd egg or toasting a pitta) options for your picky.....

Fig rolls, tomatoes, turkey, orange, cheese scone/ falafel, yoghurt with honey and apricots, yellow pepper, plums, hard boiled egg/ tuna sweetcorn mayonnaise, toast, dried apricots, raspberries, edam/ babybel, cucumber, water biscuits, ham, apple slices

corn on the cob, strawberries, pitta, carrots, homous/ cocktail sausages, cherry tomatoes, grapes, red leicester, fruit pot/ prawn cocktail/ avocado/ blueberries/ bread sticks/ petit filous/ cream cheese crackers, asparagus, sweet chinese chicken pieces, peach

raisons, babycorn, mozarella balls, melon, quiche/ eggy bread, red pepper, kiwi, mango, cheese straws/ red grapes, banana, green pepper, pizza, yoghurt coated raisons/ ritz biscuits, watermelon, pear, cherries, sausage rolls

Coconut and Lime Loaf

Here is a guilt-free (well, if you ignore the sugar...) cake to add to your sweet treat repetoire. I cannot pretend to understand the ins and outs of baking but I think it replaces fat with 0% greek yoghurt.... but whatever the secret is, it's a goodun'! It is taken from Lorraine Pascale's A Lighter Way to Bake....

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• Ingredients
• 175g (6oz) plain flour
• 50g (2oz) desiccated coconut
• 1 tsp baking powder
• tiny pinch of salt
• 1 medium egg
• 200g (7oz) no-fat Greek yogurt
• 75g (3oz) soft light brown sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lime (wash in hot soapy water to get rid of the wax before using)
• seeds from 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract

        Lime Sugar Syrup

• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lime (washed and dried)

-Preheat the oven to 180C (fan 160C), 350F, gas mark 4 and line a 22cm x 10cm (81⁄2 in x 4in) loaf tin with baking parchment. I make sure that the paper overlaps a little bit, which makes it
much easier to remove the loaf from the tin once it is cooked.

-Toss the flour, coconut, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Beat the egg lightly in a medium bowl, and then whisk in the yogurt, sugar, lime juice and zest and the vanilla seeds or extract. Mix the wet mixture into the dry ingredients to give a wet dropping consistency. It is important to do this with as few stirs as possible so the flour doesn’t get overworked, which would result in quite a tough loaf. Pour the mixture into the tin and spread and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 35–40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

-Make the lime sugar syrup about 5 minutes before the loaf is baked. Put the sugar and lime juice in a small pan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Then turn up the heat and let it bubble away for 30 seconds to 1 minute until syrupy. Remove from the heat, stir the lime zest in and set aside to infuse and thicken up a little more.

-Once the loaf is cooked, remove from the oven and brush with the lime sugar syrup. Leave the loaf to stand in the tin for a few minutes before lifting out and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy warm or cold. 

Baked Risotto with Cauliflower, Gruyere & Crisp Breadcrumbs

As tasty as risotto is I often just cannot be bothered to be tied to the hob with the constant stirring. This baked version really is super easy, cheap and great comfort food. It is from Home Made Winter - these seasonal cookery books are beautiful. I serve it with green salad and watercress and a glass of merlot and job's a goodun.

Ingredients
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tbsp olive oil
2 small onions, diced
200g arborio rice
125ml white wine
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
200g gruyere
breadcrumbs

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.

Boil the cauliflower for 10 mins until al dente and drain. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet and saute the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the wine and stock and bring to the boil. Stir in the cauliflower, cheese and put the lid on.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until all the liquid has gone.

Uncover the skillet 5-10 minutes before end of cooking time and sprinkle on the breadcrmbs. Bake uncovered until it has browned and serve.

Pancake Day Everyday

Happy Shrove Tuesday! I hope you have stocked up on lemons, sugar and maple syrup in preparation? Pancakes are rather a regular here I'm afraid - a weekend treat for all. Rather than phaff around making the mix up everytime I have a kilner jar of ready made pancake mix (well, the dry ingredients) on the shelf ready to go. It is a Nigella recipe for little drop scone style pancakes I can highly recommend:

Pancake Mix

600g Flour
3 X 15ml tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
40g caster sugar

Mix together and store in a jar. When you want to make the pancakes use:

150g mix (I just use 1 measuring cup)
1 egg
250ml milk
1 15ml tablespoon melted butter

Yum and a great way to add healthy fruit to kids brekkie (and unhealthy syrup!)

Green Minestrone with Watercress Pesto

This soup is a winner. It's from Lindsey Bareham's One Pot Wonder (yes, I know... I'm obsessed). It is packed full of green goodies which I am insisting on in this house at the moment as we have been plagued, yes plagued with coughs and colds! Plus is yummy.

- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 400g podded broad beans (I used frozen)
- 2 shallots
- 25g butter
- 1 fennel bulb
- 125g spring onions
- 100g asparagus tips
- 150g courgettes
- 1 vegetable or chicken stock cube
- 150g podded peas or frozen petit pois
- 400g tin of flageolet beans
- a handful of spinach
- a handful of flat parsley
- grated parmesan to serve

for the pesto:
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 90g watercress
- 3 cloves garlic
- 9 tablespoons of the best olive oil
- 3 tablespoons parmesan

Bring a litre of salted water to the boil in a spacious saucepan and add the broad beans. The minute the rise to the surface scoop them into a colander and reserve the cooking water in a jug. Peel and finely chop the shallots and soften them in the pan with the butter. Quarter the fennel lengthways cut out the solid core and slice very thinly along the quarters. Trim and slice the spring onions chunkily. Stir the fennel into the shallots and cook gently while you cut up the asparagus. Trim and quarter the courgettes lengthways and dice them. Add the spring onions to the fennel and shallots and soften for a minute. Add the reserved water and crumble in the stock cube. Add the peas, courgettes, and asparagus. Bring to the boil and add the drained flageolets, broad beans and spinach. Adjust the seasoning to taste and stir in the parsley.

To make the pesto add all the ingredients to the blender and whizz.

Serve the soup with a dollop of the pesto and grated parmesan.

Spice Roasted Carrots with Paneer and Sesame

This is this weeks awesome recipe find. Spicy, sweet, fresh and not too fiddly. Try it, it has shot to no 1 spot in my salad repetoire. It says it serves 4-6 but we had it on its own for lunch and it just did 2 so be generous!

It is taken from another awesome find Do Ahead Dinner by James Ramsden - I HATE actually having to cook when we have friends over. Who wants to miss out on the chat by being in the kitchen?! So this has some great ideas to make yummy and unusual dishes beforehand and look like you've just rustled them up!

SERVES 4-6

1tbsp coriander seeds
1tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp black onion seeds
1 tbsp runny honey
4tbsp groundnut oil
1kg carrots - peeled and sliced thickly at an angle
2 red onions - peeled and sliced
2 green chillies
salt and pepper
200g paneer cheese - cubed
fresh coriander

For the dressing:

juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp groundnut oil
a few shakes of toasted sesame oil

- Preheat the oven to 220 c/ 424 f/ Gas Mark 7
- Put a dry frying pan over a medium heat and add the coriander and cumin seeds. Toast for a minute. Do the same with the sesame and onion seeds and crush them all roughly together. Mix in the honey and oil and coat the carrots, onion and chillies and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 40 mins.
- Heat some oil in a frying pan and cook the paneer until crisp and golden. Add to the cooked veg.
- Mix the dressing and toss the salad.
- Mix in some chopped fresh coriander and serve.

yum.

Hic...cup...... the cocktails that have my mouth watering this party season.

At the moment me and the boys are tucked up on the sofa watching 101 Dalmations. It is the house of Snot. Just when I was smuggly thinking we had escaped the latest batch of illness striking down those around us we are hit head on...... however, this has not dulled my Christmas party spirit (no pun intended!) and I have been devising a list of Christmas treats I must stock up on over the next few weeks.... panatone, turkish delight, bendicks bitter mints being just a few but shining on top of the list are these scrummy looking cocktails - well, come on, if you can't indulge at Christmas when can you?!

(Pics - taken from Pinterest)

Roasted Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad

This recipe is very simple but combines three of my current obsessions in one fell swoop - beetroot, goats cheese and a (slighty altered) recipe by the beautiful Rachel Khoo. I am very late on the uptake of Little Paris Kitchen but have SKY +'ed the series and am making my way through the scrummy recipes. I LOVE it and hope Father Christmas is reading this as the book is on my Xmas wish list! Rachel uses a dill vinaigrette in her recipe but I am not keen on dill so have replaced it with basil. The beetroot is the king of the root veg- so colourful and sweet and the perfect partner for salty goats cheese. I have used the absolutely delicious Stawley cheese which is made by some friends of ours locally at Hill Farm Dairy - it really is a cut above the rest so if you get the chance definitely pick some up.

200g Puy lentils
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
1-2 cooked beetroot, peeled
200g goats’ cheese
extra virgin olive oil

For the Basil vinaigrette
½ bunch of basil
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
½ tsp salt
a pinch of sugar

1. Wash the lentils under cold running water, then put them into a large pan with the bay leaf, thyme and a generous pinch of salt. Cover the lentils with at least double their volume of boiling water and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.

2. Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette by whizzing the basil in a blender with all the other ingredients.

3 Chop the raw beetroot into chunks and roast oven for half an hour - allow to cool

4 To assemble, arrange the lentils in the bowl, crumble over the goats’ cheese and drizzle with the vinaigrette and a little extra-virgin olive oil; finish with a sprinkling of salt and crack of pepper.