Food #9

We need to sit down and properly talk about this salad. Because this salad was a no salad I have ever eaten before type of salad. Spinach, new potatoes, garlic roasted broccoli, hot smoked salmon, a poached egg (perfectly runny) & a huge dollop of hollandaise. Instagram loved this salad. Twitter went nuts over this salad. I'm already thinking about when I can have this salad again. Make this salad. Who cares if it's winter? It's worth it.

One for you paleo people. I got a jar of this Gran Luchito Chilli Paste in my stocking at Christmas and I have been trying to think up different ways of incorporating into my dinners. Step up this Huevos Rancheros recipe. Because breakfast for dinner is the way forward. I served this with some cubed sweet potato (pan-fried in coconut oil with smoked paprika and cumin seeds), some sliced up avocado and a dollop of sour cream. If you are planning a lazy weekend any time soon then this is the brunch for you.

Given just how much I love sushi (and I love sushi), it's fair to say that my attempts at making it so far have been less than successful. However this clever little gadget has changed that forever. Ok so Yo Sushi it ain't. I might drink my miso out of a mug and my presentation skills could do with a little work, but sushi at home on a weeknight? 

Heaven.

Anyone else have an abundance of leftover turkey kicking about their freezer? Me too. This is my attempt to kill two birds with the one stone. 1) use up said turkey and 2) work off some of that quality street muffin top. Just add spinach, griddled halloumi, garlic mushrooms and some sun-dried tomatoes. And FYI: 

 I still don't get you folk who think salads are boring.

This was an accident. A happy accident inspired by a paleo recipe I had been trying the night before. I asked twitter what to do with some leftover cooked lentils I had in the fridge and this was the result. This one went in the handwritten must make again notebook (told ya, geek). Follow these instructions carefully and I promise that you too will be making this again and again and again:

1) Gently fry bacon, mushrooms and red onion in some olive oil with a heap of garlic

2) Once cooked stir through some warmed cooked lentils (I used green but puy would also be yum)

3) Take off the heat and stir through a handful of rocket and some chunks of goats cheese

4) Drizzle over a balsamic reduction and serve. You can make your own but personally I can't see past this one.

I make this Lorraine Pascale recipe all the time however in the above photo I decided to mix it up a bit. I'm wild. I know. I cooked my quinoa in stock, chilli and cumin and then stirred a beaten egg and some spinach through it at the end. If you haven't tried an egg stirred through cooked quinoa then you haven't lived (pipe down until you've tried it). I added the quinoa to half a butternut squash (oven baked for about an hour), then topped it with goats cheese and honey and shoved it under a grill until it was nicely browned. You can see I'm embracing this Meat Free Monday lark again. 

We'll see how long it lasts.

I have an obsession with spelt spaghetti. Although at £4 a packet from Whole Foods, cheap it ain't. So when I do use it I like to do it in style. Step up langoustines still in the freezer that I didn't get round to using over Christmas. I tossed my pasta in lashings of extra virgin, broccoli, capers, anchovies and parsley and served it with a drizzle of truffle oil and the grilled shellfish. But this dish needs work. I feel like it could be amazing but wasn't. I intend to mess about with it this coming week until it is a beautiful thing of complete perfection for you all to try out yourselves. 

I will keep you all posted. 

Don't die of starvation in the meantime.