Go green

Go Green

Please don’t dismiss this smoothie without trying it.   For people who are nervous of veggies in their smoothies this is great starter one. 

The spinach is a really mild leaf ,  you will hardly notice its there.  In parts of South East Asia they view avocados as something fruity and dessert-like rather than the more savoury view we have of it.   Avocado ice-cream is quite popular there and in this recipe it adds a lovely creaminess as well as vitamin e and lots of healthy fats. 

Antioxidants are important to anyone doing exercise as that can help neutralise some of the free radicals produced.  But most importantly it tastes great ,   If you like mojitos you will love these,  okay they are missing the rum but they are really refreshing and good way of sneaking more greens into your day.  

I tend to drink this straight after I come in from my run.  Which sounds way more impressive than it is.  For anyone who runs marathons and such like it would be a walk in the park, but for me its more than enough!  I have some lovely running buddies and a really scenic route down around the sea shore nature reserve out to the Pigeon House lighthouse in Dublin.  Some days are easier than others but having this recipe to whizz up when I get in the door certainly makes it easier.

 

There is no protein in this smoothie so for anyone doing hard core endurance work outs you might need to add some in.  I find I don’t have a huge appetite straight after running but this is perfect and really refreshing.  Then I shower do a bit of work and about half n’ hour later I am more ready for my next breakfast -  usually one of the following in case you are wondering:  poached eggs on homemade  whole meal bread with either tomatoes or baby spinach ,  porridge/home made granola with seeds, yoghurt and berries  or somedays if its very chilly baked beans on wholemeal toast.   

The recipe below serves 2 people.  Use just half the ingredients for one person.  (Just rub some lime juice on the avocado and apple you are not using and put a bowl in the fridge wrapped in cling film to stop them going brown.)     Hopefully this will inspire you to go green ;-)

Ingredients to serve

1 avocado

1 apple – cored and roughly chopped ( leave skin on)

a glass of apple juice ( not from concentrate, use pressed apple juice)

a few Mint leaves (trying growing these in a pot,  even I manage it)

Juice of 1 lime

Large handful of baby spinach leaves (optional)

Method

Put all the ingredients in a tall jug or blender and mix until smooth.  You don’t need any fancy equipment a hand blender will work just fine and much easier to wash up.  

Warrior food - Quinoa and red rice

Warrior food

Seemingly the Aztecs went to war on a bellyful of quinoa and considered it a sacred grain.  It supplies significant protein which is unusual for a food considered a grain. (Though  technically it is not a grain but a seed and related to spinach and swiss chard.)  In addition to supplying protein ,  it is also a complete protein, meaning that it supplies all 9 essential amino acids.    Until recently it was only really available in health food shops but it is now stocked by most major supermarkets.

While I am not a fan of the term “super food” as it seems to imply that only exotic foods that are grown on the top of a mountain in remotest Himalayas, harvested by pink elephants using chopsticks are some how nutritionally better than home grown fruit and vegetables. 

In reality super food is a marketing term usually used to increase sales.  While goji berries are good for us,  wild blackberries are just as good,  but no commercial interest stands to gain from establishing them as a superfood.  Same with homegrown raspberries ,  they are probably far more nutritious than imported blue berries that have spent weeks travelling half way across the world.  

Take the super food label with a pinch of salt,  we should all be eating more fruit and veg but consider seasonal, local ,  sometimes less perfect looking home grown varieties when out shopping.  

So enough of my ranting,   I do think quinoa is one “super” food we should try and include in our diet .   This recipe also includes red rice from France,  quite a nutty rice that makes a change from brown, adds some colour and provides a nice contrast of texture with the fluffy bouncy quinoa.   I adapted this from my favourite Ottolenghi cook book making substitutions with the ingredients I had to hand

Red rice and quinoa salad (adapted from an Ottolenghi recipe)

200g quinoa
200g Camargue red rice
2 small onions, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp olive oil/Donegal rapeseed oil, plus a little extra for frying
Zest of 2 orange
Juice of 2 oranges
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
Handful of dried sour cherries( Ottolenghi recipe used apricots)
20g pistachio nuts lightly toasted and roughly chopped

20g of walnuts
Handful of parsley leaves picked

Crumbled feta - 50 g (optional)
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Roast the pistachios at 170C for 8 minutes,  roast the walnuts for 3 minutes and chop both roughly.  ( use a timer when cooking these ,  nuts burn quite easily and they are expensive,  I tell you this from experience)

2. Put red rice in boiling water and simmer for 25- 30 minutes.  In a separate saucepan put quinoa in boiling water and simmer for 12 minutes.  Drain both, refresh under cold water, and leave in fine sieves to drain.

3. While the grains are cooking, fry the onion in a little olive oil until golden brown. 

Allow to cool. 

4. In a bowl, mix the cooked grains with all the other ingredients including the rest of the olive oil and season generously.   Serve at room temperature.

The feta is an optional extra,  its works quite well with the orangey dressing,(  I think.)  This salad would look lovely also in a big wide bowl served at a buffet lunch.  I ate it with a green leafy salad with asparagus and beetroot.   Lovely filling but light lunch,  you know that lovely balance where you feel full but not heavy.  

Easter lamb - something different to try

Easter salad

The weather is being very kind to us this Easter.  So I was thinking rather than a traditional Lamb roast  for Easter dinner why not try something different and a little better suited to the sunshine. Though now I have said that,  wait for the rain clouds to roll in.  

This recipe also ticks a couple of other boxes ,  its cheap to make,  its reasonably healthy and you won’t need to roll out of your chair after eating it.  Handy also,  if you only have to feed a small number.  The recipe makes plenty for 4 but if you are feeding less than that ,  it tastes just as good the next day cold,  as you dress the cous cous rather than the salad leaves.  

Its based on a recipe by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall but of course,  as usual I couldn’t leave well enough alone and have changed the recipe a little.  Adding in some extra treats like pomegranates (  god,  I really need to let them go....... their is season is well over....I just happened to have one in the house to use up ;-)  )

 I also add extra spice to the meatballs and used pistachio nuts rather than his suggested walnuts ,  not only cos I love the colour but I was all out of walnuts.  Same with Bulgar wheat, so used wholemeal cous cous instead.    I used smoked sea salt for an added dimension but this really isn’t necessary,  common or garden sea salt is just fine.

Happy Easter Dx

Warm Lamb meatball salad

For the meatballs
3 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Large pinch of dried oregano
Large pinch of cinnamon
A few grinds of nutmeg
500g minced lamb
40g fine white breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp pomegranate molasses
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad
150g cous cous - wholemeal if you can get it
2 handfuls rocket or baby spinach or both
3 spring onions, finely chopped
50g pistachios roughly chopped
1 small handful mint leaves, shredded

For the dressing
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses, plus a little more for trickling over the salad
Juice of half a small lemon
1/2 tsp sumac ( this is a lemony middle-eastern spice,  lemon zest can be substituted)
3 - 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the oven to 230C/450F/gas mark 8 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. 

In a frying pan over a medium heat, toast the sesame seeds for about 5 minutes until slightly browned. Tip into a large bowl and set aside.

Sweat the onion in the olive oil in the frying pan over a low heat until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin and coriander, and sauté for a couple of minutes more. Tip into the sesame seed bowl and stir in the dried oregano, cinnamon and nutmeg.

 Add the lamb and breadcrumbs. Whisk the egg with the pomegranate molasses and pour over the lamb. Season generously and mix with your hands until well combined.

Roll the mixture into balls about the size of walnuts – you should have about 18 balls. Place on the baking sheet(s) as you go, making sure they're not crowded together, then bake for about 10- 12 minutes, until golden and just cooked through.

While the meatballs are cooking, make the rest of the salad. Cook the cous cous as directed on packet.  

Put all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake. While the cous cous is still warm, trickle the dressing  and fork it through.

When the meatballs are ready, toss with the cous cous, rocket and/or spinach, spring onions, pistachio and herbs. Trickle over a little more pomegranate molasses, sprinkle on a little more mint and parsley and the pomegranate seeds( arils), and serve.

Check out Wafty Beetroot pop up tea party for something a little different of a saturday afternoon.  Book at :  

www.eventelephant.com/WaftyBHostsTea

Paddys Day - Give cabbage a chance

Paddys Day -  lets revisit Cabbage

 

One thing I have noticed when giving cookery classes is the amount of people who say they hate cabbage.   Irish mammies are great but they did have a tendency to cook the b’jaysus out of cabbage.  

The longer you cook cabbage the more sulfurous it becomes,  this is also the case with broccoli, cauliflower, kale and brussels sprouts amongst others.  The strong smell and soggy texture put  a lot of people off for life.  However lightly blanched or stir fried cabbage is delicious.    Hopefully this recipe for cabbage soup with Asian flavours might persuade you to give cabbage a second chance. As well as tasting delicious ,  its really quick to prepare and very cheap.  

Health wise its great for the liver,  in ancient Egypt they ate loads of cabbage in advance of drinking binges,  So if you are planning on spending your St Paddys day in the pub,  try a bowl of this before you head out.  The sulphur in cabbage is also great for healthy skin, hair and nails. So while cabbage itself might not win any beauty contests,  it might help you win one ;-)

This recipe is inspired by one from Dennis Cotter of Cafe Paradiso in Cork,  I came across it in one of my favourite vegetable cookbooks -  Sarah Ravens Garden Cookbook.  As usual I changed it a little bit,  I used spring onions instead of regular onions as I had some in the fridge to use up.  I also add 1/4 tsp of brown sugar at the end as I thought the asian flavours needed just a tweak to balance them completely.  Happy Paddys day Dxx

Savoy cabbage, spring onion and coriander soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

Large bunch of spring onions/scallions - finely chopped

½ savoy cabbage (about 300g) very finely shredded

1 tbsp olive oil
2 red finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
about 5cm fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
700ml good vegetable stock
400ml tin of coconut milk
bunch of fresh coriander, chopped - stalks n’all ( thats where all the flavour is)
juice of 2 limes

large pinch of palm/brown sugar (optional)
salt and black pepper

Method
1.Heat the oil in a pan, add the cabbage and onion and cook over a moderate heat for a couple of minutes,

2. Add the chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander seeds. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion and cabbage are tender but still have a bite to them.

3.Add hot stock to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the coconut milk, half of the fresh coriander, the lime juice, the sugar and finally salt and pepper.

4. Sprinkle the rest of the coriander over the soup and serve

Sugar overload

I still can’t stop thinking about an article I read in the health section of the Irish Times a couple of weeks ago about the amount of sugar in Uncle Bens sweet and sour sauce. 

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2011/0201/1224288677108.html

So I decided to share 2 recipes for sweet and sour type sauces that are not only better for you but taste much better than any commercial sauce and are very quick to make. 

They still contain sugar and honey so they are not my healthiest recipes but  alot healthier than what you find in the supermarket.    One is a lemony one, courtesy of Bill Granger  and the other is an orangey one that goes lovely with duck.  

Here is a pictorial representation of the amount of sugar in Uncle Bens sweet and sour sauce (500g), 22.5 teaspoons  .  Yikes!!!

I don’t like to think of myself as a food dictator.  I use sugar and butter in my cooking where needed. I love cakes and use both when baking -  Lemon drizzle cake -mmmmmm.   

 But its all this sugar in processed food where you least expect that I really think is contributing to our obesity crisis.   Foods labelled as low fat are often the biggest culprits.  Food companies take all the fat out of products but generally stuff lots of sugar and salt back in so the food will taste of something.   I really passionately believe the easiest way to start eating healthy is to learn to cook for yourself.  By handing over responsibility for what you eat to a profit - driven food conglomerate is just asking for trouble.   To be fair to the food companies they are just trying to make money,  your health is not their concern.  ands its not just Uncle Bens,  loads of processed food is stuffed with sugar and salt.

These recipes are really quick and easy ,  go on...... leave the jar in the supermarket and give it a go.  If you have any problems with any of the recipes don’t hesitate to get in touch.  Happy (and healthy) cooking Dxx

Lemon chicken  

Ingredients (serves 2 - 3 people)

25ml Sunflower oil

1 tbsp Plain flour

½ tsp Chinese five spice powder

Large pinch of  sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 Chicken breasts,

2 Lemons, 1 lemon cut into wedges, 1 lemon for juice only

2cm Fresh root ginger, cut into strips

2 tbsp Clear honey

2 tbsp Light soy sauce

1 tsp light brown soft sugar

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 200C/190C fan/gas 6.

2. Mix the flour, five spice, salt and pepper. Toss the chicken in it to coat, then fry it for 3–5 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper, then put it on a baking tray with the lemon wedges. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes, until cooked

3. Drain all but 2 tbsp oil from the wok. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer to form a glaze.

4. Slice the chicken, drizzle with the glaze, squeeze over the roasted lemon wedges and serve with steamed vegetables and boiled rice

Another sauce I did recently for Easy food Valentines feature was a lovely sweet and sour  type sauce to go with duck.  But I like this with chicken and pork chops aswell.  Just be sure to serve with lots of stir-fried veg for a balanced meal.

Or to make your Orangey sweet and sour sauce for 2 - 3 people:

1.  Pour chicken/vegetable stock (125ml), soy sauce(2 tbsp) and rice wine (2 tbsp) into the pan and then add the tomato puree (1 tsp), chilli powder (pinch), orange juice and zest (1/2 an orange) and honey(2tbsp) . 

2. Mix the sauce together over a high heat, bring to the boil and cook for approximately 2 minutes to 4 minutes until it thickens.

Serve with grilled/roasted chicken/duck breast or pork and plenty of stir fried vegetables. 

Use brown rice to make it even healthier,  try and buy the Tilda brand ( no connection to the company,  just like it   )   its a little more expensive but its worth it.

Pom Poms

There is going to be a pomegranate theme to my next couple of postings. 

Myself and the very talented Jo,  work together on food shoots. Check out her website,  

http://joannemurphyphotography.blogspot.com/

Basically I cook the food and she makes it look incredible.  We generally raid our friends and families cupboards for nice props. 

 We decided just to do these photos for fun as we get a bit more artistic licence that way.  

I love pomegranates and though they are not local,  it is their season and lovely way to brighten up your table this time of year.  They are also really versatile and can be used in savoury and sweet concoctions. And they are good for us too.  To get the pomegranate arils (jewel-like seeds) out, cut your pomegranate in half, the same way as you would if juicing and orange.  Then holding the half over the bowl bang on the skin and the arils will tumble out,  pick out any white pith that falls in.

Another ingredient I am quite partial too which you may now from previous postings is pomegranate molasses.  This has a lovely sweet sour taste that can be used to add depth to sweet or savoury dishes.  Hope you enjoy the next few postings and have a great christmas and New year  Dxx

These buttermilk and ricotta pancakes with frosted red grapes would make a lovely Christmas day brekkie.  Serve the bellinis alongside for a really decadent start to the day.  The ricotta makes the pancakes lighter than just buttermilk ones.  The dip that follows is nice to serve with crudites if people drop by for drinks.

Recipe for light and airy ricotta pancakes with frosted grapes

This recipe is adapted from Anna Hansen of The Modern Pantry - a really lovely restaurant in Clerkenwell, London.

Ingredients

400g red seedless grapes

3 tbsp pomegranate molasses

2 tbsp demerara sugar

2 tbsp of pomegranate seeds 

For the pancakes

150g self-raising flou

½ tsp salt

 25g caster sugar

4 large free-range eggs, separated

185ml buttermilk

65g melted butter

375g ricotta

250g crème fraîche to serve

a dash of Sunflower oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C/fan120°C/gas 1. Put the grapes in a roasting tin just large enough to hold them. Drizzle with the pomegranate molasses, then sprinkle over the sugar and roast for 30-40 minutes. The grapes should just be beginning to break down. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in their juices.  Once cool stir through some pomegranate seeds.

2. Sift the flour, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. Whisk the egg yolks, buttermilk and melted butter and lightly mix into the dry ingredients.

3. Carefully fold in the ricotta, taking care not to break it up too much. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, then, using a metal spoon, carefully fold them into the batter a third at a time.

4. Heat a little butter and oil in a large frying pan, then add 4 dollops (about 2 tbsp for each pancake) of the batter, spaced apart. Flip pancake over and cook on the other side.

5. Place the pancakes on a roasting tim in the oven to continue cooking through as they are quite thick.   Continue to cook the remaining pancakes.

To serve, place 1-3 pancakes on each plate, spoon over the roast grapes and add a dollop of crème fraîche on the side.

Pomegranate bellinis

1 bottle of Prosecco /champagne

Pomegranate juice

Pomegranate seeds ( optional)

Agave syrup

1.Fill your Champagne glass a 1/4 with pomegranate juice ,  add a dash of syrup and a teaspoon of pomegranate seeds.

2.Fill glass up slowly with some bubbly.  Maybe just warn people about the seeds as people sometimes gulp down too quickly.  Merry Christmas

Pomegranate yoghurt dip

1/2 large ripe pomegranate - arils (seeds) only

2 cups plain yogurt

2 scallions, white and tender green, finely chopped

3 tbsp of  finely chopped fresh coriander

1 teaspoon of cumin ground

1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses

To serve: Steamed carrots and broccoli, radishes, pitta crisps and chorizo , 

Method

1.Cut the pomegranate in half horizontally and bang on the half with a wooden spoon to release the seeds.

2.Combine the yogurt, scallions, ground cumin, pomegranate molasses and 2/3 of the coriander in a bowl. Gently fold in all but 1 tablespoons of the pomegranate seeds. Mix it well

3.Transfer the yogurt dip to a glass bowl and garnish with leftover coriander and the reserved pomegranate seeds.

My next posting will look at further uses for pomegranates. I should be all “pomegranted” out at that stage Dxx