Warm Butternut Squash Salad

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of salads. They are so easy to make, and you can create all sorts of flavour and texture combinations. And to top it all, they are healthy and good for you too. So here is one that I made recently, as a comforting treat after a busy week. 

Serves 2

½ butternut squash

4 carrots

a small bunch of fresh lemon thyme

4 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

125g baby button mushrooms

¼ iceberg lettuce

¼ red pointed pepper

½ courgette

100g umbrian lentils

100ml dry white wine

rapeseed oil

freshly ground black pepper

freshly ground sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180^oC. 

While the oven gets warm, peel the butternut squash, slice and chop it into small squares. Wash the carrots and slice them into 2cm pieces. Place both butternut squash and carrots in a baking tray, drizzle with oil and use scissors to chop a bit of lemon thyme over them. Turn to make sure the oil is evenly covered, and place in the oven for 1 hour or so until the pieces are soft. 

Place the lentils in a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Boil for 25 minutes or until soft. Drain.

Peel and finely chop the shallots and garlic, and sauté in a pan with oil. Add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Chop some lemon thyme over it to taste. When the onions are soft, add the white wine, and leave to reduce. Any wine is ok, but I find a dry or at least medium works better as they add more of an edge to the taste. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer, and add the lentils.  

Chop the lettuce and spread out on two plates. Finely slice the red pepper lengthways and spread over the lettuce. Use a julienne slicer and make the courgette into fine strips (if you don’t have a julienne slicer just finely slice it lengthways). Add the courgette to the plates.

Spoon the baked vegetables over the salad, and add the onion and mushroom mix to the top. Sprinkle a few drops of oil over the salad, and serve while it’s warm. 

Banana & Date Smoothie

This smoothie is rather thick and yummy, and can be enjoyed as a breakfast on its own, or maybe as an afternoon snack. It is both filling and full of energy, so should keep you going for a little while. And it is easy to make as well!

2 bananas
5 dates
3 tablespoons soya yoghurt
a pinch of ground cardamom
a pinch of ground cinnamon

Peel the bananas, take the pips out of the dates, and add all ingredients to a food processor or smoothie maker. Whizz until you have a smooth mixture. Pour into a glass, and enjoy!

Shaved Courgette Salad

As it has been very hot here recently, I fancied something quite light and refreshing for my lunch today. And it had to be something that was simple to assemble, as I was far too warm to have any energy for complicated cooking. A look in the fridge revealed that I had the ingredients for a salad, and a few minutes later I was ready to go back out into the sun with my plate of tempting greens.

Serves 1 as a main salad or 2 as a starter / side salad

a handful of spinach leaves

1 medium sized courgette
1/2 red pepper
a handful of tomberries or cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon of pine nuts
the zest of ¼ lime
the juice of ¼ lime
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Place the washed spinach leaves on a plate or in a bowl. Use a mandolin slicer or similar device to finely slice the courgette lengthways and place the strips on top of the spinach leaves. Finely chop the red pepper, and scatter the pieces on top of the courgette. Add the tomberries, or slice a few cherry tomatoes in half and add these. Finally scatter a few pine nuts on top.

Zest a quarter of a lime, and also juice this quarter. Add to a small jar along with the olive oil and maple syrup. Shake well, and pour over your salad.

Asparagus & Samphire Salad

A warming salad can be just the thing to round off a warm summers day. It's light and delicate, easy and quick to make, and gently warms you while the temperature drops and the evening draws in. There are unlimited possibilities for ideas, but here's one which contains samphire, a salty march vegetable that's both tasty and nutritious. And being quite salty, it's perfect for a warm day when you need to replenish some of the salt you lost during the day.

Serves 2

20 cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
200g broadbeans (frozen)
2 bunches asparagus
80g samphire
a few salad leaves
4 stalks of spring onion

Turn your oven on to 180^oC  and slice the tomatoes in half. Place them on a baking tray and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes then remove from the oven.

While the tomatoes are roasting, boil the egg to your preference. I like them hard-boiled but not green, so I boil them for 6 to 7 minutes. Shell your egg and leave it in hand-warm water until you need it.

At the same time as you start boiling the eggs, also bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the broadbeans and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the asparagus, leave to boil for 4 minutes, and finally add the samphire and cook for a further 4 minutes. (If you are using tinned broadbeans, drain them, and add them last when the sampire has only got one more minute to cook.)

Tear the salad leaves into pieces, and place on plates. Finely chop the spring onion and scatter then over the salad leaves. Drain the greens and add to your plates. Then divide the tomatoes evenly, and finally slice the eggs lengthways and place round the edge of the plates.

If you want you could add a little drizzle of olive oil, or even a vinaigrette. The Lemon and Maple syrup vinaigrette goes quite well.

Lemon & Maple Syrup Vinaigrette

The simplest things are often the nicest, so also with vinaigrettes. You can buy expensive bottles containing a long list of ingredients; or you can make your own, much simpler, versions. This particular vinaigrette is a sweet and sour one, perfect with salads containing something bitter, and also perfect with roast vegetables.

Serves 2

15 ml lemon juice (the juice of half a lemon)
5 ml olive oil
10 ml maple syrup

Measure the ingredients and add to a small jar, and mix thoroughly before serving. There is no need to be too worried about exact measurements, as long as you get the proportions more or less right.

Baked beans with balsamic vinegar

Being a big fan of baked beans, I often make my own. They are just as nice as bought ones, but because I make them myself, they are more varied, as I make a different variant each time. I use different types of beans, and I add different things to the tomato sauce. Some times I use tinned beans, and some times I boil dried beans. Dried beans are usually cheaper, but there are times when I’m too lazy to sort them out with soaking and boiling. And then I use tinned beans.

Makes 5 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

800g tinned tomatoes

250g borlotti beans

If using tinned beans, drain them.

If using dried beans, soak and boil them according to instructions on the packet.

Very very finely chop your onion. Warm the oil in a large thick bottomed saucepan, and add the onion. Sweat the onion until it is soft. Add the salt and dried herbs, and stir well until the herbs are evenly distributed. Add the balsamic vinegar, and stir well again.

Chop the tinned tomatoes, and add to the onions. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the beans, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. 

Balsamic Stir-fry

Stir-fry and balsamic vinegar may not have the same ethnic background,  but they do make a good combination. And adding a bit of honey brings out the sweetness of the vegetables. You could experiment with all sorts of flavours, until you find your very own favourite. I often use what comes to hand, it could be that new bottle of raspberry & mint vinegar, or it might be a lemon infused olive oil. But today I opted for an old classic of mine; the balsamic vinegar with honey.

Serves 2

150g rice noodles
250g vegetables
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons runny honey

Boil your noodles according to the instructions on the packet.

Slice your vegetables lengthways - long strips are easier to get hold of with your chopsticks. You can use any combination of vegetables, stir-fries are a brilliant way to use up those little scraps that you have left over in the fridge and don't quite know what to do with. I usually try to include vegetables of different colours; some green, some yellow and some red, as they all bring with them different vitamins. Good examples are: leek, sugar snap peas, mangetous, baby sweetcorn, red peppers, orange peppers, courgette, onions, carrots, broccoli. Or any other vegetables that take your fancy.

Heat the oil in your wok, and add the vegetables. Some might take a bit longer than the rest, like broccoli, so add them first and give them a minute before adding the rest. Turn down the heat, and keep stirring for a few minutes until the veg are cooked. Add the balsamic vinegar and honey, stir until you have an even coating, and serve with the noodles.

Quick Dill-Coated Polenta

I was very lazy last night; I came home late from work, and couldn’t really be bothered cooking anything. The only problem was that I was starving hungry, so something had to be done. As I was rummaging through my food-cupboard I discovered a packet of ready made polenta, and it turned out that I also had some frozen vegetables in the freezer. After some further investigation I decided on dill and parmesan to go with the polenta. The result was surprisingly tasty, and I ended up with a very enjoyable meal.

Serves 2 or 3 as a main course

1 packet ready made polenta (500g) or a similar amount if you make your own from scratch

2 tablespoons fresh dill

½ teaspoon ground sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried chilli

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil

Slice the polenta into 1cm thick slices. Place these in a bowl, and cover with chopped dill, salt, pepper and chilli. Grate the parmesan, and sprinkle it over the polenta. Distribute the herbs, spices and cheese evenly around the polenta, and drizzle the oil over it all. Make sure all the polenta is covered, and leave it to marinade for 30 minutes or so (the longer you leave it the better the flavour, you could even leave it overnight if possible).

Place the polenta in a warn frying pan, pour the remaining marinade over it, and fry on medium heat for approximately 3 minutes on each side.

This can be served with any number of side dishes.

Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash is both healthy and tasty, and is also relatively cheap. Using it in this super quick and easy soup is a cunning way to make a meal in minutes. Adding the hemp seeds at the end adds some omega 3 and amino acids to a soup that is already bursting with vitamin A. 

Serves 2

 

Soup:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion

1 clove garlic

400g butternut squash

500ml vegetable stock

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

⅙ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Optional topping:

2 teaspoons sour cream OR natural yogurt

fresh ground black pepper

fresh or dried herbs

shelled hemp seeds

bread to serve

Finely chop the onion and sauté it in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and sweat for a further minute. Dice the butternut squash and add to the onions. Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Once it has reached boiling point turn the heat down so that the soup is left to simmer. Add the ground coriander and cayenne pepper, and leave to simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until the squash is soft.

Use an electric blender to blend the soup until it is creamy and smooth.

The soup is delicious on its own, but can be made that little bit more special and elegant by adding a dash of sour cream or natural yogurt and a scattering of herbs and hemp seeds on top when serving.

Orange Reduction Sauce

No dinner is complete without a sauce. This one is easy to make, and will cook quietly on its own while you concoct the rest of your meal.

 Serves 2

1 tablespoon butter

1 small onion

2 table spoons flour (I used Doves Farm gluten free plain flour, but you can also use ordinary plain flour)

500 ml orange juice

500 ml vegetable stock

Finely chop the onion, and add to the melted butter. Sauté the onions until soft (about 5 minutes) and add flour. Stir well until all the flour is well mixed in with the onion. Add the orange juice and leave to boil for about 20 minutes or until reduced to half the original amount. Add the vegetable stock, and again boil for about 20 minutes until reduced to half the original amount. Stir occasionally to prevent it sticking to the sides of the pan.

Sauteed Leeks

Leeks are a cheap and healthy ingredient, and they make good companions for many other foods.

 Serves 2 as a side dish

½ leek

3 chestnut mushrooms

a handful of savoy cabbage

100 ml white wine

⅓ tin of haricot beans

1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs

Finely chop the leek into think strips. Also chop the cabbage and mushrooms thinly. Add these to a pan. As they start getting warm, add the wine. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes until soft. Add the beans and herbs and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Nettle Soup

This is a brilliant soup to make in spring when the nettles start springing up everywhere. Not only does it taste great, but it is also very cheap to make.

Make sure the nettles you pick are clean and found away from the busiest roads. Wash them thoroughly before use.

When picking the nettles, wear leather or plastic gloves to stop them from stinging you (I often just use a plastic bag over my hand). Only use the top leaves, as these have the least sting, and they also taste best.

If you don’t have access to nettles, you can use spinach instead.

Serves 4

600 g nettles

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons plain flour OR gluten free flour

1 pinch salt

900 ml vegetable stock

100 ml whipping cream

a handful of fresh sage leaves

freshly ground pepper

Bring a pan of water to the boil, and add your nettles. Cook for 2 minutes, and plunge the nettles into cold water to cool them. The rapid heating and cooling process mean that the sting is removed from the nettles while the taste and structure remain.

While your nettles are cooling, make the soup base; Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour, and mix well. Add the salt, and then carefully mix in the stock, adding a little bit at a time to avoid it clumping. When you have a smooth liquid, add the cream.

Chop your nettles and add to the soup base.

Heat the soup for a couple of minutes while adding ground pepper and sage to taste, but be careful not to let it boil, as this can make the cream split.

This soup is delicious served with boiled eggs and fresh bread.