Green Quiche

Fast food anyone? This quiche only took me about 15 minutes to make, and then it stayed in the oven for 40 minutes while I sat outside reading my book. Not much more effort than calling for a take-away.

You can make two individual quiches like I've done here, or you can make one larger one, it depends on what oven-proof dishes you have handy.

I was lazy today and used ready made (shop-bought) gluten free pastry, but you can make your own instead if you prefer.

This quiche is lovely served with a small side salad.

Serves 2

100g petit pois peas (frozen)
100g broadbeans (frozen)
50g samphire
400g shortcrust pastry
1 tablespoon oil for greasing the dish
1 egg
100ml double cream
250g mozzarella cheese
a large pinch of dried mixed herbs
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Turn the oven on to 180^oC and let it pre-heat while you make the quiche.

Bring water to the boil and add the peas and broadbeans. Let them simmer for 5 minutes before adding the samphire, then simmer for another 4 minutes. Drain.

Grease your oven-proof dish(es) and place the pastry in it. I'm lazy and tend to just press it out into the dish, but you could do it properly and use a rolling pin to roll it flat then add it. Up to you. Make sure the corners don't get too thick and clumpy.

Tear the mozzarella cheese into small pieces and scatter on the base. Grate some black pepper over it, and then add the boiled greens.

Mix the egg and the double cream in a bowl, and add a large pinch of dried mixed herbs. Pour this mixture over the quiches.

Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes until the egg and cream mixture has set.

Purple Potato Salad

You don't necessarily need purple potatoes for this recipe, but I just couldn't resist them last time I went shopping. They are so beautiful and inviting, and so vibrant when you cut into them. Of course they lose a lot of their colour when boiled, but you still end up with thrillingly blue tatties.

I think a potato salad goes with most things; Sunday roast, boiled greens, juicy salad, barbecue, ... and the list goes on. I had mine with boiled asparagus and a salad, and it was delicious.

Serves 2

4 medium size potatoes
2 handfuls of broadbeans (frozen)
2 eggs
4 spring onions
2 tablespoons of sour cream
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
a pinch of freshly ground pepper
a pinch of freshly ground sea salt

Wash your potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces (you're going to chop them up anyway, so you might as well save on cooking time by chopping them before boiling). Place in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to the boil. Add the frozen broadbeans, and let the water get back to boiling. Boil until the potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.

While the potatoes and broadbeans boil, also boil your eggs until they are hard-boiled but not green, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Finely chop the spring onions, and place with the rest of the cold ingredients in a bowl. Drain the boiled veg. and the egg, and shell the egg. Chop the egg into pieces, and mix all the ingredients together.

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.

Strawberry Jam Fairycakes

I made these fairycakes a little while ago when some friends requested cake to feed their helpers when moving house. The only specification was that it should be gluten and nut free, and also fruity. So I did some thinking, and came up with the idea for these. And from the comments I got they seemed to work.

Makes about 20 small fairycakes

For the cake
130g butter
150g granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 pear
1 apple
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon glycerine
200g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g strawberry jam

For the icing
125g butter
150g cream cheese
500g icing sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry jam

Chocolate pieces for decoration


Preheat the oven to 180^oC.

Whisk the butter and sugar until it's white and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix well. Grate the pear and apple and add to the mixture, and also add the vanilla extract and glycerine. Sift in the flour and baking powder and carefully mix until you've got an even mixture. Finally add the strawberry jam. Stir until you have a marbled effect.
Place muffin cases in a cupcake baking tray and scoop the mixture into the cases. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until done. Remove from oven and leave to cool on a cooling rack.

For the icing; mix the butter, cream cheese and icing sugar until you have an even mixture. Split the mixture in 2, and add strawberry jam to one half. Use piping bags to add to the top of the fairycakes. Add chocolate buttons for decoration.

Eat & Drink for £1 a day (£7 a week) - 28 Day Challenge - Lessons Learnt

It's now over a week since the end of the challenge, and I've enjoyed the freedom of choice and flavour every day. So what, if anything, did I learn from my challenge? Well, for a starter I'm glad I don't have to permanently live below the poverty line. It is seriously pants.

I did have enough food, but the weekly shopping had to be done carefully to make sure there was both enough to eat and also some variety in vitamins and proteins, while staying within budget. And once I had done the weekly shopping there was no adding to it for another seven days even if I got a craving or ran out of something.

There were some days when I went to bed hungry, not because there wasn't enough food, but because I couldn't be bothered with eating the food I had in the house.

There were things I had to go without, such as my lovely herbs, spices, oils and tea. Over the years I have built up an extensive stock of spices, oils and vinegars that I use in my cooking. They are replaced as and when needed and most weeks I don't have to spend any money on them, but during the challenge I couldn't use them at all, and I really missed them. I also have a good selection of herbal teas, none of which could be used during the challenge and were much missed.

Being gluten intolerant I couldn't afford bread, flour or pasta, because the gluten free stuff is really expensive, so pasta was one of the first things I had after the challenge ended. I've also done some baking since the end of the challenge, just because I could.

You'd think that on a restricted diet like this I would have lost a lot of weight, but no. Apart from the restrictions in variety, this diet wasn't radically different to what I normally eat, with plenty calories, proteins and carbohydrates.

I'm not sure yet what sort of lasting effect this challenge will have on my eating habits. I may be more imaginative when shopping and planning my meals, I've certainly been more reluctant to spend lots of money on food this last week since the end of the challenge.

I've seen that it is possible to live on a very cheap diet, but it is not something I would wish on anyone. While you can survive perfectly well, there is no room for spontaneity or little treats. There's no extra money for meeting your friends for a coffee in town, or a bag of crisps if you get hungry while out and about. Everything has to be planned and prepared for in advance.

Please help by sponsoring the clean water project for the orphanage Kithoka in Meru, Kenya, http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=stopcocks

Eat & Drink for £1 a day (£7 a week) - 28 Day Challenge - The Day After

I've been waiting for this day for a while now. Looking back over the last four weeks it doesn't feel like I've suffered at all, and the boredom is already forgotten. But I have to admit that I have enjoyed today. What I've eaten wasn't radically different from the challenge-food, but there were some small but significant differences. The food today had Flavours. I had a simple pasta dish for dinner, but there were fresh herbs, good quality olive oil, chilli, freshly ground black pepper, olives, and more. And it's those little things that I've missed while being on this challenge.

I had a mug of hot chocolate this afternoon as well, the first one in four weeks, and it was heavenly. I have to admit that there was almost as much Baileys as hot chocolate, but who's counting. It certainly was delicious.

Please help by sponsoring the clean water project in Meru, Kenya, http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=stopcocks