Healthy Weekday Meal #14.........{Miso Salmon with Stir Fry Veg}

This is one of those great meals that takes next to no time to throw together and cooks really quickly as well. Inspired by a meal that my friend Paul ate when we met up for a drink the other day (non-alcoholic for me). Do what I do and buy some of the pouches of microwavable brown rice (50p in Sainsburys) and save yourself even more time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm training hard at the moment and the amount I am exercising has increased beyond recognition. Healthy eating supports all that I am doing and so this meal I have found to be perfect when coming in from a run or a swim - gets to your plate fast and fills you up nicely whilst being extremely good for you! Play around with the veg in this, Paul's one had red peppers in it which as H hates them I didn't bother with but they would work well! The Sriracha adds the heat so add more or less depending on how spicy you want it, this had a nice kick! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miso Salmon with Stir Fry Vegetables

 

2 salmon fillets

 

for the marinade:

4 tbsp. teriyaki sauce

2 tbsp. low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp. Sriracha

1 1/2 tsp. miso paste

 

1 tbsp. coconut oil

4 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

4 large shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 carrot, sliced into ribbons (I used a peeler to do this)

1/2 head of broccoli, sliced into florets

fresh ginger, thumb sized piece finely grated

leaves of 2 pak choi

 

to serve - brown rice (or whatever rice you like or noodles)!

 

place all the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl and whisk together. place the salmon into a oven proof dish and cover with half of the marinade. cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven at about 200oC for about 20mins until the salmon is cooked (I uncovered it for the last 5 mins so the marinade went nice and glazed). In the mean time warm the coconut oil in a wok and then add all of the vegetables apart from the pak choi and cook for a few minutes. add the remaining marinade and the pak choi and cook for a further 4 minutes or so until the vegetables are cooked to your liking. serve over brown rice with the salmon on top.

 

 

A summer soup........{Watercress Soup}

I get so into soups in the summer - so fresh and light and easy! My favourite kind of summer soup is watercress! British watercress is just wonderful and I like to use it as much as possible whilst it is in season. This soup is a really simple and tasty way to highlight the peppery tones of this versatile salad leaf. I’ve kept this one a little bit chunky but you can always blend it until it’s really smooth (and bright green in colour)! Parmesan crisps are so simple but look great – your guests are bound to be impressed when you serve them! You can also serve this hot or cold - its up to you!

Watercress Soup with Parmesan Crisps

1 tbsp unsalted butter
300g watercress, chopped (make sure the stalks are finely chopped and the leaves just roughly chopped)
2 leeks, finely chopped
3 Cyprus potatoes (or other baby potatoes) finely chopped
 500ml chicken or vegetable stock 
Double cream 

75g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated 

For the parmesan crisps – line a baking tray with grease proof paper. Take the grated cheese and make rounded mounds (they don’t spread too much so you can make the circles quite close together). Pop in the oven (200°C) for 10 minutes or until they are nicely golden. Allow to cool before serving. 

For the soup - Melt the butter and add in the leek and potatoes, cook until soft and the leeks are going translucent. Add in the watercress and stock and simmer for around 10 minutes. Take off the heat and then blend until you have the consistency you like. Add in a splash of cream and season. Serve with a swirl of cream and with the parmesan crisps on the side.

Healthy Weekday Meal #11..........{Fish Tacos with Avocado and Mango Salsa)

Sometimes it's really hard to get back into the swing of things after a holiday and this blog has probably been the biggest casualty of my holiday blues. Oh how I miss the sun and sea and food of Italy. At some point I will actually get round to doing a post on our time there but until then i have a lovely healthy fish taco recipe for you which is perfect after a week of eating a lot of pasta!

Fish Tacos with Avocado and Mango Salsa

selection of fish - I used a piece of cod and a couple of handfuls of raw prawns 

2 limes

2 large tomatoes, diced 

1 medium avocado, diced

1 red onion, diced

1/2 red chilli, finely diced

1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped 

1/2 mango, cubed

lettuce leaves

mini tortillas 

season the fish and squeeze over juice of 1/2 lime, cook of in the coconut oil and leave aside to cool. in separate bowl mix together the tomatoes, avocado, onion, chilli, coriander and mango. season and squeeze over the juice of 1 lime. warm the tortillas in a dry pan. take the tortilla wrap, add a handful of lettuce leaves, a couple of spoonfuls of the salsa and then top with the fish (which i shredded up a bit). Serve 

When your BBF goes on a holiday......{Thai Seafood Salad}

 

 

So my wonderful bestie Paul decided to go and spend a month in Laos, lucky thing! Although I missed him desperately, I loved that every few days he managed to find the time to send me pictures such as these;

 

 

 

Hard life huh?! He also sent me a recipe - the boy knows me too well! He proclaimed it the best salad he had ever eaten so I had to give it a go myself - it was delicious with lovely fresh flavours which are perfect for the summer. I changed a few things, his version had mint leaves instead of coriander and the shallots were in the salad not in the dressing, but hey recipes are meant to be played around with. How lucky I am that even when half way across the world lovely Paul things of me and this little blog of mine! And whilst I love the photos and food stories and the fact he is having amazing experiences I am so very pleased that he is home safe and sound, he has been missed.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul's Thai style Seafood Salad

 

 

salad:
 

2 gem lettuces, roughly chopped 

small bunch of coriander, chopped

3 spring onions, sliced

200g cooked basmati rice

1 dsp coconut oil

3 squid, cut into rings

10 unpeeled raw prawns (shell on)

dressing:
 

4tbsp fish sauce

1 shallot, very finely sliced

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 1/2 lemons (or limes), juice of

1 dsp light brown sugar

 

 

put all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and mix together. warm coconut oil and toast the rice - you want to be scraping it off the pan so it looks crusty and it is more flaky then rice grains - don't be scared you need to just stand by the pan and keep on scraping and stirring. remove from pan and set aside. in the same pan cook the seafood, this takes no time at all about 5 mins for the prawns and 3 mins for the squid. take the salad vegetables and herbs and toss in a large bowl with 1/2 the dressing. and the toasted rice. divide the salad in two bowls and top with the seafood and the remaining dressing. Eat outside, dreaming of warmer climates and beautiful beaches!

Today I'm linking up with the lovely Miriam at Farm girl

When fish is this fresh........{Grilled Prawns)

We spent my birthday weekend in one of my favourite places - Whitstable. One of the things I love about it is the fresh seafood market. Often one of the evenings of the weekend we will forgo the many places to eat and just buy some fresh fish from the market and go home and cook it.

We were spoilt for choice at the market this week and after a lot of umming and ahhing I picked up some lovely fresh large prawns. You could do so much with these BUT I can't help thinking when fish is this fresh you are best keeping it really simple. I went for a really simple but fragrant butter made with juicy garlic and lots of fresh parsley which soaked into the prawns under the grill. We lingered over them with a fresh glass of prosecco and some fresh baked bread from one of the deli's. There's nothing better in life really.  

Grilled Prawns with Garlic & Parsley Butter

10 large raw prawns 

50g good quality butter

1/2 shallot, finely chopped 

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

handful parsley, finely chopped 

1 tbsp olive oil

if you wish take the heads of the prawns and then de-vein them and then butterfly them so they lie flat on the grill. mix all of the other ingredients together and then dollop it in the prawns. place under the grill for around 10-15 minutes until the prawns are nice and pink and cooked through. How easy is that?!

The days are getting colder.........{Stuffed Pumpkins and Baked Cod)

I swear it hasn't stopped raining in London/ Kent the last few days. I'm kind of over grey skies and drizzle, and I'm a self confessed rain lover. I don't know it's all a bit melancholy. Still December is just around the corner and then the dark nights become more magical and there's the end in sight to the exhaustion of work as we have the Christmas holiday to look forward to.  On these dark and cold autumn nights we need food that will nourish and warm us. These pumpkins are a great side dish although we sometimes have them on their own. I did them with cod this time as I like cod and chorizo - they go well together. If you are vegetarian feel free to omit the chorizo the stuffing will work just as well without it

Stuffed Pumpkins and Baked Cod

1 medium pumpkin, cut in half and de-seeded
1/2 aubergine, diced finely
1 small onion, diced finely
1/4 orange pepper, diced finely
50g chorizo, diced finely
3 tbsp. breadcrumbs, I used panko
50g blue cheese, gorgonzola works well here
sprinkling of grated parmesan or cheddar
2 pieces of fresh cod
couple of lemon slices

take the two halves of pumpkin rub them all over with olive oil and bake for about 30mins. in a pan cook the onion and pepper with chorizo, remove from the pan and add a couple of glugs of olive oil and then cook the aubergine. once the aubergine is cooked then add the bread crumbs and the other already cooked ingredients. take the pumpkin from the oven and scoop out the flesh so there is a cm left(this will help you pumpkin remain sturdy) add the flesh chopped up a bit into your stuffing mix and crumble in the blue cheese. give the stuffing a good mix and then stuff the pumpkins, top with grated cheese and cook on a medium to high oven for approx. 45mins until lightly brown on top. I cooked the cod in a bag made from greaseproof paper (as I did in this recipe here) I just seasoned the fish well and laid it on a couple of slices of fresh lemon, wrapped it in its parcel and cooked for around 25mins.

Autumn Roast ....... {Pork Belly, Baked Beetroot, Pumpkin Gratin, Candid Apples}

Autumn walks are my favourite walks and walks that end at the Farmers Market make me even happier . Seeing all the autumn produce makes me happy - the pumpkins all different shapes and sizes, kentish cobnuts ready to roast, beetroots all ugly on the outside but different vivid colours on the inside. Taking home our wares and producing a wonderful Autumn Roast. Each component is simple, you let the fresh flavours of the meat and vegetables speak for themselves.

Pork Belly, Baked Beetroot, Pumpkin Gratin, Candid Apples

I'll just talk you through what I did..... In my spice blender I whizzed up some bay leaves, pepper corns, 4 cloves of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. After patting the belly pork down I rubbed all of this concoction into the skin (Make sure the skin is scored in to diamonds). salt liberally. place in oven directly on to the wire rack with a tray of water below - this will steam the bottom. Cook on high heat for 45 mins and then turn down for a further hour or so until the met is cooked how you like it. 

For the candid apples I placed butter and sugar in a pan with a bit of stock and brandy, let that reduce and added in the apples, letting them get lovely and candid and then setting aside to cool. 

Taking the beetroot I peeled them, cut them in to quarters and  roasted them with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, they took over an hour to cook through

I used half a small pumpkin, peeled and sliced, seasoned and layered in to a pan buttered pan. covered it with cream that had warmed with a clove of garlic and a grating of nutmeg. I then baked it for about 45 mins. 

The cabbage was savoy that I cooked with pancetta and a splash of wine and a good grind of black pepper

A good roast can take time but its well worth it every now and again for the end result