Healthy Weekday Meal #2........{sweet potato crust quiche}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boyfriend loves quiche but this girlfriend cannot deal with pastry at the moment. The compromise is this rather delicious quiche that tastes pretty awesome. Mine isn't perfect as whilst cooking some of the sweet potato seemed to float up a bit, but hey, it tastes better then a normal quiche in both of our opinion. We can class this one as a winner methinks.

 

Play around with the fillings; I chose the ones I did because I had things to use up in the cupboard

 

 

Quiche with a Sweet Potato Crust

1 sweet potato, very thinly sliced
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 courgette, diced
2 large mushrooms, diced
couple of handfuls spinach, roughly chopped
5 eggs, beaten
splash semi-skimmed milk
small amount of strong cheddar, grated

lightly grease a pie dish with olive oil, layer the bottom and side with the slices of sweet potato. bake in oven at a moderate heat for around 20 minutes. sauté the shallot, courgette and mushrooms in a pan with a little butter (or whatever cooking oil you want) and set aside. beat the eggs with the milk and then add in the veg along with the chopped spinach. pour over the sweet potato crust. bake in the oven for around 40mins until its cooked through. I served this with a tomato salad (tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and S&P)


Linking up with Vicky at Honest Mum
 

The Sandwich Sessions #2........ {Courgette Quesadillas}

My eldest little sister (who blogs over here) gave me the idea a while ago that I should do a blog series on how to take your sandwiches to a whole other level and enjoy this most perfect of comfort foods.

Sandwich #1: Fishfinger sandwich 

Today I'm going for a Mexican toasted sandwich - a quesadilla which I make with courgette, chorizo and lots of gooey melted cheese. You can omit the chorizo if you want this to be vegetarian and you can also omit the spice if you so wish - which I never do! Perfect served with an ice cold beer!

Courgette Quesadillas

1 onion, diced 

50g chorizo, cubed 

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2tsp cumin 

2 tbsp tomato puree 
1 tin black beans, drained 
2 courgettes, sliced on the diagonal 
200g cheddar, grated 
green chilli, finely chopped
handful of coriander
limes
tortillas 

take a griddle pan and heat it up, using a pastry brush, brush the courgette with olive oil and then place them on the pan and char-grill them on each side, set aside to cool, season and squeeze over a bit of lime juice. in a separate pan fry off the onion and chorizo in a pan with a tiny splash of oil. once they have softened add in the garlic, cumin and tomato puree and cook off for a couple of minutes. add in the beans along with around 6 tablespoons of water and mash the beans a bit with a fork until you have a rough paste. in a bowl combine the cheese, chilli and  coriander. take a shallow pan and place on tortilla on one half add the beans, courgette and the cheese and then fold it over, pressing down slightly, cook for a few minutes and then turn over and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side. remove from pan and then repeat until you have used all the ingredients. 

I'm linking this "session" with Honest Mummys blog's link up - Tasty Tuesdays! 

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.

A Monday Roast........{Roast Chicken with Baked Ricotta and Roasted Vegetables}

I went away with work last week. It was at a conference centre where their idea of catering is quantity over quality. I can't really blame them but I have come home three pounds heavier and with a horrible cold that I trying hard to fight it off with flavoursome, healthy and vibrant food and lots of veg (5 members of staff are off sick with it today so I feel kind of hard core going into work today).

Roast chicken soothes my soul and also gives me bones to make chicken broth, which in turn becomes chicken noodle soup which H says is the best medicine in the world. Today I share with you the roast chicken side of things. Nigella Lawson says that every family has their own way of doing chicken, she's right and this is mine. The baked ricotta makes a lovely change from stuffing and its lemony creaminess compliments the chook to perfection as well as going delightfully with the charred vegetables. If I was making a Sunday Roast then I would be doing roast potatoes and all the trimmings but somehow just bunging some veg in the pan makes this a lot less labour intensive and more suited to an weekday evening meal. 

And a Monday roast is never a bad idea. ever. 

Roast Chicken with Baked Ricotta and Roasted Vegetables

For the Roasted Chicken and Vegetables:

1 whole chicken 

1 lemon

sea salt

olive oil

butter (French, as always is best)

rosemary

1/4 butternut squash, cut into large chunks

1 sweet potato, cut into large chunks

1 parsnip, cut into large chunks

1 carrot cut into large chunks

2 small red onion, halved and then cut into large chunks

1/2 courgette cut into large chunks 

cloves of garlic, around six unpeeled but slightly crushed with side of knife

For the Baked Ricotta:

250g Ricotta

Zest of lemon 

1 egg

S&P

parmesan cheese 
1 TBSP EVOO 

put all the vegetables and garlic in the baking tray and splash with olive oil and some S&P. Take the chicken, rub the skin with butter, put half a lemon in the cavity, a quarter on each wing and splash over a bit of olive oil, season. Place on the tray and move the vegetables so they are all around the chicken. Add a couple of sprigs of rosemary. Bake in oven for around 1 1/2 hrs (this will vary on the size of the bird) at around 200oC until the juices run clear and it is nicely browned. Whilst its cooking take a bowl and add the ricotta, egg, and lemon zest, whisk together and add about a TBSP of parmesan cheese, the oil and some seasoning. Place in a small oven proof dish and sprinkle with a bit more parmesan and more black pepper. Bake on the bottom shelf for about 30 minutes until it's golden. Serve the vegetables with the chicken on top and a couple of small slices of the cheese. 

Linking up for the first time with Honest Mum - Thanks for inviting me to join in Tasty Tuesdays! 

And with Delcious Dish Tuesday with Eat Drink and Be Mary and Full Time Mama 

A soothing dinner of sorts..... {Butternut Squash, Blue Cheese and Pancetta Risotto}

Risotto is one of those dishes that works on all occasions: I wouldn't hesitate serving it at a dinner party and yet it's perfect as a weekday after work meal. I remember the first time I learn to make it was in Italy - I stood fascinated as Leilo stirred and chopped and added bits and bobs as he went along. Me scribbling notes in my pad so I could replicate it as home. Risotto is nothing to be scared of it just needs your full attention and once you've got the hang of it the amount of ingredient combinations is endless - this is H's favourite so thus it's what we went with last night. 

Butternut Squash, Blue Cheese and Pancetta Risotto

Serves 4

1/2 butternut squash, cut into large cubes 
100g Pancetta, diced 
2 shallots, finely chopped 
1 clove garlic, finely chopped 
2 leaves of fresh sage (OPTIONAL), finely chopped 
250g arborio rice
300ml white wine 
approx 1.5 pints - 2 pints good quality chicken stock 
75g blue cheese - I used St Agur, cut into large chunks 

Take the cubes of butter nut squash and roast in a little olive oil for approx 40 - 45 mins. in a dry pan cook of the pancetta, you don't need oil as it will release its own fat as it cooks, when it is nice and crisp, approx 10 mins take out of pan with slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper. Cook of the onions and garlic in the remaining pancetta fat. Take a few of the big chunks of the roasted  butternut squash and finely dice them before adding to the pan along with the rice. stir together for a few minutes until the rice is translucent. Add the wine and continue to stir until it has absorbed. Start to add the stock a couple of ladelfuls at a time stirring gently as you go - this is not to be rushed. Once each ladelful has absorbed add another and keep doing this until your rice is cooked and you have a creamy consistency - you may need all the stock, you may not. Once you feel it is ready stir in the pancetta. Take the blue cheese and fold it in gently you want to keep nice oozing chunks of cheese throughout the risotto so don't mix it in vigorously. Serve with the remainder of the roasted butternut squash. 

I'm linking up this post with Alesha and Mary for Delicious Dish Tuesday

 

And  Supergolden bakes!  

A Surprising Taste Sensation {Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates}

Well it's been an eventful weekend of moving house, and finally I feel like we're pretty much there. Moving in with H is a big step for both of us and despite last minute panics, now that I am in I am very excited for our future together as a "cohabiting" couple (eeek, who'd have thought the day would come)!

In honour of this I am blogging one of H's favourite things I make, although to be fair he seems to love everything I put down in front of him, but this is the one he will often talk about! When I first stumbled upon this recipe I was very dubious I'm no lover of goats cheese or dates and yet this starter is both wonderfully unusual as well as tasting fantastic. I have yet to serve this to anyone who has not loved it so I urge you to give it a go – you won’t regret it! These dates also make a fantastic canapé and with just a few ingredients you know you are on to a winner, I often make these with some Gorgonzola and some goats cheese - variety is the spice of life. 

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates  

Dates – I used a large pack (yielded around 25-30 dates), pitted and cut down the middle. 
Approx. 150g of your favourite Goats Cheese (Gorgonzola works just as well)
15 pieces of streaky bacon, cut in half (smoked is best)

This really couldn’t be simpler – just take a small amount of the cheese and stuff it in to the middle of the date. Wrap the bacon around quite tightly and secure with a cocktail stick. Lay on a tray which I recommend you have covered with tin foil (will save on the washing up later). Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes at 180°C, turning once. Allow to cool for approx 5 minutes before serving as they get very hot. I served three stuffed dates on a slice of toasted ciabatta with a dressed salad on the side and it went down a treat - there were plenty leftover for seconds! You can prep these the night / morning before and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to pop them in the oven, making them even easier.  

I'm linking up this post with Alesha for Delicious Dish Tuesday

 

And  Supergolden bakes!  

Grown Up Chicken Nuggets

We have a term in the UK whereby we call comfort food that stems back from our childhood "Nursery Food". It's usually pretty simply in terms of flavour but it evokes that warm comforting feeling as the taste takes us back to a time when life was a lot simpler.

Chicken Nuggets are an example of such food for me, I loved them growing up and although I rarely got them as a child as I grew up into a hormonal 13-14 year old I would sometimes have a plate of chicken dippers with some sour cream as my Saturday evening dinner whilst watching Charmed on the television. 

H loves a chicken nugget too and so I decided to make a more grown up version for us both. When I came across many recipes on Pinterest for Cheesy Ritz Chicken I knew I was on to a winner, because Ritz crackers are a staple in our house - we both love them and we always have a box in the cupboard. Throw cheese into the mix and my boyfriend is in heaven! So yesterday as the wind and rain lashed against the window (British weather) we warmed up with this simple but very tasty dish. H took the leftover salad and nuggets in for his lunch today as well - lucky man. 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner 

Grown Up Chicken Nuggets 

3 Chicken breasts cut into large chunks

10 Ritz crackers, crushed into breadcrumbs with S&P added to taste

grated cheddar cheese 

milk

Line a baking dish with foil and lightly grease it with some oil. Take the pieces of chicken and dunk them in the milk. Press the grated cheese on the top of the piece of chicken and then coat the whole of it in the breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven for about 30-40 mins at 200°C. I served it with a fresh Caesar salad which was lovely. You also could just serve this as one big piece of chicken although if you did that I would recommend you flatten the chicken slightly.  

These nuggets would be great for children as well, and you can easily omit the cheese 

I'm linking up this post with Alesha for Delicious Dish Tuesday

 

And for the first time I'm linking up with Supergolden bakes!  

The Healthy Way to do Chilli

Spicy Turkey Chilli

I've been adjusting my eating habits for a quite a while now and I'm now approaching the two stone mark on my weight loss journey... makes me happy and quite proud, although these things take time. I try not to deprive myself (see my dinner on Monday) as I think that leads to failure and I hate to fail.

One thing I look to do is to make healthy versions of my favourite meals or to replicate great healthy meals that I have out. Chilli is a favourite of mine and I used to love eating a really slow cooked chilli full of beef, chorizo and red wine smothered with sour cream and cheese and preferably served over a jacket potato. Hello calories, fat and carbs....  and I wonder why I put on weight. Duh!

So here is my alternative- a yummy chilli made from turkey mince (which is a great ingredient for all you dieters out there). Mine is pretty spicy so adjust the spice ratios if you want it a bit milder. Feel free to add whatever veggies you like to bulk this up - its a great way to clear the contents of the veg drawer.  I served this with gem lettuce leaves (zero carbs and means I can justify a small sprinkling of cheese) but other healthy alternatives would be a baked Sweet Potato or some Bulgar Wheat.

Turkey Chilli 

Serves around 4 to 6 depending on how hungry people are!
300g Turkey Mince 

2 onion, chopped 

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

1 fresh red chilli, chopped finely

1 Green Pepper & 1/2 Orange Pepper, cut into chunks

1 carrot, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped

2 TBSP Tomato puree 

2 TSP Cumin

2 TSP chilli powder 

2 TSP Paprika 

1 tin chopped tomatoes 

200g Kidney beans, drained 

Olive Oil

S&P

Simmering away in the pan 

Fry off the onion, garlic and chilli, add the pepper, carrot and celery and allow them all to soften. Add the turkey mince and cook for around 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Once the mince is cooked then add the spices and puree and cook for a few minutes. Season. Add tomatoes and then leave to cook for 30 mins or so - simmering over a low heat. Add the drained kidney beans and cook for a further 10 minutes. Serve with gem lettuce leaves, some Greek yoghurt and a sprinkle of cheese. 

Messy but yummy!

This Dish has been picked as a featured favourite for Delicious Dish Tuesday! Thanks so much guys.... I encourage everyone to get involved - its a great link up!

Linking up with Alesha for Delicious Dish Tuesday

Pancakes Galore



Posh Pancakes!!

So it was Shrove Tuesday the other day, otherwise known as Pancake Day, otherwise known as the only day of the year I ever seem to eat pancakes even though I do really like them!

My housemate P and I decided to go a bit upmarket with our pancakes this year - its great living with another foodie, we eat well in our house. This recipe also has by far the easiest method for making hollandaise sauce that I ever tried, bonus! Admittedly this recipe is not healthy in the slightest, but the whole idea of Pancake Day is to use up all your rich food,  I don't have a problem with having this as a treat on a special occasion.

Posh Pancakes: Asparagus and Speck Pancake Recipe

Original recipe that we have tweaked a little can be found here, Thanks Simon!

You will need:
(Pancake batter)
100g flour
2 large eggs
salt
250ml milk
50g melted butter

This made around 8 pancakes, we only used 4 for the recipe and then the rest we had for pudding with brandy cream and golden syrup (yes I'm eating salad all week) 

(hollendaise sauce)

3 large egg yolk

250g butter, melted (the recipe said to use unsalted but we used salted and it is indeed a whole packet of butter)

½ lemon, juiced

S&P

 

8 slices of Speck (the original recipe uses parma ham but we found the speck just has a lovely smokiness that sets this dish off)

8 Asparagus Spears, blanched

Parmesan cheese (this makes all the difference, even though its not in the original recipe)

 

Make your pancake batter by just dumping all the ingredients into a large bowl and whisking until smooth, then cover and put in fridge. Blanch the asparagus spears in boiling salted water for a few minutes and then put in cold water until you need them.

To make the hollendaise; melt the butter by putting it in a microwavable dish and zapping until melted, set aside.  Take the egg yolks, add a tablespoon of cold water in a saucepan and whisk over a very low heat until it becomes smooth and thickens this took a good four to five minutes. Remove from heat and then slowly dribble in the melted butter (making sure you don't get any of the scummy white butter residue) whisking all the time. Once it has all been incorporated add the lemon juice and S&P and whisk again. Set aside.

 

 

Take your asparagus spears and wrap a piece of speck around each spear. Take the pancake batter, put a little butter or oil in the pan and make your pancakes! P was an expert as this and did some great pancake flipping! once your pancake is done take two of the speck wrapped spears of asparagus and place in the middle of the pancake, grate some Parmesan over and then wrap the sides over and place in buttered oven dish. Repeat another 3 times so you have 4 pancakes and then put the dish in the oven for 20 minutes on a moderate heat until the pancakes have crisped up.

Warm the hollendaise sauce through, very gently whisking all the time. Take the pancakes from the oven and add the hollendaise sauce, we think this works better then flash grilling it as the recipe suggests.

 

Confessions of a cheese addict: Mac ‘n’ Cheese

“Life is great. Cheese makes it better.”

Confession time: I have a complete addiction and obsession with cheese. Forget chocolate, crisps, candy etc it’s all about the cheese for me and the stronger the better. It’s my vice and also my love. Therefore this love affair often leads to a ridiculous abundance of cheese in my fridge and just last night I counted no less then 9 different types of cheese – who needs that much cheese you may ask? And in theory I quite agree but in practice I just can’t stop feeding my addiction to the cheese. It’s all about the cheese. Although I have to insert a disclaimer here that I can’t stand goats cheese –urgh just the smell of it makes me queasy

Anyway enough of my love letter to cheese, what it boils down to is this: I had a vat of cheese in my fridge, it was a horrible cold, dark and rainy evening, and my belly was growling at me. Comfort food was needed to soothe my soul and tummy and what better way then the good ole classic Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Now sometimes you want a simple velvety soft almost bland version which is a real comfort but not me, oh no last night I wanted excitement as well as calmness (I know I’m a mass of contradictions) and so here is my very non traditional version of an old classic – go on give it a chance,  its worth it ….

I’m sorry the ingredient measurements are kindda vague; you have to use your instinct with this dish and just keep tasting it!

Mac n Cheese

Around 100g cubed pancetta

Some breadcrumbs (I used some of my beloved panko)

Around 250g macaroni, cooked for around 10 mins, or according to instructions, and drained

1 leek, halved and sliced (omit this if you are a traditionalist because it will give your dish a strong flavour although using leeks is milder then onions)

Around 25 – 30g butter plus little extra for leeks

2 dessert spoons of plain flour

Milk (I think in the end I used around 1- 1 ½ pints of semi skimmed)

2 ½ large handfuls extra mature cheddar, grated (yum)

1 ½ large handfuls mature red leister, grated

1 ½ large handful of Gruyere, grated

Mushroom ketchup (I use this because I have a total aversion to Lea and Perrins)

1 tsp English mustard (most people use powder as it’s milder, but I like a little kick)

Tomato, sliced and quartered (This is optional of course)

So start by putting the pancetta in a pan – you don’t need to have any oil or butter in the pan as it releases its own oil when cooking. Allow it to brown for a little and then add the breadcrumbs for a couple of minutes so that they are toasted light brown.

bacon and breadcrumbs

Set aside in a dish and use some kitchen paper to wipe the pan clean. In the same pan melt a little butter and some olive oil and add in your leeks. Cook them until soft (this took around 5mins). Now being a bit unorthodox and being a bit lazy when it comes to washing up I leave the leeks in the pan and build the cheese sauce around it, this is so easy and trust me the sauce tastes just as good…. So add the butter (around 25g) and let it melt, then add in your flour. Take it off the heat whilst you make sure that the flour and butter are combined to make a paste of sorts (albeit with leeks running through it). Replace the pan on the heat and add the milk bit by bit, combining each time and constantly stirring so that there are no lumps. When you have the white sauce at a thick consistency (think double cream) add in the cheese

Mounds of my favourite thing - cheese!!

Keep stirring and add mustard and the mushroom ketchup. TIP: I added the cheese bit by bit until I had the flavour and texture I wanted.

Cheese sauce with the leeks - lush

You then add your cooked macaroni and make sure it’s all coated with the delicious sauce. Spoon it into an oven proof dish and add the tomatoes round the edge and then cover with the breadcrumbs and pancetta

Ready for the oven

Bake in oven for around 30mins at a moderate heat. Here's the finished product...

Mac n Cheese: my perfect comfort food on a cold day

I served mine with some mange tout but lets be honest you’d be just as good eating it straight out of the dish. This recipe had enough for around 4-5 portions so I also put some in containers for the freezer, ready to pull out for dinner in a hurry. I didn’t put toppings on these as you can add these fresh once it’s defrosted.

NB: I put the bacon on top rather than through the sauce as I hate reheated bacon when it’s in a sauce (odd hey) and I know that with the amount this makes there will be leftovers! Feel free to go for it though. I love the crunch of the breadcrumbs and bacon, and by adding these and the leeks and the tomatoes it brings this dish into centre stage for a lovely, filling supper!

Simple Suppers #1

A lovely old friend of mine asked me recently on twitter to provide some ideas for simple and cheap suppers and usually simple also means that it gets on to the plate pretty darn quickly - which is always a bonus when your so very busy and important.... or maybe that should just be far to exhausted to cook once home from work

Easy Peasy Mushroom Pasta

I really really love pasta; its easy to cook, its originates from my favourite place in the whole world and its just so god damn flexible! So many times when I'm stuck for something to make I turn to the cupboard in the kitchen, which incidentally has around 10 packs of the stuff in it already (bows, spaghetti, shells, multicoloured, spirals ec etc). Why is it whenever your doing the shopping you always believe that you need a bag of pasta? The mind ponders..... anyway my point is pasta is great and every girl should have a range of pasta based dishes in their repertoire!
Now as for this mushroom pasta of mine - its really simple and really clean and also its made with stuff that I usually have kicking around in my fridge meaning that this pasta tends to be a bit of a life saver! Theres no cream which I think can be the common mistake when people try and devise a mushroom based dish, saying that its not to say that this dish wouldn't be lovely if you wanted to add a glug (or two) of double cream, I'm not precious

You will need:
Around half a pack of chestnut mushrooms, sliced (flat mushrooms would also work well, or some exotic mushrooms, put please lets stay away from the boring closed cup variety)
1 onion, chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely (you can add less if your cooking this for your beau.... this of course wasn't the case for me)
glug of white wine (optional)
lots of olive oil ( I used extra virgin as I think it compliments the dish)
some butter
some thyme
Lots of black pepper and some sea salt
Linguine (as much as you need - I always over do it and end up having to bin some...)
Grated Parmesan

So very simply put the pasta on to cook and warm up some glugs of Olive oil with some butter in a pan and add the onion. Gently cook the onions until they are nice and soft and then add the mushrooms, sprinkle of thyme and garlic and allow to cook for a bit. After 5 minutes or so add a glug of wine and cook it almost out. Season with loads of black pepper and some salt. Add a bit more oil or butter if you want to enrich  the sauce a bit. Drain the pasta, add it to the mushroom sauce and toss it all together with some Parmesan (as much as you like)! I served this on a bed of spinach just because I feel guilty if theres no green on my plate..... Bellissimo!

Halloumi Salad with a kick!

As i have mentioned recently, I get a lot of free bananas at work, I also sometimes get some other goodies and this week we had an abundance of asparagus and cherry tomatoes, yum yum! Now I usually like asparagus nice and simple with a bit of butter or even dipped n a boiled egg (lush) but i love it roasted and it compliments the tomatoes perfectly
Now this salad has lots of components but it is just so simple to make and takes no real skill or time - trust me.....

You will need:
Salad leaves - i used rocket and spinach cos that's what I had in the fridge!
Asparagus,  however much you want, with the ends snapped off
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Halloumi, sliced
A bit of red onion sliced thinly
Nandos garlic sauce (optional)
Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil

So place the tomatoes and asparagus in a roasting tin and splash some olive oil over them and season. Put in the oven to roast ( will take around 20-25 mins) keep an eye on them! Rub some of the nandos sauce onto the halloumi (if you so desire, but trust me it tastes great) then fire up a pan (grill pan is best) and let the halloumi cook on each side, be careful it can spit. Whilst that's going on place the salad and onion onto the plate and dribble some olive oil and balsamic vinegar over. top with the asparagus and tomatoes as well as the cheese. I served this with some toasted wholemeal pitta, garlic mayonnaise (just average hellmans with a crushed garlic clove, squeeze of lemon, S&P) and an ice cold beer in my special freezable beer jug (what an awesome invention)