Ratatouille

Try this tasty, fresh dish as an alternative to regular vegetables on the side or as a great accompaniment to meat and fish. I love it as a meal in itself but it's also wonderful with white fish or steak. I like my ratatouille to be quite saucy -if you prefer it dryer, don't add the tin of tomatoes. I think i'll be making plenty of this in the run-up to summer - I tend to make it in big batches and eat it with a variety of things throughout the week. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 Aubergines
2 courgettes
1 red onion
2 red peppers (you can use yellow pepper as well if you wish)
4 plum tomatoes
1/2 tin of chopped tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
oil
basil
Tsp caster sugar

1. Chop the aubergine and courgette lengthways and then into chunks. Chop the peppers into slices and place vegetables into roasting tray. Season with salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of oil. Place into oven on 180 degrees and roast for 40 mins or until soft. Stir occasionally.

2. Chop the onion and fry gently. Add the garlic and some chopped basil leaves.

3. Using a knife, make a cross on the bottom of each tomato and add to a bowl of boiling water. Leave for 1 minute and then remove and remove the skin (this should be easy, if not, place back in the water for a bit longer)

4. Chop the tomatoes and place into the pan with the onions and garlic. Add the chopped tomatoes and the sugar.

5. Once the vegetables are roasted remove from the oven and place into the tomato sauce. Season to taste and leave on a low heat for a further 15 minutes.

6. Serve with a sprig of basil.

Dish of the Week - Puy Lentil and Salmon Salad

For a low-carb, filling meal this salad is delicious. Get a big salmon fillet and cook as normal (i cooked it in foil with oil, chilli and garlic) and add to these fresh ingredients and hey presto you have yourself a meal which is healthy and guilt-free. The dressing really adds some lovely flavour so don't be put off by the fact it's a salad - the lentils bulk it up a bit! 

Ingredients

Dressing:

Olives (I used green but you can use any you like)
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
Fresh basil leaves (chopped)
Capers (I love capers so use quite a lot but it's up to you how many you want to put in)

Salad:

Green beans
2-4 eggs (depending on how many you're feeding!)
1 or 2 pouches/tins of puy lentils
4 tomatoes (roughly chopped)
Salmon fillets (1 per head, or if you want to use less you can flake it through the salad)
Rocket
Romaine Lettuce (chopped)

1. Cook the salmon how you like. I cook mine in foil on 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

2. Slice the olives in half and put in a small bowl. Add the remaining dressing ingredients

3. Hard boil the eggs. Boil the beans in a separate pan until al dente.

4. Microwave the lentils for 2 minutes (or according to instructions on pack). Pour into a bowl or dish you are using to serve. Add lettuce, rocket, tomatoes and beans and add the dressing. Mix well.

5. Place salmon fillets and the eggs (quartered) on top of the salad. 



I adapted this recipe from BBC Good Food.

Dish of the Week - The Hairy Bikers' Baked Fish with Chorizo Crust

 

Quick, easy, tasty and best of all, low in calories, this dish is a great, healthy mid-week supper. Ideal for a cozy night in or as a lovely main for a dinner party. I used Haddock as I prefer it to cod but any thick white fish will do. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 x 150g thick white fish fillets, such as haddock or cod, skinned
• freshly squeezed juice and finely grated zest of ½ large lime (I used lemon and it worked fine)
• oil, for spraying
• 100g chorizo sausage, skinned and cut into 1.5cm slices
• 2 thick slices day-old white bread (about 100g), crusts removed
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced ( I used 2, you can never have enough garlic in my opinion)
• 15g bunch of flatleaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• extra lime wedges, to serve
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Put the fish in a non-metallic bowl and sprinkle the lime juice over it. Toss lightly, then cover and chill while you make the crust.

2. Lightly mist a medium non-stick frying pan with oil and fry the chorizo over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes or until the fat begins to run, stirring regularly. Tear the bread into pieces (you should have about 65g after you’ve removed the crusts) and add it to the pan. Toss the bread with the chorizo and cook for 3 minutes more until the pieces are stained all over with the red fat, stirring. Tip it all on to a plate and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. 

3. Transfer the bread and chorizo to a food processor and blitz into crumbs. Add the garlic, lime zest, parsley, Parmesan, a teaspoon of the salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper, then process again to combine the ingredients thoroughly.

4. Lightly mist a baking tray with oil and put the fish, skin-side down, on the tray with the marinating juices. Spoon the chorizo mixture on top of the fish fillets and press it on firmly. Bake for 15–18 minutes until the fish is cooked and the crust is crisp.

5. Put the fish on warm plates, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with a little more salt if you like. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing.

6. I served with salad and new potatoes.

Find the Hairy Bikers recipe here

Dish of the Week - Kedgeree

Kedgeree is simply delicious and yet is so often forgotten about as a tasty, versatile dish that can be served for brunch, lunch or dinner. Not too heavy but rich in flavour - this is the perfect meal for a spring evening washed down with a glass of white wine.

Serves 4

400g smoked haddock
1 mug and a quarter of basmati or long grain rice (i don't do it by grams! Just use a standard mug)
300 ml milk
3 bay leaves
4 eggs
1 large onion
3 spring onions
2 cloves of garlic
peas (as many as you want)
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp curry powder
coriander
parsley
lemon

1. To start, heat some oil in a small non-stick pan. Once hot add in the rice and a bay leaf and stir to fully coat it in the oil. Next add the same amount of water as rice and bring to the boil. Once it has reached boiling point turn down to the lowest heat. Put a lid on and leave for about 15 minutes. DO NOT STIR!! Try the rice on the top and if that is cooked it is done. If unsure, carefully check if there is any water left in the bottom, if not rice should be cooked, if there is it needs to be left until all water is gone. 

2. Put the milk and remaining bay leaves in a frying pan and add the haddock, skin side up. Leave over a low heat for about 10 minutes until the fish breaks apart easily. Remove it from the milk and remove the skin. Flake the fish into pieces and set aside.

3. Boil the eggs so that they are hard boiled. Incase you don't have your own method, click here for Delia's. She knows what she's talking about.

4. Finely chop the spanish onion and 2 spring onions and in the pan you used to poach the fish add oil and fry them. Next cut the garlic and add that. Be careful to have it on a low enough heat with enough oil so it doesn't burn the garlic. 

5. Once softened add the turmeric, curry powder, peas, coriander and parsley (chopped).  Add the fish and rice and stir it all together so it is a vibrant yellow colour.

6. Quarter the eggs and place on top. Chop and add the final spring onion (optional if you don't like raw spring onion!) and finally sprinkle a bit more coriander liberally over the top.

7. Serve with lemon and enjoy!

Dish of the Week - Nigella's Slut's Spaghetti (Pasta Puttanesca)

Image from grubdaily.com

For a quick, tasty and cheap mid-week supper look no further than Nigella's Slut's Spaghetti. This dish is packed with flavour and so easy to make - it's just what you want from a mid-week dinner. I didn't change anything with this recipe but I don't advise you use any more anchovies than suggested otherwise it gets pretty salty. Also I would use linguine or tagliatelle - no reason to be limited to spaghetti! Any anchovy haters out there - I promise it doesn't taste like anchovy! I hate them but I adore this dish.

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 8 anchovies (drained and finely chopped)

• 2 cloves garlic (peeled and finely sliced, crushed or grated

• ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes (or 30ml pickled red jalapeno chilli peppers, drained, sliced and diced)

• 500 grams spaghetti

• 1 x 400 grams can chopped tomatoes

• 150 grams (drained weight) pitted black olives (chopped a bit)

• 2 tablespoons small capers (rinsed and drained)

• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (to serve - optional)

• salt (to taste)

• pepper (to taste)

1. Put water for pasta on to boil, though you don’t need to get started on the sauce until it is pretty well boiling.
2. Pour the oil into a wide, shallowish frying pan, casserole or wok, and put on a medium heat.
3. Add the finely chopped anchovies and cook for about 3 minutes, pressing and pushing with a wooden spoon, until the anchovies have almost “melted”, then add the garlic and chilli flakes (or sliced then diced jalapeños) and cook, stirring for another minute.
4. This is probably the stage at which you will want to be salting the boiling pasta water and adding the spaghetti to cook according to packet instructions.
5. Going back to the sauce, add the tomatoes, olives and capers and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every now and again, by which time it will have thicken slightly. Taste for seasoning.
6. Just before the pasta is ready, remove about an espresso cupful of cooking water, and reserve it. When the pasta is cooked as desired, drain and add the spaghetti to the sauce in your wok or pan, adding a little reserved pasta water, if needed, to help amalgamate the sauce. Scatter with chopped parsley, if there's some to hand, and serve in slatternly style, preferably with an untipped cigarette clamped between crimson-painted lips. 

Recipe from Nigella's website