WARM LENTIL SALAD

Warm lentil salad with sun dried tomato

We’re in that in between period aren’t we?

We've had a taste of proper spring with blue skies and sunshine but it has been short lived. Summer feels a long way off as I get drenched cycling home in yet another down pour. I even end up picking rhubarb in the rain as it just doesn’t seem to show any signs of stopping.

Rhubarb in the rain

I don’t want winter warmers but I’m really not ready for just a cold salad yet.

Spring flowers in the rain

This warm lentil salad is a real in between recipe and can be adapted to suit Vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

We have had it with mozzarella and rocket, so that the cheese melted slightly and oozed over the lentils but we've also had it with spit roasted chicken..sorry to offend any staunch veggies by mentioning chicken- look away now!!

Warm lentil salad with chicken and creamy lemon sauce

 

If you are in search of other salads do check out La Tartine Gourmand- a blog I love

http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2013/05/10/giuten-free-quinoa-salad-asparagus-fava-beans/

Bea is a French food writer and photograph who I admire greatly and has just posted a delicious quinoa, asparagus and broad bean salad recipe.

So here is the warm lentil salad recipe, it’s easy delicious and worth trying for a change.

Sun dried tomatoes

WARM LENTIL SALAD

Serves 4

Preparation time 5 minutes

Cooking time 20-25

INGREDIENTS:

1 large red onion

30 g sun dried tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

Good glug of olive oil

500ml of good vegetable stock- or chicken stock if you can!

250g Puy lentils

WHAT TO DO:

1.     Slice the onion finely, chop the garlic and fry gently in a pan in a glug of  olive oil, until the onion is soft.

2.     Add the chopped, or snipped sun dried tomatoes. I find snipping them up with scissors much easier and quicker.

3.      Tip the lentils into the mixture and coat with the garlic onion oil let them absorb the  flavour for a minute or two, but keep stirring them so they don't stick.

4.     Add the stock and cover for about 15 minutes. Check them to make sure they aren’t drying out. If they seem to just add a little more stock, until they have absorbed all the liquid and are nice and soft. This takes about 20-25 minutes 

It is great served with a young green leaf salad and mozzarella. 

Warm lentil salad

Sun dried tomato

SPRING ON A PLATE

Blossom

It’s amazing what a difference a week makes isn’t it. Suddenly the blossom is out, everywhere looks green and it feels warmer. 

Eggs from friendly chickens.

A colleague I work with keeps chickens and came in with boxes of freshly laid eggs. It seems his hens are equally relieved with the arrival of spring and are laying an abundance of eggs. So we have been enjoying lots of omelettes, and eggs for breakfast. Thank you chickens!

They are a lovely range of shapes and colours. Nothing like the uniform ones you get in the supermarket.

As I cooked a pan of asparagus the other day followed by a delicious bright yellow omelette with the eggs from the friendly chickens, I couldn’t help thinking that it was spring on a plate.

Asparagus

The fresh woody tasting asparagus with lashings of olive oil, black pepper and lemon juice followed by a simple fresh omelette with peppers and herbs, YUM..

What could be healthier and fresher than that!

Asparagus ready to steam

Ok this isn’t a recipe, but for those of you reading this who have never cooked asparagus ( I had a friend who had never cooked a piece of fish and was intimidated by it until I explained an easy fail safe way)  it’s really easy and requires very little time or effort.   

Asparagus

COOKING ASPARAGUS

INGREDIENTS:

One bunch of asparagus

Drizzle of olive oil

 Black pepper

Juice of half a lemon

WHAT TO DO:

Steam the asparagus for about 10 minutes or until tender, if you don’t have an asparagus steamer then use a lager steamer or saucepan.

Remove from the pan, place on a large dish, drizzle with olive oil and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over and liberal helpings of black pepper

Serve as a starter with fresh mayonnaise or with parma ham or dipped into boiled eggs. Then follow with an omelette and wow!

TINTIN, WALNUTS AND A TASTY RISOTTO RECIPE

Walnuts

We have just returned from a FANTASTIC few days staying with friends in Belgium visiting Brussels, Ghent, Leuven and the Tintin Museum - Brussels is the birthplace of Herge and home to the Tintin Museum-

http://www.museeherge.com/en

 a real must for all you fellow lovers of the boy reporter and his faithful sidekick Snowy.

We returned with some interesting Belgium beer, some great Tintin pictures and

 a bag full of walnuts..

Yes, walnuts. Not what you normally find amongst your holiday mementos but a much appreciated, very delicious gift, and a welcome change from postcards and boxes of chocolates.

Tintin everywhere

Belgium walnuts

As those of you who have kindly been following for a while know I always like to sample the local food and specialities, so you will be pleased to learn that the Not Just For Rabbits team sampled a range of waffles- plain, sugar and chocolate waffles and even ate a range of Stoofvees, the traditional beef in ale stew served on chips that is so traditional in Brussels.

Lots of places to eat in Brussels

None of these can really warrant a post in their own right, despite their popularity, however the walnuts proved the inspiration for a healthy risotto this evening.  I was really stuck for inspiration and just wanted something simple and veggie and luckily the walnuts were sitting on the kitchen top.

In this recipe the nuts and spinach provide an earthy simplicity and the raisins create a balance and add a subtle sweetness, whilst the cheese adds a light creaminess.

 WALNUT, SPINACH AND RAISIN RISOTTO

Serves 4

Preparation to plate time 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

250g brown rice

200g fresh spinach

2 red onions

40g raisins

1handful of fresh cracked walnuts about 50g saving some to sprinkle over the finished dish

Mixture of parmesan and cheddar cheese shavings- about a handful

Lots of salt and pepper to flavour

A glug of olive oil for frying

WHAT TO DO:

1.     Heat a pan of water and start to boil the rice for about 5 minutes.

2.     Finely chop the red onions and lightly soften in a large frying pan in the olive oil. After about 5 minutes add the broken walnuts and raisins and allow them to flavour the oil.

3.     Drain the rice into a bowl, keeping the water and tip into the pan with the onions, adding a couple of ladles of the rice water to enable it to continue to cook.

4.     Check every 5 or so minutes and keep adding more rice water to keep it cooking. Also at this stage add a couple of handfuls of spinach every few minutes and allow to wilt into the pan as you go.

5.     After about 20 minutes add some shavings of parmesan and a few shavings of cheddar and keep the rice moist until soft and creamy.

Spinach,walnut and raisin risotto

I used brown rice which takes longer to cook than traditional risotto rice but does add an earthiness to the flavour.

It took about 25 minutes in total but is an easy really tasty dish. You could use a blue cheese instead of the parmesan and cheddar but I think it would mask the sweetness of the raisins which would be a shame.

Ghent in Belgium

VEGETARIAN LIGHT FISH CURRY

LIGHT FISH CURRY

I can’t believe it has been so long since I posted.

Lots happening in all our lives which is exciting. Also Teen V started to eat a bit of meat after two and a half years of being vegetarian, only until she is 100% better she says, so my daily quest for tasty new vegetarian recipes has diminished a little.  That said, we were also hit by a bout of the novovirus over Easter so my plans and my lovely pictures of Easter treats were redundant.

Great timing! 

Nothing mattered once that took hold. For several days food has not been a priority, as you can imagine. Thankfully we are all better and up and about again.  

Hurray!

Also it finally feels like Spring’s here after a very long cold winter. 

Primroses- it must be spring at last

After a busy day we all fancied a proper curry. Not the Friday night blow your brains out type though, something with a bit more subtlety and depth of flavour. This curry has a great mix of flavours and is very fresh, light and fragrant. It is really easy to make and very economical.  The mix of tomatoes and coconut combine really well here to create a well blended rich sauce.

So if you fancy a change try this. It’s delicious and can be made in 20 minutes.

LIGHT FISH CURRY

Serves 4

Time to make 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

2 onions

4 cloves of garlic

2tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp gourmet garden ginger paste or 1 inch fresh ginger

½ tsp gourmet garden chilli paste or 1fresh green chilli

1tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 160g can of coconut cream

1 400g can of chopped tomatoes then fill the can up half full and add

4 portions of white fish- I used frozen coley portions

2 handfuls of fresh spinach

Juice of 1/2 lime

½ tsp mango chutney

WHAT TO DO:

1.     Fry the chopped onion in the oil with the crushed garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes until softened.

2.     Add the spices- turmeric, coriander and chilli to the onions in the pan along with the tomatoes and the coconut and the mango chutney. Top up with half a can of water as well and then simmer for 10 minutes.

3.     If you are using frozen fish cut it up and add to the simmering mixture now. If you are using fresh fish wait until it has simmered before adding after 10 minutes. Fresh fish will take about 4-5 minutes to cook, frozen longer!!

4.     Season with salt and pepper and add a squeeze of fresh lime before you serve.

 

Limes

Serve with Brown rice, naam bread and mango chutney.. yumm

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Mother's Day cake with crystallised flowers

“Happy Mother’s Day” came the chorus of teens this morning as they arrived bearing this gorgeous looking cake.

It had been baked and decorated last night when we were out and was a real work of art with its crystallised flowers.

carrot cake with flowers

So if any of you have forgotten mother’s day, or are looking for inspiration for desert, this delicious carrot cake is very special. As I have already posted the carrot cake recipe in an earlier blog, here is how you make the flowers, according to the teens in the house.

Crystallised flowers

CRYSTALLISED FLOWERS

Serves-This can do loads of flowers

Time minutes to make but a few hours to dry

INGREDIENTS:

1 egg white

1 tbsp water

3 tbsp of caster sugar

WHAT TO DO:

1.      Mix one egg white with a tbsp of water.

2.     Then paint the egg mixture gently onto the petals with either your fingers or a paintbrush. Then sprinkle on the sugar all over and gently shake to remove the excess.

3.     Leave them to dry for a few hours or overnight.

Then arrange on your cake. 

Crystallised flowers

Have fun and Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mother’s out there.

EASY CHOCOLATE FLAPJACKS

Delicious chocolate flapjacks

I was chatting with my friend and author Linda Chapman, writer of children’s and young teenage fiction, about the joy of finding reasonably healthy snacks for the young and not so young, after a busy day.

For those of you who don’t know Linda she is the author of numerous series of fantastic books including from My Secret Unicorn, Super Powers, The Skating Stories and many more, see the link below for her website.

http://www.lindachapmanauthor.co.uk/

The children in Linda’s books have busy outdoor lives, sounds not too dissimilar to us here at NOT JUST FOR RABBITS, although sport keeps Teen 2 outdoors, not horses.

Consequently I am always in search of healthy snacks for hungry people. Something that appeals to the chocoholics in the family, but aren’t just full of sugar.

A recipe that has become a firm favourite here is chocolate flapjacks. My other friend Linda introduced me to the wonderful Green and Blacks recipe that we now use and adapt with nuts, coconut, raisins or whatever takes our fancy.  

It is a great recipe as it’s packed with oats, so after a healthy walk, like we had last weekend in the weak winter sunshine, or a busy day at school or work it is just delicious.

Winter walks in Hampshire, England.

Snowdrops

CHOCOLATE FLAPJACKS

Preparation time 10 minutes

Baking time 20-25 minutes

Makes about 20 pieces

INGREDIENTS:

350g (12oz) unsalted butter

3tbsp golden syrup

175g (6oz) soft brown sugar

175g (6oz) muscovado sugar

450g (12oz) porridge oats

6 tbsp cocoa powder

A handful of desiccated coconut, raisins or mixed nuts works really well, depending on what you fancy.

WHAT TO DO:

1.     Pre heat the oven to 150 degrees c

2.     In a saucepan melt the butter, syrup and both the sugars. Then mix in the cocoa and then the oats. Then add your extra nuts or coconut and stir again.

3.     Press the mixture into a lined baking tin, I use a 20 by 30cm tin. Then cook for about 20 minutes, until the flapjacks are cooked in the centre.

4.     Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes.

Winter walks

Snowdrops in Hampshire

As you can see it is a very simple one pan recipe. The joy of it is that they taste so chocolaty but you don’t actually have to use any chocolate.

Awesome chocolate flapjacks