Chicken Caesar Salad

Tonight, a salad made with love. And chicken.

You don't win friends with salad

Couldn't fight it any longer, had my first salad of the year. It was a good one though - crisp gem lettuce, tomatoes, cold roast chicken, slices of parma ham and a dressing made with pesto and good quality extra virgin olive oil. I'm not detoxing for New Year or anything silly like that, as I don't believe it. It's all about having a healthy balance.

(By the way, mega triple chocolate cookie recipe coming shortly!!)

Mackerel and Fennel Nicoise

If you don't think a salad can be sexy, give this one a try! I assembled the usual nicoise ingredients: new potatoes, softly boiled eggs, green beans, red onion, capers and olives. But to jazz things up I added some thinly sliced fennel, watercress, and a small pan fried mackerel each instead of tuna. Not a bad idea, as it turned out. You could use flaked smoked mackerel, which would also make this a great lunch dish.

I also made a simple salad dressing with 1 tbsp dijon mustard, the juice of 1 lemon, about 1 tsp white wine vinegar, and some seasoning. Hence the jam jar in the last pic, in case you were wondering.

A bit of crusty bread with oil and vinegar, some red wine...what more could you ask of your dinner?

Give salad a chance!

Feta and Avocado Salad

It's been such a beautiful sunny day here in the good ol' west country. But the best thing about my day was this morning, when Toby and I discovered a little path leading to some wonderful country walks through the fields of Charlcombe.
And of course, after such a bracing and invigorating walk you've got have something wholesome for lunch. So here was my rather generous assembly of feta, salad leaves, organic tomatoes, steamed asparagus, avocado and kalamata olives, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil.

I'd love to say that Toby had the same, but he's not that good an eater yet! He had a houmous sandwich, but did wolf down the rest of the olives. That's my boy.

Anyway the sun's still shining so I'm going out for a few drinks with the girls. Hope you've had an equally sunny Friday x

Holy Halloumi!

So there a few ingredients that always get me excited, or that jump out at me when browsing a menu. Halloumi cheese is one of these things. If you've never tried halloumi before...do it! You won't regret it. It's a greek cheese that holds it's texture when cooked, and has a great flavour. It's also very substantial, so is a great base for a salad...

In tonight's case, I cooked some sliced halloumi in a heated griddle pan alongside some courgette and red pepper (for approx 3-4 minutes each side). Then I served this on top of some tinned lentils, which I had heated and added a touch of dijon mustard and a squeeze of lemon juice.

I've had a hectic day of packing up my house and painting my new flat, so I needed something quick, wholesome and satisfying. Tick, tick, tick!

Mmmm halloumi, how I love thee....

Sweet Potato and Sausage Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Do you ever get into one of those conversations with someone, when you're so hungry, that you just start to list all the meals you fancy eating? Well that's how Rene and I spent most of the afternoon at work today. I honestly couldn't wait to get home and cook myself something delicious and hearty for dinner! So I made this salad, based on something similar I saw ages ago in a magazine and, for some reason, was craving it tonight.

Basically you need to wash 1/2 a medium sweet potato, then cut it into bite-sized pieces (no need to peel). Put onto a baking tray, drizle with olive oil and roast in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Add your sausages to the tray after 10 minutes, to cook alongside the potato (or you can grill the sausages, if you'd rather).

Arrange some salad leaves on a plate and add 1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced.

Make a quick dressing by mixing 1 tsp wholegrain mustard, 1 tsp honey and a good glug of olive oil. Season.

Add your sweet potato (which should be deliciously sticky) and sausages to the salad, then pour the dressing all over.

Goats Cheese Salad with Honey Roasted Veg

Autumn is coming, there's a chill in the air and the evenings are getting darker. It's difficult to conjure up any enthusiasm for salad in these times, and even more difficult not to delve striaght into hearty old favourites such as stews, casseroles and pies. That is, however, before you discovered my warming Goats Cheese Salad!

Anyway it's all very simple. To serve 1 greedy person: peel and roughly chop 1 large carrot and 1 beetroot (you will have some beetroot leftover-try using it up in a risotto). Place in a roasting tin, season, drizzle with 2 tsp honey, and roast in a medium oven for about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, casually assemble a salad using whatever leaves you have handy. I added a big handful of spinach, as its robust leaves work well with root vegetables. I also added cherry tomatoes and some mixed olives. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

For the last 10 minutes of cooking time, add a generous goats cheese round to the roasting tray. Alternatively, you could brown it under a hot grill for 5 minutes.

Take the tray out of the oven. Add the vegetables to the salad, top with the warm and melty goats cheese, then drizzle the whole thing with a small amount of balsamic vinegar.

Who said salads can't be sexy?

Chicken and Puy Lentil Salad with Coriander

This recipe was taken from Rachel Allen's Food For Living cookbook. It's a light yet suprisingly substantial salad, that's just what you fancy after playing out in the sun on a warm August day.

serves 2

2 small chicken breasts

1/2 tbsp ground coriander

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

salt and pepper

juice of 1/2 a lemon

3 tbsp olive oil

115g puy lentils

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

mixed salad leaves

50g feta cheese, crumbled

balsamic vinegar (optional)

1. Using a sharp knife, make a few long slashes on both sides of the chicken breasts. Place in a bowl. Add the ground coriander, garlic, black pepper, 1 tbsp lemon juice an 1 tbsp olive oil. Mix it into the chicken, making sure it is evenly coated. Allow to sit for around 30 minutes.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 230'C/Gas 8.

3. When the oven is hot, spread the chicken out onto a baking tray and cook it for 20-25 minutes. Once cooked, take it out of the oven and allow to rest for a couple of minutes.

4. Meanwhile, place the lentils in a saucepan, cover with water and boil for about 20 minutes. When cooked, drain the lentils then dress them with the remaining olive oil, lemon juice and chopped coriander. Add more seasoning if necessary.

5. Now assemble the salad. Slice the chicken thinly and toss with the lentils and add the salad leaves. Pile onto plates and sprinkle with the crumbled feta and, if you like, a small drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Yummy!

Fattoush!

My brother Adam and his girlfriend Lucy have come to stay for a couple of nights, so I thought it would be nice to sit around and share a tapas style meal when they arrived. We had garlic and herb chicken drumsticks and thighs, patatas bravas, a spring green vegetable fattoush, salad, olives and houmous.

To make the chicken I made a simple marinade of chopped garlic, dried herbs and olive oil, rubbed into the chicken an hour before cooking, then roasted for 40 minutes.

The patatas bravas and fattoush recipes can both be found here:

http://http//www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/461640/patatas-bravas-with-chorizo

http://http//www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/468651/spring-green-fattoush

If you've not heard of it (and I hadn't until I saw it in my magazine!), a 'fattoush' is a lebanese salad, made using toasted pitta bread and seasonal vegetables. This recipe used broad beans, cucumber, feta, parsley, mint and a lemon juice and olive oil dressing.

This is a relaxed and sociable way of eating, and I'm definitely going to cook more tapas style dishes this summer-hopefully to enjoy in the garden next time!

Halloumi, lentil and tomato salad

Here's a quick and healthy salad that's substantial enough to have for dinner. Trust me, if you're not usually a salad fan, this one will win you over!

Halloumi is a greek cheese made with sheep and goats milk. It has a high melting point so can be grilled or fried without melting, and forms a delicious golden crust. It's a great meat substitute as it has quite a "meaty" texture if you know what I mean!
Usually I use raw cherry tomatoes. I decided to roast them this time to see if it added anything to the dish, but actually I think raw tomatoes worked best as the freshness cuts through the lentils. Up to you though. Try it and see!
This recipe serves 4, or 2 with leftovers for lunch the next day. This really is good cold in your lunchbox the day after.

250g pack cherry tomatoes, halved

250g pack haloumi cheese, sliced or cut into chunks

150g puy or green lentils, rinsed

1 red onion, finely sliced

1/2 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

salad leaves

(If roasting the tomatoes, pre-heat oven to 200'c/Gas 5. Lay out tomatoes on a tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast for about 30 minutes, whilst you get on with the rest of the recipe).

Put the chilli flakes, garlic and the sliced red onion into a bowl. Pour over the lemon juice. Leave to one side, to allow the acid in the lemon juice to macerate and soften the onion.

Meanwhile, cook the lentils in lightly boiling water for about 20 minutes, until just tender.Drain well and add to the onions. Season.

Toss through the cherry tomatoes and stir in the coriander.

Grill or fry the halloumi until golden. This will take about 2 minutes on each side.

Divide half of the lentil mixture between two plates (put the other half away and save for tomorrow).

Add some salad leaves to each plate and mix them through the lentils (add the salad leaves to your leftovers the morning after so they don't go soggy overnight!)

Top with some haloumi slices, again saving half the halloumi for leftovers. Yum!