The challenge that comes with eating for two and a recipe for pea and mint soup

Pregnancy is a weird and wonderful thing!  

We had our 20-week scan a fortnight ago and saw what seems to be a happy and healthy baby boy moving about on the screen. A baby boy! Imagine that!

That little boy has begun to move about a lot recently. I first felt his movements as tentative little flutterings but lately there have been a few well-aimed wallops! 

I’m beginning to relax into pregnancy a little more now. I don’t know if it was because we tried to get pregnant for so long and to no avail but I’ve found it hard to believe that we're about to have a baby. I still catch sight of myself in the mirror and am startled at the sight of my growing bump. Is that really me, I ask myself.  Is this really happening?

Eating remains something of a challenge and I’m finding that my attitude to food is changing. Before I got pregnant, I used to eat primarily for pleasure, choosing whatever looked good in the fridge and composing a meal from that. Now, I eat much more strategically. I pause to consider whether I’m getting all the nutrients I need (calcium and iron in particular) before I decide what to make for dinner.

I’m also aware that the baby has now begun swallowing amniotic fluid and so can taste some of what I’m eating. I’m desperate not to have a fussy eater on my hands and want to do everything I can to ensure this doesn’t happen. Right now, this means trying to eat as wide a range of foods as possible.

Combine this with my dietary restrictions, my quest to consume enough calcium and iron and the fact that I’m often lacking in energy for cooking at the end of the day and you’ll see why the culinary pressure is well and truly on.

This particular recipe isn’t particularly bursting with calcium and iron but it is full of seasonal summery flavour. On top of that, it’s easy and effortless to make and consists entirely of ingredients that I always have to hand, which is a big bonus for busy mums-to-be (and for anyone who struggles to find the time and energy to make a home-made meal at the end of the day).

Pea and mint soup 

This makes between eight and ten servings.

2 onions, peeled and chopped

1 large floury potato, peeled and chopped (Rooster, Kerr’s pinks, Maris Piper, Golden Wonder and Queens are all good varieties)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 litres of vegetable stock

750g frozen peas

A bunch of mint, finely chopped

Salt and black pepper

• Prepare your vegetables.
• Sweat the chopped onion and potato in the oil over a very low heat for ten minutes, until the onion has softened but hasn't yet begun to colour.
• Add the stock. Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the potato is tender.
• Raise the heat, stir in the frozen peas and simmer for four to five minutes.
• Remove from the heat, add the chopped mint and purée the soup using a soup wand or a blender. I always do this in stages, tasting as I go. For this amount of soup, I would use at least 10 grams of mint (leaves and stalks). Some of you may prefer your soup to take on a mintier flavour; others may prefer it less so.
• Finally, I add the salt and pepper. Again, I would urge you to do this to taste. I use at least 3 teaspoons of salt (and 2 teaspoons of freshly-ground black pepper) for this amount of soup but that's my palate, not yours. Start with 2 teaspoons. Stir it in and taste. Add more as you see fit. That's what 'seasoning to taste' is all about.

All sorts of accompaniments go with this soup. I've been eating toasted bread slathered with hummus but those of you on an unrestricted diet might also opt for a bacon sandwich or a cheese toasty. Yum!

A recipe that will come to your rescue: pasta with broccoli, anchovies and garlic

I couldn't tell you how often I've made this for supper. I discovered it in Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef about 15 years ago and have probably made it more than a hundred times since then. I've adapted the recipe a little to make it OMS friendly but it still tastes as lip-smackingly good as ever.

The flavour combination isn't the only reason this has become one of my go-to recipes. It's also easy and quick to make and I always have the ingredients to hand. 

I've even found that this recipe comes to the rescue if ever I'm hungover. There's something about the carbs in the pasta together with the saltiness of the anchovies and the head-clearing qualities of chilli that make it the ideal hangover buster!

So, here's how you whip up dinner for a hungry woman in the space of 15 minutes.

100g dried pasta (I use wholewheat farfalle)
One quarter of a head of broccoli, stem and all
1 large clove of garlic
4 anchovies
1 tablespoon of olive oil (if your anchovies come in oil, use some of that)
1/4 teaspoon of chilli
Salt and black pepper

• Bring a pot of water to the boil. Add a generous amount of salt and when the water starts bubbling again, add the pasta. Wholewheat pasta usually takes about 15 minutes to cook, which allows you plenty of time to get everything else ready.
• Chop the stem off your quarter head of broccoli. Cut off the dried-out end of the stem and any rough edges. Then chop the remainder into one-centimetre pieces. Don't worry too much about being precise. This isn't that sort of recipe.
• Cut the head of broccoli into small florets and add any chunky stems to your pile of stem pieces. In this recipe nothing goes to waste.
• You should end up with two piles that look something like this:
  

  

  
  

• Chop your garlic as finely as you can.
• Add the oil, anchovies, garlic, chilli and broccoli pieces to a small saucepan. Cover the saucepan and place over a low heat for seven minutes. I recommend shaking the saucepan about every minute or so to make sure that nothing is sticking to the bottom. If you feel that there is a danger of this happening or that your garlic might burn, add a tablespoon or two of water to the pan to keep the temperature down and make sure your concoction doesn't fry to a frazzle. 
• Add the broccoli florets to the pan with the pasta in it five minutes or so before the pasta is due to be ready.
• Then when everything is cooked, strain the water from the pasta and broccoli and toss them both into the pan with the broccoli pieces. Add some freshly-ground black pepper (be generous) and combine all of the ingredients thoroughly.
• Pour everything into a bowl, making sure that you scrape out every last drizzle of the garlicky, anchovy-flavoured oil at the bottom of the pan. That's where all the real flavour is!

Enjoy!

Good food and box sets - the only way to recover from the excesses of Christmas

Is it just me or are there others out there who think the festive season ought to be renamed exhaustion season? While it was lovely to catch up with family and friends over Christmas and New Year, the endless whirlwind of cooking, eating, drinking, socialising and staying up late wore me out and I'm only just beginning to recover.

The weather probably had its part to play too. Here in Dingle and all over Ireland, it didn't stop raining for days. And by rain, I'm not talking about a light shower. No, we're talking torrential downpours here. This meant that the only time I got out of the house was when I ran to the car to venture to the shops for more supplies or to the pub to meet up with friends!

Nor did I succeed in sticking to the OMS diet 100% of the time. It was next to impossible considering the amount of chocolate and mince pies in the house!
However, I didn't stray too much. I'd taken precautions by preparing batches of OMS-friendly treats such as these cookies and raw brownies so I was able to tuck into those whenever I felt tempted. And I'm very much back on the wagon now, using the power of good food to help me get over the exertions of Christmas*.

One of the dishes I've been cooking a lot lately is this one: spiced cauliflower and leeks with green beans and freekeh.

It's a dish that quick and easy to make. Its seasonal ingredients are affordable and widely available in the shops. It's packed with nutritional goodness. And for anyone who doesn't know what freekeh is, it's an ancient grain with a nutty flavour. Once confined to health stores, it's now stocked in many supermarkets. But don't worry if you can't find it. Feel free to substitute with any other wholegrain. I'd recommend bulgur wheat for its similar flavour and texture.

The following portions serve one.

50g freekeh (or alternative wholegrain)
150g cauliflower, approximately one quarter of a head of cauliflower
100g leeks, approximately one leek
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons water
70g green beans
Some chopped coriander

• Start by preparing your vegetables. Remove the tough stalk from the cauliflower and tear the remainder into small florets. Remove the hairy root from the leek, peel off its tough outer layer and then chop what remains into one-centimetre-long rounds. Top and tail the green beans and cut them in half.
• Place your freekeh in a pan of salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.
• Place the olive oil in a wok or frying pan (be sure to use one that has a lid). Add the spices and salt. Add the cauliflower florets and chopped leeks and toss so that the veggies are covered in the spicy oil. Add the water. 
• Place a lid on the wok/frying pan and place it over a medium heat. Cook for 10 minutes, shaking the pan frequently to make sure none of the vegetables are sticking to the bottom of the pan.
• Five minutes before your freekeh is due to be cooked, add the green beans to the pan with the grains and cover with a lid.
• Once fifteen minutes are up, toss the contents of the two pans together. Add some chopped coriander and combine thoroughly. Taste and add a touch more salt if necessary.
• A fried or poached egg makes a delicious addition to this dish.
• May we all eat this well in the year to come!

* Now that the weather is better, I'm able to exercise more too. Long walks in the fresh air with my always enthusiastic dog Jimmy are just the thing to lift the spirits. And so too are dark evenings curled up on the sofa with the latest season of the Bridge. I'm looking forward to watching Making a Murderer next. Have any of you seen it?

You can also find me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter 

Niceoise salad and memories of kindness

Here's another salad recipe but this time it doesn't come with a side order of complaints about the Irish weather. (Lest you think this means the weather has improved here on the Dingle Peninsula; it's done no such thing. We may have spent the past few weeks crossing our fingers for an Indian summer but those clouds have remained resolutely in our skies.)

No, this salad comes with a more personal story...

My partner Richard is quite a bit older than I am and when we first got together, there was some disapproval from our family and friends. With this as background information, you'll understand why I felt nervous the first time I met Richard's mother. By that stage, she was an old lady in her late seventies and I thought that if anyone were going to react in a judgemental way to our age difference, it was going to be her.

How wrong I was. I came to see that Anne was someone who prized love above all else in this world. She immediately saw and understood the strength of the love we shared. Her eyes shone with happiness for her son and from that moment on, she welcomed me warmly into her family.

She prepared a Niceoise salad for us to eat on the evening of that first visit. It was the first time I'd ever tasted this clever combination of green beans, tuna, anchovies, black olives and eggs but it definitely wasn't the last. It's become one of my go-to recipes for simple suppers ever since.

Anne died in 2007 but whenever I make this salad, I think of her and how kind she was to me on our first meeting.

My memory of Anne Smallwood's Niceoise Salad
This recipe feeds two greedy adults (with some leftovers for lunch the following day). Like all salad recipes, it's pretty adaptable. You can add more or less of any of the ingredients, according to your own preference.

400g small baby potatoes

250g green beans

1 medium-sized green pepper

15 black olives, the small puckered ones are best for flavour

250g tuna in olive oil, brine or water

8 anchovies

4 eggs

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

A pinch of salt

• Wash the potatoes and place in a saucepan. Sprinkle with salt and cover with boiling water. Simmer over a medium heat until a knife passes through the potatoes with ease. This should take between 15 and 20 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes. Strain out the water and set aside to cool.
• Prepare your other ingredients while you're waiting for the potatoes. 
• Top and tail the beans and then cut them in half.
• Place them in a saucepan and sprinkle with salt. Add a centimetre or two of boiling water to the pan. Cover with a lid and simmer the beans over a medium to high heat for four minutes or until they are tender but still retain a slight bite.
• Cut the top off the pepper and scoop out the seeds and pith inside. Cut the flesh into bite-sized pieces.
• Remove the pits from the olives and cut them in half.
• Place the eggs in a small saucepan. Cover them with boiling water and simmer over a medium heat for seven minutes. Then place the saucepan in your sink and run cold water over the eggs until they become cool enough to handle. Set aside until it's time for assembly.
• Make the dressing by adding the olive oil, cider vinegar, honey, mustard and salt to a jam jar, screwing on the lid and shaking the jar vigorously until all the ingredients have combined.
• Your potatoes ought to have cooked at this stage. You could cut them in three and add them to the salad as they are but I like to fry them in a little olive oil to give them crispy edges. Simply heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add your potato slices and a sprinkling of salt. Wait for a golden crispy skin to develop before turning each slice over and doing the same again.
• It's time for assembly. Add the beans, potatoes, tuna, olives and green pepper to a salad bowl. Toss together until they are well combined.
• Peel the eggs by tapping them gently against a chopping board or counter top until cracks appear in the shell. Carefully peel the shell off the egg and cut each egg into quarters. Arrange the eggs and anchovies on top of the salad.
• It's up to you whether you dress the salad before it is served or not. I usually serve the dressing alongside and allow everyone to add as much or as little as they like.

My week in dinners

I don't know if there was ever a time when food was simple. The ingredients we cook with, the way in which we cook them and how we eat have always been indicators of status. Here in Ireland, the high society who lived in grand houses dined on the finest foods for centuries while peasants subsisted on potatoes, oats and hardy vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, cabbage and kale.

However, I think food has become more complicated in recent years. Turkey Twizzlers or tofu, chia pudding or Coco Pops, sliced pan or artisan sourdough; what you eat has never said more about who you are and how you want others to see you.

Food bloggers have certainly had a part to play in this. We all work hard to style our food photos to make them look as appealing as possible. Everything from the dish the meal is served in to the artfully-placed green herb placed on top has been carefully considered.  The words and images we use convey a message about food and it's not always a helpful one. And nor does it necessarily represent the way we eat every day.

While I'm lucky in that I love cooking and experimenting with new flavours and dishes, I don't always have the time or energy to cook at the end of a long day. And while I certainly pay some attention to how I present the food when I plate it up, the pressure to put food on the table means that I don't style it to within an inch of its life. For one thing, the food would be stone cold by the time I was satisfied with how it looked!

This is why I was intrigued by an idea suggested by fellow food blogger Bumbles of Rice. She called on food bloggers to tell their readers just what they had for dinner for five consecutive days. 

So, here is my week in dinners:

Wednesday: Minestrone soup

A solo dinner: which explains why I'm eating early and reading the paper

I usually try to make a batch of soup for dinner once a week.  I always make extra as I mostly work from home during the day and a bowl of soup makes for a quick and easy lunch. It's also a good fall-back option if I'm too tired to cook dinner on another evening during the week.
You can find the recipe for this soup here

Thursday: Jamie Oliver's cauliflower risotto with anchovy breadcrumbs

Forgive the god-awful picture but this is what it looks like when you use your camera phone and  there is no natural light - it is dinner time and February in Ireland after all!

Friday: grilled miso salmon, brown rice and veggies

Once again: the evening light is rubbish

I eat at least three servings of fish every week, with a focus on oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, etc. This ties in with my OMS diet which prioritizes intake of omega 3 fats, which we should all be trying to get more of.

Saturday: Potato and cauliflower curry from Olive Magazine - I adapted this to suit my diet and added this mushroom and spinach dish, some flat breads and yoghurt. (I know it's cauliflower again but it's cheap at the moment and I had lots of it in the fridge!)

Sunday: Pork roasted in the oven with onions, apples and wholegrain mustard served with mashed potatoes, crushed carrots and parsnips and brussel sprouts 

Because my diet means I can't eat meat, my boyfriend rarely eats meat during the week. To make up for this, I usually cook him something meaty on Sundays, serving myself something that is easy to rustle up alongside. On this day, I had a baked mackerel dish with the same sides.
But I forgot to take a picture as we were rushing out to the cinema.

Monday: I had some mashed potato and mackerel left over from Sunday as well as some tuna in olive oil in the cupboard so I used them to make this:

Tuna (and mackerel) fishcakes with parsley and caper salad from Olive Magazine again

(I know this is six days of dinners. But because I forgot to photograph one, I thought you deserved one extra!)

Your daily dinners are probably different to mine. They may not focus as much on fish and vegetables. Maybe you don't have the same amount of time or inclination to cook as I do . You might also live closer to a good takeout or a restaurant where you can eat cheaply and well (8 miles from Dingle town - where most good restaurants are pricey - I don't have such luxuries). Whatever the case, I'd love to hear about your week in dinners.

Cheap food, lifestyle cookery programmes and pimped up rice and beans

I like food.
I like cooking good food.
And even though I’m better off than lots of people, I’m not rich enough to be able to shop without considering my budget (although this girl does dream of one day having a champagne lifestyle).

Reluctantly returning to reality… there has been a lot of talk about cheap food in the media recently following the discovery of horsemeat in a certain type of Irish burger sold in Tesco. Catriona of wholesomeireland.com makes interesting points about it over here.

There are some things I want to say too, because even though I don’t eat burgers, this controversy does have something to do with me.

1: We all – regardless of our income and how much we spend on food – deserve to know what we’re eating. We need to be able to trust that our food is what it says it is.
Most of the time, I cook my food from scratch and feel somewhat protected by this. But how am I supposed to know what’s been sprayed on my vegetables? Has something been added to that can of tomatoes? What about that jar of spices? Is it really just ginger?
This is not me being over zealous. We all deserve to live in a world where food is what it says it is, nothing more and nothing less. Ireland, with its worldwide reputation for the quality of its food, should be setting the standard in this regard.

2: I totally agree with people who have said that everyone needs to be taught how to cook. We all have to eat. Therefore we should all know how to prepare food to put in our mouths. This knowledge has been lost by some people so we can’t rely on parents to teach their children. Home economics/cooking classes should be compulsory for all.

3: The fact that there are more cookery programmes on the TV today (and more food blogs on the internet) does not mean that more people are being inspired to cook. It may sound counterintuitive but I think that some of these shows play a part in turning people off the idea of cooking.
Many of them are presented by people who lead very fortunate and privileged lives. There’s Nigella in her beautiful Notting Hill home full of copper pots and pans and a larder full of expensive exotic ingredients. And Jamie – for all his good intentions – rushing about London on his fancy Vespa and calling into expensive artisan food shops.
Most people can’t afford such lifestyles and the implicit assumption they make is that they can’t afford good food.
This has to stop. Good food should not be associated with a lifestyle. It should not be aspirational. It should be something for us all.

I’ll leave you with a recipe for what I'm having for lunch today. Essentially, it’s a pimped up beans and rice dish. It’s healthy with its pulses, wholegrain rice and nutrient-rich avocadoes. It’s delicious. Oh! And guess what? It’s also quite cheap!

Pimped-up rice and beans – serves two
75g brown basmati rice
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
Half an onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon runny honey
Salt and pepper

1 avocado, diced
¼ red onion, sliced
½ lime, juiced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
Salt to season
Small handful coriander leaves, chopped.

• Cook the basmati rice until tender, drain and leave in a covered pot to keep warm.
• Prepare the avocado salad by mixing the avocado, the tomatoes and the red onion in the lime juice. Taste and season.
• Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the garlic and onion. Cook for one minute.
• Add the chopped red pepper and cook until soft, three minutes or so.
• Add the drained beans, the cider vinegar and the honey and season.
• Cook for five minutes until the flavours come together.
• Divide the rice between two plates, spoon beans over and serve with the avocado salsa. Sprinkle with chopped coriander before serving.

Now, where was I?  Oh yes, that champagne lifestyle...

A sharp rap on the knuckles and a recipe for tonight's supper

You can't see me but I'm holding out my hand so that you can give me that rap on the knuckles I said you could if I hadn't posted something by Friday. Last week was so crammed full of things to do that I had very little time to spend in the kitchen or at the computer. This is why this blog post is three days late and why I broke my promise.

You might go easy on me if you knew what I'd been up to though. I spent two days in Dublin tracking down bargains for the café. I've now got cutlery, glasses, cups and saucers, plates, bowls and some kitchen equipment. It sounds like a lot but I still need tablecloths (which are quickly turning into the bane of my life), sugar bowls, salt and pepper shakers, milk jugs and much more.

As well as shopping, I've sanded and varnished the floor of the café (or should I say my boyfriend did this - this past week, he has been more helpful than I could ever have imagined anyone to be and I'm so thankful). I placed an ad in the local paper for staff and have so far interviewed two people and set up interviews with two others (it's so strange to be the one asking the questions at interviews!).

This week, I'm buying tablecloths, enlisting family and friends to help paint the interior (if you're reading this and you are a member of my family or a friend who lives in Dingle, consider yourself forewarned!), finishing kitting out the kitchen, dealing with suppliers and having meetings with an accountant and a solicitor. Once all that is done, things should be almost ready to rock.

In the meantime, I'm not always going to have a huge amount of time or energy to cook at the end of the day. That means I'll be preparing lots of dishes like this - dishes that are simple to prepare and cook, that are flexible enough to work with whatever you happen to have in your fridge and are always full of flavour.

But when I think of it, these are the kinds of dishes that I tend to cook a lot during the week anyway. This Thai-inspired dish is one of my favourites and as it's such a versatile recipe, it might just become one of yours too.

This recipe started life as an Avoca Café recipe for green bean and coconut soup but I've adapted it to turn it into a much more filling supper dish.

It's a flexible recipe too. I've used prawns here but in the past I've used monkfish, chicken pieces that I've pre-fried in some oil and ground coriander and pieces of hake that I pre-fried in oil with chopped green chilli.

I serve this dish with basmati rice and if I'm very hungry and in need of carbohydrates (as I have been these busy days), I also serve one pitta bread per person. I think it would also be good with some slurpy noodles.

Feel free to experiment. This is a very forgiving recipe.

Ingredients:
(Serves two hungry people with plenty left over for lunch the next day)

15g/half an oz of butter
4 spring onions, cut in half lengthways and then into 5cm strips (include the green bits)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 teaspoons finely chopped lemongrass (be sure to remove the dry outer layers first)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
100g green beans, topped, tailed and chopped so that they are approximately as long as the carrots
1x400ml/14 fl oz can of coconut milk
100ml vegetable stock
110g bean sprouts
14 prawns, peeled and cleaned
1 tablespoon nam pla (if you don't have this fish sauce, season with salt)
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander

150g basmati rice
2 pieces of pitta bread, olive oil and sumac (if using)

• Start by preparing your vegetables, lemongrass, garlic and ginger. You want them to look something like this:

• Put your rice on to cook.
• Brush your pitta breads with olive oil and sprinkle with sumac (if you're using) and place in the toaster. Don't turn it on yet.
• Melt the butter in a wok and add the spring onions, carrots, lemongrass, garlic and ginger. Stir over a medium heat for one minute.
• Add the green beans, turmeric and coriander and stir until the vegetables are coated in the spices.
• Add the coconut milk and the stock.
• Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• Add the prawns and cook for 3 minutes or until they have turned pink.
• Stir in the beansprouts and fresh coriander and season with nam pla (or salt).
• Turn off the heat, toast your pitta breads and serve this vibrant yellow prawn sauce over the rice and with the pitta bread.

It's a dish that can't fail to make you happy.

Cauliflower soup with cheese balls: could there be a better food for winter?

I've been finding this winter difficult so far. It is hard to believe that it's been little over a month since my boyfriend and I got back from our trip to the UK in mid October feeling full of optimistic energy and plans for the future. Since then, we've had the October bank holiday, the turning back of the clocks and the real onset of winter. This has meant a lot of dark evenings and Atlantic storms here in Dingle and it's been a struggle to stay energetic and resist the urge to hibernate.

On top of all that, any attempts I have made to put the plans we hatched on holiday into motion have met with obstacles. So far this winter, it has been quite the challenge to keep a smile on my face and stay optimistic.

This is where comfort food comes in and the dish I have to share with you today is my idea of a hug in a mug. It combines the flavours of cauliflower cheese with the wholesomeness and warmth of soup - it's just what I needed to cheer me up this afternoon.

If you too need some comfort food to cheer you on this winter's day, here's what you need to do.

Cauliflower soup with cheese balls
This serves four. It's incredibly easy to make and takes all of twenty minutes.

Ingredients for the soup:
50g butter
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
1 litre/2 pints vegetable stock
500g/1lb cauliflower florets 
Nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Ingredients for the cheese balls:
50ml/2 fl.oz. milk
30g flour
1 egg beaten
20g grated cheddar cheese 

• 
  
  Melt half of the butter in a large pain and fry the onion and the potato for 3 minutes.

• Add the stock and the cauliflower florets and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender.
• While the soup is simmering, make the puffs. Preheat your oven to 220 C/430 F. Melt the milk and the remaining butter in a saucepan.
• When it has melted,add the flour all at once.  Stir the mixture until it forms into a ball that comes away from the sides of the pan. 

• Take it off the heat. Allow to cool. Then stir in the egg and cheese.
• Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a small nozzle. Squeeze onto a baking sheet, making small mounds that are at least one inch apart. Sprinkle with some sea salt and extra grated cheese for even more yuminess.

• Bake in the oven for five to six minutes until they have risen and turned a golden colour.
• Finish the soup while they are cooking. Puree your mixture, saving a few florets to use as a garnish. Season with salt, pepper and some freshly grated nutmeg (ground is fine too) according to your own taste.  
• Ladle the soup into your soup bowls and garnish with your cheese balls, cauliflower florets and even more grated cheese.

Sit back and savour your hug in a mug.

Sharon learns that eating yourself better doesn't mean scoffing endless bars of chocolate

Down, down, down...
That's how I've been feeling lately. 

It's a combination of the weather, which has been prematurely dark,dreary and dull, and the effect of this seemingly never-ending recession. It's had a huge impact on my income. A paper I used to write a weekly column and music features and reviews for has gone into liquidation, leaving me with a hole in my bank balance that really hurts. And many of the others have been cutting back on the work they commission from freelancers, which means I've had less work from them too.

It's been difficult and, as a result, I've been overindulging in chocolate - my ultimate go-to comfort food. However, much as I love chocolate, I can't help but notice that it doesn't appear to be helping me. Instead, I am spotty and I feel lethargic. Whisper it: perhaps chocolate isn't the cure to all woes?

Believing as I do in the importance of a good diet and giving your body what it needs, I looked up the best depression-busting foods and found this list: wholegrains, nuts, seeds, oily fish, lean meat, tomatoes, avocados, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, spinach and raw vegetables.

Yum, I thought. Why don't I eat myself better? 

So, that's exactly what I started to do, beginning with last night's dinner, potato and sweet potato wedges, avocado and tomato salsa and lime-zested cod:

Here's how you can eat yourself better too.
Ingredients for four people:
4 medium-sized potatoes
1 large sweet potato
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

4 fillets of cod, weighing approximately 150g each
4 tbsp of breadcrumbs
1 tsp coriander seeds
Zest of one lime
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

3 avocados
12 cherry tomatoes
4 scallions/spring onions
3 tbsp chopped coriander
Juice of half a lime
Salt and pepper

• I started by going to the greenhouse to pick my tomatoes. (I'm only saying this as it makes me happy. My boyfriend built it all by himself this summer and it's become a lovely place that smells like a tropical summer even on these damp and dreary September days.) So, if you've got a greenhouse, go there. But if you don't, just get down to work. It won't be long before this food puts a smile on your face.
• Start by pre-heating your oven to 200 Celsius/400 F/Gas Mark 6.
• Then prepare your potatoes. Peel the sweet potatoes but leave the regular ones as they are. Cut both kinds into wedges and set the sweet potatoes aside. Boil the regular potatoes in salted, boiling water for 10 minutes to soften them a little.
• Place both varieties of potatoes in an oven proof roasting dish. Try to have them in a single layer if possible as they will become crispier that way. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle over two tablespoons of olive oil and cook for 30 minutes or until crispy at the edges.

• Now start your fish. Place it on a baking tray which you've lightly oiled so that it won't stick. Season with salt and pepper.
• Crush your coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar (or with the back of a spoon if that's all you have) and mix with the breadcrumbs. Add the zested lime juice and some salt and pepper. Cover the fish with the breadcrumb mixture and drizzle with a half tablespoon or so of olive oil.

 

• The fish will cook in ten minutes in the same oven so place it in the oven ten minutes before the potatoes will be ready.
• That will give you time to prepare your avocados. Peel and chop your avocados into bite-sized pieces. Halve or quarter your tomatoes depending on their size. Mix in the chopped coriander. Drizzle over the lime juice. Season to taste. 

Plate up and before you know it, there will be a smile on everyone's face.

You should never forget to eat...

Do you ever have days when you're so busy you forget to breathe, let alone eat?  For me, these are days when editors bring deadlines forward so that they clash with when I've got classes to teach AND baking to do for the farmers' market.

On days like this, eight o'clock comes around, my head is reeling and, unless things have gone dramatically wrong, I can't believe I've somehow managed to get everything done on time.  Everything that is except eat - as my suddenly ravenous stomach reminds me by growling.

This recipe is perfect for those sorts of days, perfect for when you crave something flavourful and substantial but don't have the energy to spend much time cooking.

I created it on one such day and, because it contains ingredients I usually have in my fridge, freezer and store cupboards, it's one I've cooked at the end of many a busy day since.  Another great thing about this recipe is that it's infinitely adaptable.  If you like chillis, I would add half a red chilli to this dish and cook it with the garlic.  If you don't have as many prawns as the recipe suggests, make it with what you have.  And if you like more or less of any of the other ingredients, the recipe allows for modification.

Ketjap Manis, shrimp paste and nam pla (or fish sauce) may seem like exotic ingredients to have in your store cupboard but, as they both last for ages, I would recommend them to you all.  Ketjap Manis is an Indonesian flavouring/condiment similar to soy sauce.  It has a complex, sweet taste and keeps indefinitely in a cool, dry place.  Shrimp paste is made from fermented, ground shrimp and it's cooked into curries and sauces in Southeast Asia.  It lends a fish-flavoured depth to dishes and it too keeps for ages.  And nam pla is also made from fermented fish and brings a deep, salty flavour to food.

Here's what you need to make the simplest and most delicious of suppers:
Serves 2
150g rice noodles
200g tiger prawns (if you're using frozen ones, be sure to defrost them first!)
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
6 spring onions/scallions, cut into strips approximately 2 inches long
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
Shrimp paste
Ketjap manis
Nam pla
Oil to cook with

• Prepare all of your vegetables.  Chop the peppers.  Shred the spring onions.  Crush the garlic and chop the coriander. 
• Cook your noodles according to the instructions on the pack.  Once they are cooked, stop them cooking any further by rinsing them in cold water and then drizzle them in a little oil to stop them sticking together.  I like using sesame oil as it compliments the Asian flavours of this dish but if you don't have it, use a flavourless vegetable or groundnut oil instead.
• Heat one tablespoon of your cooking oil (a vegetable, groundnut or olive oil that isn't extra virgin is best) in a wok over a medium heat.
• Add your garlic and cook for one minute.
• Add your chopped red peppers and move quickly in the oil and garlic for another minute or so.
• By this stage, your garlic may be starting to stick to the pan so add half a tablespoon of ketjap manis to loosen things up.  Cook for another minute.
• Add one teaspoon of the shrimp paste and one teaspoon of the nam pla to the dish and cook for another minute.
• Add your prawns and cook for another two to three minutes until they have turned pink. If at any stage you feel like your wok has become too dry, you can add some ketjap manis or nam pla.  Be careful about adding the latter though as it is quite salty.  I would usually add about half a tablespoon of each at this stage. 
• Add your spring onions.  Cook for a minute until they are warm but still retain a crunchiness.
• Sprinkle over the chopped coriander.

• Then get the noodles which you have set aside, toss them into the wok with the prawns and mix the whole thing together. 
• Serve with some extra ketjap manis and coriander to sprinkle over and in ten minutes, you've got the simplest and most delicious of suppers.  It's the best kind of fast food!
• 
  

What's for lunch?

I work from home a lot. This means that I don't often have the luxury of going out for lunch. I have to make my own instead.

If I'm lucky (and organised), I'll have leftovers from the previous night's dinner. In which case, all I'll have to do is heat them up, plonk myself on the sofa, choose some trashy afternoon TV show to watch and tuck in.

But, more often than not, we'll have scoffed all of the previous night's dinner and I'll have no option but to create something from the contents of my fridge. Something quick and tasty that will power me through the rest of the afternoon. Something exactly like this:


This quinoa salad with roasted butternut squash, green beans, red onion, chilli, coriander and rocket has a great mix of flavours and textures. There's a bite to the grains and a crunch to the green beans. The chilli lends heat while the rocket and coriander add freshness. Combine this with the soft sweetness of the squash and you couldn't ask for a better lunch

Here's how you make it for two people:
Ingredients:
150g quinoa*
Half of a medium-sized squash, cut into 1cm cubes
Half of a red onion
Half of a red chilli (or more if you like your food hot)
120g green beans, trimmed and cut in half
A handful of fresh rocket
3tbsp of chopped coriander

* This works just as well with other grains such as bulgur wheat, couscous or even rice.

Put the cubes of squash in a roasting tin. Season them with salt and pepper and drizzle with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Place in an oven at 200 degrees Celsius/390F and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until soft.

Cook the quinoa as you would rice. Place in a saucepan with double the amount of boiling water. Cover the pan and cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients while the squash and quinoa are cooking.

Soften the onion and the chilli in half a teaspoon of olive oil.

Boil the green beans in salted boiling water for up to four minutes, until they are tender but still retain a bit of crunch.

Mix the onion, chilli and green beans with the cooked quinoa. Add the roasted squash and finally the rocket and coriander.

Find the TV remote control. Choose your favourite programme. Sit back on the sofa and tuck in!