Mmm...Greek salad

Thats what I had for dinner last night. I really like how all the flavours really compliment each other.

Recipe (for 2)

I Romaine lettuce
4 inches of cucumber (how do you quantify cucumber in general?!)
12 cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion
1 red pepper
olives (I prefer green, but black is more traditional)
Feta cheese (I use the pre-cubed Apetina stuff, and its pretty good)

Mix all the ingredients together after chopping/washing etc. I used french vinaigrette on mine, which is not very purist, but you could use whatever you wanted. Waitrose sell a yummy sweet balsamic and red pepper dressing which goes well with it.

I served mine with warm olive ciabatta, because I can't live without carbs. Delicious (and very easy!)

Poppadoms

Nothing really to say about them, apart from Sharwood's Chili and Cumin ones are YUM!

Ratatouille

This is one of my favourite dinners!

1 red pepper
1 aubergine
1 onion
2 courgettes
1-2 cloves of garlic
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp mixed herbs

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add the courgette and red peppers. Cook until slightly softened, and the onion is translucent. Add the tinned tomatoes, aubergine, tomato puree and mixed herbs. Put in the oven at a medium temperature for about an hour.

You could serve this with couscous, pasta, potatoes, bulgar wheat, rice. The possibilities are endless! I like a bit of grated cheese on mine too.

3 bean chili

I love this on jacket potatoes, even though this is totally non-authentic!

1 tsp olive oil
1 red/green/yellow pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 chili, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tin baked beans (I like the Whole Earth ones, but any will do)
1 tin kidney beans
1 tin other type of beans
12 cherry tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp sugar

Fry the onion, pepper, and chili together. Then add the cumin and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the beans, with the juice from the baked beans as well. Add the cherry tomatoes, tomato puree, and sugar. Cook for about 30 mins, until slightly sticky in consistency.

Season to taste. I like to serve this on jacket potatoes, but it would be equally good on rice or in burritos or on tortilla chips. Serve with a good dollop of natural yogurt or sour cream.

Yum yum!

I went to Tayyabs last night. It is an amazing Pakistani restaurant in Whitechapel. I recommend the lamb chops, naan breads, and Karahi Chicken Sag. I also had a delicious mango lassi which really cut through the spiciness of the food. Best of all, two of us ate for about £30!

Be warned though, this food is spicy, and they do not cater for people whose palates prefer something a little milder!

Yucky hospital food

Why on earth can the government not see that having good, delicious, nutritious food is extremely beneficial both physically and mentally? I've never had a serious illness luckily, but even when I've just had a cold or something, I always try to focus on what I'm eating to make sure that I'm giving my body all the nutrients it needs in order to be able to recover. I can only imagine that this is waaaay more important if you are suffering from or recuperating from an illness serious enough to hospitalise you.

Prezzo

I went to the Prezzo restaurant today. I was not impressed. We were shoved in a cold corner and ignored. Our food took forever to come, and when it did, my pasta was cold. Don't go there! The food is overpriced and the staff are rude!

Ok, rant over.

:-)

Chocolate

Oh God I am having bad choccie cravings today. What I really want is a Gu chocolate pudding, or some Green & Blacks. Mmmm!

Pesto

Pesto is definitely one of my favourite foods! It is so simple to make too.

Couple of handfuls of basil
Handful of pine-nuts
Clove of garlic
Tablespoon of olive oil
Salt
Grated parmesan

Warm the pinenuts in a pan until lightly browned. Tip them into a pestle and mortar and grind them. Chop the basil a little and then add it to the pinenuts in the pestle and mortar. Add the salt and garlic. Grind until the mixture has formed a paste. Add the olive oil. I don't normally add much parmesan to my actual pesto - I prefer to grate it on top, but you could also add some of the cheese at this stage.

Serve on top of pasta, in sandwiches, on gnocchi or however you want!

Bean burritos

These are probably the least authentic burritos in the history of the world, but I love them, and they are ridiculously easy, so here is the recipe.

Serves 2
4 wholewheat tortillas
I tub of spicy tomato salsa
1 Red pepper, choppped
1 Red onion, chopped
1 can of refried beans
chopped chili (optional)
grated cheese
natural yogurt

Turn on the oven to about 200 degrees. Put the refried beans, red onion, red pepper, chili, and salsa inside the tortillas. Roll them up. Put in an ovenproof dish. Then put a couple of dessert spoons full of yogurt over the top. Grate cheese on top of that, and put in the oven for about 20 mins until the filling is heated through and the cheese is golden brown. Yummy!

You don't have to use yogurt at all if you don't want to. You could just add cheese, but I like the sourness it adds.