A simple summer salad

I love eating salads in the summertime! It makes me feel like I'm at a picnic. The weather here in Ireland is definitely cooperating this summer and we've had some warm (to us!) days. The other week I had lunch with a friend at a vegetarian cafe in Greystones and had a delicious tomato salad. *This is where my mother faints.*

Yes, I said delicious tomato salad.

I grew up absolutely hating raw tomatoes and ketchup, but my taste buds are changing and tomatoes are one of those things that I'm starting to eat. I'm still very picky about which tomatoes I will eat, so definitely not on a sandwich and no ketchup! I think I'm someone who eats with my eyes and this salad really did it for me. The different colors in the salad made my mouth water. The original salad had black olives in it, but I think they're disgusting, so I left them out!

Heirloom Tomato Salad (Measurements are approximations. Adjust appropriately for your tastes!)

500g heirloom tomatoes, in a variety of colors
50g feta cheese, crumbled
10-15 basil leaves, washed
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Slice the tomatoes into large chunks and place in a medium non-metal bowl. Crumble the feta cheese over top. Wash the basil leaves and add them to the salad, tearing the larger leaves. Salt and pepper to taste (I was liberal with the black pepper as usual). Coat with a large glug (or two) of extra virgin olive oil. Stir until everything is coated.

Makes 3 generous side servings.

Enjoy!

Couscous, lima bean, and tomato salad

I found this salad recipe years ago in Redbook magazine. It seriously makes my mouth water when I think about it! Since there is no mayo in the salad it's a great option for picnics. When I was in the US I made it with baby lima beans. I had a friend who used edamame beans when she tried it and it was equally delicious. Lima beans aren't available in the UK or Ireland, so here I use frozen broad beans that I've popped out of the tough outer layer. It's a bit faffy, but it does taste so much better if you do this. Use this recipe as a guideline, but don't be afraid to eyeball it and alter it to your taste, particularly with the tomatoes and the feta cheese!

Couscous, lima bean, and tomato salad

¾ tsp salt
1 c couscous
¾ c water
10 oz frozen baby lima beans, edamame beans, or broad beans
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped and deseeded
¼ c fresh chopped basil
2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts)
½ c crumbled feta cheese

Bring the water and ½ tsp of the salt to a boil in small sauce pan; add couscous, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a shallow dish to cool.

Cook the beans in boiling water until crisp tender, about 3 minutes, drain, plunge into cold water, drain again, set aside to cool. If using broad beans, you should peel them once they're cool enough to handle.

Whisk together vinegar, pepper and remaining salt in a large bowl; slowly whisk in olive oil. Stir in the couscous, beans, tomatoes, basil, and scallions. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

Makes 6 generous side servings.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Cashew Stir-Fry

Chinese food in America is delicious. Chinese food in the UK is disgusting. When I was in England a couple of years ago Ching-He Huang did a show on BBC2 that corresponded with her cookbook called, Chinese Food Made Easy. The stuff she cooked looked delicious and fresh!

Last year when I moved to Ireland I discovered that Chinese food here is delicious! Hooray! One of my favorite places to eat in Dublin is a Chinese restaurant on Capel Street. However, it's expensive and I'm trying to be healthy, so this weekend I decided to make something out of my book. Since I had most of the ingredients for it, I went with the chicken and cashew stir-fry. It is really easy to make and much healthier than what you get in the restaurants. Wes liked it so much we had it again a few days later. Everything goes so fast once you start cooking, so I strongly recommend that you have everything sliced and ready to go before you start to actually cook.

The online recipe is slightly different from the one in the cookbook, plus I added a few things. So, I'm just going to post my version. However, you can find the original recipe on the BBC Food website.

Chicken and Cashew Stir-Fry

For the chicken
1 egg white
1 tbsp cornflour
Dash of salt
500g (1lb 2oz) boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced thinly
3-4 tbsp stir-fry oil (mixture of sunflower and sesame oils)

For the stir-fry
1 onion, sliced thinly
1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced into thin strips
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced into thin strips
3 tbsp chicken stock
2-3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 spring onions, sliced
4 tbsp raw or roasted cashew nuts*
1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
Salt and ground white pepper
150g Chinese-style medium egg noodles (dry, not straight to wok), to serve**

*If using raw nuts, you may choose to toast them before using them. I just toasted mine in the frying pan over low heat until they started to get slightly brown. I did this while I was chopping up all the veg and chicken. Keep an eye on them, shaking them around a bit, so they don't burn. 

**Follow the package directions to cook the noodles so they finish at the same time as the stir-fry. Mine only take two minutes, so that's how I have accounted for them in this dish. You can also use rice if you prefer.


1. For the chicken, whisk together the egg white, cornflour and salt. Make sure the cornflour is fully incorporated. Add the sliced chicken and stir around to completely coat it. 

2. Start the water boiling for the noodles. Heat wok (or large frying pan) on high heat. Add the oil. Fry the chicken until it's completely brown and crispy on all sides, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain.

3. Heat the oil remaining in the pan over high heat. Add the onion and stir-fry about 30 seconds. Add the peppers and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, or until they start to soften. Add the chicken and stir-fry 1-2 minutes. Drop the noodles into the boiling water.

4. Add the stock, soy sauce and Chinese 5 Spice to the chicken stir-fry and allow it to simmer for a minute or two, ensuring the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the green onions, cashews, and cooked (and drained!) noodles. Season with the salt and ground white pepper. Stir everything together until the noodles are incorporated. Serve immediately.

Makes 3 servings or 2 if you're hungry!

Enjoy!

Broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken

This is one of our new favorite recipes, hands down! It's another one from Gina's WW Recipes and it doesn't disappoint. I've made it twice in the past two weeks which means we must really like it! It's a great way to use up leftover broccoli. It's a bit faffy with the rolling up of the chicken, but other than that, it couldn't be easier. If you go to the website you'll see her perfect little chicken parcels. Yeah, my parcels look like something out of a food horror movie! I have to say I actually used less toothpicks the second time I made these than the first. I was really concerned about all of the cheese oozing out, but Swiss cheese isn't a quick melting cheese, so the oozing wasn't too bad. Also, she says that she gets a chicken breast and cuts it into three thin cutlets. I just get one boneless chicken breast for each of us and bang it into a thin cutlet with the flat side of my meat tenderizer. I served it with steamed potatoes and salad.

The original recipe is here and I've posted it below with the changes I made accounting for two servings. You can easily double or triple it.

Broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, pounded thin (about 1/2 in)
2 slices Swiss cheese, the thinner the better
1 c cooked broccoli, chopped small
¾ c seasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
splash of water
salt
toothpicks
cooking spray (if your tray isn't nonstick)

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. In a small bowl mix the egg, water, and a pinch of salt to make an egg wash. Set aside. Put the breadcrumbs in another bowl.

Place a chicken breast in between two pieces of plastic wrap. Pound it thin with a meat tenderizer, being careful not to go too thin which will case the chicken to break apart when you try to roll it. Repeat with each piece of chicken. Place a piece of cheese (actually a half slice is usually adequate) on each piece of chicken, then put a little broccoli into the middle. Roll up the chicken and secure it closed with toothpicks. Season with a little salt. Roll each chicken wrap in the egg wash and coat with breadcrumbs (this can be a little tricky with the toothpicks!). If necessary, spray your cookie sheet, place the chicken on it, and bake for about 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Is it overkill with the toothpicks!!??

Enjoy!

Roasted Ratatouille Chicken

We really like roasted vegetables and this is one of the easiest and healthiest recipes I have ever made. You can make as much as you want and omit any veg you don't like. I would definitely recommend using chicken breast with the bone in it as boneless would dry out before the veg were cooked. Use the larges roasting tin you have. I used a 9x13in dish using all of the veg the recipe called for and just two pieces of chicken and it was too small. It didn't allow for all the veg to roast and some of them were boiled in the juices. No worries though, we ate it all! I served it with steamed new potatoes and some of the La Brea garlic bread that we love.

The recipe can be found on the BBC GoodFood website here and I've typed it out for you below:

Roasted Ratatouille Chicken

1 onion, cut into chunks
2 red peppers, seeded and cut into chunks
1 courgette (zucchini), cut into chunks
1 aubergine (eggplant), cut into chunks
4 tomatoes, halved
4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
4 chicken breasts, skin on
Salt and pepper
Few rosemary sprigs (or a sprinkling of dried), optional

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C. Lay all the vegetables in a large, shallow roasting tin. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Coat everything with olive oil and toss with your hands until everything is covered. Put the chicken skin side up, tucking them in amongst the veg. I found this better than placing it on top of the veg. Sprinkle the chicken with some salt and pepper and drizzle a little oil on top of the chicken. Roast for about 35 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the chicken is cooked.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

Anyone notice a trend in the desserts I make?? That's right - chocolate. This recipe was brought to my attention when the Food Network tweeted about it on Twitter. It's nice to know that site is actually good for something! I haven't made a lot of cupcakes from scratch, but these are by far the best tasting cupcakes I have ever made! They were also simple, which I always appreciate! I'm usually not a huge fan of alcohol-flavored cakes and candies, but the flavor is really subtle in this recipe. They were incredibly moist and not too sweet. The icing is sweet, but since the cake isn't overly sweet it works well. Also, the cream cheese compliments the chocolate nicely. I usually make cream cheese icing with butter, but this recipe uses heavy (double) cream instead. I preferred this over the butter recipe and I'll be using it again.

For best results, if you're making them for a special occasion then make them the day before. They'll taste even better the next day.

Here is the original recipe from the Food Network and I've also typed it out for you below.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

¾ c unsweetened cocoa (I used Green and Blacks), plus more for dusting the finished cupcakes
2 c sugar
2 c all-purpose flour (plain or cream if in the UK/Ireland)
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 bottle (12 oz or ¾ of a pint) stout beer*
1 stick (½ c) butter, melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs (medium if in the UK/Ireland)
¾ c sour cream or crème fraiche
8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened to room temperature
¾ c heavy cream (double if in the UK/Ireland)
1 lb (450g) confectioners' sugar (icing sugar if in the UK/Ireland)

Preheat the oven to 350°F/170°C (fan assisted).

In a large bowl whisk together the cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine the stout, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth. Gradually mix the dry ingredients in with the wet ones.

Lightly grease 24 muffin tins or use idiot-proof muffin cups like I did! Divide the batter equally, filling each tin ¾ full. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotate the pan, then bake for an additional 12-13 minutes until risen, nicely domed, and set in the middle but still soft and tender. Cool before turning out, or if in a muffin cup pop them out and cool on a rack. Cool completely before icing.

To make the icing: In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the heavy cream. On low speed slowly incorporate the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Icing can be made several hours ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Dust frosted cupcakes with cocoa powder.

The icing recipe makes MUCH more icing than you'll need and I'm pretty liberal with mine. Next time I'll halve the recipe. If you need to make a boat load of cupcakes and decide to make two batches, you could definitely just make one batch of the icing and it will be enough for all of the cupcakes.

Also, I covered my un-iced cupcakes with plastic wrap and stored them on the counter. I frosted them as I needed them.

*The recipe suggests you use Guinness, but my Corkonian husband isn't a fan of Liffey water, so I used Beamish in ours!

Enjoy!

Pork and Rosemary Lasagne

For the record, I spell it 'lasagna', but the BBC prefers to spell it with an 'e' and it's their recipe that I've based this one off of, so we'll go with it. I never really thought of putting any other type of meat into a lasagna other than beef, so I was a bit wary of this recipe. It turned out delicious! It's low fat AND filling, which is the best combo! As I said, I first used the recipe in the BBC GoodFood Cookbook, but I tweaked it a bit to my own taste.

Pork and Rosemary Lasagne

1 tsp olive oil
400g/14oz lean minced pork
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 tsp dried rosemary
150ml/¼ pint white wine
425ml/¾ pint chicken stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tsp cornflour, mixed to a paste with a little cold water
450g low fat cottage cheese
Generous splash of skimmed milk
1 tsp dried parsley
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper
10 dried lasagne sheets (no pre-cooking required type)
20g freshly grated parmesan + a bit to sprinkle over the top

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and fry the pork until brown and crumbly. Add the onion, celery, rosemary and wine. Simmer for 10 minutes, then stir in the stock, puree, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the cornflour paste until slightly thickened, then remove from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 170°C/350°F. Spray a 9inx13in baking dish with cooking spray. Mix together the cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, milk, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Wet the bottom of the baking dish with a generous spoon of meat mixture. Cover with 3 lasagna sheets. Top with a third of the cheese mixture then a third of the meat sauce. Repeat the steps, so you finish with meat sauce on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Allow the lasagne to sit for at least 5 minutes before you cut it.

Enjoy!