Orzo and Mozzarella Salad

I had a ball of mozzarella that needed using up and so I came across a pasta salad that used mozzarella and some more of that jar of sun-dried tomatoes that has been sat in my fridge for a while. It was a lovely summery pasta salad eaten on a cold winter day!

Orzo and Mozzarella Salad (adapted from Good Food Magazine July 2010)
(Serves 4)

300g orzo or other tiny pasta shape
4 tsp pesto
30g toasted pine nuts
2 medium mozzarella balls, roughly chopped
100g sun-dried tomatoes, very roughly chopped
24 cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
1/2 cucumber, chopped
grated parmesan

Boil the orzo for 8 mins until tender, then drain and cool under cold water. Drain again, then tip into a large bowl.

Stir the pesto through the orzo, then season. Add the mozzarella, tomatoes and cucumber. Scatter with the remaining pine nuts and some Parmesan, if you like. Pack into your lunchbox.

Spicy Prawn Caesar Salad

I had a fairly manic half term visiting family and friends and also having some building work carried out at my flat, this week has been a bit busy too as we got the news yesterday that the school I work in is to be inspected next week, so everyone is running around trying to get everything together for the inspection making work busy as well. Add to this a dodgy tummy and the fact that I keep forgetting to download the photos from my camera, blogging isn't really happening! Hopefully things will calm down enough for me to sort myself out over the weekend.

This is one of the lunches I had before half term, it was a delicious twist on the classic Caesar Salad.

Spicy Prawn Caesar Salad (adapted from Martha Stewart)
(Serves 4)

4 corn tortillas
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper
350g prawns, peeled and deveined
6 tbsp light mayonnaise
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced
1 large head romaine lettuce cut into 1-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 190C. Place tortillas on a baking sheet. Brush both sides with 1 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, and season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden brown and crisp, turning once, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool, then break into pieces.

Heat the grill. In a large bowl, toss the prawns with remaining teaspoons of oil and chili powder. Season with salt and pepper. Lay shrimp flat on a grill pan, and cook until browned and opaque throughout, turning once, 3 to 4 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, lime juice, Parmesan, anchovies, and up to 2 tablespoons of water. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, toss the lettuce with dressing. Divide among plates, and top each with shrimp and broken tortillas. Garnish with more Parmesan.

Pasta with Creamy Greens and Lemon

This is a very simple pasta dish but wonderfully healthy with all the greens involved.

Pasta with Creamy Greens and Lemon
(adapted from Good Food Magazine February 2011)
(Serves 4)

300g pasta
140g broccoli florets
100g frozen soya beans
100g frozen peas
3-4 large leaves spring greens, sliced
150g light or extra light soft cheese
zest and juice 1 lemon
85g grated Parmesan
handful basil leaves

Cook the pasta in a very large pan following the pack instructions, adding broccoli florets, frozen soya beans, frozen peas and greens for the final 3 mins of cooking time.

Drain, saving a ladleful of the cooking water first, then tip everything back into the pan. Stir in the soft cheese, lemon zest and juice, grated Parmesan, a handful basil leaves, some seasoning and a splash of cooking water. Serve.

Honey Cloud Pancake with Lemon and Raspberries

This is a rather late post for which I apologise. I wasn't going to bother with pancake day. At the most I was going to use some shop bought frozen lemon and sultana pancakes but that was it, I was on my own that evening, late back from work and couldn't be bothered! Then everyone started talking about the pancake parties they were going to, or the pancakes they were making and I wanted pancakes too! So I started looking and found this recipe for cloud pancakes which I had never heard of before and the recipe was for one, perfect!

It wasn't really a pancake in the sense of what I would call a pancake. It was more like a sweet Yorkshire pudding with fruit but it made me feel a bit more in the spirit of the day!

Honey Cloud Pancake with Lemon and Raspberries (adapted from Things We Make)
(Serves 1)

1 large egg
60ml milk
30g flour
1 pinch of salt
2 tsp of honey
1 dash of vanilla extract
1 tbsp of butter
handful raspberries
zest 1/2 lemon
Honey

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

 

To make the main batter, in a bowl, mix the egg with flour, salt, honey, and vanilla then whisk in the milk.

Heat a small 6″ oven proof frying pan. Melt one tablespoon of butter in the hot pan.

Pour the batter in and cook on the hob for a few minutes until starting to set at the very edge.

Sprinkle the raspberries and lemon zest on top and bake in the oven for10 mins until puffed up and golden.

Drizzle with honey and serve.

Broccoli, Chicken and Noodle Salad

Can I do Wordless Sundays? It's a noodle salad!

Broccoli, Chicken and Noodle Salad
(adapted from Olive Magazine February 2011)
(Serves 2)

125g purple sprouting broccoli
50g ramen noodles
100g edamame, fresh or frozen
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
½ tsp grated ginger
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 small cooked chicken breasts, shredded

Boil the broccoli stems until tender, then rinse and drain in very cold water. If the stems are large, cut them in half lengthways.

Cook the noodles following packet instructions, adding the edamame for the last 3 mins of cooking. Rinse well in cold water and drain thoroughly.

Make a dressing by mixing the tamari, mirin, sesame oil, ginger and spring onion. Put the broccoli, noodles, edamame and chicken in a bowl. Pour over the dressing and toss together, adding some extra seasoning if you like. Serve.

Lemony Crumbed Turkey with Broccoli Bean Mash

I am trying to vary what I eat a bit. As a child I never had turkey at home, at Christmas it always goose and at other times of the year it was chicken, but I'm experimenting and so far I can't taste a huge difference from chicken and it doesn't seem to dry out as many people seem to report. This was really lovely, I used tenderstem broccoli rather than normal, which didn't work so well as the stalks didn't mash but otherwise it was delicious.

Lemony Crumbed Turkey with Broccoli Bean Mash
(from Good Food Magazine January 2013)
(Serves 4)

3 tbsp plain flour
1 large egg
100g fresh breadcrumbs
zest 1 lemon,
small handful parsley, chopped
450g turkey breast steaks
2 tbsp sunflower oil
4 vines cherry tomatoes
350g broccoli, cut into small florets
400g can butter beans, drained
4 tbsp pesto

Preheat oven to 180C.

Put the flour into a wide, shallow bowl with a little seasoning. Whisk the egg in a second shallow bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and parsley to a third shallow bowl.

Dip each turkey steak into the flour, shaking off any excess, then into the egg, and finally into the breadcrumbs - press the crumbs into the turkey to make sure they really stick. Put the steaks on a large baking tray and bake for 20 mins. Add the cherry tomatoes to the tray and bake for a further 5 mins.

Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil, add the broccoli and cook for 5 mins. Add the butter beans and cook for 2 mins more until broccoli is really tender. Drain well and tip back into the pan. add the pesto and mash everything up with a potato masher. Divide the turkey, broccoli bean mash and tomatoes between plates - adding lemon wedges for those who want to squeeze some over.

Bulgar Wheat, Lentil and Feta Salad

I put way too many lentils into this. I didn't have any canned lentils but had a packet of dried green lentils and just poured some into the saucepan, it was far too many! So I made the best of it and used half of what I cooked, which was still so many that I couldn't finish it. The dish however was fairly tasty and it made a very easy take to work lunch.

Bulgar Wheat, Lentil and Feta Salad (adapted from Good Food Magazine July 2009)
(Serves 4)

200g bulgar wheat
1 tsp olive oil
1 shallot or ½ onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp tarragon, roughly chopped
400g can Puy or green lentils, rinsed and drained
¼ cucumber, diced
100g feta cheese, crumbled
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
zest and juice 1 orange
1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar

Cook the bulgar wheat according to packet instructions, drain well, then set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a small pan, then cook the shallot or onion for a few mins until softened. Add the tarragon, stir well, then remove from the heat.

Stir the softened shallot and tarragon into the cooled bulgar wheat along with the lentils, cucumber, feta, spring onions, orange zest and juice and vinegar. Toss together well and pack into your lunch box.

Chicken Pesto Croissant Sandwich

I've been wanting to make croissant sandwiches for ages. I'm used to having a croissant for breakfast with jam or toasted with ham and cheese but not as a cold sandwich. This was delicious, the slight sweetness of the croissant itself went really well with the rest of the ingredients making a tasty sandwich.

Chicken Pesto Croissant Sandwich
(Serves 1)

1 low fat croissant
1 tsp low fat pesto
1 tsp low fat mayonnaise
1/2 chicken breast, cooked and sliced
handful salad leaves

Cook the croissant according to packet instructions. Leave it to cool for a few mins and the slice in half crossways.

Spread the pesto on one half and the mayonnaise on the other half. Place the chicken on top of the bottom half and the salad leaves on top, then top with the top of the croissant. Cut in half and serve.

Watercress and Feta Frittata

This was a meal designed to use up leftovers. I had one egg white leftover from making burgers the other day and I was desperately trying to think of something to do with it. Make a meringue was my first thought but to go to all that effort for one meringue?! I then remembered someone saying to me that they enjoyed egg white omelettes, so I thought I'd compromise and make a one egg, one egg white frittata and have it for breakfast for a couple of days.

The recipe also used up the end of a block of feta, the rest of a bag of watercress, and half an onion that I had sitting around in the fridge which had been bought for some other purpose but that needed using. In that way making it a frugal breakfast, or in fact a dish that could be enjoyed at any time of day! I'm adding it to this months Credit Crunch Munch, set up by Helen of Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All.

Watercress and Feta Frittata
(Serves 1)

20g feta
1 tsp oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
40g watercress, large stalks removed
1 whole egg and 1 egg white
40ml milk
black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Line a small square baking dish with some parchment paper and add the feta cheese.

In a frying pan over a medium high heat, heat the oil, add the onions and fry until golden. Add the watercress and stir until wilted.

When the watercress is wilted add it with the onion to the feta cheese in the tray.

Put the eggs in a bowl, and beat with a little black pepper. Pour over the top off the feta watercress mixture.

Bake in the oven for approx 15-20 mins, until egg mixture is set and slightly golden on top.

Storecupboard Pasta Salad

This is a simple pasta salad to make with items out the storecupboard. I didn't have to rush out and buy anything for this recipe it was all in my cupboards already! Easy and tasty too!

Storecupboard Pasta Salad (adapted from Good Food Magazine July 2009)
(Serves 2)

140g dried pasta shapes
2 tsp finely chopped red onion
1 tsp capers
1 tbsp pesto
2 tsp olive oil
185g can of tuna in spring water, drained
3 sundried tomatoes, chopped

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Drain and ru under cold water to cool. Set aside.

Mix the onion, capers, pesto and oil. Flake the tuna into a bowl with the pasta and tomatoes, then stir in the pesto mix.