HEALTHY-CHEF

Really good food...that's really good for you!

Archives for August 2015

Frijoles

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Frijoles
 
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I first ate this, in abundance, on the terrace of great friends, Jo and Ben, on a warm Spring evening accompanied by spatchcocked spicy chicken, corn tortillas, salsa and a little vino. I was still thinking about it 48 hours later, so I asked for their recipe and here it is...
Recipe type: Accompaniment
Cuisine: Mexican
Serves: 6 servings
Ingredients
  • Large knob organic butter
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced/finely chopped
  • 15g chopped coriander stems and all
  • 225g/8oz dried black beans (can be substituted for x2 400g tins organic Mexican black beans
  • 1 small red chilli, finely chopped (seeds optional)
  • Sea salt to season
Instructions
  1. If using dried black beans
  2. Either pre-soak the beans overnight or start this recipe 3 hours ahead of time and begin by placing the beans in a large saucepan, covering them with cold water and bringing them up to boiling point and boiling for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat off and let them soak for 3 hours.
  3. Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan
  4. Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry for 5-7 minutes until soft but not coloured
  5. Add the chopped coriander stems continue to fry for another 2-3 minutes
  6. Add the black beans and 200ml of water (or the liquid from the canned beans)
  7. Bring to the boil and cook on a low simmer for 20-25 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the beans and cooked through
  8. Garnish with the remaining coriander, diced chilli and a sprinkling of sea salt.

 

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Wild Salmon Thai Fishcakes

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Wild Salmon Thai Fishcakes with Mango Salsa
 
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Lovely light summer starter or suitable for a main course served with brown rice and salad. You can make these up to a day ahead of schedule, once you've moulded the fishcake patties wrap with clingfilm and refrigerate until required.
Recipe type: Starter/Mains
Cuisine: Thai
Serves: 12 fishcakes
Ingredients
  • Thai Fishcakes
  • 3 tbs coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed
  • ⅘ skinless fillets of wild salmon (approx 750g)
  • 2 knobs fresh root ginger, peeled
  • 1-2 red chillies, (remove seeds if you don't like too much heat, halve
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, outer layer removed and halved
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • Large handful of fresh coriander inc stems
  • juice and rind of 1 lime
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • Mango Salsa:
  • 2 ripe mangos, diced
  • 1 small red pepper, chopped
  • ½ cup chopped red onion
  • ¼ cup fresh coriander , chopped
  • 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
  • 1 large lime, juiced (about ¼ cup lime juice)
  • ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon salt, to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375F/190C
  2. Heat 1tbs coconut oil in a frying pan and toast the coriander seeds for 1 -2 mins.
  3. Put all ingredients, including the toasted seeds, except the salmon into a blender and whizz till you have a coarse paste
  4. Add the diced salmon and whizz briefly to combine
  5. Using two soup spoons or your hands mould into golf ball sized patties.
  6. Heat the remaining 2tbs coconut oil in a shallow frying pan.
  7. Once hot brown the fish cakes on either side before transferring to the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, till cooked through.
  8. Serve with lime cheeks, asian salad and a sweet mango salsa

 

 

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Orange Spread

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Orange Spread
 
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Okay so this is basically my Sunshine Marmalade for the brave. It is exactly the same but without any added sweetness. It came about when on the umpteenth time I was making my marmalade I wondered whether it needed the extra sweetness and low and behold I realised it didn't. If this is your first attempt at healthy/homemade conserves feel free to start with my recipe for Sunshine Marmalade and then as you like reduce the sugar content till voila you're making orange spread.
Recipe type: Conserves
Serves: 4 jars
Ingredients
  • 6 organic oranges
  • 1cup/230ml water
Instructions
  1. Peel each orange, retain the rinds.
  2. Slice in half and put the oranges, skin , seeds the lot in a food processor
  3. Combine till you have a smooth puree
  4. Slice the rinds into matchsticks
  5. Pour puree, rind and water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil
  6. Stir to ensure no bits are sticking to the saucepan base and then lower to minimum heat and simmer for 11/2hr uncovered till the rinds are completely soft.
  7. Remove from heat and allow to cool
  8. Pour into jars and refrigerate
  9. Keeps for approx 1 month

 

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Spicy Hummus with Pine Nuts and Parsley

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Spicy Hummus with Pine Nuts and Parsley
 
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You can be as conservative or as brave as you like with hummus. For those of you who are more purist see my basic hummus recipe, for those who like it hot hot hot experiment with fresh red/green chillies, lie rather than lemon juice and any nut you preference.
Recipe type: Snack
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients
  • Hummus:
  • 2 tins of organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
  • 75g tahini paste
  • 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 6 large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 11/2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 100ml ice cold water
  • Garnish
  • 4 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted
  • 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp paprika
Instructions
  1. Place chickpeas in a food processor and pulse to a stiff paste
  2. Add the remaining hummus ingredients and pulse for a few seconds
  3. Spoon into a serving dish/bowl
  4. Scatter generously with the toasted pine nuts, paprika and parsley
  5. Serve with toasted pitta, raw vegetable crudités and roasted baby carrots.

 

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Hummus

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Hummus
 
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Hummus is brilliantly versatile. Once you've mastered a good basic hummus, as this recipe is, you can get creative and add your favourite spices, nuts and herbs. See my spicy, pine nut version, it's good! I serve mine to hungry dinner guests on arrival with roasted baby carrots (see recipe), cucumber and red pepper sticks and toasted wholemeal pitta.
Recipe type: Snack
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients
  • 2 tins of organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
  • 75g tahini paste
  • 4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 6 large garlic cloves, crushed
  • 11/2 tsp sea salt
  • 100ml ice cold water
  • scant teaspoon paprika
Instructions
  1. Place chickpeas in a food processor and pulse to a stiff paste
  2. Add the remaining ingredients except the paprika and pulse for a few seconds
  3. Spoon into a serving dish/bowl and sprinkle with the paprika
  4. Enjoy!

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Fattoush

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Fattoush
 
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This is lifted straight from the pages of Ottolenghi's 'Jerusalem' cookbook. I have reduced the amount of dressing, removed the stale bread, adjusted a few seasoning to create a clean, fresh and totally different salad to complement anything from your classic BBQ offerings, to my lasagna (see recipe) and as it has a lot of mint in it goes brilliantly with lamb dishes too!
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Arabian
Serves: 6 people
Ingredients
  • 150ml buttermilk
  • punnet of cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
  • 100g radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 cucumber, quartered and diced (approx 1.5cm)
  • 1 bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 15g fresh mint
  • 25g flat leaf parsley
  • 1 tbs dried mint
  • 4 garlic gloves
  • 3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 30ml virgin olive oil
  • 2 tbs cider/white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
  • 11/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp sumac
Instructions
  1. place the prepared tomatoes, cucumber, radishes and spring onions in a bowl
  2. Place all the additional ingredients in your food processor and whizz to create a rough dressing.
  3. Pour over the salad vegetables and combine
  4. Spoon over the buttermilk and combine
  5. Ideally leave for a minimum of 10 minutes for all the flavours to combine
  6. Serve at room temperature

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Tomato Salad with Tuna, Fried Anchovies and Crispy Onion

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Tomato Salad seasoned with anchovies & crispy onion
 
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Otherwise known as 'ensalada de tomate aliñado conanchoas, bonito y crujiente de cebolla'! I came across this lovely Spanish salad in a beautiful authentic restaurant, Casa dels Capellans, Traiguera, on a recent holiday with friends. I was inspired by the fresh flavours, raw garlic and contrast between the sweet tomatoes and crisp onion rings...for me the taste of summer in 1 bowl.
Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Spanish
Serves: 6 person
Ingredients
  • 220g jar best-quality Spanish tuna, drained (Ortiz is good)
  • 75ml extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 jar anchovies, or fresh if you can get
  • 5 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
  • 1kg mixed tomatoes, use different varieties and colours sliced ½-inch thick
  • 2 large red onion very thinly sliced NB THESE ONIONS REQUIRE 4-6HRS COOKING
  • ½ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes, for seasoning
Instructions
  1. For the crispy dried onions:
  2. Preheat oven to 170F(75C) (or your oven's lowest temperature)
  3. Place onion slices thinly scattered on required number of baking trays
  4. Sprinkle with sea salt and place in the oven for 4-6hrs
  5. For the crisp fried anchovies:
  6. Heat the 1 tsp of coconut oil in a frying pan
  7. Once hot lightly fry the anchovy fillets, 1 minute either side should suffice
  8. As soon as they are cooked, sprinkle the anchovies with sea salt
  9. For the salad
  10. Add the garlic and red chilli flakes to the olive oil and season well
  11. Scatter the array of tomatoes over a shallow dish
  12. Pour over the garlic,chilli infused olive oil
  13. Flake over the tuna
  14. Place the fried anchovy fillets over the salad
  15. Heap the crispy onions on top
  16. Finish with a good sprinkling of the chopped parsley
  17. Serve at once
Notes
If you do not have 4-6hrs to dry fry your onions you can put in a very hot oven, 425F (220C) for 30 mins or even shorter for time heat 2 tsps of coconut oil in a large shallow frying pan and fry the onions till brown and crispy. NB Not quite as healthy but just as delicious!

 

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