A lighter Lunch

    

I am a bit lazy about lunch. I often tend to skip breakfast. Yes, I know is healthy living violation number one, but I am just not a breakfast person. Two big cups of decaf coffee is all I can stomach first thing in the morning. But often I have to work through lunch as well and then just as my blood sugar hits an all time low, I usually opt for a much larger bowl than necessary of granola, packed with nuts and seeds. Unfortunately, as we all know, Granola is also packed with sugar. The second ingredient on my Simply Nut Granola by Dorset Cereals, is golden syrup. Not exactly an ingredient I would associate with health, although Tate and Lyle had other ideas. 

 Isn’t it amazing how perceptions have changed. Can you imagine a child after a daily dose of Golden Syrup particularly after the recommended bedtime snack as well, of even more golden syrup stirred into a glass of milk? The advice in this book reminds me of some of the other suggestions in vintage cookbooks, extolling the virtues of cigarettes and opium. It does make you wonder what guidance given out now, will be scoffed at in the future.

Anyway, this weeks recipe makes a really quick and easy lunch and is one of those when you manage to somehow conjure up a delicious meal from almost nowhere. All I had left in the fridge was a lettuce, some carrots and a cucumber and a left over piece of fillet steak. 

We can learn a lot from Asian recipes as they have long understood that meat and fish are costly and they know how to make expensive ingredients go along way, padded out with plenty of cheaper and healthier vegetables.  Although the list of ingredients often looks long and complicated, it really is store cupboard stuff and it really could not be quicker and easier to make and a whole lot less calories than Granola.

Vietnamese Lettuce and Beef Wraps
You can make the dipping sauce and marinade the meat the day before.

For the marinade
1 fillet steak
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 tsp caster sugar
1-1½ tsp toasted sesame oil, to taste

For the dipping sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar, to taste
1 tsp. golden caster sugar, to taste
1 tbsp. Fish sauce (Nam Pla)
1 stick lemongrass
1 lime, juice only
1 fresh red chilli

For the wraps
1 carrot, cut into fine julienne strips or grated
½ cucumber
3 sprigs mint, leaves picked and chopped
½ small bunch coriander, leaves and stalks roughly chopped
1 lettuce such as Batavia or baby gem

Lime wedges, to serve

For the marinade, put the steak into a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix until coated evenly. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least two hours, or overnight if possible.

Meanwhile make the dipping sauce. Mix the rice vinegar, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice together. Finely chop the red chilli. If you like it hot then leave the seeds in, if not remove them. Remove any tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and trim the bottom. Grate using a microplaner starting at the bottom and grating until nearly three quarters of the way up. (If you do not have a microplaner, chop very finely). Add with the chilli to your dipping sauce and taste. Adjust the flavours as necessary – adding a little more sugar if it’s too sour, or more rice vinegar or lime juice if too sweet.

Next peel and grate your carrots and cut your cucumber into julienne. A mandolin is good for this. Separate and wash the salad leaves and leave to drain. Pick the leaves off the herbs.

In a large heavy-based frying pan, heat a dash of oil. Shake off any excess marinade from the steaks and cook for 2-3 minutes on either side – depending on their thickness and how rare you like your steak. Tip over the marinade and remove and rest on a plate for five minutes.

To serve, arrange the lettuce leaves on a serving plate. Fill the lettuce leaves with carrot and cucumber. Add a small handful of herbs. Slice the rested steak, and top each leaf with a slice or two of steak, tipping any resting juices over the top. Serve with the dipping sauce and lime wedges on the side.

Waffle, Charcoal and Carrot Tops

I know I have been super slack in writing my blog and to make matters worse I have just taken on the task of writing a new weekly blog for Riverford. The idea is to help customers get exciting and easy ideas and recipes each week, to help them use up their veg boxes. Then I thought, since my blog is primarily about growing and cooking vegetables, I might as well share with you a few posts from my Riverford Blog.

I would love to be sharing with you more "Recipes from the Allotment" but so far this year all I have managed to grow is a ridiculous abundance of rhubarb. I have exhausted all rhubarb recipes I can think of in the last month but luckily I have just come up with a new use, which I think I shall never tire off. It is Rhubarb Margarita and I am currently working on the recipe which I will share with you as soon as it is perfected.

In the meantime, here are some exerts from my Riverford blog.

This week I started with a Medium Veg Box (less roots). It is an exciting time of year with so many new veg and fruit coming available every day now. Gorgeous bunched carrots and onions, tender baby spinach, new season’s UK asparagus and crisp little gem lettuces to name but some.

I couldn’t wait to get started with a Grilled Asparagus & Baby Gem Salad with Feta & Mint.  Grilling your veg keeps them lovely and crisp whilst adding a delicious hint of smoke. This is a great salad to make if you are having a BBQ at the weekend, as it is so quick and easy, especially if you already have the BBQ lit. Mint is everywhere at the moment. One of the first signs of summer in my garden is when the mint reappears from nowhere, green and lush. If you don’t have any in your garden, be sure to add some to your Riverford order. Like all my recipes you can easily adapt the ingredients and this super salad would have worked just as well with grilled courgettes or even whole spring onions. It occurred to me that a few delicious broad beans would have been lovely scatted on top as well. If you are looking for a good olive oil for this recipe, I would like to recommend Riverford’s Italian Extra Virgin at £5.95 for 500ml. I like the one from Giancarlo in Puglia best – it has a lovely peppery taste.

Grilled Asparagus & Baby Gem Salad with Feta & Mint

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side
Bunch of Asparagus
One or two Baby Gem Lettuces (depending on size)
100g Feta
½ a Lemon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Few Sprigs of Fresh Mint

Snap any woody ends off your asparagus and drizzle with good olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Trim the very end off the baby gem lettuce and then cut in half lengthways through the root, taking car to keep it in tack. Cut each half into three wedges. Again drizzle with good olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Heat your griddle or BBQ until smoking. Lay the flat sides of the lettuces on the grill, turning as soon as they have a clear char mark. Do the same with the asparagus making sure they are just cooked through. (It is imperative that your asparagus is very fresh.) Make a dressing with the juice of half a lemon, whisked up with a good pinch of salt and some extra virgin olive oil. Arrange the baby gem and asparagus on a plate and crumble over some feta. Roll up your mint leaves and finely slice to create a chiffonade. Sprinkle over the top and drizzle on your lemon dressing.

Mushrooms and Spinach just go together for some reason, whether it be in a stir-fry, an omelette or a tart but this week I tried out a Mushroom and Spinach Lasagne with a bit of Goat’s Cheese thrown in as well. Serve alongside some of Riverford’s delicious salad leave and you have a meal in no time.

Riverford don’t do a Goat’s Cheese. Maybe they haven’t managed to find a good organic one. I used Helen’s Farm, which although not organic, does a lovely range of Goat’s milk products and they even come in a variety of strengths so there is something to suit to everyone. I chose the mild hard cheese and even managed to sneak it past the kids without a fuss.

Mushroom, Spinach & Goat’s Cheese Lasagne

Serves 2

One Punnet of Mushrooms
One Bag of Baby Spinach
One large clove of garlic
25g Butter
25g Flour
350mls Milk
50g Parmesan
120g Goat’s Cheese
½ box of lasagne sheets
Olive Oil
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely slice your mushrooms. Heat a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan and add your mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Fry on a medium heat until golden brown. Meanwhile heat a large saucepan with a lid. Add a very thin layer of oil to the bottom to stop the spinach sticking. Add the bag of spinach and add a good pinch of salt. Cover and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Remove the lid carefully. The spinach should be just wilted. Tip the spinach into a colander and wipe out the saucepan. Very finely slice the garlic. Add a glug of olive oil to the pan and add the garlic. Fry until just golden brown. Add the spinach carefully as it may spit. Stir well and turn off the heat.

Heat the butter in a small non-stick saucepan. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in the flour. Return to a low heat and stir until sandy. Carefully add the milk and whisk over a medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and add the grated parmesan. Season well to taste with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 180⁰C
Heat the butter in a small non-stick saucepan. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in the flour. Return to a low heat and stir until sandy. Carefully add the milk and whisk over a medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and add the grated parmesan. Season well to taste with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 180⁰C. Cut the goat’s cheese into small chunks.

Take a gratin dish about 20cms x 15cms and put a very thin layer of béchamel on the bottom. Top with a layer of lasagne sheets. Break up the sheets if necessary. Top with the spinach and 1/3 of the remaining béchamel and 1/2 the goat’s cheese. Next do another layer of lasagne. Then top with the spinach the rest of the goat’s cheese and the next 1/3 of bechamel. Next the final layer of lasagne and finally the rest of the béchamel. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes or so until golden brown on top and a blunt knife inserts easily all the way through.

 

Roast Sweet Potato Wedges with Sweet Chilli Sauce & Crème Fraiche

I never used to know what to do with Sweet Potatoes and I was always concocting

elaborate curries and chillies to use them up but I had forgotten how delicious simple roast Sweet Potato Wedges were until my son asked me to make them for him instead of potatoes. 

What always amazes me is how good sweet potatoes are for you. You cannot believe that something that tastes so, well .... sweet, could do you any good but they pack a powerful nutritional punch. They have got over 400% of your daily needs for vitamin A in one medium sized sweet potato as well as loads of antioxidents vitamin C and E, beta-carotene, fibre & potassium. They have got more grams of natural sugars than regular potato but more overall nutrients with fewer calories.They are low on the glycemic index scale, and recent research suggests they may reduce episodes of low blood sugar and insulin resistance in people with diabetes. 

I lightly sprinkled them with a little salt and some smoked paprika, drizzled them with a little olive oil and roast them in the oven at 190⁰C for about half an hour until soft in the middle but crispy and golden on the outside. I then served them with a couple of dips - Crème Fraiche (Riverford’s is very good) and the other was some Sweet Chilli Sauce (once again, Riverford do make their own) and it soon became a firm, family favourite.

So that is it for this week. I promise lots more recipes next week. Please feel free to comment and let us know what challenges you are facing you this week. I know I never got round to those lovely bunched onions and carrots but I promise to next week and at least I finally found something to do with tops of the carrots which I always hated throwing away. I discovered that Waffle and Charcoal just love them!