Monthly Archives: May 2011

Mushroom Sandwich, Anyone?

30 Monday May 2011

Posted by in Meals in one

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It sounds a bit strange but my husband and I had this in Amsterdam and I have been making it ever since!

What you need:

1 clove of Garlic (minced)
Fresh Parsley (finely chopped)
1 Onion (chopped)
1/2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Butter
1 cup of sliced Crimini Mushrooms (I am sure you can use different kinds, Crimini works best for me)
Salt & Pepper
1 Tablespoon Goat Cheese
1 Egg (Over Easy)
Splash of wine (white or red)
1 piece of bread (Your choice, but I found that the thicker, the better)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (I think our maximum is 250C do you guys have a different temperature to us?).

Put a saute pan on medium-low heat. Let the pan get hot before adding your olive oil.
Then, add your onion, garlic, butter, salt & pepper.

After a minute or so, add your mushrooms and let this mixture heat up together until you see the water extract from the mushrooms. This usually happens in 3-5 minutes.

During this 3-5 minutes, spread the goat cheese onto your bread and put the bread in the oven for 3-5 minutes. You are just melting the cheese a little so it shouldn’t take long.

The water from the mushrooms should have evaporated by now and this is when you add your wine and turn your heat on low. Keep the pan uncovered and let the wine slowly cook down to nothing! This should take about 10 minutes.

While you wait for your wine to disappear, remove your bread and start to fry your egg over easy.

Once the wine is gone, put the mushroom mixture over your bread and cheese and top it with fresh parsley.

Now you can put your egg over easy on top and enjoy!

Joy

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Yogurt with a Punch

26 Thursday May 2011

Posted by in Desserts

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I have been making this for breakfast for so long that I forget that most people do not eat yogurt in this way. I kept adding more ingredients over the years so I realize that this may be a bit much for other people to enjoy.

However, I decided to share this with everyone because whenever I eat it, I stay full for about 4 hours. This is unheard of for me because I have always eaten every 2-3 hours. Anyone who is friends with me knows this is true because I carry food with me at all times and when I don’t they all remember the monster I turn into when I am hungry and have nothing to eat!

This recipe has helped me refuel after breastfeeding as well. Because it is high in Protein, Folate, Acidophilus, Potassium and Calcium, I also want to mention that this can be eaten for lunch as well when you are short on time.

Here is what you need:

1 cup Unsweetened Yogurt ( I use Greek, but you can use anything)
1 Tablespoon Honey or Agave Nectar
1 Tablespoon melted Peanut Butter (Has London imported an American brand yet? Please buy Skippy, Jif, Peter Pan, anything American!)
1 Tablespoon Wheat Germ
1 Banana (sliced)

Just combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and enjoy!

Joy

A Twist on Rice & Beans

25 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in Beans

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It sounds funny, but I never ate beans until I moved to Spain and made friends with people from the UK. To this day, ‘Beans on Toast’ or ‘Jacket potato and beans’ are my two favorite quick and easy meals to eat. By the way, a ‘Jacket Potato’ is what Americans call a ‘Baked Potato’. The first time I heard this, I was very confused because I had never heard a piece of clothing be used to describe a food.

For some reason, when Mel and I were living together in Barcelona, we got on a pretty serious lentil kick. We came up with a scrumptious way to prepare them.

This is what I started out with but added a few extra things to make it healthier for a new mom breastfeeding. I don’t have much time to eat let alone prepare a nice meal. However, breastfeeding is exhausting and I need to be refuelled immediately. Not only can I prepare this meal quickly, but the lentils provide my body with Iron, Folate, Vitamin B1 and Fiber.

Here is what you will need:

1 Can Lentils (drained)
1 Tablespoon of Dijon Mustard
1-3 Tablespoons of whipping cream (it depends how creamy you like it)
1 Teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1 Carrot (chopped)
1/2 Small Onion (diced)
1 Cup of Rice (brown or white, you decide)

You saute the onion and carrot for 10 minutes or until the carrot becomes tender. Next, you pour in the can of lentils, mustard, cream and Worcestershire Sauce. Turn your heat low and let this simmer together while you prepare your rice. I buy the kind that is ready in 10 minutes. Just combine the rice with the lentil mixture and enjoy!

Joy

Baba Ganoush – the courgette way

22 Sunday May 2011

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This is a simple dip that goes well with nachos or as a side dish with fish or meat.

What you will need:

3 courgettes
Cumin seeds
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Half a lemons juice
Food blender

Turn the oven on to 200c. Cut the courgettes into slices and put in an oven proof dish, sprinkle cumin seeds, the garlic cut in halves, salt and pepper. Add about three tablespoons of olive oil, make sure it coats all the ingredients. Put the dish in the oven for about 30mins, stir the courgettes every 10 mins.

Once cooked remove from the oven, put into a food blender and add the lemon juice. Blend all the ingredients for a few seconds.

You can also do this with aubergines.

Mel

Balsamic tuna with cherry tomatoes and rocket

18 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in Seafood

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Only have 20mins to prepare a meal? Then this one is perfect and super yummy! I treated myself to a tuna steak this evening and it was definitely worth every penny. I had it as a light meal but if you want something more substantial I’d eat it with new potatoes. This feeds one so just multiply everything by the number of people you are cooking for.

What you will need:

 1 tuna steak
10 cherry tomatoes
2 handful of rocket
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Chilli flakes
Salt and pepper

Cherry tomatoes

Heat your oven to 180C. In a bowl mix a spoon of vinegar for two spoons of oil. Place the cherry tomatoes in an oven proof dish and cover with the ‘vinaigrette’ add salt and pepper to taste. Once the oven is hot put the tomatoes in; they should take no more than 15mins.

 Tuna steak

You should start this about 5mins before the tomatoes are done. Heat a pan, add oil (not much about 2 tablespoons worth), chilli flakes to taste, salt and pepper and add the tuna. Cook for 2mins on each side.

Rocket and ta-da

Place the tuna, the cherry tomatoes and rocket on a plate. Add about a tablespoon of vinegar to the hot pan, mix, and pour over the tuna, rocket and tomatoes. If you want more ‘vinaigrette’ you can also use some from the tomatoes.  

Mel

Fried aubergine

16 Monday May 2011

Posted by in Vegetables

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I’m not a big fan of aubergine but love it cooked this way, it was always one of my favourites when my mum cooked it.

You will need:

1 aubergine
1 egg
Flour
Olive oil
Salt

Beat the egg in a bowl, slice the aubergine (about 1cm thick) and put some flour on a plate. Heat the oil in a pan, make sure the oil covers the whole pan. Once the oil is hot dip a slice of aubergine in the egg (make sure it is all covered), then cover in flour and drop in the oil (repeat process for every slice). Leave the aubergine for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.

Put some kitchen towel on a plate and put the slices of aubergine on it when they are cooked, sprinkle some salt straight away.

This is a very quick and easy way of making aubergine taste super yummy.

Mel

Lamb with cinnamon and prunes

11 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in Lamb

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There’s a fantastic butcher by my work and so after Live Below the Line I decided to treat myself. I ended up getting some lamb scrag (on the bone) and only spent £4 for three big pieces of meat. So I left there quite happy.

I decided I’d try a lamb tagine (though without the tagine).

 So what you will need:

For the lamb (feeds three)
Lamb scrag on the bone (one per person)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 carrot
Half an aubergine
10 prunes
1 cinnamon stick
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tablespoon of butter
Salt and pepper

For the couscous
Couscous
Olive oil
Chilli flakes

Mix the stock cube with about 300ml of boiling water in a bowl. In a big pan add the butter and brown the lamb and onions. Add the water and all chopped vegetables, cinnamon and bring to a boil, add water so that it nearly covers all the meat, cover and simmer for about 30mins. Add prunes and cook for another 15mins. Depending on how you want the liquid to be, remove the lid to reduce 10mins before it’s cooked. Total cooking time should be about 45mins.

About 10mins before your lamb is ready put some couscous in a bowl. Add a tablespoon of oil, chilli flakes (add to taste) and salt and pepper and mix. Add the appropriate amount of water and cover until it’s ready.

 This is an incredibly easy and scrumptious dish!

Mel

The end of Live Below the Line

09 Monday May 2011

Posted by in Live Below the Line

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 Thank you to everyone who sponsored me to Live Below the Line, I never thought it would be so difficult. With boredom of eating carbs carbs and more carbs I really came to realize what an absolute luxury it is that I’m able to afford good food. In the few days of changing my diet I felt weak, bloated and I was eating just to feed myself.

A few of my colleagues also took part in the fundraiser, leading up to it all we could talk about was what we were going to eat. Last week all we could talk about was what we couldn’t eat. I am definitely enjoying eating properly again, so far I have eaten steak, crab and lamb, yum!

Mel

Live Below the Line – oat bread

04 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by in Live Below the Line

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Flat bread - Live Below the Line

Well I’ll let you guess what I had for breakfast this morning… and yes you would be right it was porridge!

For lunch I had a starter of grated carrot with a bit of ginger and a baked potato with a third of my can of baked beans.

For dinner I decided to be a bit creative and made flat bread. So I took some oats and grinded them so that they became a bit like thick flour, I added a clove of garlic, a teaspoon of tomato purée and mixed it all together to make dough.

I made two fillings; the first was with a third of a can of tuna mixed with a tablespoon of cream cheese. The second mix was a simple hummus; I minced some chickpeas with some of its liquid (for flavour…) and a clove of garlic.

Once I’d made these fillings I split the dough into two separate balls and rolled them out with a rolling pin. I then heated a pan and then one by one cooked the flat bread by putting it on the pan and flipping it over after a couple of minutes. Then I added a different filling to each and folded over. Not bad though I was definitely missing a big salad!

To find out more https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk-christianaid

Mel

Live Below the Line day 1

03 Tuesday May 2011

Posted by in Live Below the Line

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LBL - porridge

Well with my first day over I’ve already tried tea with custard powder and porridge with cream cheese and water. I must say that I will be having my porridge without the cream cheese tomorrow morning.

I still had £1.12 left so I bought 26 tea bags for 9p, an extra banana for 10p, a carrot for 7p, celeriac for 56p and a garlic bulb for 30p. So I’m now left with exactly 0p.

For lunch today I had a baked potato with two tablespoons of cream cheese and a third of a can of tuna, not bad but the potato was quite small so I had some left-over porridge from breakfast for a mid-afternoon snack.

Dinner was an interesting one of pasta with a celeriac, garlic and tomato purée sauce. I minced some celeriac and added a clove of garlic with a teaspoon of purée and added half a cup of boiling water. Once the pasta was cooked I added the sauce and simmered for about 5 minutes. Not bad for a first meal… though it was missing a bit of salt and pepper.

What’s been the hardest thing today has been the lack of caffeine as I’ve had a headache all day long. Ah bring on tomorrow!

To find out more visit https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk-christianaid

Mel