Salad Days…..

In a desperate attempt to be a little healthier, (upon discovery that my ‘active’ holidays have caused me to gain 7lbs!), we have been eating more wisely and I’m feeling loads better for it.  Think I will also be hotfooting back to my local WeightWatchers meeting – a wonderful crutch in times like these. Jon suggested the first one… a California style salad – great for Abbie as she could pick the bits that she wanted and leave those she is not keen on, which happens at the moment to be avocado. The second is a deconstructed type of Nicoise salad… great for picking at in front of ‘Total Wipeout’, which is indeed when it was served! Abbie’s eating has been turned upside-down since turning 4… don’t know whether anyone else has this experience. She is still happy to try anything, but has become more fussy in general… chicken is back on the menu after a long dislike, avocado and cabbage are now shunned. Flat and shell pasta is also a no-no – my Mum cut her lasagne into ribbons and said ‘there, now you have tagliatelle!’… it was eaten with no fuss. I guess this is all just part of her striving to be more independent.

Anyway, back to those lovely salads..

Abbie contemplates which parts of the salad to eat first

California Salad – serves 3, would serve 2 adults & 2 children

2 chicken breasts (poached for 10mins in chicken stock), 2 large ripe tomatoes, 1 ripe avocado (skin and stone removed), 1 Granny Smith apple (cored), 1 orange (take of rind and pith), grapes

• Slice chicken breast on the diagonal and arrange in a line across a platter
• Thinly slice tomatoes, avocado, apple; arrange in lines under the chicken
• Cut orange into segments and grapes into halves – again arrange in lines
• Serve like this; everybody helping themselves
• Dressing for this salad is made from; 1/4 cup orange juice, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/4 tsp salt, grinds of pepper

I have to admit I was not looking forward to this, but it was truly delicious and you feel absolutely virtuous afterwards!!

Deconstructed Nicoise

Deconstructed Nicoise Salad

So easy to make – watercress with a little balsamic vinegar over the top, tuna steak from a tin, cooked green beans, boiled new potatoes and a few olives.  We ate this with some doughballs and garlic butter – currently on a great 10 pound offer at the supermarket giant we all love/hate! Great TV dinner… shame we were watching Total Wipeout!!

Roast salmon salad – another way with new potatoes

This salad came about from one of those days where I popped to the supermarket after work and picking Abs up from school. I asked her what she fancied and she said ‘salmon’. We found a new product… honey roasted salmon, so I decided we would make a salad with it, using up some of the copious potatoes hiding under the earth in our garden. All the items came together as I walked around two aisles (veg and dairy) and needed little prep at home; essential for me on a Tuesday night!

A quick pick-up from the supermarket

Honey-roast salmon salad – serves 2 adults, 1 child
1 pack honey-roast salmon (hot smoked salmon would work here too)
Pack watercress
a little oil and vinegar
2 spring onions
200g new potatoes
Greek yoghurt and chopped dill to top

• Cook new potatoes (half if large) in boiling salted water for 15-20 mins – check by sticking in a fork to see if they’re cooked – drain and leave to cool slightly
• Remove the large stems from the watercress and place in 3 pasta bowls or on 3 plates – drizzle with a little oil and vinegar and toss gently
• Break the salmon up into flakes and add to each plate
• Share out the potatoes between plates
• Thinly slice the spring onions and sprinkle over the salad
• Top with a dollop of greek yoghurt and a small sprinkle of finely chopped dill

An easy mid-week meal

As you can see we also had a side dish of fresh peas… I would add peas to this salad another time, for a bit of added sweetness.

.... and a happy diner!

Making salad and a wonder knife for children from Pampered Chef

My sister-in-law, Pip, recommended this knife to me a while back and it only struck me the other day as Abbie was using it, that I should blog about how great it is. I got two from a friend’s Pampered Chef party….. one for me and one for Abbie (not that I ever get a look in!). Carrots/turnips and other hard veg are too much, but it is just right for tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, cheese, and anything else that has a bit of give. The beauty of the knife for parents is that the child cannot cut themself with it – I tried this out A LOT before handing it to Abbie and it is true!

Cutting a tomato.... kitten looking on!

Done! This one went straight in her mouth, with a naughty grin!

Abbie is making her own salad here – cutting up tomatoes and lettuce, which she then adds a splosh of rapeseed oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper too. Tossing is sometimes messy, but she loves being indepdent. Unfortunately we never get to have cucumber because Abbie HATES it. If you have any ideas of how I can get here to eat cucumber (she will only eat it in tzatziki), please let me know!!

Bacon, avacado and watercress salad… for a tired and starving family!

It was the first day back at work and school…. by the time 5.30pm came we were all exhausted, Jon and I had sore throats from the first day of teaching and Abbie had fallen asleep in the car on the way home and was now grumpy. I needed to think quick and salvage the situation! So I made a salad – something for everyone!

Abbie serving up!

I had to take the photo quick whilst there was still some left in the bowl....

Bacon, avacoado and watercress salad with new potatoes Fed 3 hungry people

For the salad: 5 rashers smoked back bacon, new potatoes (about 14), avocado, large head of little gem lettuce (or 2 small), good handful of watercress (I used about 1/2 the packet), cherry tomatoes – as many as you want!

• Halve and cook the new potatoes in a pan of salty water for about 15 minutes once the water is boiling.  Whilst they are cooking make your dressing: 2tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp honey, 1/2 lemon juiced, 4tbsp olive oil – add some chopped basil just before serving
• Dry fry the bacon until crispy
• When the potatoes and bacon are cooked, drain potatoes, and chop up the lettuce, bacon and avocado.
• Put all ingredients into a large bowl, pour over the dressing and toss before serving. 

Hot chorizo salad with butternut squash and baby tomatoes…. a yummy end to the holidays!

Boo hoo! The end of the Easter holidays and back to work….. I thought we should have an extra yummy dinner to finish the holiday off, after all, it has been amazing weather which has allowed us to have loads of fun times in the last few weeks.

We chose this salad from Thomasina Miers’ ‘Mexican Food Made Simple’, a book that we say ‘we really must have more from this’ every time we cook a recipe as everything we have made from it has been more than delicious. I rate all recipes that we cook and this would definitely get a 10! The flavours are wonderfully balanced and it has lots of bits that Abbie will eat….. all in all a wonderful way to end the holiday.

Abbie's portion

A happy customer!

Find the recipe at: http://www.hellomagazine.com/cuisine/recipes/201010064271/butternut/squash/chorizo/1/

A glorious day calls for Sea bass baked in a parcel and a Nigella Greek Salad

 Well… today was gorgeous! A gaggle of mothers and their broods went off to Melsop Park Farm, all organised by Vic (a fantastic job!). It really was a brilliant place, my friend Kathryn describes it as ‘Big Barn Farm’ for those of you in the CBeebies passive watchers club! All the children had a wonderful time bottle-feeding lambs, cuddling baby bunnies and escapee piglets and in the case of Abbie and Mia (seen both cuddling baby rabbits to the left)…. terrorising chickens!  Luckily I was able to get Abbie to drop her plank of wood – I hate to think what may have happened!

 

We picniced for lunch, the children very hungry luckily so the draw of the playground was not too great….. for at least 10 minutes!

 

The weather really was glorious and Abbie and I were excited to see what fish Jon had managed to get for supper – hooray, one of our favourites – Sea Bass!  I quickly set to marinading the thinly sliced red onion and used them in both the Greek Salad and in the parcels of fish.

 

The Recipe for the ‘Ultimate Greek Salad’ by Nigella Lawson (from ‘Forever Summer’) can be found here: http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/the-ultimate-greek-salad-220

I ommitted the fennel and used some of the marinated red onion slices in my parcels – as mentioned below.

 

 Baked Sea Bass in a parcel

 

I make up these parcels after the onions have been marinading in their oil, vinegar, oregano and pepper for about 1 1/2 hours – it really decreases the bitterness of the onions and makes them lovely and sweet.

 

I’ve given per parcel quantities so you can multiply this up depending on how many portions you need

 

Foil – about a 30cm length

Marinaded slices of red onion – about 8 per parcel

Sliced garlic – 1/2 clove per parcel

Rosemary – 1/2 sprig

Sea bass fillet

Splash dry white wine

Salt & Pepper

•  Preheat oven to 190C
• Onto you length of foli lay your marinaded red onion slices, sliced garlic and rosemary
• Flesh down, place your sea bass after a sprinkle of S&P
• Folding in the sides of your parcels, add a splash of white wine and then quickly fold and crunch up the sides to make a foil parcel
• Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins and serve straight away with the juices poured over the top and if you want.. a nice glass of Chablis!