Breakfast Thursday 21 September - Cottage Cheese & Tomatoes

Today started off with

• 250g low fat cottage cheese,
• 150g cherry tomatoes,
• coffee

Still nursing unpleasant "paper cut" I got yesterday morning from the tin foil sealing the cottage cheese.

Dinner Wednesday 20 September - Asparagus Fusilli

Asparagus Fusilli
200g asparagus
1 pat truffle butter
30g Parmigiano Reggiano
85g fusilli lunghi

Steam asparagus and cut into 1 inch segments. Cook the fusilli lunghi according to packet instructions.

Melt the truffle butter in a skillet and toss the asparagus in the truffle butter. Add the fusilli, 1/2 the cheese and a couple tablespoons of the pasta cooking water. Mix well.

Top with remaining cheese and serve.

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 480.5
Protein (g) 24.5
Carbohydrate (g) 56.9
Fat (g) 17.1
Fibre (g) 6.5


Truffle Butter

40 g butter, softened
10g parsley, chopped fine
35 g black truffles, chopped fine

Add the chopped truffles and parsley to the softened butter and mix well. Season with a bit of slat & pepper. Divide into five pats and place in fridge to firm up.


5 servings

Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 61.9
Carbohydrate (g) 0.6
Protein (g) 0.4
Fat (g) 6.4
Fibre (g) 0.4

Lunch Wednesday 20 September - Leftovers

Leftovers!

Last of the spicy bean burgers (see Dinner Friday 15 September), some mixed leaves and the second serving of cabbage bean soup (see Lunch Sunday 17 September.

Breakfast Wednesday 20 September - Carambola & Cottage Cheese

Started today off with 250g low fat cottage cheese, a sliced carambola and coffee.

Here is something I did not know:

"Seeds lose viability in a few days after removal from fruit. "

Better get the ones I saved planted!

Dinner Tuesday 19 September - Composed Salad

Composed Salad
1 hot smoked salmon fillet (about 65g)
100g romaine, shredded
150g cherry tomatoes, quartered
5 quail's eggs, hard boiled and halved
100g new potatoes, boiled and halved or quartered
1/2 tin artichoke hearts in brine (120g)

Arrange on serving plate.

Mix together:
1 tablespoon light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon grated horseradish
small handful snipped chives

Dress with:
Salt, pepper and celery salt (for quail's eggs) to taste

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 471.4
Protein (g) 29.9
Carbohydrate (g) 35.0
Fat (g) 24.4
Fibre (g) 5.0

Lunch Tuesday 19 September - Salad of Oriental Style Vegetables

Salad of Oriental Style Vegetables
90g mange tout, halved lengthwise, blanched in boiling hot water for 2 minutes and refreshed
130g baby corn, steamed and split in quarters
125 g chicory, shredded
2 small carrots, cut into julienne (about 100g)
2 small, sweet orange peppers, cut in fine strips (about 45g)
4-5 spring onions, sliced

Toss together.

Make a dressing of:
juice 1/2 lime
one "thumb" ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 bird's eye chillies, sliced fine

Pour over vegetables, mix gently and serve.

Breakfast Tuesday 19 September - Blackberries and Yoghurt

For brekkie I had:

• Toasted homemade bread w Patum Peparium,
• blackberries with yoghurt,
• coffee.

Dinner Monday 18 September - Udon with Prawns, Enoki Mushrooms and Sea Vegetables

Udon with Prawns, Enoki Mushrooms and Sea Vegetables
300ml dashi
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 bundle udon noodles (about 80g)
50g enoki mushroom, trimmed and separated
4 large, raw prawns
1 gram (small handful) mixed sea vegetables (like Clearspring Atlantic Sea Salad, used here)
4 spring onions, sliced finely
1 teaspoon seven spice pepper (see Dinner Thursday 14 September for recipe)

Mix the dashi, mirin, soy sauce & sugar in a pot and simmer over low heat until sugar melts.

Refresh the sea vegetables by soaking in warm water for a few minutes.

Cook the udon according to package instructions. Arrange noodles in a serving bowl. Pile enoki mushrooms on top of noodles. Add the sea vegetables and keep warm.

Poach the prawns in the dashi mixture until just cooked. Remove them from the broth and arrange on top of noodles.

Pour the brother carefully over the noodles, mushrooms and sea vegetables. A quick "swim" in the hot broth is all the enoki mushrooms need to cook.

Garnish with the spring onions and seven spice powder and serve.

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 504.6
Protein (g) 22.6
Carbohydrate (g) 93.4
Fat (g) 2.5
Fibre (g) 2.8

Lunch Monday 18 September - Fusilli Lunghi with Mushrooms

Fusilli Lunghi with Mushrooms
75 fusilli lunghi
10g butter
250g mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon Marigold Vegetable Bouillon Powder
small handful freshly snipped chives (about 5g)
15g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, finely grated

Melt the butter in a saute pan. Add the garlic and sliced mushrooms. Cover and cook over very low heat until the mushrooms are tender.

meanwhile, cook the fusilli according to package instructions until just slightly underdone.
When cooked, add the fusilli, a few of tablespoons of the pasta cooking water and the Marigold to the pan with the mushrooms. Cover and cook for another couple of minutes, until the pasta is fully cooked and the juices have been absorbed.

Sprinkle with 1/2 the Parmesan & the chives and toss. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and serve.


Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 440.5
Protein (g) 19.3
Carbohydrate (g) 56.9
Fat (g) 15.2
Fibre (g) 4.5

Fusilli Lunghi seems to just be slightly longer, slightly finer fusilli.

Breakfast Monday 18 September - Homemade Seeded Oatmeal Bread and Clementines

For breakfast I had a couple slices of the homemade seeded oatmeal bread I made the other day, plus a clementine.

The clementine I got accidentally from my Ocado order on Saturday night - someone, somewhere in WC1 is probably blogging about how they did not get their Waitrose clementines in the Saturday Ocado order...

Dinner Sunday 17 September - Spicy Bean Burgers & Salad

Well, I made 9 spicy bean burgers on Friday, so I had another portion for dinner tonight. With them was a salad comprising some pea shoots and celery leaves.

The pea shoots I bought at a Sainsbury's Local on Farringdon Road on the way home from the 10 mile walk yesterday.

The celery leaves are from a beautiful head of celery I bought at Waitrose, called "Victoria Leaf Celery". I imagine it is just like any other celery, except that is is not trimmed. It was about 24 -28 inches long and had LOADS of beautiful dark green leaves, which I have been adding to salads, stir fried etc. They are delicious.

According to "The Grocer":
"Waitrose has unveiled two new exclusive salad products.
Victoria Leaf Celery is available from July until October and is grown on rich black Fen peats on Stretham and Hainey Farms in Cambridgeshire. "

I will certainly buy it again if I find it. Here is a picture of "Victoria" from the Royal Horticultural Society:

Lunch Sunday 17 September - Hearty Cabbage & Bean Soup

Hearty Cabbage & Bean Soup
This recipe was suggested by the Cavolo Nero cabbage bag and sounded nice, so I gave it a try. It's not exactly their recipe, but their recipe did inspire this one.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped (about 180g)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
200g new potatoes, quartered
1 large carrot, cubed (about 100g)
100g Cavolo Nero cabbage
100g cannellini beans, soaked overnight and cooked tender (or use a can)
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon Vecon Vegetable Stock Concentrate
salt & pepper to taste

Add the oil to a largish pot and fry the onions and garlic. Add the potatoes, carrots, beans, veggie stock & thyme. Pour over sufficient water to cover. Simmer over low heat until veggies are tender.

Add the cabbage and cook for a further 10 minutes. Check the seasoning, add salt & pepper to taste and serve.

Serves 2

Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 317.9
Carbohydrate (g) 45.7
Protein (g) 16.8
Fat (g) 8.4
Fibre (g) 15.7

Breakfast Sunday 17 September - More figs

I got a pack of 10 figs for £1.99 during the recent Waitrose extravaganza. Had 4 yesterday for breakfast, so here go the other four, along with a toasted bagel and some coffee.

Here's a nice African pigeon enjoying some figs, apropos of nothing in particular.

Dinner Saturday 16 September - Broccoli, Prawns & Noodles in a Chinese Style Sauce

Broccoli, Prawns & Noodles in a Chinese Style Sauce
1 Maggi stock cube
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoon yellow bean sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 "thumb" of ginger, grated
300 ml water

Place all ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer.

Add to the broth:
1 nest Chinese style egg noodles
100g broccoli, cut into florets
1 small red pepper (about 80g), cut into strips

Simmer for 4 minutes or until noodles are cooked and veggies are just tender.

Add
100g cooked prawns, deveined
1 tablespoon (15g) cornflour, mixed with a tablespoon of water to form a paste.

Cook for another 1-2 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Add
4-5 spring onions, sliced

and serve.

This was more sort of "soupy" than I normally make, but I felt like noodles with a lot of thick broth. So that's what I made.

Calories (kcal) 472.0
Protein (g) 35.8
Carbohydrate (g) 72.2
Fat (g) 4.7
Fibre (g) 7.9

The Maggi Cubes I bought in a little food shop in Exmouth Market I like to frequent. They always seem to have all sorts of weird on wonderful spices. herbs and other bits.

The Maggi Cubes just reminded me of Asia, where they seem to be ubiquitous. They were also all over the place in Madagascar and Kenya. I was also attracted by the "minimalist" packaging - just cubes wrapped in foil in a tiny plastic bag. No box required.

Probably should not have bought them - just realised they are made by Nestle. Seems like their slogan ought to be "marketed where ever poverty is found".

Lunch Saturday 16 September - Composed Salad

Composed Salad
Mix together
2 stalks celery, cut into bite sized pieces
100g fine beans, steamed and cut into 1" lengths

Make a dressing of juice
1/2 lime
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon French's Classic Yellow Mustard
1 tablespoon hemp oil
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon herbs du Provence
and combine with celery & beans. Allow to stand for about 30 minutes so flavours develop.

Line a plate with
60g bag Herb Salad

Arrange on the leaves:

4 quails eggs, hard boiled, peeled and halved
one hot smoked salmon fillet (65g)
1 tomato, sliced
the Bean & celery salad (above)

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 460.9
Protein (g) 34.2
Carbohydrate (g) 71.0
Fat (g) 4.7
Fibre (g) 7.9

I was aching all over from the 10 mile walk and remembered reading that your body needs protein after very exercise, so this seemed nicely protein rich.

Breakfast Saturday 16 September - Figs

I am doing The London Bridges walk today - ten miles in support of The Children's Society.

Started the day with one toasted bagel, 4 figs and coffee. Am taking last slab of the seeded oatmeal bread with me as a nice, low GI walk fuel.

Dinner Friday 15 September - Spicy Bean Burgers and Cavolo Nero

Spicy Bean Burgers
100g dried lentils
1 tin, drained, black eyed peas (about 230g)
a red onion, finely chopped (about 140g)
4 ribs celery, finely chopped (about 140g)
1 small carrots, finely chopped (about 100g)
1 small green pepper, finely chopped (about 100g)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 small red chillis, sliced finely
1 ounce double concentrated tomato puree
2 teaspoons olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Cook lentils until soft. Drain and mash well with the black eyed peas.

Meanwhile, saute all the onions, celery, carrots, pepper, garlic & chilli in one teaspoon oil until softened and cooked.

Add the cooked vegetables into the bean mash along with the tomato puree. Season highly and mix well.

Form into 9 patties. use the other teaspoon of oil to lightly oil a non-stick frying pan. Cook the burger about 5-7 minutes on either side, until browned. Do not overcook as this will dry them out.

Sorry bean burger photo is a little fogged from heat.

I had three burgers with:

1 tablespoon Tabasco jelly

This is something I bought in Harvey Nichols Food Hall a while back - not as hot as my homemade chilli jam.

100g Cavolo Nero cabbage

I purchased this on one of my recent Waitrose forays - also called "black" cabbage as it is very, very dark green. First time I have had it and so cooked it simply, as per instructions on pack (boiled 8-10 minutes).
Tasted OK, but nothing that special. Nice shaped and coloured leaves; I think they might be nice for stuffing.

1 nice fat vine tomato


Spicy Bean Burger Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 89.9
Carbohydrate (g) 13.8
Protein (g) 5.6
Fat (g) 1.6
Fibre (g) 2.9

Lunch Friday 15 September - Barley Stew (again)

Just had the other portion of barley stew (see Lunch Monday 11 September) and a salad of M&S Rosa Verde mixed leaves with Santini cherry tomatoes.

No pic as nothing new!

Breakfast Friday 15 September - Strawberries

Started the day with a big bowl of strawberries, a toasted bagel and coffee

Dinner Thursday 14 September - Japanese Style Cod with Turnip Chrystanthemums and Spicy Celery

Japanese Style Cod with Turnip Chrysanthemums and Spicy Celery
200g boneless cod fillets
juice 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper to taste

Place the cod in an airtight container. Season with salt & pepper. Pour over the lemon juice and refrigerate over night.

Grill the cod a few minutes each side, basting with reserved lemon juice. Sprinkle with:

7 spice pepper
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon hemp seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 tablespoon dried chilli flakes
dried skin of one tangerine
1 tablespoon nori flakes
1 teaspoon black pepper

Blend everything into a fine powder in a mortar & pestle or electric blender.

I know this says "7 spice" but contains eight ingredients, but that is because I chose to use a mix of white & black sesame.

This is DELICIOUS and salt free.

Chrysanthemum Turnips
4 small turnips (about 160g)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 c dashi
1/4 c rice vinegar
1 small red chilli
Peel a round turnip and take a small slice off one end to make a flat base.

Place on a chopping board with a chopstick either side to prevent turnip being cut through.

With a very sharp, thin-bladed knife make closely-spaced, parallel cuts straight down at right angles to the chopsticks. Turn the turnip 90 degrees and repeat, so turnip has a fine cross hatching of cuts.

Soak turnip in salted ice water for at least 1 hour. The "petals" will soften and spread. Drain, squeeze out excess water gently and open the "petals" with a chopstick or your fingers.

Mix together the dashi, sugar and rice vinegar. Pour over the turnips and leave to marinate several hours or overnight.

Garnish each chrysanthemum centre with a few rings of red chilli.

Spicy Celery
4 stalks celery, cut into bit sized pieces
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small red chilli
celery leaves

Spray a non stick wok with a little oil. Stir fry the celery until it is starting to become tender and is bright green. Add the chilli, the sugar and soy sauce and stir fry briefly. Remove from heat; toss in celery leaves and serve.

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 305.7
Protein (g) 46.5
Carbohydrate (g) 25.4
Fat (g) 2.3
Fibre (g) 7.5

Lunch Thursday 14 September - Asian Style Vegetable Salad

Asian Style Vegetable Salad
75 g fine beans, steamed & halved lengthwise
50g mange tout, blanched in boiling water for 2 minutes & refreshed
small yellow pepper (about 80g), slivered
60g baby corn, steamed and quartered lengthwise
1 head chicory (about 125g), sliced finely
4 ribs celery (about 160g), cut into julienne
5g fresh mint
5g fresh parsley

Combine all ingredients. Make up a dressing of:

juice 1/2 lime
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 bird's eye chillis , chopped finely
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce

Pour over vegetables and mix gently but thoroughly. Line a serving plate with

1 bag mixed leaves (120g)

Mound the salad on the leaves and serve.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 216.7
Carbohydrate (g) 34.7
Protein (g) 14.1
Fat (g) 2.7
Fibre (g) 11.6

Breakfast Thursday 14 September - Mango smoothie

Today I smoothified a mango which was dead (well, over) ripe. Just blitzed it in the blender with some lime juice and enough water to get it moving.

Had the mango smoothie with a toasted bagel with Marmite and coffee.

Today I will be taking a day off from going to Waitrose (or any shops!)

Dinner Wednesday 13 September - Scallops with Fennel & Spicy Cous-Cous

Scallops with Fennel & Cous-Cous
1 bulb fennel
1 star anise
10g butter
10g chives

200g scallops

1 teaspoon olive oil
10g grated ginger
2 cloves crushed garlic
1-2 finely sliced chillis
50g dry cous-cous
4 spring onions, slivered
small handful mint, torn up
small handful coriander

First, poach the fennel whole in just enough water to barely cover. Add the star anise to the poaching water.

When the fennel is just cooked, remove it from the liquor and allow to cool. Meanwhile, reduce the poaching liquor down to just a few tablespoonsful. Remove & discard the star anise.

Slice the fennel crosswise into slices about 3/4" thick. Spray a non stick skillet with a little olive oil and fry the fennel slice until they are golden brown. Remove and arrange on a serving plate.

Next, make the cous cous. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the ginger, garlic & chilli and turn off the heat. Leave to infuse.

Add the cous-cous and stir well. Pour over 100ml boiling hot water (or whatever ratio cous-cous to water your manufacturer suggests). Cover and leave to stand for 10-15 minutes, until water is absorbed.

Fluff with a fork. Add the spring onions, mint & coriander and toss again.

Finally, reheat the pan in which the fennel was sauteed & add the scallops to the hot pan. Sear on other side until just done - do not over cook. Remove and place on the plate with the fennel.
Add the reduced fennel liquor to the pan and deglaze. Finally, add the butter & allow to melt. Add the chives and pour over scallops & fennel.

Serve with the cous cous.


Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 425.5
Protein (g) 41.8
Carbohydrate (g) 49.7
Fat (g) 6.5
Fibre (g) 8.7

Lunch Wednesday 13 September - Rubbish!

Well, not entirely rubbish, but not very good. Went into M&S and I can never resist their Cheese Taster crisps. They are the best - really cheesy (and maybe even better than my favourites, American Crunchy Cheetos).

Pris is also a huge fan of Cheese Tasters. If I want to eat them without having to suffer her crawling all over me and carrying on, then I have to tithe a few her way.

Anyway, I ended up eating a 50g bag of Cheese Tasters for lunch. I also had a salad of romaine and green tiger tomatoes, so it was not a total write off.

Went back to Waitrose today and used the second £4.00 off voucher. The food hoard is being repopulated!

Insane food buying strikes again!

I live near the Brunswick Centre in London. Way back when, I used to go to a pretty naff Safeway's there, because it was the only supermarket in the area.

Then Sainsbury's Islington opened and I never looked back.

On 20 July, a new Waitrose opened in the Brunswick Centre, where the old Safeway's was. Now, I have been a fan of Waitrose since I first went into one on the King's Road in 1985 (when I was staying the The Cale Street Hostel, which is no more).

They sent me a little leaflet and three vouchers - two for £4.00 off your order if you spend £40 or more and one for £6.00 off if you spend £60.00 or more. I have been ignoring them, but they expire 16 September and I succumbed to their lure.

A while back, I registered with their online service (well, Ocado as Waitrose proper don't deliver in my area) so I could browse at home.

Tuesday, I made my first foray Took a stupidly roundabout walk down there, trying to remember the shortest way and choosing possibly the longest way instead. Then I spent a good hour wandering the aisles, entranced by all the new products. And I spent £40 and used a voucher up.

Wednesday, I went back and spent another £40.

Thursday I resisted, but Friday I went back again and spent £60. Used up all my vouchers and totally refilled the cupboards. All my wearing down the food hoard has been undone.

And to make things worse, Ocado sent me an email offering me £10.00 and a free cookbook if I would place my first order online with them. So I did that too and spent £85.00.

Was not best impressed with their service - the driver was 1 hour and 45 minutes late (although he did call to say he was running late) and he did not arrive until 22:45 on Saturday night. I was dead tired as I had done the 10 mile London Bridges walk to raise fund for The Children's Society and I just wanted to go to sleep.

When I unpacked the order, I found the following which I did not order

• Cathedral City Cheddar (which I would never order - cheap cheese mountain stuff)
• a bag of clementines
• a bag of red grapes

I had ordered and was billed for but did not receive:

• low fat chive dip
• low fat taramasalata
• 2 boxes speciality cherry tomatoes (Petit Cherie)

And one of my boxes of blackberries was squished.

Anyway, I reported it all on their website as they suggested, but I digress. I cannot resist "a bargain" and so I have crammed the cupboards with food AGAIN, just when I was starting to get a tiny grip on things.

Must do better.

P.S. - the new Brunswick Centre will be FABULOUS when it is all done

The Brunswick Centre

Breakfast Wednesday 13 September - Bagel!

Bought a bag of New York Bagel Company plain bagels in Sainsbury's - on sale for 59p for 5, so how could I resist?

Toasted bagel & coffee - w NYC classic.

Dinner Tuesday 12 September - Aubergine & Roasted Red Pepper Marinara

Aubergine & Roasted Red Pepper Marinara
1 large aubergine
1 roasted red pepper (I had some Cypressa bottled roasted red peppers)
1 serving Marinara Sauce
125 g reduced fat mozzarella cheese, grated
small handful fresh basil

Peel the aubergine and cut lengthwise into steaks about 1 inch thick. Sprinkle with salt on either side and allow to stand for at least 1 hour. Lots of brown liquid should run out of the aubergines. I normally roll them up and literally wring them out.

Grill the prepared aubergines on a non-stick grill pan until tender (about 5-10 minutes either side).

Place the aubergines in a skillet and pour over the marinara sauce, combined with the roasted red pepper, chopped finely. Cover and simmer over very low heat until the sauce is more of less absorbed by the aubergines.

Top with grated low fat mozzarella and grill until melted and golden. Garnish with a chiffonade of fresh basil.

Serve with 100g broccoli, steamed.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 405.4
Carbohydrate (g) 22.8
Protein (g) 36.1
Fat (g) 19.5
Fibre (g) 11.2

Lunch Tuesday 12 September - Salad of Courgettes, Fine Beans, Roasted Pepper and New Potatoes

Salad of Courgettes, Fine Beans, Roasted Pepper and New Potatoes
100g romaine lettuce hearts, shredded
170g baby courgettes, grilled
165g fine beans, steamed
150g organic baby new potatoes, boiled and quartered
100g roasted red pepper, slivered

Line a plate with the lettuce. Combine courgettes, fine beans, potatoes and red pepper.

Make a dressing of:
1 tablespoon hemp oil
juice 1/2 lemon
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon French's Classic Yellow Mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Pour over salad vegetables and combine well. Pile on top of lettuce and garnish with:

100g Santini cherry tomatoes, quartered

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 351.6
Carbohydrate (g) 43.2
Protein (g) 10.8
Fat (g) 16.3
Fibre (g) 10.3

Breakfast Tuesday 12 September - Blueberries and Yoghurt

Today started with 300g blueberries and 150g Total 0% Fat Greek Style yoghurt. And, of course, coffee.

The Total 0% fat yoghurt was a real find. I have been eating it for about 18 months now. Tastes just a nice as the regular stuff.

Dinner Monday 11 September - Salad of Prawns, Udon Noodles and Vegetables

Salad of Prawns, Udon Noodles and Vegetables
200 grams bean sprouts, blanched in boiling hot water for 1 minute and refreshed
100g sugar snap peas, halved lengthwise and blanched in boiling hot water for 2 minutes and refreshed
2 small sweet orange pepper, cut into fine strips
100g cooked deveined prawns
80g udon noodles, cooked according to package instructions

Toss all ingredients together.

Make a dressing of:1
teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoon oyster sauce
1-2 bird's ever chillies, chopped fine
juice 1/2 lime

Pour over the salad & mix gently but thoroughly. Allow to stand for 15-30 minutes before eating for the flavours to develop.

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 564.3
Protein (g) 39.3
Carbohydrate (g) 96.2
Fat (g) 2.7
Fibre (g) 5.5

Lunch Monday 11 September - Barley Stew

Barley Stew
1 onions, chopped (about 300g)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ribs celery, chopped (about 100g)
2 carrots, chopped (about 150g)
handful parsley, chopped (about 5g)
1 teaspoon Marigold vegetable Bouillon powder
1 teaspoon Vecon Vegetable Stock concentrate
100g pearl barley
1 litre water

Add oil to a large pot and saute onion, covered, over very low heat, until softened. Add carrots & celery and saute until they are also soft.

Add the barley and one litre of veggie stock (I started out with Marigold and then discovered the Vecon in the hoard - it needs to get used up!

Simmer over low heat until barley is cooked, about 35 minutes or more. Add the parsley in the last 10-15 minutes.

Serves 2.

Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 316.7
Carbohydrate (g) 55.3
Protein (g) 8.5
Fat (g) 8.4
Fibre (g) 12.7

Breakfast Monday 11 September - Homemade Seeded Oatmeal Bread and Tofutti Spread

I had two slice of my homemade bread (see 10 September for recipe) with 25g of Tofutti Garlic & Herb Dairy Free Spread.

Hard to believe it has been five years since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.


September 11 Victims



Out Of The Blue by Simon Armitage

Thanks to Lisa for drawing this poem to my attention.

Dinner Sunday 10 September - Tea Smoked Halibut & Salad

Well, I suppose this is another favourite as it is the second time I have made tea smoked halibut of late.

See Dinner Thursday 17 August for recipe.

This time, I had the halibut with a simple salad of romaine, torn basil leaves, snipped chives and green tiger tomatoes. I also had a little Clearspring organic wasabi on the side (that is what that pale green pool is - the organic, natural stuff is not so lurid green as the usual wasabi).


Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 182.8
Protein (g) 26.7
Carbohydrate (g) 9.4
Fat (g) 4.6
Fibre (g) 3.9

Lunch Sunday 10 September - Thai Style Mango Salad

This is now the fourth time I have made this recipe since I started this blog.

Wish I could remember how I cam up with this recipe - I think iit was just a question of what was at hand.

Anyway, it is now a firm favourite whenever mangos are cheap!

See entry Lunch Wednesday 26 July for recipe.

Breakfast Sunday 10 September - Homemade Seeded Oatmeal Bread

Seeded Oatmeal Bread
¼ pint/142ml warm water
40g honey (I used Manuka)
1 tablespoon dried yeast
300g strong white bread flour
20g linseeds
30g pumpkin seeds
30g sunflower seeds
100g whole rolled porridge oats
1 teaspoon salt (or salt alternative, in my case)
20g vegetable fat (like Trex) or 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the honey into the warm water until melted. Add the yeast and leave to stand until yeast is foamy, about 15 minutes.

Add all of the other ingredients (except reserve about 50g of flour for kneading) and mix well to form a dough.

Sprinkle a work surface with 1/2 of the reserved flour and knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place into an oiled bowl, cover and leave to rise for about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk.

Punch dough down and knead again with the remainder of the reserved flour. Form into a loaf and place in a greased 2 pound bread tin.

Leave to rise until double in bulk.

Place in hot oven, Gas Mark 6 and bake until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack (if you can avoid eating it immediately).

Nothing smells as nice as fresh baked bread. I fell asleep while this was in the oven on Saturday night, so it got quite a crust on it - still tasty nonetheless.

This makes a loaf of approximately 690 grams and just over 3 cals per gram. How many calories per slice depends on how you slice it.

Dinner Saturday 9 September - Crusted Halibut and Salad of Grilled Vegetables

Crusted Halibut and Salad of Grilled Vegetables
1 large onion, sliced crosswise (about 200g)
180g baby courgettes. halved lengthwise
100g roasted red pepper
150g Santini cherry tomatoes
juice 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon sugar
handful chopped basil
4-5 leaves of Romaine lettuce, shredded

Spray a non stick griddle with olive oil. Griddle the slices on onions and the split courgettes until cooked and attractively charred.

Meanwhile, combine the lemon juice & sugar in a bowl. Add the cooked vegetables, the Santini tomatoes, halved and the chopped basil. Season generously with salt & pepper and leave to stand while you cook the fish.

I used a seasoning mix called "Big Rub" which I bought a while back from Lakeland. It is just a mix of herbs for fish, so you could use whatever you like - dill, chervil etc. I left the rub to stand with the fish for an hour or so, then simply pan fried the halibut steak in a non-stick skillet with a mist of olive oil.

Line half the plate with the shredded romaine and pile the salad on top. Serve with the halibut steak.

Calories (kcal) 275.4
Carbohydrate (g) 27.5
Protein (g) 31.3
Fat (g) 4.8
Fibre (g) 6.8

Here's a picture of Big Rub Dry Marinade for Fish. If you Google around, you can find it. I only bought it 'cause it was on sale. In future, I would make my own.

Lunch Saturday 9 September - Prawns, Noodles and Vegetables in a Chinese Style Sauce

Prawns, Noodles and Vegetables in a Chinese Style Sauce
1 portion Chinese style sauce (see Thursday 7 September and elsewhere in this blog for recipe)
10g cornflour
60g Shiitake mushrooms
20g beansprouts, blanched in boiling water for 60 seconds, then refreshed
100g sugar snap peas, halved lengthwise & blanched in boiling water for 1 minutes, then refreshed
100g prawns, deveined
4 spring onions (about 50g)
1 bird's eye chilli pepper
1 nest of Chinese egg noodles (about 55g), cooked according to package instructions

Slice the shiitake & chilli and simmer in the Chinese style sauce broth until tender. Add the cornflour mixed with a lttle water and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Add the prawns, beansprouts, sugar snaps & spring onions and warm through. Finally add the cooked noodles and toss all ingredients together to mix gently but thoroughly. Serve.

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 504.9
Carbohydrate (g) 69.1
Protein (g) 43.1
Fat (g) 6.3
Fibre (g) 7.2

Breakfast Saturday 9 September - Figs

Today started with unsweetened Alpen in hot Horlicks Light, coffee and two nice, fat, fresh figs.

Dinner Friday 8 September - Lemon Sole in Parsley Sauce with New Potatoes & Vegetables

Lemon Sole in Parsley Sauce with New Potatoes & Vegetables
150g lemon sole fillets (boneless and skinless)
150g new potatoes, boiled
100g broccoli
1 carrot, sliced and steamed

Sauce
10g sauce flour or cornflour
1 teaspoon Marigold vegetable bouillon powder
3 tablespoons reduced fat cream
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Make up the bouillon with 200ml water. Poach the fillets in the bouillon. Remove the fillets and keep warm while you make the sauce.

Blend the sauce flour with a little cold water to make a smooth paste and add it to the hot bouillon in which the fish was poached. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and finely chopped parsley. Mix well and pour over the fish.


Calories (kcal) 354.2
Carbohydrate (g) 34.4
Protein (g) 39.8
Fat (g) 7.8
Fibre (g) 7.1

Lunch Friday 8 September - Wild Rice, Cauliflower, Asparagus & Fine Beans with Cheese Sauce

Wild Rice, Cauliflower, Asparagus & Fine Beans with Cheese Sauce
6og long grain Canadian wild rice, cooked according to package instructions
2 baby cauliflowers, steamed (about 285g)
150g asparagus, setamed
100g fine beans, steamed

Serve with:

Reduced Fat Cheese Sauce
1/2 pint skimmed milk
20g sauce flour
1 teaspoon Colman's English mustard powder
1 teaspoon Marigold Reduced Salt Vegetable Boullion powder
1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
80g half fat Cheddar Cheese
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt & pepper to taste

Whizz milk, sauce flour, mustard, vegetable boillion and Worcestershire sauce in a blender until smooth. Pour into a small sauce pan and cook over low heat until starting to thicken, about 20 minutes. Add the grated cheese and stir until melted. Add the paprika and season to taste. Pour over vegetables and rice and serve.

Calories (kcal) 791.5
Carbohydrate (g) 92.5
Protein (g) 59.9
Fat (g) 20.5
Fibre (g) 11.1

I LOVE wild rice and cheese sauce. Old, fatter me liked nothing better than a massive bowl of wild rice slathered in full fat cheese sauce. This is a slightly less calorific version.

Breakfast Friday 8 September - Strawberries

Today's brekkie was 450g starwberries, coffee and Alpen unsweetened muesli with hot Horlicks Light malted drink instead of milk.

I've been working on the cereal horde, all the live long day....

Heard about Nan Madol in Micronesia for the first time ever today. Looks pretty fascinating.

Nan Madol

Dinner Thursday 7 September - Teriyaki Salmon & Stir Fried Wild Rice with Vegetables

Teriyaki Salmon & Stir Fried Wild Rice with Vegetables
3 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin
1 wild Alaskan Pacific salmon fillet (about 120g)

Mix together the mirin & soy. Add the salmon and leave to marinate at least one hour or as long as overnight.

Spray a non-stick pan with a little flavourless oil and cook the salmon fillet about 2-3 minutes on each side (according to thickness) until just cooked. Remove from pan.

Add the reserved marinade and cook until thickened and sticky looking - watch carefully as it burns easily. Pour sauce over fish and serve with

Wild Rice Stir Fried with Vegetables
60g long grain Canadian Wild Rice, cooked
100 fine beans, cut into 1 inch segments
100g red pepper, cut into small chunks
1-2 cloves garlic crushed
100g petit pois
salt & pepper to taste
Stir fry the fine beans and red pepper in a non-stick pan sprayed with a bit of flavourless oil. When they are nearly cooked, add the garlic and petit pois. Continue stir frying until peas are cooked; about another 2 minutes. Add the rice, toss and stir thoroughly until all ingredients are cooked and rice is warmed through. Season to taste & serve.


Calories (kcal) 628.1
Carbohydrate (g) 86.0
Protein (g) 47.1
Fat (g) 7.7
Fibre (g) 9.2

Lunch Thursday 7 September - Stir Steam of Prawns and Vegetables

Another old standby meals, the stir steam. See Lunch 14 July for original full recipe.

50g mange tout
50g baby corn
1 carrot
100g broccoli
1005 prawns
3 spring onions (about 40g)
60g shiitake mushrooms
1 portion Chinese Style Sauce


Chinese Style Sauce
1 fish or veggie stock cube (or use 1 pint of homemade, light flavoured stock)
3 fat garlic cloves, smashed, minced, pressed or otherwise obliterated
about a 1 inch segment of fresh ginger root, peeled & grated
3-4 birds eye chills, or to taste
10g (about 4 pieces) dried Chinese Shiitake mushrooms
6 tablespoons soy sauce
6 tablespoons shao shing rice wine (or dry sherry)

Soak the mushrooms in boiling water until soft. Remove the woody stems and cut into fine strips. Strain the mushroom liquor into a saucepan; be sure to leave behind any debris from the mushrooms.Add to the mushroom liquor

1 stock cube (if using fresh stock, boil it and soak the mushrooms in the hot stock, then strain to remove any mushroom debris)
the chopped chills
the crushed garlic
the grated ginger
the shao shing
the soy sauce
Bring to a simmer and simmer about 30 mins. This makes enough broth/sauce for 2 servings.

Nutrition Summary for entire meal
Calories (kcal) 287.1
Protein (g) 30.8
Carbohydrate (g) 32.2
Fat (g) 5.0
Fibre (g) 6.2

Breakfast Thursday 7 September - Raspberries

Breakfast today was some raspberries along with rye toast, Tartex Yeast Pate, Marmite & coffee.

Dinner Wednesday 6 September - Veggie Platter

Time for my old favourite, the vegetable plate

100g fine beans
200g asparagus
200g new potatoes
2 carrots

Butter Buds sauce
(2 teaspoons of Butter Buds, 1 teaspoon Marigold Veggie Boullion, a few tablespoons of hot water. I use it on the spuds) . Butter Buds are the weird butter solids with all the fat removed. They taste really buttery, without the saturates or calories. They are, of course, American!

Butter Buds!

Nutrition Data
Calories (kcal) 265.0
Carbohydrate (g) 54.0
Protein (g) 11.8
Fat (g) 3.3
Fibre (g) 11.9

Having a hard time uploading pictures tonight for some reason!

Lunch Wednesday 6 September - Shiitake Mushroom with Soba

Every recipe using dried shiitake mushrooms always tells you to discard the stems (which are very woody in dried ones). I had fresh shiitake and when I removed the stems they were 50g out of a box of 200g! Seemed wasteful to just chuck them as they did not appear to be as woody as the dried ones, so I decided to try and use them to make a stock/broth.

They made a very nice stock actually, so I used it to cook the soba noodles and veggies in.

Shiitake Mushroom with Soba
stems from Shiitake mushrooms (about 50g)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
50g soba noodles, cooked according to package instructions
75g red pepper, cut into fine strips
2 shiitake (about 10 g), cut into strips
75g broccoli, cut into tiny florets
105g prawns, deveined
50g spring onions, sliced fine
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tablespoon furikake

Chop the shiitake stems and add to 1/2 pint water. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 mins. Whizz up in the blender and then pass through a sieve. Discard any fibres that will not pass through the sieve.

Add the soy sauce and mirin to the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the shiitake, red pepper and broccoli and simmer until just tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the prawns and stir through to warm them and allow them to butterfly open. Finally add the sesame oil, spring onions and cooked soba noodles. Mix well.

Turn into a serving dish and scatter the furikake over the top.

This photo does not do it justice!

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 413.3
Protein (g) 30.5
Carbohydrate (g) 52.2
Fat (g) 8.4
Fibre (g) 6.6

Breakfast Wednesday 6 September - Toast with Patum Peperium & Fresh Figs

Ah, Patum Peperium - The Gentleman's Relish. Rather decidedly English, I think. How to describe to the uninitiated? Well, it is basically anchovy butter.

It was created in 1828 by an Englishman called John Osborn. It tastes very strong, very salty and slightly fishy and contains anchovies (minimum 60%), butter, herbs and spices. The exact recipe however has remained a secret and was passed down by word of mouth over the years. Today, only Elsenham Quality Foods in Elsenham, England is licensed to make it.
The traditional way of eating Gentleman's Relish is on thin slices of buttered white bread toast, either on its own, or with cucumber, or mustard and cress.
-- from the Wikipedia

If Marmite is "you either love it or you hate it", then Patum Peperium is Marmite on 'roids.

Found some rye bread slices in the freezer from a loaf I bought at Harrod's a while back. So, toasted them up and had with lashings of Patum Peperium and coffee. Then had two fat figs from the market; 4 for £1.00 and gorgeous they were, too.

Dinner Tuesday 5 September - Salmon with Green Peppercorns, Onions Ring & Spinach

Hmm, only just noticed a bit of a theme developing on today - twice I have had green peppercorns and twice I have had onions rings!

Bye-bye, onions rings.

The spinach was done my favourite way, just quickly sauteed garlic and black pepper in a spritz of olive oil.

The salmon was seared in a non-stick pan with a spray of olive oil, then finished off with a small pat of butter (5 grams) and a teaspoon of green peppercorns, crushed in a mortar & pestle.

Remind me never to buy frozen onion rings again. I think these were leftover from some Iceland "Meal Deal" or other....

Lunch Tuesday 5 September - Quorn Escalopes, Fine Beans and Onion Rings

YAY! I finally have a working oven for the first time in yonks.

Celebrated by making an assault on the frozen food hoard. Christened the new cooker by using the oven to cook some frozen Quorn Escalopes with Creamy Green Peppercorn Sauce and some onion rings I forgot I had.

Forgot to take a picture as I am still getting back into the swing of things post holiday, but here is a Quorn picture anyway:

Breakfast Tuesday 5 September - Muesli

Very boring - just had coffee and muesli for breakfast (well, at least I am working on a new item in the cereal hoard).

And it is an exciting day 'cause Tim the Gas Fitter came to 09:00 to fit the new cooker for me!

Yippee! Hot food again.

Tuesday 29 August - Monday 4 September

On Holidays!

Dinner Monday 28 August - Tofu, Bean & Pepper Salad

Well, it is getting sort of challenging now as

1) I have had no cooker since Wednesday and
2) I am just about out of fresh food as I am going away tomorrow

So, tonight's dinner is using up the last bit of fresh veggies and a tin of Marigold Braised Tofu. I was not able to cook the fine beans, so had to resort to slicing them French style and blanching them repeatedly in boiling water from the kettle. Not the best beans ever!

Tofu, Bean & Pepper Salad
1 can Marigold Braised Tofu
200g fine beans, preferably cooked!
2 small orange peppers, slivered
1 spring onions, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons chilli bean sauce

Chop up the braised tofu. Add the vegetables, soy sauce & chilli beans sauce and mix well. Garnish with the spring onions and serve.

Could not be bothered to work out nutrition - off on holidays tomorrow!

Marigold Braised Tofu

Lunch Monday 28 August - Vegetable Bean Salad

Vegetable Bean Salad

Make a dressing of:
handful fresh basil (about 10g), shredded
juice 1/2 lemon (about 4 tablespoons)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons mustard
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon hemp oil

Add:
1 red onion (about 100g) cut into slivers
small sweet orange pepper (about 80g), cut into fine strips
200g sugar snap peas, halved and blanched in boiling hot water for 1 minute
100g mange tout, halved and blanched in boiling hot water for 2 minutes
1 can haricot beans (about 250g drained weight)

Mix well to combine all ingredients. Leave to stand for at least 30 minutes before eating for flavours to develop.

Makes 2 servings


Nutrition Data per serving
Calories (kcal) 293.4
Carbohydrate (g) 40.0
Protein (g) 15.5
Fat (g) 8.1
Fibre (g) 11.7

Breakfast Monday 28 August - Apricots

Got some nice fresh apricots in Chapel Market, so had 200g of them (about 6) with some more of the cereal horde. I am developing quite a taste for Grape Nuts with hot Light Horlicks....but

NO MORE GRAPE NUTS!

Now I am down to
Shredded Wheat
All Bran
Alpen Unsweetened Muesli
M&S Luxury Fruit & Fibre Muesli
Porridge Oats
Mornflake Oat Bran...

On to the Alpen next.

Dinner Sunday 27 August - Basil, Tomato and Mozarella Salad

Basil, Tomato and Mozarella Salad
2 fat vine ripe tomatoes (about 250g)
1 reduced fat mozarella (125g)
handful basil leaves (about 10g)
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Slice the tomatoes and mozarrella into rounds. Interleave with basil leaves in an attractive pattern on a serving plate.

Drizzle over the oil and season with salt & plenty of freshly ground black pepper. I use the oil sprayer to get a nice even layer of olive oil without excess.

Nutrition Summary
Calories (kcal) 321.1
Protein (g) 28.7
Carbohydrate (g) 9.3
Fat (g) 19.2
Fibre (g) 2.7