Italian Bread (V)

I haven't baked much bread before so I thought I would give it a go. I wanted to make this one a bit different. I had some olives and Sundried tomatoes left over and thought they should go in and eventually it turned into something delicious.

Makes 1 Loaf

500g Strong White Flour
2 Sachets of Yeast
300ml Warm Water
75g Sundried Tomatoes, quartered
100g Green Olives, quartered
100g Black Olives, quartered
Drizzling of Olive Oil
Few Sprigs of Rosemary
Salt and Pepper

1. Add the flour, yeast, salt and pepper to the bowl. Stir it all together. Create a well at the bottom of the mixing bowl.

2. Gradually add the water into the well in the mixing bowl and stir as you go along. It will become doughy then you will be able to kneed the dough. If the dough is too dry; add more water and if its too wet; add more flour.

3. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Personally I find it quite relaxing and is a good way to relieve stress. Put cling film over the bowl and leave for about an hour.

4. Preheat the oven to 220/200 fan assisted. After leaving the dough to rise its time to add the olives, tomatoes and olive oil. You begin by flattening the bread out and putting about a third of the olives and tomatoes onto the dough. Then you begin to knead so the ingredients mix into the dough. Continue doing this until your out of olives and tomatoes.

5. Add olive oil to the dough and knead in. Begin to shape the dough into a long cylinder shape (See below). Add the rosemary sprigs to the top of the dough and make 3 cuts along the top. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and put in the over for 35 minutes.

Tip:

• Dip in a mixture of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
• Want to give your bruschetta that bit more depth, toast the bread and top with the tomatoes, red onions etc.
• Makes lovely bread for sandwiches and adds that extra flavour. 
• The oil from the olives and Sundried tomatoes can be used on the bread instead of using olive oil. 

Spicy Bean, Mushroom and Pepper Quesadillas (V)

2 Vegetarian Dishes in a row.... Wow I am on a roll. This one is Mexican in origin with plenty of spice and flavour. Have it as a main meal with some rice, guacamole and sour cream or for lunch

Serves: 4
Dash of Olive Oil
1 Onion, finely sliced
1 Garlic Clove, crushed
1 Red Pepper, diced
5-6 Mushrooms, sliced
Coriander, roughly torn
100g Cheese
Can of Red Kidney Beans
Can of Pinto Beands
1 tsp Smoked Paprika
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chilli Powder
8 Tortillas
Salt and Pepper
200ml Salsa, Plus Extra
Guacamole (Or Make Own Here)
Sour Cream

1. Heat the oil in the frying pan. Fry the peppers and mushrooms in the pan for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

2.  Add extra oil if it needs it. Add the onions and garlic to the pan until they begin to soften (about 5 minutes). Add the paprika, cumin and chilli powder and stir in. Add the beans with a dash of water and heat through for about 5 minutes. Get a masher and mash the beans, onions and garlic together. Taste and Season. Mix with the pepper and mushrooms.

3. Take a tortilla and spread the bean mix on the tortilla. Add a bit of salsa to the top. Add the cheese and coriander. Top with another tortilla. Wipe the frying pan and dry fry the tortilla on each side for a couple of minutes. Repeat this 3 times. Serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Root Vegetable and Lentil Curry (V)

So I am in this expert patient programme and one of the task I set myself was to cook healthier this week. So here it is a curry with I don't know how many of my fruit and vegetables for the day.

Serves 4

Vegetable Oil
600g Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into chunks
3 Parsnips, peeled and sliced
3 Carrots, peeled and sliced
750ml Vegetable Stock
1 Onion, finely sliced
2 Garlic Cloves, crushed
250 g Low Fat Yoghurt
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Ground Coriander
1 tbsp Curry Powder (strength- Personal preference)
Naan Bread
150g Red Lentils
Fresh Coriander

1. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until softened. Add the carrots, parsnips and sweet potato to the pan and fry for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the curry powder, turmeric, ground coriander and ginger to the pan and stir in. Continuously stir over the heat for about 2 minutes. Add the stock and lentils to the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat. Cover and leave to simmer for 20 minutes. The sauce should reduce and thicken and the vegetables should be tender.

3. Add the yoghurt to the pan and heat through for about 5 minutes. Stir in the coriander and serve with the naan bread.

Blueberry Pancakes (V)

Shrove Tuesday is almost among us and thought I would give you one of my healthier options for the day. Blueberries are such a lovely fruit and if you have any left are perfect in a Greek yoghurt with some honey.

Serves 6-10 Pancakes

200g Self Raising Flour

1 Large Egg

150g Blueberries

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

250ml Whole Milk

Pinch of Salt

Knob of Butter

Maple Syrup/Golden Syrup

1. Add the Self Raising, baking powder and pinch of salt to a mixing bowl and stir. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and whisk the egg with the flour mixture. Then gradually add milk into the bowl, continuously whisking. The mixture should be a thick consistency (If too thin, add more flour and if too thick, add more milk). Then add most of the blueberries (keep some aside to put on the pancakes) and vanilla extract to the bowl and stir.

2. Melt the butter in a frying pan. Take a half ladle full of mixture and pour into the frying pan. It should be a small round shape, you don't want them too thin though. You can do them in batches of 2 or 3 depending on the size of the frying pan. Fry on the first side for about 5 minutes. Then with a spatula flip and fry for another 5 minutes. You can stack them and pour with syrup and add the rest of the blueberries.

Chunky Spanish Omelette

So we are taking the classic and uping the game a bit. This takes minutes to make but still has different flavours to make for an enjoyable meal.

Serves 2

1 Onion, finely sliced
75g Chorizo, cut into medium slices
1 Red Pepper, sliced into strips
4 Eggs
250g New Potatoes, sliced
Bag of Salad
Knob of Butter
Salt and Pepper

1. Add the butter to a small/medium sized frying pan. Fry the onions in the pan until they begin to soften.

2. Add the pepper and chorizo to the pan. Don't worry about the pan running out of butter, the chorizo will give you plenty of oil to fry the potatoes. Fry for a couple of minutes.

3. Add the sliced new potatoes to the pan and fry until they begin to brown. While the potatoes are in the pan, crack the eggs into a seperate bowl and whisk with a fork and season.

4. Once the potatoes have cooked add the egg to the frying pan. Fry on the one side for about 5 minutes. Then using a spatula flip onto the other side and fry for a couple more minutes. Serve with salad

Mediterranean Chicken Burgers

Tired of those horsemeat burgers? Try my chicken burgers.... No horses in sight. Has a lot of healthy things in them with an explosion of different tastes.

Serves 2

1 Chicken Breasts, cut in half

About 5 slices of bread worth of breadcrumbs

4 tsps Green Pesto

A ball of Mozerella, sliced

1 Red Onion

Rocket

Jar of Sundried Tomatoes

4 Bread Rolls (Ciabatta, Burger Buns etc)

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

1. Cut each chicken breast in half. For each half put them underneath some cling film and flatten with a rolling pin.

2. Rub a bit of oil onto each bit of chicken then dip the chicken breast halves onto a plate of breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.

3. Heat a frying pan with some olive oil. Then fry in the pan, each side for about 5 minutes. It should be a golden brown colour.

4. For each roll put a small handful of rocket and some sliced red onion.  Cut half of the chicken breast half and place on top. Add a mozzarella slice, a couple Sundried tomatoes and a tsp of green pesto. Repeat for each roll. Serve with some chips and salad.