Broccoli and Feta Dip with a Basic ‘House Salad’

Served with Pitta Bread too!

I’ve been eating a lot of Hummous recently with my salads and I really fancied a change (even though I absolutely love hummous!). I decided to use my favourite vegetable, broccoli, to make a sort of dip, sort of thick salad dressing which will add some interest to my salads without too many extra calories. I’m really watching my weight at the moment just because the sun has started to come out and a few pub gardens were frequented…a few ciders and bowls of chips were enjoyed….a few lazy days turned into picnics etc. It all adds up and my shorts which I have finally pulled out of the wardrobe from last summer felt just that tiny bit too tight for my liking!!

The thing is, I love food! I’m not the sort of person that can just cut down on what I eat, I feel it is better to change what I eat instead. Now hummous is not bad for you by any means but I was more getting bored of it and wanted to swap it with something equally as healthy.

If you have just joined me after the virtual vegan potluck and you do follow a vegan diet then don’t worry as most of my recipes are vegan and I always try and offer an alternative vegan option to my recipes For example, I couldn’t resist using feta in this dip because it went so wonderfully with the flavours but you could use cooked white beans, vegan cream cheese, or even tofu! I rarely buy cheese so next time I make this I will definitely be using white beans such as cannelini beans.

You can serve it on the side or pour it onto your salad

I’ve used the term “House ” Salad here because it has a bit of everything in it! At restaurants they always have a house salad on the menu and it’s always different. I think it’s kind of a “used up everything in the house” salad! For my salad today I used lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, radishes, red onion, spring onion (only use one type of onion or no onion if you plan on breathing near people after eating!), black olives and celery. This is my standard list of salad vegetables that I put on my food shop list every week.

Serves 4

Vegetarian, Gluten and Wheat Free, Vegan option!

8 – 10 Broccoli Florets (approx 150g)
60g Feta/ Vegan Cheese – or a handful of Cooked beans
Large Bunch Basil Leaves
Salt and Pepper
Splash of Water

Steam the broccoli for 5 minutes until cooked but not mushy otherwise the dip will be quite watery. Place the broccoli along with everything else except the water and blend in a high power blender until smooth… or as I did in a really old blender for ages! If it needs it then add a splash of water until you have a nice creamy consistency.

St Georges Day Vegetarian Ploughmans Lunch! With a Mushroom and Almond Pâté and a Fruity Goats Cheese

A Ploughmans Salad is always served with beer! Especially in a tankard

Every good English Pub should serve a Ploughman’s salad but you mainly find them served in the Real Ale pubs alongside classics like Fish and Chips and Pork Scratchings! Traditionally this salad is more of a midday working mans snack consisting of bread, cheese, pickled onions and chutneys and it was most definitely washed down with beer. Popular with pubs in the 1950s this salad was a way of increasing cheese sales after rations were lifted at the end of the war.

More modern versions of this dish contain bread, cheese, apple, ham, pâté, celery, tomatoes, pickles and salad leaves with many variations in different parts of the country.

When I have ordered vegetarian versions of a ploughmans before it has just been served with big slabs of cheddar, which is fine if you love cheddar, but I personally find it a bit much to eat like that. I wanted to be presented with a creative alternative to a traditional ploughmans but still with the rustic simplicity needed to make it a true ploughmans.

Ploughmans Salads are different to others because you don’t mix the ingredients together, instead it is usually served on a wooden board and each element is kept seperate. You can then pick and choose how you want to mix it up on your fork! It can be served as single portions or part of a big Ploughmans platter to put in the middle of the table and share around.

For my version I have included two vegetarian elements which I think work well in a ploughmans concept. Mushroom and Almond Pâté works really nicely with the fresh apple and it is delicious spread on to bread or crackers with cheese! It’s got a real hearty, meaty feel to it and I think it’s a good replacement to the boiled ham or liver pâté often served up.

The second element is a Cranberry and Lemon Goats Cheese. This may sound a little fancy for a ploughmans but it works really well against the pâté as it adds a sweeter lighter element. Goats cheese has barely any lactose in it so it is fine for most people with a lactose intolerance to eat. If you are vegan then just substitute the cheese element for your favourite vegan cheez

Mix and Match the ingredients how ever you fancy!

Mushroom and almond pâté -
Serves 6
Vegan, Dairy Free, Gluten Free

25g dried mushrooms soaked then drained n finely chopped (reserve the soaking liquid)
1/2 cup- 75g almonds soaked,
250g (8) large closed cup mushrooms very finely chopped,
1 red onion finely chopped,
1 garlic clove crushed.

Heat oil in a pan and fry the fresh and soaked mushrooms, onion, garlic, thyme and tarragon for 5 mins then add 120 ml/ 1/2 cup of the mushroom soaking liquid. Drain the almonds and roughly chop them then add to the mushrooms mix in the pan and season to taste.
Cook everything down until the water has been absorbed then blend until a rough pate. This is also nice with some truffle oil stirred in.

Cranberry and Lemon Goats Cheese
Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Low Lactose

1 pack soft Goats Cheese
1 Lemon(zest only)
1 handful cranberries

This is very simple, simple combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and then chill until needed. If the goats cheese is firm rather than creamy then put it in the microwave for 10 seconds to loosen it up so you can stir in the extras.

Serve the pate and cheese with-

Lettuce
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Apple
Pickled Onions
Gherkins
Gluten Free Bread
Chutneys
A pint of Ale

Raw Beetroot, Orange and Asparagus Salad with Hazelnut Dukkah

Ready for some summer weather!?

A couple of weeks ago everyone from my office went for a work lunch and even though I was tempted to order a big pizza I quickly opted for a house salad as everyone decided on healthy options. I work in a really healthy office, no biscuit tin to be seen! This is actually quite nice to be honest, I can still buy treats if I fancy it, but the temptation isn’t always there.

The salad I ordered seemed to have absolutely everything in it! Avocado, orange, grapefruit, beetroot, salad leaves, tomatoes, hazelnuts and many more salad items. It was nice but I found it confused so I decided to do my own version with a selection of the flavours I really enjoyed.

I used to eat a turkey and orange salad all the time and since I turned vegetarian I actually haven’t eaten oranges in a salad, and as soon as I tried it again I fell in love with the juicy sweet freshness it adds to a savoury salad.

The second addition to this salad is the hazelnut dukkah. This was on the salad I had at the restaurant, when I read it on the menu I got really excited as I’d never tried it before but when it turned up all I could find was toasted hazelnuts. I googled dukkah and it describes the dish as nuts mixed with spices so I gave it a go and I think it worked amazingly, especially with the fresh oranges.

I used the dukkah as a sort of dry dressing as it coats everything with flavour and the orange segments act as a wetter ingredient. Make sure everyone has enough orange segments to balance out the flavours.

Autumn colours, summer flavours

Serves 2

Vegetarian, dairy free, gluten free, fruity!

Handful of Watercress
1 small head of Lettuce – chopped
1/2 Raw beetroot
8 spears of Asparagus,
1 large Orange or 2 medium sized ones
Hazelnut Dukkah- 5 toasted hazelnuts blitzed with 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds and black pepper.
1 teaspoon pumpkin seeds
Organic extra virgin Olive oil

The method is very simple – peel the orange and slice into thick segments, peel and finely chop the beetroot into little match sticks and peel and roughly chop the asparagus.

Dry fry the fennel seeds, crushed hazelnuts and coriander seeds until slightly golden and the aroma has been released. Blitz them with some black pepper in a blender and then stir in the pumpkin seeds. Put this to one side to sprinkle over the salad. It should smell amazing and fragrant!

Griddle the asparagus until soft and slightly browned and leave to cool slightly.

Assemble your salad with the mixed lettuce and watercress on the bottom and then the beetroot, orange and asparagus spears scattered around then sprinkle over the hazelnut dukkah and drizzle over good quality olive oil.

Purple Kale, Radish and Pomegranate Salad

You can use green or purple kale but I think this looks pretty!

I’ve been seeing raw kale salads for a while now and although I eat a lot of kale I’ve never tried it raw. Even as I began making this salad I was questioning myself, will this be filling? Will this be a pleasant texture? Will it taste good?? Well for all the other raw kale doubters out there I can confirm that not only did I feel full afterwards I also thought it was delicious.

I had a pomegranate that I bought in the reduced aisle which I was planning on crushing to drink with some soda water, lemon and mint but then I came across this kale and pomegranate salad from ‘Running with Tweezers’ blog and I knew I had to make my own version. I have adapted the recipe to make it a really simple side dish with my favourite radishes.

I have purple kale which I don’t think tastes too much different to green kale, but its purple! So pretty, and it turns this purple and pink salad into something beautiful.

I bought the new purple edged plate especially for this salad

You can add to this salad to bulk it up or you can keep it simple. I think it would be nice with some pumpkin seeds or some cold boiled potatoes.

The salad leftovers can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days if you didn’t eat it all, in fact the salad gets even nicer the next day as the kale wilts further and the flavours intensify.

I’ve been making big batches of salads at the weekends and then on Monday and Tuesday at work my lunch has been a nice selection of salads mixed together. We are a bit more relaxed with our healthy eating at weekends and sometimes if we’ve ended the weekend with a takeaway then it can be hard to get started on a good foot on Monday morning. By having salads ready to go it makes it all a lot easier!

Serves 2

Vegan, Raw, Wheat and Gluten Free

2 Large handfuls of Green or Purple Kale
1 Lemon
1 tblspn Olive Oil
1 tspn Balsamic Vinegar
4-6 Radishes
1 pomegranate

Wash and roughly chop the kale and put in a bowl with the juice of 1 lemon, the olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Mix well with your hands for a few minutes and then set to one side.

Thinly slice the radishes, discarding the root end, and remove the seeds from the pomegranate. I find the best way to do this is to squeeze the pomegranate over a bowl and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. You can then scoop the seeds out of the bowl!

Place the dressed kale on a plate and top with the radishes and pomegranate seeds. Tuck in!

I’ve got half a pomegranate left in the fridge so I think I may make my drink of crushed pomegranate seeds, lemon juice, mint and soda water anyway. It is so refreshing!!

Warm Marinated Mushroom and Avocado Salad with a Balsamic Dressing

This weekend I went to Pizza Express twice!! I met up with two different friends, one on the Friday and one on the Sunday and since I don’t go to Pizza Express often I really enjoyed sampling their menu

They do the most amazing salads and on Sunday I tried a combination I hadn’t tried before…warm mushrooms with spinach, mozzarella, avocado and a honey n mustard dressing. It was simply delicious however being a typical foodie I wanted to make my own version using flavours I love and without the cheese.

They served theirs with buttery, garlic infused slices of mushrooms but I decided to keep my mushrooms whole for little bursts of juicy mushroom goodness! If you don’t like mushrooms that much or you’re not keen on them whole then just slice them before cooking. I omitted the garlic because I’m going to take this salad to work with me tomorrow and I don’t want to stink the office out

Mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinegar, herbs and chilli flakes

Marinated Mushrooms-

Vegan, Gluten Free, Low Fat

200g (couple of handfuls) button mushrooms or sliced large mushrooms
1 tblspn olive oil
1 tblspn balsamic
Pinch salt and pepper
Pinch chilli flakes
Pinch dried italian herbs

Place all of the ingredients in a pan on a medium heat and cook, stirring frequently to coat the mushrooms in the dressing and cook evenly, for approx 6 minutes. They’ll be ready when the mushrooms have turned golden brown and still has a little bite to it but juicy. Best thing is to take one out to try it

If the dressing looks like its drying out then add a splash more oil and balsamic vinegar, dont let it reduce too far as you are going to use this cooking liquid as a delicious, rich dressing. You could add a squeeze of lemon too if you fancy however I didn’t feel the need this time.

I think these mushrooms would actually be delicious served as part of a deli platter or even poured on toast with some nice thick slices of avocado. In this salad I served them with the following items:

Mixed salad leaves
Chives
Parsley
Fresh tomato
Black olives
Capers
Avocado
Cooking liquid of the mushrooms drizzled over as a dressing.

Juicy balsamic mushrooms top off this fresh salad

I just have to let you know what else I ate because it was so delicious, after the Friday meal I was actually really excited to go back Sunday. The salads come with garlic dough sticks however I ordered mine without and instead had a portion of polenta chips (which I’m also planning on putting my own twist on next week). They were nothing like the polenta sticks I have made in the past, these were crispy and thin like chips, definitely tasted deep fried but oooh so worth it.

Then for pudding I tried one of the small puddings served with an earl grey tea, I had the chocolate truffle ice cream. It was so rich but a small enough portion to not be sickly. I’d really recommend it!

Roasted Pepper and Goats Cheese Platter with a Herb Oil

Use all different coloured peppers for a bright party dish!

It was my mums 50th birthday on Saturday and me and my sister planned a weekend of surprises for her! It was so exciting planning each treat and seeing it all come to life in a big smile on her face! Our weekend included an afternoon tea at the beautiful Luton Hoo hotel, followed by a party with good friends. Then the next day we sent her off to a holistic spa for a full massage, manicure and pedicure and then in the evening I cooked a dinner party for us all!

I am getting a bit more confident throwing dinner parties and I am starting to want to host them more frequently! I have found that by having dishes which can be made in advance and also having some dishes which can be served cold it helps you have a more relaxing evening once people arrive.

I also began planning recipes for the starter and main which included the same ingredients, for example including the same herbs running through the meal means you will only need to buy one or two varieties. This keeps the cost down and creates some uniformity throughout the menu.

This time I also decided to make a meat main course option because, although most of my dinner parties have been completely vegetarian, I felt it would be nice to cook a dish I knew everyone would enjoy, even if I couldn’t eat it!

Here was my menu (I can’t resist sharing!)

Starters
Bean and Pea bruschetta
Deli meat platter
Roasted peppers with goats cheese and herb oil (recipe below)
Tatziki

Main
Herb and Lemon Roast Chicken
Marinated Chicken Drumsticks
Potato and Fennel Frittata with rocket (recipe to come soon)
Green bean salad
Tomato and basil salad
Red pepper sauce (Recipe to come soon)
Salsa Verde

Pudding
Fresh berries including blueberries, raspberries and strawberries
Meringue Nests
Maltesers (Mums birthday tradition)
Ice cream
Cinnamon and Hazelnut cake

Dinner parties should be pretty and tasty!

I made too much food but I would rather be eating delicious leftovers for a couple of days than see my guests finish everything on the table

In the run up to her birthday I subtly asked my mum what her favourite food was to help me plan the menu (although apparently not too subtly because she subsequently guessed I was going to be cooking!). Mum’s only answer at that moment was Tatziki! I planned around that dish this instantly brought rustic, rural dishes to mind and I knew it had to include some kind of tortilla and a big platter of roasted veg. Placing lots of dishes on the table for everyone to help themselves is my favourite way to eat, I didn’t serve one thing up on people’s plates it was all in the middle with big serving spoons.

These roasted peppers were one of the big hits of the night. As soon as it was put down in the centre of the table everyone’s eyes lit up and lips were licked with anticipation of digging in. That’s what I love about vegetarian food, it is so colourful with lots of varieties of flavour.

I made this during the day and popped it in the fridge ready to serve later on, just before serving I allowed it to reach room temperature and then scattered toasted pine nuts over the top and added another drizzle of good quality olive oil (photos taken before the pine nuts were added). The bowl of olives was an added extra because we always have olives as part of our starters, they’re perfect to nibble on whilst waiting for a meal without filling you up like bread would.

Serves 5 as part of a larger buffet spread

Wheat and Gluten free, Vegetarian, Dinner party worthy

5- 6 peppers, all different colours
Olive oil
Parsley
Mint
Basil
Small piece of soft goats cheese
Pine Nuts
Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 200c. Pour a little olive oil into your hands and give each pepper a little massage to cover them in the oil, you don’t need too much but enough to make sure the skin will char and blacken. Pop the peppers (whole) onto a baking tray and put in the oven for 25-30 minutes. They will be ready when deflated and the skin is blistered and blackened.

Place them into a plastic sandwich bag (Or into a bowl with a tight lid of clingfilm) and leave to cool then pull out the stalk, core and seeds and gently peel off the blackened skin. Putting them into a bag helps you to take the skin off without damaging the pepper too much. Slice the peppers and arrange on a plate however you like.

Finely chop your fresh herbs and put them in a small bowl with a good lug of olive oil (around a tablespoon should be enough) and mix well then pour the herb oil over the peppers.

Crumble the goats cheese on top and give it a little pinch of salt if you like and a good grind of black pepper. This can now get put to one side either in the fridge or on the table ready for your dinner later. When ready to serve heat a small frying pan with no oil and add your pine nuts. Toast them until they start to turn golden and then scatter them over the platter.

Choose a good quality goats cheese – as local as you can manage!

This recipe has been submitted to Allergy Free Wednesday over at The Healthy Alternative blog

Roasted Tomato and Mixed Bean Salad

I love the vibrant colours of this salad!

Today is my birthday for most other people it’s also valentine day! There are two sides to having your birthday on valentine’s day, the good side is that even when I was single it didn’t matter as I had family calling me all day and friends to go out with in the evening…the bad side is that every restaurant doubles its prices for this one night! They bring out set menus for ridiculous cost and we’re the only table set for more than two people in the whole place!

So we mostly stay in for my birthday but this year were heading down to Brighton to celebrate! I’m really excited and I decided to make one of my favourite salads for the train journey down there. I know this is a very summery salad considering we have fresh snow on the ground this week but I’m feeling impatient with the seasons, I need some bright fresh colours in my life!

Using different coloured tomatoes makes the salad more interesting.

I love beany salads because they are really filling, full of fibre and you can really mix in anything you like! You can use any beans you like but my choice is kidney beans and Canellini beans again, mixing different colours makes it more interesting.

I didn’t slow roast these tomatoes because I didn’t have time, to slow roast you heat the oven to around 110c and leave them in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. This creates an intense sweetness and chewiness to the tomatoes. Instead I whacked the oven up to high and popped these beautiful tomatoes in for around 15 – 20 minutes! They stay juicy but just burst when you touch them and you still get the sweetness coming through.

The tomatoes become the sauce for this salad because when you mix them into the beans they burst and dress everything in a gorgeous tomato juice.

Doesn’t this just make you want to grab a fork!

Mixed bean and roasted tomato salad

Serves 4
Wheat and gluten free, vegan, birthday worthy!

4 large vine tomatoes
10 cherry tomatoes, assortment of colours
Balsamic vinegar
Dried italian herbs
Salt
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can Canellini beans (drained)
1/2 cucumber
1 stick celery
1 red chilli
Extra virgin olive oil
Fresh basil

Pre heat the oven to 200c

Slice all the tomatoes in half and place them cut side up on a baking tray then sprinkle with salt, dried italian herbs and pour a drop of balsamic onto the larger tomatoes.
Place in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.

Dice the cucumber quite small and slice the red chilli and celery and mix in a big bowl, add the cooked tomatoes and using a fork gently squash the tomatoes to release the juice and mix everything together really well. Top with shredded fresh basil, sliced chillis,  a drizzle of olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar!

Wild rice salad with pine nuts and avocado

I’ve been eating wild rice instead of brown rice recently, it’s got twice the amount of protein, it is high in fibre and it is high in anti oxidants! It is more expensive which is annoying as it is so good, but because it is hard to grow, often harvested by hand and needs to be treated to remove the inedible green husk to reveal the shiny black rice then the price is justified. You can buy packs where it is mixed with white or brown rice to make it cheaper, or you can mix it with other grains yourself at home to make it go further! You can find out more about the health benefits of wild rice here

The great thing about wild rice is that it is perfect in rice salads because it keeps its shape and doesn’t stick together once cooked. I probably slightly undercooked it because I liked it quite chewy but ideally you boil it until it really puffs up and has popped out of its ‘shell’.

Wild rice salad

This salad is really a basic and delicious combination of everyday salad items! Spring onions for a zing, peppers for crunch and colour, avocado to add some creaminess and pine nuts to top it all off. I then piled it up on top of some baby gem lettuce leaves to make it look pretty and to complete the salad.

A basic vinaigrette of olive oil, lemon and white wine vinegar gives it a freshness or you can just drizzle over some balsamic vinegar, whatever you fancy.

Serves 6 as part of a ‘lunch spread’

200g wild rice
6 spring onions
3 peppers
2 large avocados
Large bunch parsley
Handful pine nuts
12 baby gem lettuce leaves

Cook the rice according to packet instructions, it needs quite a long cooking time similar to brown rice. Allow to cool. Slice and dice the spring onions, peppers and avocados and mix into the cooked rice.
Spread out the lettuce leaves on a big plate and pile the rice salad in the middle. Sprinkle over the parsley and pine nuts and drizzle over your choice of vinaigrette or balsamic vinegar.

Mediterranean Style Green Bean Salad

Classic, simple and rustic! This salad was actually inspired by this gorgeous bowl my mum gave me at Christmas. As soon as I saw it all I could see was this salad piled high with fresh ingredients, plenty of parsley and a taste of the med. Do you find different dishes inspire different recipes?

I haven’t exactly reinvented the wheel here, this is a salad which I have seen variations of many times in restaurants and in cook books but if you haven’t tried it before then you’re in for a treat. You only need a small amount of the sundried tomatoes to give a hint of saltiness as they can be quite over powering, a bit like how some people use a small amount of pancetta in a salad…think of this as a vegan alternative

I don’t usually buy pine nuts because they are quite a bit more expensive then other nuts and seeds but they are so perfect in this salad I decided to splash out. Chopped almonds or pumpkin seeds could work nicely too.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

Vegan, vegetarian, wheat and gluten free, dairy free

300g Green beans (or a few large handfuls)
3 Salad Tomatoes
Large bunch parsley
12-15 Black olives
6 Sundried tomatoes (If they are not in oil then soak them in water for 10 mins)
Extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Handful Pinenuts

Trim the ends off the green beans then steam or boil the green beans until al dente (approx 5 minutes at a gentle boil) then put into a big serving bowl.

Roughly chop the fresh tomatoes and parsley, finely slice the olives and Sundried tomatoes and mix it all together with the green beans.

Place the pine nuts in a frying pan with no added oil and keep on a medium heat until toasted and golden. Sprinkle them on the salad and then squeeze over the lemon and finish with a good drizzle of olive oil.

Celeriac Bubble and Squeak with a Brussel Sprout, Apple and Almond Salad and Homemade Cranberry Sauce

This started off as an idea for a nice little festive dinner party starter but I think it would actually suit a party/ lunch buffet much more! The delicious bubble and squeak can be made into miniature bite sized cakes and served piled up next to bowls of the sauce and salad for people to help themselves.

On boxing day when I was younger we would always have people around to help us finish off the leftover food and my mum would make a turkey curry, cold meats, chutney and salads and bubble and squeak! This recipe kind of brings that all together and is a nice way to use up leftovers in a slightly special way. In case you haven’t heard of bubble and squeak before it is made from roasted/ boiled vegetables usually including a starchy veg like left over roasted potatoes and parsnips (or in this case celeriac) and all of the greens that are left over. Everything is mashed, seasoned and shaped into little patties then fried! Sooo good!

We would always serve it with a fried egg, meats and plenty of ketchup but I have lightened it up here with a fresh salad made from brussel sprouts, apple, parsley, lettuce and almonds. Instead of ketchup I have made a cranberry sauce, or you can use any left over sauces that you have in the fridge!

I have done this recipe to serve only two because we weren’t actually having people around to help us eat it, however all you need to do is double/ quadruple the recipe to cover the amount of people you’ll be feeding!

To make the salad -

10 Brussel Sprouts
1 Apple
1 Lemon
Small Bunch Parsley
1 Gem Lettuce
Handful Raw Almonds

You’ll need the brussel sprouts for the bubble and squeak and the salad so it’s best to prepare those first. Slice the root end off each sprout and then peel off the gnarly tough outer leaves (this will only really be the first two leaves) and discard them. Then peel off the next two or three leaves carefully and put them to one side. The rest of the sprout is also put to one side to be used for the bubble and squeak.

Bring a pan of water to the boil and blanch the brussel sprout leaves for 30 seconds then put them straight into a large bowl of very cold water with a few slices of lemon in it. This will stop them cooking but also keep them nice and vibrant and green!

Thinly slice an apple into small matchsticks and add them to them lemon water to keep fresh. These can all be left in the water untill you are ready to serve so that the salad is fresh.

When ready, drain the sprout leaves and apple and pat dry on some kitchen towel. Mix together with some thinly sliced gem lettuce, chopped parsley and some almonds which have been sliced in half. I don’t think this needs a dressing as the lemon from the water gives everything a hint of sharpness but feel free to add a vinaigrette if you want.

To make the Bubble and Squeak -

10 Brussel Sprouts (left over from the salad)
1 Medium sized Celeriac – peeled and cut into large chunks
2 Large Garlic Cloves
8-10 sprigs of Fresh Thyme
Olive Oil

Preheat your oven to 190c, drizzle some olive oil in a large baking tray and put it in the oven for 5 minutes to heat the oil. Be really careful when you take it back out as oil goes very runny when heated, I burnt my arm really badly by accidentally tilting a baking tray full of hot oil. Anyway dangerous part over… place the chunks of celeriac into the tray and coat with the oil. Chop your garlic cloves in half (skin on) and rub the cut side all over the celeriac and then leave the garlic halves in the tray. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Using the water left over from blanching your sprout leaves, bring it back to the boil and add your left over whole brussel sprouts, cook them for 2 minutes in the water and drain.

Add the thyme sprigs and brussel sprouts to the tray and put back in the oven for 15 minutes. Allow the celeriac/ sprouts to cool, squeeze the garlic out of it skin, take the thyme leaves off the stick and then mash it all together. Shape into small patties and put in the fridge for at least half an hour to firm them up.

When ready, heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the patties for about 3-4 minutes on each side untill golden brown.

To make the cranberry sauce (makes a big bowl full)

200g Cranberries
80g Unrefined Demerara Sugar
splash Water

Place all ingredients in a pan and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes untill the cranberries have broken down and the sauce reduced.

Now your ready for the christmas party!! Everyone will love these little patties of christmas flavours and it’s a great talking point if they’ve never heard of bubble and squeak before!