Sultana Rice With Quinoa

This is a nice sneaky way of getting quinoa into the kids without them really noticing due to the sultanas and nigella seeds!

It would take a great deal of patience for a fussy child to pick the quinoa out and my boys loved the sweetness of the sultanas so never really noticed anything else!

Serves 4.

Ingredients

50g butter or oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced

A pinch of chilli flakes

100g basmati rice, washed and drained

70g white quinoa, washed and drained

25g red quinoa, washed and drained

75g sultanas

400mls water

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons nigella seeds

Method

In a lidded pan, heat the butter over high heat and then add the onion, cook until beginning to colour.

Reduce the heat and add the chilli and garlic, cook for one minute.

Now add the rice, both quinoa and sultanas, stir to coat.

Pour in the water and season.

Cover. Bring the pan up to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 20 minutes, do not remove the lid!

Turn the heat off, leave the lid on and let sit for ten minutes.

Remove the lid and stir in half of the nigella seeds and the parsley.

Spoon into a warmed serving plate and sprinkle over the remaining seeds.

Baked Green Chicken

An odd name I know!

My husband has a dislike for parsley and the garden is producing mountains of it just now so I need to sneak it in to as many things as I can! When he saw this before it was baked the shade of green made him call it Hulk chicken, it is that green!

You can barbecue this chicken too, it has fabulous flavour for such simple ingredients.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1.8kg chicken pieces, bone in, skin on

2 lemons, juiced

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

a big bunch of fresh parsley

30mls olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

Combine all of the ingredients, except the chicken, in a food processor and whizz until you have a thick but pourable paste, you may need to add a little more oil.

Place the chicken in a large bowl and pour over the marinade, use your hands to cover all of the chicken in green, leave to marinade for 30 minutes if you have time.

Preaheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Place the chicken skin side up on the tray, pour over any remaining marinade, and slide into the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes and then baste with the pan juices, do this a few times until the chicken is fully cooked and the skin is crispy.

Roast Chicken With Herb And Garlic Butter

As I suspect you know by now, I’m a fan of butterflied chicken and one pot wonders!

Normally cooking the chicken this way speeds up the cooking process but this time I cover it and cook it for longer which really helps develop the flavour. By throwing the carrots in your veggies are cooked at the same time and to be honest I do baked or jacket potatoes at the same time too while the oven is on.

As you can see in the photo, I throw the removed spine into the pan to roast too as all of the bones go into the stock pot afterwards to make a heavenly garlicky herby stock, perfect for soup or I used this stock for a mushroom risotto to add loads of flavour.

This chicken is lovely cold too so any leftovers are great for sandwiches, wraps and salads. You can also make this chicken ahead of time, I have popped the butter under the skin and left the chicken in the fridge over night before cooking and the taste was possibly even more amazing!

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients

1.4 kg chicken

120g butter, softened at room temperature

20g parsley leaves and young fresh stalks

20g basil leaves

3 large garlic cloves, peeled

salt and pepper

1kg carrots, peeled and cut in half or thirds

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Take the chicken and flip it onto its front to let you access the back. With poultry shears, cut up either side of the spine to remove it and giblets if attached. Lay the spine in your roasting tin and flip he chicken over again, breast side up. Squish down on the breasts to flatten them and then run your finger under the skin of the breasts, thighs and legs to make a space to squeeze the butter in to.

Using a food processor, process the butter, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper until creamed and well combined.

Using your hands, take small amounts, around a table spoon at a time, of the butter and gently insert under the skin, then massage down to cover all of the chicken, continue until most of the butter has been used.

With the remainder, rub all over the outside of the chicken.

Add the carrots to the pan and then top with the prepared chicken.

Cover well with foil.

Pop into the oven and bake for one hour.

After 1 hour, remove the foil and baste, bake for a further 40-45 minutes, basting regularly.

Once fully cooked and golden, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10minutes.

Pumpkin And Parsnip Soup

A very smooth soup deserves some garlicky crispy crumbs to elevate it to something really quite fancy!

I use gluten free fresh bread that I crumb but use regular if you can.

Serves 12 and leftover soup freezes really well.

Ingredients

50mls olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

900g pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and diced roughly

500g parsnips, peeled and diced roughly

275g potato, peeled and diced roughly

2 litres vegetable stock

salt and pepper

CRUMB TOPPING

100mls olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

200g gluten free breadcrumbs

4 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Method

In a large stock pot or pan, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft.

Add the garlic and cook for one minute, add the pumpkin, parsnip and potatoes, stir well and then cover.

Allow the veg to sweat for 20minutes stirring occasionally.

Add the stock, salt and pepper and bring up to the boil, simmer gently for 30 minutes until all of the vegetables are soft.

Allow to cool a little and then whizz using a stick blender until smooth.

To make the garlicky crumbs, heat the oil in a frying pan, once hot add the garlic and cook over a medium heat for around one minute.

Add the breadcrumbs and cook until crispy.

Stir through the parsley, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the garlic crumbs over each bowl of soup.

Cheesy Pockets

Now, I know that they don’t look all that impressive but these are a fab way of elevating a bowl of humble soup or and afternoon snack to magnificent!

I use the thinnest bread I can find, this is mountain bread, nearly paper thin. Gluten free wraps work well too but I tend to warm them in the microwave to make them a little more malleable, if you are using tortillas, again warm them a little so they don’t split when you fold them.

I pop these on the barbecue to cook but you can use an oven, preheat it to 200 degrees Centigrade and then bake for 8-10 minutes.

Makes 8.

Ingredients

8 sundried tomato halves, drained

2 garlic cloves

200g feta

25g parsley leaves

8 thin flatbreads or tortillas

freshly ground pepper

Method

Process the tomatoes, garlic, feta, parsley and pepper to form a paste.

Take a flatbread and spread one eighth of the paste in the centre and fold up carefully to seal.

Wrap in foil and continue with the remaining flatbreads until you have eight parcels.

Preheat your barbecue and once it’s hot, place the parcels on and cook for 10 minutes, turning once after 5 minutes.

Barbecued Prawns With Smoky Chipotle Butter

These prawns are epic according to one of my boys!

The butter quickly melts over the prawns so I like to serve them with some of the melted butter spooned over the top to no one misses out!

Serves 4. You can make the flavoured butter the day before and keep it rolled in the fridge or make it and freeze it for a week.

Ingredients

800g large prawns, deveined, peeled but leaving the tail intact

100g butter

1 garlic clove

1 teaspoon chipotle chilli powder

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano

2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley

salt and pepper

Method

Make the flavoured butter first, combine all of the ingredients except the prawns in a processor and process until smooth.

Scrape the butter onto a large piece of platic wrap, cover and gently roll, twisting in the edges as you go.

Pop the butter into the fridge to harden.

Prepare the prawns and season with a little salt and pepper.

Heat the BBQ, once hot, cook the prawns.

Plate the prawns in your serving dish, top with slices of the butter and serve with slices of lime.

Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder With Lemon And Garlic

I have mentioned before my love for slow roasting and the benefits to my soul knowing dinner is quietly getting on with itself while I’m out and about.

This lamb is melt in the mouth consistency and to be honest I always roast two shoulders now as one isn’t quite enough and I love leftovers!

Leftovers are used up in Turkish prides and stuffed bread, recipes in my blog. Apologies, if I knew how to do a link for them I would!

A shoulder this size feeds 4.

Ingredients

 1.8kg lamb shoulder, bone in

2 lemons

50mls olive oil

6 gloves garlic, peeled

20g parsley leaves

Salt and pepper

500mls water

Method

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees Centigrade.

Take the shoulder and stab it all over, as deep as you can without piercing the underside, waggle the knife around a bit so there is space to fit a couple of fingers into the cuts where able.

Whizz the zest and juice of 1 lemon, the olive oil, garlic, parsley and seasoning to make a loose paste.

Pop the shoulder into a deep roasting tin.

Rub the paste all over the underside of the shoulder, flip over and then push the paste through the cuts and cover completely.

Take the second lemon and slice very thinly, remove the seeds and lay over the top of the shoulder.

Pour the water into the base of the pan.

Measure a piece of baking parchment to fit over the roast and tuck in to the sides. Squish it up under running water and then lay it over the roast, tucking the edges in.

Cover the tin with tin foil and seal well.

Pop the roast into the oven and roast for 7 hours.

Turn the heat to 200, remove the foil and parchment and drain the pan juices.

Spoon the fat from the pan juices back over the lamb and return to the oven, baste again after 20minutes and then remove after a further 20mins.

To serve, warm the pan juices back up, check for seasoning and then pour over the roast as you serve.

Garlicky Chicken and Potatoes

I love a one pot wonder!

By the time you have finished cooking this the chicken and potatoes are coated with a gorgeous garlicky sticky concentrated sauce and all you need is a salad to go along with it.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

2kg chicken, cut into 10 pieces

60g butter

50mls olive oil

250mls white wine

4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed slightly

750g baby potatoes

salt and pepper

a small handful of chopped parsley

Method

In a large, deep frying pan with a lid, heat the butter and oil over a medium to high heat.

Combine the chicken pieces, salt and pepper in a large bowl and make sure all of the meat has been seasoned.

Once the pan is hot, lay the chicken pieces, skin side down in the butter and oil.

Cook until the skin is golden and then turn over and repeat.

Remove the chicken from the pan.

Tip most of the fat into a bowl, leaving just a little in the pan.

Return the pan to the heat, turn down to low and add the garlic and wine to the pan, scrape the base of the pan to get any gooey bits of chicken into the sauce.

Return the chicken to the pan, skin side down and add the potatoes.

Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer gently for 20 mins.

After 20 minutes, turn the chicken skin side up and stir the potatoes. Pop the lid on and cook for 20mins.

Remove the lid and turn the heat up high, reduce the sauce and stir through the parsley.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

In the good old days I loved tabbouleh made with burghul but since Coeliacs I’ve had to adapt and the family with me, most of the time!

Quinoa is a great alternative and really goes well with the fresh flavours. I do use large quantities of herbs, the weights given are for leaf weights, not the stalks! If you aren’t a huge fan of parsley or mint, just play around with the herbs until you get it the way you like it.

Serves 6. We often have tabbouleh with beetroot falafels and Greek yogurt. The boys have flat breads too.

Ingredients

180g white quinoa

500mls water

50g mint leaves, finely shredded

50g fresh parsley leaves, finely shredded

3 spring onions, finely sliced

4 large tomatoes, deseeded and diced finely

juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

Method

Measure the quinoa into a medium pan, add the cold water and cover with a lid, bring up to the boil and then simmer for 14mins. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing the lid.

Tip the quinoa into a sieve and run cold water over it to cool, allow to drain completely.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and allow to sit for 30minutes to allow the flavours to develop.

Serve with beetroot falafel.

Chickpeas with Chorizo

 These are lovely as a side dish or part of a tapas meal.

I like the chickpeas to be really crispy but if you prefer them a little softer that works really well too, just cook the onion and smoked paprika first and then add the chickpeas to warm through followed by the cooked chorizo.

Serves 2-4.

Ingredients

60g piece of chorizo

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons sweet smoked paprika

1/2 red onion, finely sliced

1 x 420g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

A little chopped parsley to garnish

Method

Heat a frying over a high heat.

Add the oil and once hot fry the chorizo on both sides. Remove and set aside.

Add the smoked paprika, onion and chickpeas, stir regularly until the chickpeas are crispy, return the chorizo to the pan and heat through, check for seasoning, garnish with  a little parsley and serve.