The health kick begins... well maybe

The wedding season is already in full swing and with a holiday fast approaching I need to get healthy so this week I am all about the lunchtime salad.

I love salads as long as they interesting - full of different textures and flavours (and maybe some cheese), I had one at a local restaurant called The Wet Fish Cafe, which I loved so I have tried to recreate it at home.

Superfood Salad


Ingredients (enough of each to serve 2 people)
• Butternut Squash, peeled and cute into small cubes (I brought the prepack stuff)
• Quinoa (usually 30g uncooked)
• Tenderstem Broccoli
• Peas
• Asparagus, cut into bite sized chunks
• Watercress

• Avocado, peeled and the flesh chopped

• Cherry Tomatoes, quartered

• Herbs - I used basil, mint and parsley

• Feta, crumbled
• Handful of Sunflower Seeds

Dressing
• Juice of half a lemon
• A good couple of glug of olive oil
• Rock salt (I love Maldons)
• Fresh ground black pepper

Method
• Place the butternut squash on a baking tray with olive oil drizzled over and roast for 30-40 minutes in a 200° preheated oven until cooked through.
• Cook the quinoa according to the pack instructions and leave to cool.
• Steam the asparagus, broccoli and peas according to instructions - usually 5 minutes for the first two and 2 minutes for the latter.
• Combine the ingredients for the dressing by giving them a good mix.
• Once these ingredients are cooled combine with the watercress, avocado, tomatoes, herbs and dressing, season well and sprinkle over the feta and sunflower seeds.

Lentils - Take 2

After the relative success of cooking Emily lentils when she visited I thought I would give them another go. I cooked them for less time (about 20 minutes) than previously so they held some of their bite and didn't end up like mush peas as Em pointed out! I combined them with spinach, herbs and some olive oil and topped them of with some natural yogurt and served them up with sausages, asparagus and peas.

Belated Birthday Cake

I went back to Birmingham for some belated birthday celebrations and my mom surprised me with this very cool cake!

My very talented Mom used to make celebrations cakes and sugar flowers and help out her friend Helen who has a cake shop in Lichfield (very near Emily's house) called Sugar Surgeons, they have recently joined forces again and Helen made this delicious sponge covered in lime green fondant icing and my mom helped decorate it with the butterflies - beautiful!

Cay Tre Vietnamese, Soho

We popped into Cay Tre in Soho to soak up the wine from a booze filled evening and was pleasantly surprised by the cool interiors, lovely patterns on the menus, the very sweet staff (who managed to squeeze us in) and the fresh and filling food.

We started with BBQ spare ribs - they were huge and unlike any I have had before, they were crispy and delicately flavoured with five spice and lemongrass, I missed the syrupy (but often too sweet) sauce that I am used to but enjoyed them loads.

We also went for a sweet potato shrimp fritter, again for a starter on the large size but I am not complaining as this was so tasty, we broke bits off, wrapped it in the lettuce and dipped it in to the authentic nuoc cham dip - a clear sauce flavoured with chillis, fish sauce and lime.

We both went for the same for our mains as the person on the table next to us had it and it looked yummy.  Called Bun Sa, it is vermicelli noodles served at room temperature with bean sprouts, cucumber, mixed herbs, crispy shallots and peanuts, then nuoc cham dip is poured in too, I went for it with red sea prawns.

 I finished the meal off with salted caramel ice cream, not needed as I was stuffed but was glad I did!

I really love vietnamese food and this may not take over from my regular place called Pho which felt a little cheaper, it was great for a treat as the food was fresh and authentic and the setting lovely.

La Bodega Negra

The Mexican food revolution is still going strong in London with the opening of new restaurant La Bodega Negra in Soho, specialising in street, beach and free style - not even sure what the last description means? I know I love this style of food and the fact they did small sharing plates (as always) appealed to me.

As part of research trip for work we popped in to try and find out what is the real taste of Mexico, we had already had lunch so just went for drinks and a couple of snacks whilst we brainstormed ideas.

We started with nachos with salsa and guacamole, both tasted really fresh but the salsa just seemed to be chopped tomatoes and herbs which was delicious but wasn't enough to take away from the dryness of the nachos which were crunchy and slightly puffed (a good thing).

We went then went for three seared steak tacos, the melt in your mouth meat was served on soft, circular and tiny tortillas then topped off with a spicy salsa (called salsa picante) which was just the right level of heat.

We also tried a tuna tostadita, this was served on a crunchy tortilla base and the tuna was lightly seared so still very pink inside and cut into chunks and topped with chipotle, avocado and jalapeno - again the amount of spice was spot on as it enhanced the flavours further.

I really want to return and try more things on the menu, especially as they are opening a cerviche bar soon, the dishes we tried were light, fresh and delicious. It was a little bit like Wahaca in terms  of food but felt slightly posher and still really welcoming - the decor was really cool, with black and white tiled floors, walls with Mexican gig and events posted up and cool booth style seating.

Plus I really want to go back for the cocktails, I think it was a spiced daiquiri made with rum, a warming taste to go with the heat of the food.

A change of scene

We are quite lucky in the area I work due to the gastronomic delights in the immediate area including three food markets within walking distance - one on Exmouth Market, an other on Whitecross Street and the slightly further away (and one yet to try) Eat Street near Kings Cross station.

We also discovered there is another which pops up only once a month at the newish shopping centre in the City. Located within One New Change on the first Wednesday of each month, we visited today to see  what was on offer.

It was heaving with all the suits from the city and the queues were long, but fast moving. There were about 10 different stalls in total, all of which we um-ed and aarh-ed about until deciding on the pulled pork sandwich from a stall run by Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa restaurant upstairs.

The pork was slow cooked until it fell from the bone and it was then shredded and stuffed into the bun, which had been baked that morning with slaw, spring onions and lashing of a smokey BBQ sauce. Delicious. Plus it came in some lovely branded packaging too.

 I followed this with a cheeky eclair too!