Smoked Trout with Beetroot and Creamy Rocket

And so, I think, starts an obsession with cooking rings...!  This was so quick and simple, yet had a delicious clean flavour and looked effective.







Nutrition Info (excluding puree)
Calories: 304
Protein: 15g
Carbohydrate: 15g
Fat: 21g
Dietary Fibre: 2.5g

Ingredients (serves 1)
Beetroot puree for decoration (www.creamsupplies.co.uk)
Sprig of dill
1 cooked (85g) beetroot
handful (30g) of wild rocket (rucola/arugula)
1 heaped tsp (30g) horseradish sauce
2 heaped tsp (28g) sour cream
50g smoked trout flakes

Method

• Pipe the beetroot puree onto a plate.
• Position an oiled cooking ring onto the plate.  Make a first layer of sliced beetroot.
• Mix the rocket, horseradish sauce and sour cream and press down onto the beetroot layer.
• Top with the flaked smoked trout, garnish with dill, and serve.

Warm Brown Rice Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and Grilled Halloumi Cheese

This is a lovely colourful salad.  Halloumi and pomegranate seeds are a classic summer combination.  The honey balances the saltiness of the halloumi and the sharpness of the red onion. 





Ingredients (serves 1)
70g brown rice (dried)
1/4 red onion (about 50g)
50g pomegranate seeds
1/2 red apple (about 50g)
60g reduced fat halloumi cheese, sliced
30g rocket/rucola leaves
1 tsp honey

Method

• Change into an old T-shirt and prepare the pomegranate!  Quarter the pomegranate and break away the seeds from the skin into a bowl.
• Cook the brown rice according to instructions.  Leave to cool slightly.
• Dice the red onion and rinse under cold water to get rid of some of the juice.
• Dice the apple.
• Grill the halloumi slices one side only until they turn golden in colour.
• Put the rocket, onion, apple, pomegranate seeds, honey and rice into a large bowl and mix together.  (If the honey is the set kind, then melt it first for a few seconds in the microwave.
• Serve on a plate and top with the grilled halloumi cheese.  Eat whilst still warm.

Sweet Chilli Marinated Tuna and Carrot salad

I guess this is a bit like a ceviche actually.  Last night I marinated some fresh cubes of raw tuna and pared carrot for tonight's salad...  The tuna certainly tasted lightly cooked but very tender, and the marinade had also tenderized the raw carrot.  Delicious!




Ingredients (serves 1)
70g fresh raw tuna steak
100g carrot (1 carrot)
30g salad mix of rocket, spinach and watercress (large handful)
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 tsp reduced salt soy sauce
1 tsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
a little cress for garnish

Nutrition Info
Calories: 187
Protein: 18.1g
Carbohydrate: 17.2g
Fat: 5.7g
Dietary Fibre: 4g

Method

• Cut the tuna steak into small cubes.  
• Using a vegetable peeler, pare off ribbons of carrot.  Put the carrot ribbons and pieces of tuna into a bowl.
• In a cup, mix the lime juice and zest, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and sesame oil.  Toss with the tuna and carrot until everything is well coated.  Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight.
• When ready to serve, mix with the salad on a plate and garnish with a little cress.

Mango and Tuna Sashimi Crunchy Vegetable Salad with Sweet Sesame Dressing

 This is a very refreshing summer salad.  the mango has the same melt-in-the-mouth texture as the tuna, and the flavour is brought out by the dressing.  Although it's only 300 calories, I found it quite filling.

If making this outside of Japan, you need to check that the fish is very fresh i.e. caught the same day.  The large Sainsbury's in my town stocks fish that is caught the same day.

Sesame seeds are high in calcium.  A tablespoon of sesame seeds contains about 10% of the RDA for calcium.  However, because of the hard shell, they need to be broken down to make that calcium accessible to the body.  If you can find crushed sesame, so much the better.


Ingredients (per person)
50g very fresh tuna (outside Japan you need to check it's been caught that day - large Sainsbury's in the UK sometimes (often?) do this)
100g celery (2 sticks)
100g cucumber (this is about 1/4 of a British cucumber)
100g mango (1/2 mango)
strips of nori (dried seaweed)
1 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
15g ginger paste
15g horseradish sauce (or wasabi to taste)
1 tbsp (approx 10g) white sesame seeds (or better if you can get the crushed ones with more whole sesame seeds for garnish)

Nutrition Info
Calories: 300
Protein: 17.7g
Carbohydrate: 35g
Fat: 8.3g
Dietary Fibre: 6g

Method 

• Make the dressing.  Crush the sesame seeds as much as you can in a pestle and mortar.  You probably can't crush them entirely, but that's OK.  Grinding the seeds releases the flavour and also makes the calcium more accessible to the body.
• In a cup, mix the soy sauce, mirin, ginger paste, horseradish sauce and ground sesame seeds.  Put in the fridge.
• Now prepare the salad.  Slice the celery sticks.  Quarter the cucumber lengthways and chop into cubes.  Chop the mango into similar sized pieces to the vegetables.  Chop the raw tuna steak into 1cm cubes.  Put everything into a bowl and mix well with the dressing.
• You want to eat this salad cold, so if everything hasn't come out of the fridge, you should cover the bowl and put it in the fridge for an hour.  This would also be nice for marinading, for people less impatient than me!
• Spoon onto a plate or bowl, sprinkle with strips of nori, and enjoy!

Smoked Mackerel Salad

Ingredients (serves 1)
50g smoked mackerel
100g celery
10g chives
5g dill
50g sour cream
25g horseradish sauce
1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
black pepper to taste
100g iceberg lettuce

Nutrition Info
Calories: 354
Protein: 13.9g
Carbohydrate: 12.2g
Fat: 28.5g
Dietary Fibre: 3.7g

Method

• Chop the mackerel into bite sized pieces, chop the dill and chives finely, slice the celery.  
• Mix the sour cream, horseradish sauce and vinegar together.  Add black pepper to taste.  
• Toss everything together, and serve on a bed of lettuce. Decorate with a little more dill.

Rosemary and Ginger Caramelised Onion and Red Lentils

Ingredients (serves 1)
1/2 large onion
1 tsp olive oil
1 long sprig fresh rosemary
1 tsp ginger paste
50g red lentils
300ml stock
50g goats cheese
1 cucumber and a large handful soy sprouts (or any other salad vegetables)


Ingredients for the dressing
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp honey (I used manuka)

Method

• Saute the onion, rosemary in the olive oil for about 10 minutes until caramelised, then add the ginger paste and red lentils off the heat, stirring for 1 minute.  
• Add the stock and simmer for about 20 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed, and the lentils are mushy.  Leave to cool slightly.
• Slice the cucumber and arrange with the soy sprouts on a plate.  Add some slices of goats cheese.
• In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together.
• Spoon the red lentil mixture onto the soy sprouts and drizzle the dressing over the salad and lentils to serve.

Multicoloured Potato Salad

This very simple salad is jam-packed with healthy vegetables, and is extremely filling.   If you are able to get a mix of coloured salad potatoes, so much the better!






Nutrition Data (for entire salad)
Calories: 1082
Carbohydrate: 184g
Protein: 55g
Fat: 16g
Dietary Fibre: 34g

Ingredients (serves 5 as a snack or 2 as a main course)
340g new potatoes
400g tin Four Bean Salad (drained weight 240g)
250g pack frozen mixed vegetables (peas/sweetcorn/carrots)
20 green olives stuffed with parmesan cheese
450g tub fat free yoghurt
15g wholegrain mustard

Method

• Boil or steam the potatoes in their skins for 20 minutes, then cool in cold water, drain and quarter.
• Mix the yoghurt with the mustard, stir in the frozen vegetables (no need to thaw), the whole green olives and the bean salad.  Stir in the chopped potatoes.
• Chill and serve.

Barley, green olive and mozzarella salad

This came about as a bit of a 'what have I got in the cupboard to use up?' moment...    Some time ago I bought some barley on a whim, and have added it to rice from time to time.  Well, it really needs to be used up now, along with the mozzarella that is due to be used before tomorrow.



Ingredients (serves 2 generously - the picture is a third of the total)
1 cup of barley
1 red  onion
1 cucumber
tin of sweetcorn
1/2 can red kidney beans, drained
1 can stuffed olives (40)
100g mozzarella
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp honey

Method

• Cook the barley according to instructions (I use a rice cooker with double the amount of water), and allow to cool.
• Chop the onion, chop the cucumber and mozzarella into 1cm pieces and halve the olives.
• Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and honey.
• Toss all the ingredients together and store in fridge until ready to eat.

Fruity Coleslaw

This is a slightly sweet, creamy but healthy coleslaw.  My quantities make an awful lot (about 8 large salad-sized servings), but it keeps well in the fridge for about 5 days in a covered container.  Using Hellmans mayonnaise is very important for the taste; this is sold in import food shops in Japan under the Best Foods label. Actual weights for mayonnaise and mustard were guessed.

Nutrition Data (per serving)
Calories 100
Carbohydrate 16g
Protein 4g
Fat 3g
Dietary Fibre 3g

Ingredients
450g fat free yoghurt
1 heaped dessertspoon (30g) Hellmanns mayonnaise
1 heaped teaspoon (10g) wholegrain mustard
1/2 white cabbage
1 medium carrot
3 medium radishes
1 large red apple
25g raisins

Method

• Mix the yoghurt, mayonnaise, mustard and raisins together.
• Shred the cabbage, carrot, radishes and apple.
• Mix everything together in a large container, making sure to coat the fruit and vegetables well.
• Store covered in the fridge.

Tip

If you make, or want to make, a lot of salads, it is well worth buying an electric vegetable slicer.  Last year, I bought one intending to eat more salads but was worried that the salad motivation would wear off!  Actually, because it means that it's much quicker to make salads, I eat even more than I expected!

Sweet Chilli Lentil and Smoked Salmon Warm Salad

This is very filling and is high in protein and fibre.  The pomegranate seeds and chilli sauce give a lovely tang against the lentils, and the seeds look beautiful too.

In the ingredients list I've specified 200g cooked lentils, I'm not sure what the dry weight would be because I cooked up so many for the week!


Nutrition Data
Calories 384
Carbohydrate 59g
Protein 28g
Fat 3g
Dietary Fibre 19g


Ingredients (serves 1)
200g cooked brown lentils
1/2 red onion, sliced
50g spinach
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
40g smoked salmon
30g pomegranate seeds
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

Method

• If not already done, rinse the lentils and cook them for about 30 minutes in boiling water.
• Meanwhile, cook the onions in the balsamic vinegar and some water until soft and caramelized.
• Wash the spinach and tear into the lentils.  Add the onions.  Mix in the sweet chilli sauce.
• Mix in pieces of smoked salmon and the pomegranate seeds.
• Serve warm or cold.

Balsamic Figs, Ham and Blue Cheese

I had this same snack minus the balsamic vinegar last night, when I got home from work. It definitely needs a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar and lemon zest to bring out the flavour of the figs, which otherwise get dwarfed by the flavour of the raw ham and blue cheese.


Nutrition Data
Calories 130
Protein 5g
Fat 4.5g
Carbohydrate 21g
Dietary Fibre 2g

Ingredients (serves 1)
2 fresh figs
15g cured ham (eg parma ham)
10g soft creamy blue cheese (I used Arla Danablu, but a mild dolcelatte would be good)
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
a little lemon zest (optional)

Method

• Quarter the figs and put on a plate. Roughly tear over the raw ham, and crumble over the blue cheese.
• Sprinkle with the balsamic vinegar and lemon zest.
• Serve immediately.
  

Nectarine, Chickpea and Green Pea Couscous Salad

Nutrition Data (per salad portion)
Calories 208
Protein 7.7g
Carbohydrate 40.8g
Fat 0.8g
Dietary Fibre 5.5g



Ingredients (serves 6 as a salad, or 3 as a main course, which means my diet will be a little unvaried over the next few days...!)
200g dried couscous
Spice to taste (I used 1 rounded teaspoon of Sainsbury's 'Taste the Difference' Rose and Harissa Rub, which I bought in the summer, a spicy blend of crushed chillies, coriander, cumin and rose petals)
1 x 400g tin chickpeas (ceci/garbanzo beans), drained
100g frozen green peas
1 large nectarine, chopped
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced with a potato peeler

Method

• Put the couscous and spice in a measuring jug (200g comes up to the 250ml mark). Pour in boiling water to the 500ml mark. Stir and leave for 5 minutes until the water is absorbed.
• In a large bowl, mix the chickpeas with the couscous.
  
• Stir in the frozen green peas, chopped nectarine, and thinly sliced carrot.
• Serve.
  

Fig, Melon, Mozzarella and Parma Ham Salad

Ingredients
3 slices melon
1 fig, cut into 1/3s
mozarella slices
3 slices raw ham
a little maple syrup and lemon juice


Method
Arrange all the ingredients on a plate and sprinkle with a little maple syrup and lemon juice.

Spinach, Cucumber and Avocado Salad

Nutritional Information
Calories 316
Fat 29.1g
Fibre 9.2g





Ingredients (serves 1 as a main dish, or 2 as a side salad)
80g fresh, washed spinach
1 cucumber, cubed
1 avocado, cubed
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon low salt soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon mirin
1 tablespoon golden sesame seeds

Method

• Arrange the vegetables on a plate.
• Whisk together the oil, soy sauce, honey and mirin, or mix your favourite salad dressing.
• Drizzle the dressing over the salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds.