Starter | oliveoilandlemon

February 4, 2016

Warm Honey Glazed Parsnip Salad with Poached Eggs

Winter Salads can make wonderful main meals, filling and satisfying and this is a perfect one for this time of year. No ‘Sure I’d still be hungry after that’ – I promise you won’t be. Nutritious , delicious and great for anyone who is fond of healthy eating without sacrificing flavour.

Warm Honey Glazed Parsnip Salad
Serves 4-6
Oven at 180C

800gr Parsnips Peeled
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
250gr chorizo
50gr walnuts
100gr rocket or watercress
2 eggs poached per person

Dressing
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp walnut oil
Pinch of sugar

Peel and slice the parsnips into long wedges
Drizzle with the oil, season and roast for 30 mins
Meanwhile roast the walnuts for about 7 mins, chop in half then set aside to cool.
After 30 minutes drizzle the honey over the parsnips, give them a good stir to coat and cost for a further 15 mins or so to caramelise nicely.
Heat a pan and add the chorize and cook until crisp.
Make the dressing by combining all the dressing ingredients and shaking well.
To serve, prepare 2 poached eggs per person.
To serve, add the parsnips to a bowl, add the chorizo, walnuts and toss through with the dressing, Add the leaves and gently toss. Divide across serving plates and add the poached eggs, season and serve.

Dress the leaves in the dressing and

June 4, 2015

Chickpea Cakes & Mango Relish

I’m neither vegan or vegetarian and even if I was convinced that there were benefits to that kind of a diet (which I’m not) it flat out wouldn’t work in my house and for those of you who know my other half, you know why. But occasionally I do like to have a meat free meal which these are great for or as a starter if you are having a big group over. Just make a big platter of these with lots of salsas and other dips and they make for a perfect informal gathering. Other pulses will work just as well for these – I’m thinking kidney beans or others like them. Just check in the back of the press you know there is a tin lying around in there – now you know what to do with it 🙂

Makes 8 small cakes
250gr Tin chickpeas
2 tbsp toasted coconut
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1 tsp Nigella seeds
2 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Blend chickpeas with nigella seeds and chilli powders
Add the coconut, coriander, ginger, breadcrumbs, salt and peppers
Shape into small cakes about 4cm wide 1 cm deep.
If the mix seems dry then add a little water
Put into the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill before frying
Heat 1 tbsp oil in pan and fry until crisp brown on both sides
Side hot with salad and the relish

Mango and Ginger Relish
1 red onion
1 large red chilli
2 tbsp olive oil
t tsp grated ginger
1 ripe mango
2 ripe tomatoes
t tbsp distilled malt vinegar

Peel and dice the onion
De-seed and finely chop the chilli
Heat oil in a small saucepan, add onion ginger and chilli and gently fry for 10 minutes until the onion is softened.
Peel and chop roughly the mango and tomatoes
Add to the onion mixture, stir once, add vinegar and 1 tbsp water
Season , Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes
Leave to cool and serve with the chickpea cakes.

2 Comments

September 19, 2012

Med style stuffed mushrooms

If I’m ever making a mushroom dish, I think of one of my great friends from school. We were both food mad and used to eat my brought to school packed lunch early in the morning and then I would go to her house at lunchtime where we often made mushrooms cooked in butter served with toast. I’m sure her mother was sick of the sight of me arriving most days but it was an arrangement which worked well for us both and we are still good friends to this day. This recipe is slightly more sophisticated than our lunchtime invention but is still simple to prepare and full of delicious flavour. The spinach and garlic give a great helping of vitamins, minerals as well as the antibac, anti inflammatory and antifungal properties of the garlic. The Mushrooms are a good source of nutrients as well as being known to boost immunity – they are good for taking on flavour an in this case the dish comes together very nicely i think.

Med Style Stuffed Mushrooms
1 white onion chopped finely
3 cloves of garlic peeled chopped and mashed
3” piece of chorizo cut into small matchsticks
75gr spinach, washed, wilted on a pan drained and chopped
3oz breadcrumbs (I used gluten free)
4 large mushrooms brushed clean
Salt and Pepper

Oven at 180C

Heat tablespoon of oil in frying pan and brown the large mushroom caps on the bottom flip over for a minute and set aside on a flat baking dish.
Heat another tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the onion for a few minutes until it softens.
Add the garlic and continue to cook on a low medium heat. You don’t want the onion to brown.
Add the chorizo and fry for a few minutes until it starts to give off its lovely flavoured oil.
Tip into a bowl, add the breadcrumbs, drained and chopped spinach, mix to combine and season really (really!) well.
Pack onto the mushrooms and place a small pat of butter onto each and into the oven for 15 minutes
They are delicious as is but if you would like a sauce, heat 2oz of cream in a pan with 1/2tsp of wholegrain mustard, stir well until it just comes to a gentle boil. Spoon over the mushrooms just before serving. Delicious!

3 Comments

July 27, 2012

Beetroot and Goats Cheese Salad

I’ve spoken a little bit about my adventures in gymnastics before. I tend to get funny looks when I mention it as its not that common in Ireland for women of a certain age to still be throwing themselves at a crashmat in the hope that something beautiful will result. I love it tho, I’m no Nadia but I’m pretty strong, reasonably fit and it helps keep me that way. I hope to keep it up for as long as I can as it is fantastic all round workout and good fun. This week tho’ I have struggled with work and other stuff which kept me away from my class. To compensate, I decided to try eat really clean for the week since I wasn’t getting my normal quotient of exercise in. This salad was dinner last night – beautiful beetroot paired with goats cheese and some pine nuts for crunch. I love it for it’s flavour but its also a real winner nutritionally, rich in antioxidants and nutrients, great for cardio vascular health and tastes so yummy. My mother used to love eating the beetroot that came from a jar – she loved the pickling juices. Me, not so much – I prefer to buy fresh beetroot and roast it if I can, or to buy the vac packed version. Either way this is delicious – pack the rest in a lunch box the next day to bring to work and have with some crunchy veggies like carrots and celery.

500 gr beetroot.
1 garlic clove peeled mashed and crushed.
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.
5 tbsp Greek style natural yoghurt.
.5 tbsp of balsamic vinegar.
1 tbsp of spice mix like my garam masala from here or a bought version.
Salt and Pepper.

Set aside 100gr of beetroot
Put everything bar the yoghurt into the blender and blend well to a puree.
Add the yoghurt and pulse till mixed.
Season with salt and pepper, taste and if you are happy, tip into a bowl.
Chop the remaining beetroot into small dice and incorporate into the beetroot puree. This gives a lovely texture that
is not all smooth puree.

Plate up as shown with your goats cheese of choice, some toasted pine nuts and a selection of dressed salad leaves. I put a metal ring (like a scone cutter) onto the plate and filled it with the beetroot and lifted the ring away to make a nice shape, but that’s optional! I had some left over baby potatoes which I tossed in oil and herbs and roasted in the oven for a few minutes which I also used. Just delicious!.