Healthy Turkey Chili

Happy (belated) New Year! 

I know I'm late but as this is my first post of 2017, I thought it was only appropriate to start the new year off with a delicious and healthy recipe. I'm so excited to share this dish because it was my first ever attempt at making chili with turkey rather than beef or chicken. I've been fairly hesitant about using turkey previously because I thought the flavor would be overwhelming. However, I'm so glad I gave it a try! Not only was this super tasty but also incredibly fast - the perfect meal for a busy week night. 

I particularly liked how easy it was to sneak in extra vegetables to make it even healthier - I added grated sweet potatoes, leeks and two kinds of bell pepper. I'd never tried grating sweet potatoes into a dish like this but they added a really nice background sweetness. Additionally, there are two types of beans to help make this be even more filling. I had the chili on its own while Matt had his with some easy microwaveable rice and we were both completely full. And we still had plenty leftover for dinner the next day. I did cheat a little by using a packet of chili seasoning but I think for a quick meal like this, that's totally fine. If you have more time, definitely try out your own seasonings as that way you can control the salt and heat. 

One important note: all ground (or minced if you're in the UK) turkey is not created equal! If you want to keep an eye on the fat and cholesterol content, make sure you're getting ground turkey breast rather than thigh meat. 

Finally, this chili would make an excellent workplace lunch and this recipe could easily be doubled to provide for the whole week. Yum! 

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 20-30 min

Serves: 4

Ingredients: 

Olive oil 

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

1 large leek, quartered and finely chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 

500g ground turkey breast (2% fat)

1 packet of chili seasoning

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 large sweet potato, peeled and grated 

1 can red kidney beans, drained

1 can black beans, drained

1 can sweet corn, drained

Method: 

In a large pot over medium-high heat, sauté the red onion and leek in a splash of olive oil until they start to soften. Add in the red and yellow peppers and continue cooking, stirring frequently. When the peppers have softened, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. 

Next, stir in the ground turkey and break it up as it browns. Keep mixing to ensure that all of the turkey is cooked before adding in the chili seasoning, chopped tomatoes and grated sweet potatoes. Allow the pot to simmer for about five minutes, adding a splash of water as needed. When the sweet potatoes have softened, add in the beans and corn before leaving the entire mix to simmer for another five minutes or so. 

Serve with lighter cheddar cheese, jalopenos, olives and any other toppings you fancy! 

Enjoy! 

Home-made Cheez-Its

Oh, Cheez-Its. You are my absolute favourite snack and I always look forward to devouring you when I visit Virginia. However, you insist on being completely unavailable here in the United Kingdom. Okay, that's not fair. You are available but only at exorbitant prices and in very inconveniently located speciality shops. Therefore, it was time to replace you.

I'd seen mention of home-made Cheez-Its around the internet on previous journeys down the rabbit hole that is late-night recipe hunting but I always thought it would be far too much effort for a snack. Especially one I probably shouldn't be eating anyway. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find the ingredient list is remarkably short - only five items and one of them is water!

So, I bit the bullet, hauled myself down to my local shop and got to work. Warning: this recipe would be mighty irritating if you didn't have a food processor. With one, the dough comes together in minutes. And by using the parchment paper to roll out the dough, the clean up is equally simple since you aren't scattering flour all over your counter tops. Some of the recipes I saw added a bit of milk, which seemed to help bring the dough together. I liked this idea so I went ahead and added it into the recipe. However, I didn't have any milk so I substituted cold water and they end result was perfectly fine. Overall, I highly recommend this recipe even if you live in a place where Cheez-Its are readily available.

Recipe via www.cookingalamel.com

Prep Time: 3 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Makes: approx 75 crackers

Ingredients:

1 1/2 - 2 cups (180g) cheddar cheese, grated
3/4 cup (100g) self rising flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp water
Sea salt for scattering (optional)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375F/176C.

In the bowl of a food processor, add all the ingredients except the water. Pulse at 5 second intervals until the mixture has the consistency of coarse grain. At this point, add the water and pulse until the dough forms a ball. (I had to make it into an actual ball by hand since my mixer didn't have enough space for it to happen inside it)

Divide the dough in half and roll out one half between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a knife or a pastry cutter, cut out your shapes and move to a baking sheet. Using a skewer or fork, poke each of the crackers so that the steam can escape and they won't poof up entirely. Sprinkle on a bit of sea salt and bake for 8-9 minutes until the edges are browned and the crackers have risen. Enjoy! 

Kale and Blue Cheese Pasta

Recently, while grabbing some groceries in a post-work stupor, I picked up the little Autumn foods magazine they have in the Waitrose checkout line. I had a quick flip and thought the recipes seemed simple enough so I took it home and had a proper read through. One of the main benefits that instantly stood out with that their recipes seem to try and use quantities that they have in store. For example, this recipe called for 200g of kale... and conveniently, they sell kale in 200g bags. While I'm all for trying to use up leftover ingredients in other tasty dishes, sometimes it's just nice to have exactly what you need.

This recipe was ridiculously quick and easy - the only time consuming bit was chopping up the celery (which took all of two minutes). I noticed I had a sad-looking half of a red onion wallowing in the bowels of the fridge so I tossed that in with the celery. What I really liked was that this could easily be done as a one pot meal if you wanted (after draining the pasta and kale, use the original pot to sauté the celery). All in all, I'd give this recipe a seven out of ten for tastiness - it was maybe a bit bland so next time I think I'll try a different blue cheese. Cambozola was the recommended option in the recipe but I think I'd prefer a nice Gorgonzola dolci. 

Recipe via www.waitrose.com

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 10 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

200g pasta (I used Elicoidali as recommended but any pasta would work)

200g kale torn into bite size pieces, hard stems removed 

3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1/2 a red onion, finely chopped

75g blue cheese, crumbled
salt
pepper

Method: 

Boil salted water in a large pot and add the pasta. Cook to packet instructions and add the kale in the last two minutes. Before draining, reserve a cup of cooking water.

Meanwhile, sauté the celery and onion over medium high heat until softened. Add to the pasta and kale.

Finally, stir in the blue cheese and add a little of the pasta water to help it melt. Stir over a low heat until the blue cheese has melted and become incorporated.

Enjoy! 

Fromage Fort

This recipe comes as a result of the end of holiday scrounge to use up leftovers that I mentioned in the previous post. I had seen a version of this dish on Smitten Kitchen ages ago and been itching to give it a try. It's the perfect way to use up what's in the fridge since any type of cheese will work fine. All you need are a few bits of cheese to use up and a splash of white wine and you're set!

Possibly the world's worst photo of such a delicious dish!

Usually, you would pop all the cheese into a blender or food processor to mix it up but we didn't have one so I improvised with the microwave. This meant that I had to set the mix aside to set since it was pretty watery at first. It also meant that we had a nice intermediate fondue-esque stage that was a happy accident. Basically, any way you make this will be delicious! I had some cheddar slices to use up so I chopped them finely but grating any hard cheese would also be a good idea. I was very pleased with this and will definitely give it a go the next time we have leftovers from a wine and cheese party! I served it with veggies (again, using up leftovers!) but a baguette would also work perfectly. Finally, the amounts in the recipe below are not specific since it will depend on what you have to use up! Feel free to substitute any cheese you have on hand... I'm debating giving this a go with some leftover Yarg, Keltic Gold and Cornish Blue that I brought home with me... 

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Serves: Many

Ingredients: 

Brie, with the rind cut off.

Cheddar, grated

Blue Cheese, crumbled

Splash of white wine

Method: 

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and microwave in 20 second intervals, mixing between each microwave session, until you reach the desired consistency and the different cheeses have been incorporated. 

Tortilla Pie

Hello lovely readers! I know I haven't been posting very much this past week but I have an excellent reason for my absence: I've been on holiday in gorgeous Cornwall! We had an amazing time filled with beautiful scenery, tasty food and good friends. It was pretty hard to leave yesterday (both figuratively and literally since it took us over ten hours to get home!) but I'm glad I've got the weekend now to prepare for a pretty busy upcoming week. This was a recipe I made while trying to use up leftovers in order to try not to waste too much on our last night at the house. We had made tacos earlier in the week (perfect dish for a big group!) and therefore we had a lot of the seasoned beef leftover. After searching "how to use leftover taco meat" on the internet I came across recipes for tortilla pie. I'd never even heard of this dish before but it seemed like a tasty option!

Stunning cliffs near our house!

Finished tortilla pie

SInce I was relying on leftovers I ended up taking quite a few liberties with the different recipe versions I found online. However, the end result confirmed my suspicion that Tex-Mex is incredibly forgiving. Basically, if you have cheese, you're good to go. I paired this with a quick and simple olive salsa (again, trying to use up bits and bobs in the fridge). If you aren't an olive fan, feel free to ditch them! Also, you will note that the recipe below calls for 8 slices of packaged cheese... and yes, I'm referring to the awful/delicious versions that you top hamburgers with if you're feeling lazy. Obviously, feel free to skip them! I normally don't buy that cheese but again, I was using what we had on hand. Don't judge me! Finally, I'm guessing with the ingredient amounts here based on the size of our dish but this could easily be whipped up with whatever leftovers you had and a smaller pan!

Simple olive salsa

Final dish!

Prep TIme: 15 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 8

Ingredients: 

6 flour tortillas

800g seasoned taco meat

250g cheddar cheese

300ml sour cream

8 packets of pre-sliced hamburger cheese

2 onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, chopped

250g cherry tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch of coriander, chopped

5 spring onions, chopped

1 handful of olives, chopped

1 -2 limes, juiced 

1/4 cup of jalopenos, chopped

Method: 

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.

In a large pot on the stove, heat a splash of oil over medium heat and begin to saute the chopped onion. When the onion is starting to soften, add the red bell pepper and saute for a minute. Next add the garlic and saute gently for two minutes or until it becomes fragrant. Finally, add in the leftover taco meat and leave until it is reheated, stirring frequently. It should be a bit juicy so if it's a bit dry, add a splash of water. Leave over a low heat while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Mix the sour cream and 3/4ths of the cheddar cheese in a bowl and set aside. 

Prepare a baking dish by spraying or buttering the bottom and sides. Lay two tortillas on the bottom, overlapping slightly to fit. Next add half the taco meat mixture, spreading evenly around the dish. Top this layer with 4 slices of the pre-packaged hamburger cheese, tearing them to evenly distribute around the dish. Next add another layer of tortillas by laying another two tortillas onto the cheese. Spread the sour cream and cheddar cheese mix on top of these tortillas. Add the remaining taco meat onto the sour cream and top with the remaining four slices of pre-packaged cheese. Finally, layer the two remaining tortillas onto the cheese and top with the remaining grated cheddar cheese. 

Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese on top has melted and is beginning to crisp. 

For the salsa: mix the cherry tomatoes, spring onions, olives, jalopenos and coriander in a bowl and drizzle with the juiced limes. Set aside to let the flavors mingle. Enjoy! 

Brown Butter Gnocchi with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes

Hello! As most of you might know, I've been away for the last two weeks visiting my parents in Rome. I had a really lovely time and especially enjoyed the fact that the boyfriend (Sam), the lovely flatmate (Laure) and the lovely friend (Anna) were all able to visit as well! Of course, the real highlight is always getting to spend time with the most loving and sweet little mini dachshund. Little Izzy is just the greatest and I'm definitely missing her now that I'm home!

Ingredients

Zucchini ribbons, chopped onion and garlic 

Boiling gnocchi, ready to come out! 

Anyway, on to the food! I have a confession to make... while on holiday, I get very very lazy when it comes to food. Meals are more likely to be made up of bread, cold cuts, cheese and salad than to be something needs actual effort to create. This is particularly true in Italy because, let's be honest, their "cold cuts" are really a cut above the rest (ha). That said, I did take the time to test out this recipe that I found after searching online for "healthy gnocchi dinner" or something like that. This isn't actually that healthy I'm afraid since butter is one of the main ingredients but it's definitely tasty and surprisingly light - perfect for spring or summer! The courgettes are perfect in this and the cherry tomatoes really help to bring that brightness into the dish. I used mini gnocchi because they were too cute to pass up and so I went with 100g per person. That said, when I made this for Anna, Laure, my parents and their friends (7 of us total)... 1000g of gnocchi meant we had TONS of leftovers which made a perfect lunch the next few days.

Zucchini, garlic and onion in the brown butter 

All the ingredients in the pan

Finished product! Delicious!

Recipe via www.eatingwell.com

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp butter

1/2 a small onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 large zucchini, stripped

5 cherry tomatoes, halved 

100g gnocchi

30g parmesan cheese, grated 

Method: 

Chop the garlic and onion and set aside while you use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into ribbons. When ready, melt the butter in a pan and let it simmer until it starts to brown over a medium-high heat. Toss in the onion and garlic and let simmer until fragrant before adding the zucchini to soften. Meanwhile, boil water in a pot and add the gnocchi when it has reached a rolling boil. The gnocchi are ready when they float to the top of the pot. While waiting for the gnocchi, add the cherry tomatoes to the pan, cut side down and saute until they start to break down. Finally, add the gnocchi to the other ingredients along with the parmesan cheese and enjoy! 

Wine and Cheese Party

Last Friday, my lovely flatmate Laure was returning from Paris laden with lots of delicious cheese so we thought it was a great opportunity to have a few friends round for a little wine and cheese night. I love these sorts of evenings since they tend to be cheaper than going out and are pretty simple to pull together in terms of food. I always go a little overboard and serve things other than just cheese and wine because I party food is my favorite food group. It just includes so many of the slightly naughty dishes that I would only ever have a treat or recipes that might be a bit strange if you made them for dinner. And, of course, party nibbles are delicious! Apologies in advance: the pictures aren't brilliant since I was using my phone and trying to be as unobtrusive to our guests as possible... and a few of the recipe results were eaten too quickly to photograph!

Marbled Deviled Eggs

Cheese, Breads and Crackers

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Cookies, Cheddar and Leek Muffins, Veggies

Because this was just a small get together with a few friends, I didn't want to go too crazy and somehow managed to keep things relatively simple. Another benefit was that I tried to use up ingredients I already had on hand so that they wouldn't go off while I'm in Rome next week. All the recipes included are super easy and can be thrown together pretty quickly if you're trying to host a party after a pretty crazy week like I was! I've given the recipes their own pages so click the links below for more details. Enjoy!

• Spinach and Artichoke Dip
• Deviled Marbled Eggs
• Cheddar and Leek Muffins
• Pigs in a Blanket
• Parmesan Stars 

Cheddar Leek Muffins

After last week's trip to the farmer's market in Brixton, I still had two leeks leftover from the risotto we made. And, since I'm off to Rome this coming week to visit my family, I was looking for a way to include them into the party food. A quick search led me to this recipe on the netmums website. I was a little worried that because this is designed for kids the salt level might be a bit too low (and it was.. but only a little!) so in the future I might add a bit more before baking. Other than that, this was a great recipe since it was easy, quick and made a pretty good amount of muffins for our party. Another benefit was that I already had everything in my cupboards so there was no need to rush out to the shops - exactly what I need from a party food recipe!

Muffins along with some cookies and veggies

Recipe via www.netmums.com

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15-20 min

Makes: 24 muffins

Ingredients: 

2 leeks, white part only chopped
30 g butter
450g self raising flour (or the same amount of plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
2 tsp mustard powder
200g cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
300ml milk
100ml olive oil
2 tsp salt

Method: 

Saute the chopped leeks in the butter over a medium heat until they have softened. Set aside. Meanwhile, sift the flour and mustard powder together in a bowl. In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and olive oil before slowly adding to the flour mixture. Add in the cheese, leeks, and salt and mix thoroughly to incorporate all the ingredients. Line two muffin trays with paper liners and fill them 3/4 of their capacity. Bake for 15-20 min, until a skewer placed in the center of a muffin comes out cleanly. Enjoy! 

Marbled Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are a party staple in our household (as my parents, sister, aunt and cousins can attest!) but I've been wary of making them for British friends since they don't seem to be as popular here as they are in America. However, after my successful marbling of hardboiled eggs last week, I thought it might be nice to use that technique to jazz up my favorite party food. Surprisingly, our guests seemed to enjoy them (although many were more intrigued by the colors I think!). If you're hosting a party, give the marbling technique a try since it adds that extra level of fun! This is just my go to method of making deviled eggs and the ingredients are usually just eyeballed. You want a nice amount of crunch from the celery and onion but you also want to chop them very finely so they don't dominate the flavors. The same goes for the cheddar: you want enough so that you can taste it but not so much that you lose everything else. If I'm at home, I'll throw in some Mrs. Dash or Worcestershire sauce if it's on hand but anything you like will work!

Freshly peeled eggs

And again

Sliced, ready for deviling 

Finished product!

Prep Time: 30-45 min

Cook Time: N/A

Makes: 20

Ingredients: 

10 eggs
Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
Cheddar cheese, grated
Celery, finely chopped
Onion, finely chopped
Red pepper, finely chopped (optional)
Paprika (optional)
Food coloring (optional)

Method: 

Hard boil the eggs and then leave to cool in cold water. Once they have cooled, dry the eggs and lightly crack the shell in different places. Place the eggs in plastic bags divided by colors and add enough food coloring to coat the shells. Seal the bags and leave aside for thirty minutes. Rinse each egg with white vinegar followed by water and then remove the shells.

Slice each egg in half lengthways and remove the yolks to a bowl. Mash the yolks with a fork until they resemble cornmeal. Add the onion, celery, cheese and enough mayonnaise to hold the mix together. Carefully spoon this mixture back into the yolk spaces of the eggs and top with the red pepper and paprika. Enjoy!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

When I'm at home in the United States, this is one of my favorite restaurant appetizers since it's filled with cheesy goodness while still masquerading as vaguely healthy by including spinach. I know, that's not very convincing as far as health food goes but this is too tasty to care! It's also one of my go to party recipes because it comes together so quickly and can be served hot or room temperature so you don't need to worry about keeping it warm. Finally, I used low-fat cheese and light cream cheese to try and keep the calories down and the flavor was still fantastic.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: A lot! 

Ingredients: 

1 can of artichoke hearts in water, drained and rinsed.
250 g of fresh spinach
A handful of fresh basil (chopped) or 1 tsp dry basil
200g light cream cheese
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
100g low fat mozzarella cheese, grated
100g parmesan cheese, grated
Tortilla chips to serve

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Fill a kettle with water and allow to boil while you place the spinach into a colander in the sink. When the kettle has boiled, slowly pour over the spinach to wilt. Follow with cold water so that you can handle the spinach and press out all the excess liquid. When ready, place the spinach and artichoke hearts into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped (this can also be done by hand if you prefer a chunkier consistency). Remove the mix to a bowl and add the cream cheese, basil, mayonnaise, and cheese. Mix thoroughly and place in an oven safe dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy! 

Parmesan Stars

And... this is the second recipe that I managed to make and consume without photographing. Sorry! They were just too tasty! This is also a fantastic recipe to make if you're using puff pastry for other dishes as well since that means there will be lots of leftover pieces of pastry that might otherwise be wasted. All you need is a small cookie cutter shape (I used a star but any shape will work), an egg wash, some grated parmesan and paprika.

Photo from myrecipes.com, by Ian Bagwell and Heather Chadduck

I can't remember where I saw the original recipe that made me start making these a few years ago but the internet has several different incarnations of it: with basil or other spices, different types of cheese, etc. I prefer to keep things simple with just parmesan and a little pop of paprika and I basically make it up as I go along so apologies in advance for vague ingredient amounts! The final amount of stars you'll have will depend on the size of your cookie cutter so that is also a bit vague I'm afraid. I had about 30 and that was after only using the pastry leftover after the pigs in a blanket. 

Prep TIme: 10 min

Cook Time: 7-10 min

Makes: Lots! 

Ingredients: 

Puff pastry sheets

Grated parmesan cheese

Paprika

1 Egg 

Method: 

Roll out the puff pastry and cut into the bite size pieces with your cookie cutter. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and paint with an egg wash. Sprinkle generous helpings of parmesan cheese onto the top of each piece and follow with a tiny bit of paprika. Bake for 7-10 minutes (until the cheese has melted to a golden brown and the pastry has puffed up) and enjoy! 

Leek and Lemon Risotto

On Easter morning, Sam and I wandered over to the Brixton Farmer's Market on the hunt for tasty ingredients for a hopefully spring-like dinner. We thought a risotto would be the perfect mix of spring veggies and filling warmth since "spring" has been mostly freezing so far. The green grocer's stand had some great leeks so we grabbed a few and decided to top our risotto with sausages since they were on sale with three six sausage packages for ten pounds. We went for the honey mustard, italian seasoning and hop flavors. Since we had the honey mustard ones for lunch, those ended up on our risotto later that night.

Some of the ingredients 

Chopped leeks

Rice being added to the leeks 

This is a great recipe from Ina Garden, the Barefoot Contessa. She uses mascapone cheese in her recipe which proved a little too hard to find in our corner shops so we went with herb cream cheese and it was delicious. I'd never added a cheese other than parmesan to risotto before and have to say it definitely improved the creaminess. I generally avoid risotto since it seems like such a pain to have to stay by it, stirring, for half an hour but actually this dish comes together so quickly that I didn't even notice the time. We had to use a wok for our pot since this makes a lot of risotto but it worked out surprisingly well so this is definitely a customizable recipe in all regards. As far as the ingredients, Ina's recipe included asparagus and peas but we skipped them since there weren't any available at the market. You could easily add mushrooms or other veggies that you have on hand. The lemon gives a bit of a kick but it was such a nice fresh flavor that this dish has helped to cement it in my favorites list. 

Finished product

Dished up with some leftover sausage 

Recipe inspired by www.foodnetwork.com

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp butter
3 cups leeks, chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup white wine
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp lemon zest
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Method:

In a smaller pot, heat 4-5 cups of chicken stock to simmering. Keep warm for the risotto.

In a separate large pot, add the butter and olive oil and allow to melt. Meanwhile, wash and chop the leeks. When the butter has melted, add the leeks to the pot and cook until softened. When soft, add the rice and stir to ensure all the grains of rice are coated in the oil and butter before adding the white wine. Stir until the wine has been absorbed. Now, adding one ladle at a time and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next, slowly begin to incorporate the chicken stock into the risotto. As you get to the end of the chicken stock, it will take longer for each ladleful to be absorbed, which is a sign that it is getting close to being ready. Give it a taste to ensure the rice is getting close to al dente without moving into mushiness. When the rice is almost ready, add the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese with the lemon juice and then add to the risotto, followed by the parmesan cheese. Make sure everything is well mixed and the rice is finished before serving. Top with more parmesan cheese (and sausages if you'd like!) and enjoy!

Leek, Mushroom and Cheddar Quiche

In an attempt to get recipes on here before the holiday that they might be appropriate for passes, I decided to give this Easter-y quiche a try for a girls' night in recently. My lovely friend Anna was back from Washington D.C. for a quick visit so Laure and I wanted to have her over for some tasty food and chatting. This quiche was perfect because it wasn't too heavy and went nicely with a leafy salad on the side.

Pastry ready for it's first spin in the oven

Foil protection ready for baking beans

Leeks and mushrooms

Cheese, glorious cheese!

Obviously there are lots of quiche recipes out there and they range from super complicated to super easy. This one is definitely in the latter category, especially if you use store bought pastry. Yes, I know, "real" cooks make their own pastry but frankly I don't have the time usually and store bought varieties are excellent. So, no homemade pastry for me! I will definitely try making some at a later date but things are just too chaotic right now to bother. Anyway, a lot of recipes call for double cream so if you feel more comfortable using that, go for it! I wanted to try and cut a few calories where I could so single cream worked out fine. Also, feel free to use whatever cheese you have on hand. Gruyere, swiss or even blue cheese would all be tasty. Finally, if you don't have baking beans, don't worry! I didn't either so I just bought some dried red kidney beans and popped those in instead.

Finished! With a slightly burnt crust... oops.

Girls' night in!

Tasty food, terrible picture... 

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 package of ready made shortcrust pastry
1-2 tbsp butter
4 leeks, white parts sliced
1 package of chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 large eggs
300ml single cream
Salt
Pepper
200g mature cheddar, grated

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C / 392 F.

Roll out the pastry and place in your baking dish, removing the extras from around the sides. Press the pastry lightly into the nooks of the dish and then place in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. While the pastry chills, melt the butter in a large saucepan and sautee the leeks until the start to soften, about five minutes over medium-low heat. Add the mushroom slices and continue to cook until they have also softened and the liquid in the pan has mostly evaporated. Once the leeks and mushrooms are ready, take off the heat and set aside to cool for a few minutes.

At this point, remove the pastry from the fridge and prick with a fork all over the base. Line with foil and add baking beans. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. To prepare the rest of the filling, slowly whisk the two eggs into the cream and add in most of the cheese. Next, slowly add the cooled leeks and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pre-baked pastry and top with the remaining grated cheese. Return the baking dish to the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is no longer liquid. Enjoy!

Valentine's Starter: Pappardelle in Saffron Cream

Appologies for the delay in posting this recipe (and the others from Valentine's Day for that matter), I still need to figure out a better way of making recipes before the day in question so that you can all have the recipes in advance... rather than afterwards! I think what I'll do is start tagging recipes that might be good for certain holidays or occasions (such as Easter). Anyway, we had a lovely evening of tasty food and it was all much more relaxed than going out to a restaurant. I was a bit nervous about making a three course meal since I thought it would mean I would be stressed and racing around the kitchen as pots boiled over and steaks burnt to a crisp. Fortunately, these recipes were all really simple. I made the sauces before Sam arrived so that all we needed to do was boil the pasta for the first course and then cook the steaks for the second. Perfect! I also made the side dishes in advance but I'll get to those in a different post. 

Ingredients including that questionable vanilla... 

Onion sauteing 

This recipe was inspired by one on the Food Network website. Their recipe called for vanilla extract to be added to the cream sauce but, having used it, I found it gave the dish a strange dessert like quality that wasn't entirely appropriate. So I've adjusted the recipe below to avoid that happening to others! I've also added parmesan cheese into the sauce rather than just on top because... well, why not? All in all, this was super easy and was a great way to make something that seems just that little bit more special for a day like Valentine's day. Hope you all had a lovely day and enjoyed something delicious either at a restaurant or at home!

Boiling the pasta

Finished product! 

Prep Time: 3 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp butter
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
Pinch of saffron threads
250ml or 2/3 cup of cream
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp lemon juice
zest of half a lemon
50g parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
2 tbsp chives, chopped
Pappardelle pasta

Method: 

Bring a pot of salted water to the boil. While waiting for the water to be ready, add the butter and onion to a sauce pan over medium heat. When the onion starts to soften, add the saffron threads. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened. Slowly add the cream and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over medium high heat until the cream has thickened and then stir in the lemon juice and parmesan cheese. Lower the heat and keep warm while boiling the pappardelle according to the instructions on the pack. When ready, drain the pasta and add to the sauce pan. Toss to coat and add the chives and lemon zest. Plate with a few more chives and the remaining parmesan cheese. 

Sour Cream Enchiladas

It is currently FREEZING in London, which is particularly upsetting since January started out fairly mild. I'm not much of a cold weather person so when it gets cold, I start craving warm and filling foods... which usually means something cheesy and delicious. However, as noted in the previous post, I've been trying to keep my food choices on the healthier end of the scale and therefore avoiding cheese if possible. So when the craving for enchiladas struck, I started hunting around the internet for a solution to my cheesy problem.

Ingredients (minus the chicken)

Spices used

Sour cream enchiladas might not seem like the perfect solution when taken at face value. I mean, there's sour cream and cheese - not a brilliant combination for someone looking to skip dairy. However, I also think that cutting something completely out of your diet isn't a great way to go about things because you'll probably end up craving it so badly that you'll eat something really horrible for you instead. So, I went ahead with the recipe and, by choosing low fat sour cream and cheese, I managed to keep the calories for each enchilada at 386* (with 27g of carbs, 17g of fat and 31g of protein), which I think is a pretty reasonable amount for dinner (especially since I could only manage one - they're so filling!). I had thought to skip the cheese altogether and just top the enchiladas with some of my queso fresco but in the end I chickened out. Having never had these enchiladas before, I thought skipping the cheese would mean losing a major component. However, the sauce is so flavorful and delicious that in the future I think I'll go ahead and leave the cheese out since it barely makes an impact in the overall dish. Also, I must have overfilled the enchiladas because I ended up with ten instead of twelve so I think next time I'll use the chicken a bit more sparingly. Plus twelve enchiladas would take the calorie count down to 321* (23g of carbs, 14g of fat, 25g of protein).

Chicken in the pan

Chicken in the oven

Assembling the enchiladas

Fresh out of the oven!

I didn't have tomatillos or anything resembling them so I couldn't follow the recipe exactly as it was laid out on Homesick Texan. So instead I added ground chili powder and onion granules to the sour cream sauce and increased the amounts of cayenne and cumin. I think what really makes this dish are the fresh chili peppers - I used medium heat ones and they were perfect for me. I've adjusted the recipe below to include the ingredients that I used and the measurements involved. With the sour cream, I could only find it in 300ml containers so I just used two of those, even though it was more than the recipe called for. I just hate having tiny amounts of things left in the fridge so I'd rather just use it up. Finally, I used flour tortillas because I prefer the taste but I'm sure the recipe is equally nice with the corn versions!

Finished with cilantro/coriander and queso fresco

Finished and ready to eat!

Recipe by: www.homesicktexan.blogspot.com

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 60 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp butter
3 medium heat chili peppers, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp flour
2 cups/500ml chicken stock (1 boullion cube)
2 cups/600ml low fat sour cream
1 tbsp cayenne
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp onion granules
1/2 tbsp chili powder
30g fresh cilantro/corriander, chopped
250g low fat cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 a white onion, finely chopped
10-12 flour tortillas
1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled (optional)

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 350f or 175c.

Add the olive oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the chicken for three minutes on each side before placing them on a baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink. While the chicken cooks, melt the butter in a sauce pot over medium heat. Add the chopped chili peppers and saute until soft. Next add the garlic and, when fragrant, whisk in the flour. Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly to ensure the flour is nicely incorporated. While continuing to whisk, slowly add the chicken stock and mix until thickened (about two to three minutes). Next add the sour cream, spices, and 3/4 of the chopped cilantro/coriander and mix well. Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the onion and shred into bite sized pieces. Make sure to keep the oven on so the enchiladas can go straight in.

To construct the enchiladas, first add a cup of the sour cream sauce to the baking container. Next, layer a small handful of chicken, cheese (this is according to your tastes: use more or less depending on how you prefer your enchiladas), and about a tablespoon of chopped raw onion to each flour tortilla. Roll the tortilla up and place seam side down in the pan. Continue until all the ingredients have been used. Cover the tortillas with the remaining sauce and any remaining cheese or onion. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with remaining cilantro/coriander and crumbled queso fresco. And enjoy!

*I use www.myfitnesspal.com to estimate the calorie contents of meals. It has a really useful feature that lets you put in recipe ingredients and it will work out how many calories, carbs, fat and protein you'll have for each serving. So these numbers are probably not as accurate as they could be but I find it helpful to have at least a vague idea about the overall nutrition of my meals.