I admit, not everybody will have eaten lamb today; lamb is relatively expensive to bu!. I’d bet though that if you did buy lamb for your Easter Sunday roast, you really don’t want to throw away any of that precious meat. This leftover lamb pasta recipe is especially designed for the itty bitty pieces that don’t come away easily when carving. They are perfect shredded into the sauce, browned until caramelised and cling to the pasta in nutty morsels.
By covering the beef in an ale marinade you make your steak incredibly tender with a wonderful sweet malt flavour. Read More
This is a great recipe to use up your leftover meat from the Christmas dinner. This is a tray bake that can be lifted from plain and simple eating (not a bad thing after Christmas excess) to a meal with a zing from some flavoured salt.
Read More
When Knorr Ireland approached me and asked me if I’d be interested in devising a simple recipe to use their stockpots I was delighted to take on the challenge because I do use stockpots and stockcubes on a regular basis. Even though I do make my own homemade stock in the slow cooker, I don’t always have stock to hand when the freezer is full of other things. It is simply a very handy option to add flavour to a meal.
Let’s talk about fibre for a minute though. I’ve become obsessed with healthy fibre in our diets. Without fibre things become a little bit backed up. One source of fibre I can always persuade the boys to eat is chickpeas. Whatever I make if there’s chickpeas in it then I know I’m onto a winner for a family meal. The boys demolish this chickpea stew anytime I make it. So does the fussy teenager because she loves the ‘curry flavour’. This is a winner on so many levels. It’s the perfect plant-based meal for a Meat Free Monday or a side dish to go with meat if you wish.
Shortly after this picture was taken the cheeky monkey lost that wiggley tooth at the front by the way.
You will notice that I’ve not put any added salt into this recipe. There is plenty of flavour from the garam masala powder and the stockpot so there’s no need for additional salt. Something I’m very happy about as I do try to be careful about the salt in our diets.
Ingredients Method Place a large saucepan on a medium heat. Pour in the sunflower oil, onion, and pepper. Stir well for about 3 minutes until the onions begin to soften. Add the garam masala powder and stir once again so that the spices coat the vegetables and warm through in the heat. Pour the chopped carrot and full tin of chickpeas (including the water) into the saucepan. Stir until the liquid begins to gently bubble. Stir in the vegetable stockpot until it dissolves in the sauce. Cover the saucepan and reduce the heat to low for 30 minutes before serving with crusty bread or a bowl of brown rice.Chickpea Stew
Disclosure: This blogpost was sponsored by Knorr Ireland. If you want to learn more about my policies around disclosure and sponsorship, please click this link.
It feels weird, to be writing recipes with a big race looming over me. I am obsessing about food in the days of the lead up to the race. I’ve found that easing off meat protein does help my stomach a little bit so I’ve started moving towards a more plant-based diet and move away from meat. Without my gallbladder I struggle to digest fatty proteins and certain sauces so it’s important for me to be careful with my meals so that I don’t end up in a bad way on a race day. This is one of my easy dinners because it’s so simple to make with minimal mess. Pasta and rice are my favourite carbohydrates the day before a race anyway so it fits the bill!
Saturday will mark my second half marathon this year and I’m hoping that I can at least better my first-ever time of 3:15:48. Even if I shave 48 seconds off that time I’ll come in under the cut-off time for the Dublin City Marathon. I’ve been training very hard the past couple of weeks, despite being laid low with a bad ear infection so I’m praying it all pays off on the day.
I’ll keep you posted!
The sweetness of the cherry tomatoes makes a delicious sauce and as an extra bonus, there’s no chopping in this simple vegan dish. Ingredients Method Preheat your fan oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Take a heavy roasting dish and fill with the whole cherry tomatoes, cloves of garlic, and olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper, then stir. Roast in the oven for 20 mins, then turn the heat off but leave the dish in the oven while you cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the roasting dish with the tomatoes and garlic. Stir well so that the pasta is coated in the oil and roasted tomatoes. Serve immediately with fresh thyme or basil.Roasted Tomato Pasta
If you prefer a meat based protein with this dish you could top with fresh mozzarella or grilled chicken. For a vegan option roast the chickpeas with the tomatoes (this is my personal favourite).
Trying to eat healthily when you’re short on time is difficult which is why I have come up with this recipe. It only takes 18 minutes to cook in the oven, tastes even nicer the second day for your lunch, and is packed full of colourful vegetables that will make you feel incredibly virtuous. The key to this recipe is not to stint on the herbs. Increase the quantities if you’re serving more than 3 people for a meal or if you want to batch cook for work or school the following day. The great news is I have a very simple recipe video for you to follow!
Note: Most of the ingredients here are roughly chopped. Don’t worry about fine knife-work, just make sure you have generous chunks for roasting. Read More
Let’s talk about leftover cooked rice. I’ve found it’s impossible to cook a pot of rice and not have some leftovers. Particularly when I’m cooking for a gang, it’s difficult to calculate who will eat what quantities. Monday may be the day that the 6-year-old will eat it all and ask for leftovers, but it could also be the day he decides to refuse the dinner point-blank.
Did you know that cooked rice when left at room temperature can cause food poisoning? This is something I’m very aware of when I cook too much rice or cook it in advance of making a dish like this fried rice dinner.
The trick when using leftover rice is to cool it down immediately once you’ve cooked it through. In this house it means rinsing the rice in ice-cold water for a few minutes until it’s cold. Then I pack it into a sandwich bag and put the rice into the fridge straight away. When reheating, the rice has to be cooked to a high temperature, which is why something like fried rice made in a wok or large pan fits the bill perfectly. Read More
Have you ever found a local shop that you hesitate in telling other people about because you’re worried it won’t be so special anymore?
That’s how I feel about The Lime Kiln in Julianstown. Now I know that the gastro-pub is fantastic, in fact if you’re interested to hear what I think you can read my review over on Flogastronomy. It’s one of our family’s favourite spots for a bite to eat.
Recently they’ve opened a local village store just beside the pub. It’s there that I could be lost for quite some time. Chatting to the staff (waves at Georgina) about local producers and great Irish food. It’s a haven for finding local food, particularly artisan local food (and drink). It’s there I pick up my cider vinegar from Stameen Farm, Dan Kelly’s cider (also from the same farm), Monéir Wine made from berries picked in Clarkes up the road in Stamullen, beautiful pillowy bread freshly baked, local fresh produce, and a brilliant selection of Irish spirits.
It’s hard to drive past without nipping in to pick up a few bits, and leave with our wallets decidedly lighter.
The best French toast is made with a stale decent crusty loaf, cut into decent hunks and soaked in local free range eggs blended with some salt and pepper.
Read More
Have you ever reached into the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk that is perhaps a day past it’s ‘best before’ date, and even though it smells okay you thought you should just pour it down the sink and be done with it? Providing your milk has been stored inside the fridge, and not on the door of the fridge (which is prone to temperature fluctuations), you are probably okay to cook with it.
The only way that I can combat the temptation to eat convenience food during the week is to plan ahead. There are weeks where I hate the planning and organisation; I really rail against the need to be methodical about what we’re going to eat. Then there are weeks where I have it licked.
Do I have it down to a fine art at this stage? Nope!
What I have learned to do is to cook more than 1 meal at a time. In other words I cook double quantities. A meal for now; a meal for another day. The pay off for cooking a family meal is that at another point in the future, I get a reprieve from cooking, with very little effort.
Read More
When I cook pasta for dinner in the evening I normally cook a double-batch – far more than I actually need. This is because it can be used in meals the following day. The teenager likes to add boiled eggs, sweetcorn, and mayonnaise for her school lunchbox to a portion of pasta. I like to make salads with mine. If you do have leftover cooked pasta, cool it down immediately after cooking by rinsing in cold water, then once cold put it into a freezer bag or box and the cooked frozen pasta will keep in the freezer for up to a month.
This is a prawn pasta salad that is so easy to make. My father-in-law had it the other day and loved the fresh flavours in the salad. I use the cooked prawns from the chiller cabinet to make the salad but you can also use defrosted cooked prawns if you like (follow the instructions on the packet).
Once again I’ve a video recipe to accompany this blogpost, just click the box below to play: Read More
The trick to making your chicken dippers taste like dynamite is to use a very small amount of salt and pepper at each stage of the process. Once you master the breadcrumbs there’s very little else to do and serving up this homemade takeaway is a doddle. Read More
Some days amazing things happen. Like getting a phone call asking me to demonstrate healthy recipes as part of the Navan #MyHealthyTown initiative. I had to pinch myself!
This was one of the most popular dishes I demonstrated in Navan for Morphy Richards last weekend. Everytime I heated the pan, it was like an advertisement for certain gravy granules and attracted a crowd. It seriously only takes about 7 minutes to put together. Thanks to popular request I’m sharing the recipe on the blog so it’s easy to find. I also shared it on my Instagram yesterday if you’re interested. Read More