Category: Quick

For the times when you need food and you need it fast.

Blood Orange Salad

Blood Orange Salad

Everything’s a little bit hectic at the moment so I’ll keep this short and sweet like this salad recipe…

Blood orange + Hazelnuts + Feta cheese = an incredible combination!

Recipe

Serves 1

Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 Blood orange
  • A handful of salad leaves
  • 1 tbsp Chopped hazelnuts
  • A little Feta (around 15g)
  • 1 tsp Clear honey
  • A small drizzle of Balsamic vinegar

Method

  1. Slice the ends of the orange and use a knife to cut the skin off. Then slice the orange horizontally into discs.
  2. Scatter some salad leaves on a plate and then arrange the blood orange on top.
  3. Sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts, crumble over the feta and then finish with a drizzle of honey and balsamic.

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Passion fruit and Ginger Madeleines

Passion fruit and Ginger Madeleines

I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for new bits of kitchen kit. There’s so much you can do with the basics, but a cool whisk or tin can make things super fun! When I was in Bruges over Christmas I found myself wandering around loads of kitchen shops, most of which would have huge displays of little kitchen bits and bobs all over the walls. This is where I came across this really cute madeleine tin – a little bit smaller than the traditional ones but perfectly sized to fit in my oven at uni! Until then I’d made madeleines before in cupcake tins, which works really well, but if you want the classic shell-shaped treats I’d really recommend finding yourself a tin. You can get all kinds of ones from the classic for about £20 to small and sweet ones like this which I picked up for around £4!

I think the best way of working with madeleines is to pack them full of flavour. They of course taste great on their own, but I think they’re a great canvas to decorate with lots of flavour! These are gently spiced with a womph of ginger, but have a cooling passion fruit curd centre and a drizzle of chocolate to give that extra lil bit of pazazz. If you’re not a fan of that though you could try lemon curd and white chocolate instead, or dipping the madeleines in melted chocolate and then hazelnuts once cooled?

Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 50g Butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
  • 50g Plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 Egg
  • 50g Caster sugar
  • ¼ tsp Baking powder
  • ½ tsp Ground ginger
  • 50g Dark chocolate, to decorate

For the Passion fruit Curd

  • 13g Cornflour
  • Juice of 2 Passion fruit
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 100ml Water
  • 1 Medium egg yolk
  • 30g Caster sugar
  • 15g Butter

Method

  1. Begin by making the passion fruit curd. Put the cornflour, passion fruit juice and lemon juice into a bowl and whisk together to make a smooth paste.
  2. Put the water into a small pan and bring to the boil. Pour the water onto the passion fruit mixture, whisking constantly until combined. Pour the mixture back into the pan, place over a medium heat and cook whilst whisking until the mixture thickens.
  3. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the egg yolk, sugar and butter until smooth. Set to one side until needed.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Brush a little of the melted butter into the Madeleine tray. Then dust the tray with a little flour and shake out the excess.
  5. To make the madeleine batter, begin by putting the eggs and sugar into a bowl. Using an electric whisk the mixture until pale and fluffy.
  6. Sift the flour into the mixture and then add the baking powder, ground ginger and melted butter. Whisk everything together and then leave the mixture for 5 minutes to rest.
  7. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and then leave in the fridge for another 10 minutes to rest.
  8. Pipe the batter into the prepared mould (you want the mixture to be filling about 2/3 of each hole) and then bake for 8-10 minutes in the oven until lightly risen and golden brown (they cook very quickly so keep a close eye on them!).
  9. When baked take a knife and make a small incision in the top of each cake. Then pipe a little of the passion fruit curd into the hole in each one until you see it pouring out a little. It’s best to do this when the cakes are still warm as it’ll let the curd seep into them.
  10. Whilst the cakes are cooling melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
  11. Drizzle the cakes with the melted chocolate and then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 

Almond, Apricot and Ginger Bars

Almond, Apricot and Ginger Bars

There’s something beautifully ironic about writers block becoming the key topic I seem to be writing about on here. For the past 3 weeks my tongue’s been as tied as my headphones after a day of being in the bottom of my bag and there’s no sign of that changing. Maybe it’s because life has taken over a bit recently, but there are very few things I can think of to say about snack bars.  It actually feels pretty inane to talk about a recipe through a long, sensual description in order to encourage you guys to make it anyway. Of course I can see the general point of it all, but when ice caps are melting, plastic is flooding the ocean, and God knows what is going on in my brain right now I’m just going to leave it at the classic: these are pretty tasty and pretty easy to make – so I’d recommend making them!

(Also small side point: since leaving veganuary I’ve decided to return to the land of vegetarianism and refined sugar-free-ness. That’s one of the reasons I love these so much – if you make them without the icing they’re 100% refined sugar free, and so even though they’re really sweet (and probably aren’t that good for you) they make a great treat whilst on this diet!)

Recipe

Serves 16

Time: 10 minutes, plus cooking time

Ingredients

  • 7 tbsp Unsalted butter
  • 155g Ground almonds
  • 200g Flaked almonds
  • 3 tsp Ground ginger
  • 130g Runny honey
  • 75g Dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • 1 Large egg
  • A large pinch of salt
  • 100g Icing sugar

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Line a 25cm square tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Melt the butter in a small pan. Put the almonds into a bowl with the ginger, honey, chopped dried apricots and egg, and then pour in the butter.
  3. Mix until everything is combined and then pour into the tin and smooth over to make an even layer. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until starting to go golden brown. Leave to cool whilst you make the icing.
  4. Put the icing sugar and ½ tsp water into a bowl and mix together to make a pourable icing. If you need more water add a little bit at a time until perfect.
  5. Drizzle the icing over the tray bake, slice into 16 squares and serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Mediterranean Veggie Wrap

Mediterranean Veggie Wrap

I’m officially half way through the term and therefore half way through the year!! I have no idea where that’s gone, all I know is that it’s crazy hectic and I’m having the time of my life. At the moment I’m gearing myself up for a 12 hour get-in in the theatre where I’m working on a play right now. It’s going to be a long week of very little work, very little sleep, but lots of incredible theatre stuff – so quick, wholesome dinners are what  I need to focus on making otherwise I will 100% live off snacks. These wraps are so easy to throw together, can easily be taken to rehearsals/lectures etc and are much cheaper to make yourself than to buy from a sandwich shop!

Recipe

Serves 1

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 100g Halloumi
  • A few strips of Aubergine
  • 1/4 Red pepper
  • 1 Brown tortilla wrap
  • 1-2 tbsp Hummus

Method

  1. Put a large frying pan on a medium heat. Slice the halloumi into 1cm wide strips and then fry them in the pan for 2-4 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy. Take the halloumi out of the pan and set to one side.
  2. Then take a peeler and make thin strips of the aubergine. Dry-fry the strips in the pan for 5-8 minutes, until softened and starting to brown. Leave to one side for later.
  3. Slice the red pepper into strips, then you’re ready to assemble!
  4. Put the wrap on a plate and spread the hummus evenly over it. Arrange the aubergine, halloumi and the red pepper on top (I find doing this in a line makes it easier to roll up!). Roll the wrap up and then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Vegan Banana Bread

Vegan Banana Bread

I have to admit I’m suffering from a big chunk of writers block at the moment. My life consists mainly of working, going to drama rehearsals, eating, sleeping, and then repeating all that, so writing fun and insightful intros to the world of vegan banana bread is not high on my to do list right now. Essentially all I can say is that (like most recipes on here) it tastes insane, is so so easy to make, and has the added bonus of being the perfect way of using up slightly beyond-their-best bananas!

Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Time: 10 minutes prep, 40 minutes baking

Ingredients

  • 3 Very ripe bananas
  • 75ml Vegetable oil
  • 100g Light brown sugar
  • 225g Plain flour
  • 3 tsp Baking powder
  • ½ tsp Ground cinnamon

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Line a 2lb loaf tin with butter and baking paper, or one of those easy-to-use liners.
  2. Mash the bananas in a bowl with a fork until it’s a puree. Add the oil and sugar and mix in until smooth.
  3. Add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon and mix in again until smooth.
  4. Pour the batter into the cake tin and then bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until golden brown, risen and so that a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. (Cover the top with tin foil if it starts to burn before being cooked all the way through!).
  5. Leave to cool a little before serving!

Why not try:

  • Adding a handful of chocolate chips to the batter when you add the flour
  • Substituting in 1 tbsp Peanut butter instead of 1 tbsp of the oil to make a banana peanut banana loaf
  • Adding fruit and nuts (like raisins and brazil nuts) to the batter

Thanks for reading!

Emma x