Category: Main Course
Canadian Salad

Canadian Salad

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Have you heard I went to Canada this summer? Yup, in case you didn’t already know, a few weeks ago I crossed the pond once more on a spontaneous summer get away. As my sister used to live out there she and I spent our three weeks staying with her friends, going to tones of insanely good BBQs, and generally soaking up the stunning landscape. There’s something so relaxing and creatively inspiring about the mountains and the rivers out there. I found myself sketching for the first time in years (ironic as I’ve been doing an art course the past year), voluntarily exercising, and actually stopping and thinking rather than just hurtling through life like I usually do when I’m at home.

I also found myself eating more creatively – partly because I was on a tight budget and also because I was doing a lot of cooking with my sister who’s a fitness fanatic and eats way more vegetables than I’m used to! Whilst I’ve called this Canadian salad I didn’t actually make it when I was over there because food was generally expensive and this has lots of components to it. The reason for the name is that I first came across a variation of this at restaurant up the side of a mountain in Lake Louise. I’ve never seen something like this before and it tasted amazing so I thought I’d make my own, e voila!

The reason I love this salad so much is that it’s relatively healthy but it’s also sweet enough to satisfy a sugar craving. The combo of the fruit, the spiced pecans and the cheese is one of those things that shouldn’t work but just does. If you’re not a sweet-toothed person I’d recommend coating the pecans in just the butter and cinnamon, and leaving out the sugar so that the only sweetness is coming from the natural sugars in the fruit. This also originally had daikon in it (I hadn’t heard of it either, apparently it’s a vegetable like a radish), but as I couldn’t find one in Aldi this one is daikon-less, but you could use radish if you want some peppery-ness in here.

Recipe

Serves 2

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 50g Pecans
  • 1 tbsp Unsalted butter (or soya margarine)
  • 1 tsp Brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 2 Handfuls of Baby spinach
  • Roughly 4 Strawberries
  • 1 Orange
  • 20g Dried cranberries
  • 20g Feta cheese
  • 1 tbsp Maple syrup
  • 20ml Balsamic vinegar

Method

  1. Begin with the candied pecans. Put the pecans, butter, sugar and cinnamon in a small pan and leave the butter to melt. Stir the contents a little so that the pecans are covered in the butter/sugar mixture and then leave to bubble up for 3-5 minutes. Take off the heat and set aside for later.
  2. Scatter the spinach across two plates, or one large serving dish if you’re making a salad to share.
  3. Hull and halve the strawberries and scatter them over the salad. Then halve the orange and cut one of the halves into 6 wedges. Cut the skin and any pith off the segments and then arrange them over the salad.
  4. Next scatter the dried cranberries, feta cheese and candied pecans over the plate.
  5. To make the dressing put the maple syrup, 1 tbsp orange juice (you can get this from the other half of the orange) and vinegar into a small bowl or jug. Mix together and then drizzle over the salad. Serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 
Maneesh Bread with Hummus and Lamb

Maneesh Bread with Hummus and Lamb

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Ok so, for those of you who were frequent Cocoa and Thyme visitors thank you for following me over to this new site and for those of you who are new, hello and welcome! As you’ve probably worked out by now I’ve changed the name and direction of m’ blog to be more centred around mental health awareness and support through food, (if you’re lost see my previous blog post or my ‘about’ page for more info). I’m still going to be the one behind each post so the style and general inspiration behind each recipe will be staying pretty much the same, but I will now be opening up more about my own mental health and will be aiming what I’m cooking more towards those who need quick, easy, comforting and/or nutritious food on a regular basis (whether that’s because of a mental health issue or just a general need). For now it’s worth saying that I normally prep my recipes a month in advance anyway, and most of what’ll be coming out over the next month will be stuff I made ages ago, so if it looks like it’s taking me a while to get into the swing of ‘The Mindfulness Kitchen’ that’s why.

So enough with the slightly angst explaining of what the hell I’m doing, onto the food! During my amazing time at Greenbelt we worked 4 hours shifts, often that went over a lunchtime or the time in the evening when you start to get peckish (some people call it dinner?). Luckily we were positioned right next to an little food truck that sold insanely good Middle Eastern dishes, so it was super easy to go and get some really good food in the calmer moments of a shift! My favourite of these was their maneesh, a soft flatbread topped with za’atar spice blend, which they stuffed with lamb and hummus. It was so good that as soon as I got home I just had to make my own, and this was the result!

This particular maneesh bread isn’t really a flatbread, more of a  flat soft bread, but it still works well as dipping device. If you want more a pita type thing you could just roll your dough thinner but personally I wouldn’t for two reasons – 1. The big chunks of bread mean that this can double as a hearty lunch-type bread that’ll actually fill you up, and 2. the dough is really stubborn when it comes to rolling and springs back a lot, so you’ll be there ages if you try to get the dough thin enough to be a proper flatbread. Whatever you go for though, this is an amazing sharing bread that’s especially good served with oil, hummus, balsamic and minced lamb, so its perfect for parties or meze/tapas style dinners.

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 40 minutes, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

  • 360g Strong white bread flour
  • 8g Salt
  • 15g Caster sugar
  • 7g Fast action dried yeast
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil, plus extra for greasing
  • 250ml Water
  • 2 tbsp Zaatar spice blend

To Serve (optional)

  •  4 tbsp Olive oil
  • 400g Minced lamb
  • A little Balsamic vinegar
  • 4 tbsp Hummus

Method

  1. Begin by making the bread. Put the flour, salt, yeast, and sugar into a bowl and mix together. Add the oil and ½ the water and then mix together until combined. Slowly add the remaining water, mixing constantly, until a soft dough forms.
  2. Tip the dough out onto a lightly oiled worktop and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes should do it. Kneading is the process by which you stretch the dough, so as long as you’re stretching the dough as much as possible you’re doing it right, but if you want some more technique this is how I do it. With your left hand hold the end of the dough closest to you, then with the heel of your right hand push the dough away from you as far as you can. Roll the dough back towards you with your right hand, turn the dough 90˚and repeat.
  3. When the dough is sufficiently kneaded (ie is smooth and lovely) form the dough into a ball, tip it into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave for an hour or two until doubled in size.
  4. When risen knead the dough a little on a worktop to knock the air out. Split the dough into two, roll each portion out into a circle about 1 cm thick, then place on a lined baking tray.
  5. Mix the zaatar with a little olive oil to make a paste. Spread this paste over the bread circles and leave for another 15-30 minutes to rise slightly.
  6. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Bake the breads in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and slightly risen.
  7. Meanwhile prep the lamb. Put 1 tbsp of the oil into a pan and heat gently. Add the minced lamb and then fry until browned all over but not dry. Season with a little salt and pepper and then serve with the rest of the oil, the bread, balsamic, and hummus!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Afternoon Tea Sandwiches

Afternoon Tea Sandwiches

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Every afternoon tea starts with a delicious selection of finger sandwiches. For this spread I went for cheese and ham on brown bread and then cucumber and smoked salmon on white bread. These are personal faves  of mine, but feel free to get experimental! So yes I am going to write a recipe for sandwiches, here we go…

Recipe

Makes 6 of each type of sandwich

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 tsp Unsalted butter
  • 6 slices Brown bread
  • 6 slices White bread
  • 2 tsp cream cheese
  • A few pieces of Smoked salmon
  • ¼ cucumber
  • 3 Slices of Honey smoked ham
  • 3 Slices of Cheddar cheese

Method

  1. Begin by buttering (the proper technical term) the brown bread slices and half the white bread. Then spread the cream cheese over the remaining White bread slices.
  2. To make the smoked salmon sandwiches lay the smoked salmon in  a layer over half the cream cheese covered bread. Then sandwich these sandwich halves with the rest of the cream cheese covered slices.
  3. Now make the cucumber sandwiches. Thinly slice the cucumber and then lay the slices over 1/2 of the white bread slices.  You might need to cut some of the cucumber discs in half so all the bread is covered. Top with the other slices of white bread and leave to one side.
  4. To make the remaining sandwiches lay the ham over 3 buttered brown bread slices and the cheese slices over the another. Then top with the remaining slices of brown bread, butter side down.
  5. Take a sharp knife and cut the crusts off all the sandwiches (keep these in an air tight box as they make great snacks!) and then cut each sandwich in half vertically to make two finger sandwiches. (Depending on the size of bread you’re using you might need to cut the sandwiches into three or something, but just use your judgement). Serve!

Thanks for reading! Next afternoon tea recipe coming out tomorrow!

Emma x
Red Dragon: Thai Red Chicken Curry with Crispy Chicken Skin

Red Dragon: Thai Red Chicken Curry with Crispy Chicken Skin

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 A while ago my friend Macks recommended I read Red Dragon, the first book in the Hannibal Lecter series, for my book-themed month and so this fiery curry is an attempt at translating that book into a dish.  Now, I’m not a fan of thrillers or horror novels, so I confess I went back to my English student days and worked from the sparknotes summary of the book instead. Due to the action in the novel I wanted to make something with a good kick of heat and spice in it, and a Thai red curry is a fab spicy dish to work with. Ideally this would be a dragon curry, but as dragons don’t seem to exist I had to go another way – but lets be honest, if dragons did exist they’d probably taste like chicken anyway!

This Thai red curry is served with crispy dragon/chicken skins (which are way easier to make than I would have thought!) and lime leaf rice. I’ve cooked rice in other recipes like this and I always find it makes it a bit more exciting. You  basically add a couple of fresh lime leaves to the water when cooking the rice and then grate a little lime zest over the rice when it’s plated and it makes the rice super fragrant and a perfect pairing for a warm curry like this.

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp Root ginger, grated
  • 2 Garlic gloves, crushed
  • 1 Red chilli
  • 5-6 tbsp Red curry paste
  • 800ml Coconut milk
  • 8 Chicken thighs
  • 1 stick of Lemongrass
  • 2 tbsp Fish sauce
  • 1 tsp Brown sugar
  • A handful of Thai basil, plus some extra to serve

To serve

  • Jasmine rice
  • Zest of 1 Lime
  • 2 Fresh kaffir lime leaves

Method

  1. Begin by heating the oil in a pan. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for 2 minutes and then add the curry paste and fry for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and bring the mixture to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and then leave until oil rises to the surface.
  2. Take the skin off the chicken thighs with a sharp knife, keeping it for later, and then chop the meat into chunks. Then take the lemongrass and bash the end with the flat of a knife to squash it. Add the chicken meat and lemongrass to the curry and leave to simmer for 12 minutes until cooked through.
  3. Meanwhile put on a pan of water for the rice. Once boiling add the rice and the lime leaves, stir once to break up the grains and then leave to simmer until cooked through.
  4. Now make the crispy chicken skins. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Take the skins which you took off the thighs and spread them out flat on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Sprinkle them with a little sea salt and then sandwich the skins with another sheet of baking paper and a baking tray.
  5. Cook the skins in the oven for 10-15 minutes until crispy and golden. Leave in the oven with the oven turned off until needed.
  6. Once the chicken is cooked add the fish sauce and sugar to the curry and then bring to the boil again. Then take the curry off the heat and add the Thai basil.
  7. Spoon the soup into serving bowls and top with a little more basil and the chicken skins. Drain the rice and then grate a little of the lime zest into the mixture and serve with the curry!

Note: If you have some leftover roast chicken it works really well in this!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Lamb Koftas with a Mint Yoghurt Dip

Lamb Koftas with a Mint Yoghurt Dip

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Here’s the final dish of the meze-fest, some delicious, meaty koftas served with a zingy yogurt dip! Working with the raw meat and shaping it into balls like this can feel a little odd, but its also super fun! Traditionally these are served on sticks, but a) I had no sticks at home when I made these and b) it’s way easier just to serve them as balls like this. But if you prefer you can get some skewers and pop a couple on each one before you pan-fry them.

Recipe

Makes 8 balls

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the Koftas

  • 1 Small white onion
  • 1 Garlic clove
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for frying the koftas
  • 200g Minced lamb
  • 1 tsp Ground cumin
  • 1 tsp Zaatar spice blend
  • 1 tbsp Dried mint
  • Salt and pepper to season

For the Yogurt Dip

  • 2 sprigs of Fresh mint
  • 100g Greek yogurt
  • Salt and Pepper to season
  • ½ tsp Ground cumin

Method

  1. Begin by making the koftas. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Then put the oil into a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic to the oil and fry until they begin to caramelise. Tip this into a bowl and leave to cool.
  2. Add the lamb, cumin, zaatar and mint to the onion mix and mix together with your hands to bring the ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper and stir again to combine.
  3. Divide the mixture into 8 balls. At this point, if you want to serve the koftas on skewers, take 4 skewers and push two balls onto each.
  4. Brush the koftas with more oil and then heat a large frying pan on a high heat. Add the koftas and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until they’re browned all over and cooked through.
  5. Meanwhile move onto the dip. Scrunch the mint into a bundle and then finely chop it with a sharp knife.
  6. Put the mint and Greek yogurt into a bowl. Add some salt and pepper to season, and then add the cumin and mix together.
  7. When everything’s ready tip the yogurt dressing into a pot and serve alongside the warm koftas!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x