Halloumi Salad

Made 1/2 the recipe for 3 of us with Steak & Chips but Rob and Richard not impressed

Prep time 10 - 15 minutes; Cook time 4-5 minutes; Servings 4

● * 1 small red onion, very finely sliced

● * 150g cucumber, cut into chunks

● * 200g cherry tomatoes, halved

● * 50g flour

● * Large pinch of smoked paprika

● * 250g halloumi cheese, cut into 8 slices

● * 2 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

● * Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:

● * 1 tsp honey

● * Juice of ½ lemon

● * 1 small garlic clove, crushed

● * Pinch of dried chilli flakes

● * Pinch of sea salt

● * 3 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil

1. First, make the dressing. Stir together the honey, lemon juice, garlic, chilli flakes and salt until well combined, then whisk in the oil. In a large bowl, toss together the onion, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, mint and parsley.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, paprika and some salt and pepper. Moisten the halloumi slices slightly with water, if necessary, then press them into the seasoned flour and shake off any excess.

3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the halloumi slices over a medium heat for about 2 minutes on each side, until golden and slightly soft inside.

4. Toss the salad vegetables with the dressing, turning them over with your hands to make sure everything is lightly coated. Divide the salad between 4 plates, put 2 pieces of the hot halloumi on each one and serve immediately

Recipe from RiverCottage

Soy Chicken

Not the weather for a barbecue so did this instead. Lovely and tasty chicken that went well with a salad of tomatoes, red onion, lettuce and cucumber tossed with a dressing of lemon juice, honey and olive oil topped with chopped fried bacon bits. There is also another version around that replaces the brown sugar with honey.

• 8 of your favorite chicken pieces, skin on and bone- in preferable
•  2 tbsp soy sauce
•  1 tbsp light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4 shallots, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• Handful of fresh parsley
• Salt and Pepper

1.     Preheat oven to 425

2.     In a large baking dish, combine marinade and toss with chicken. Season well leave for at least 1 hour.

3.     Place chicken pieces skin side up and roast for 30 minutes until it begins to brown. Remove and baste with marinade. Flip pieces and bake a remaining 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

4.     Garnish with lots of fresh parsley

Bacon wrapped beans

As I love green beans but Ricky and Rob are not that keen I tried a recipe to get them to eat some :)

• Green Beans thinly sliced
• Bacon
• Dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to gas mark 5
Wrap 6 green bean slices in bacon and place on baking tray
Sprinkle brown sugar over
Cook in oven for 20 to 25 minutes until nicely browned in colour

Orange Chicken

Halved the recipe for 2 of us and added a pinch of chilli flakes as I did not have red pepper ones - very tasty but next time I would make the whole amount of sauce for 2 of us.

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

 Orange Chicken Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup honey (add more to sweeten, if desired)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. white pepper
• zest of one orange
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute for about 4-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and nearly cooked through.

Whisk all ingredients together until combined for orange sauce , add and stir to combine. Let the sauce come to a boil, then boil for an additional minute or two until thickened. Remove from heat and serve immediately over quinoa or rice.

Garnish with green onions, sesame seeds and additional orange zest.

288 calories without rice - Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste.com

Eton Mess Cake

Made this to have with our barbecue with Stewart & Lois from next door; I used defrosted frozen strawberries (from last years crop) which probably made the cake more moist.

• 100g of unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing (3/4 cup)
• 3 TBS double cream or crème fraiche
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 125g plain flour (2 1/4 cup)
• 70g of ground almonds 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100g of golden caster sugar (1 cup)
• 3 large free range eggs
• 200g of strawberries roughly chopped
• 2 meringue nests, roughly broken up
• icing sugar to dust

Preheat the oven to 160*C/ 325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a deep 8 by 8 inch baking tin. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, almonds and baking powder. Set aside.

Melt the butter. Whisk in the double cream and vanilla. Set aside.

Place the sugar and eggs into a large bowl. Beat together with an electric whisk for about 5 minutes, until very thick and foamy. Pour in the butter mixture. Mix lightly. Add the flour mixture and whisk briefly until even. Stir in the chopped strawberries. Pour the batter into the prepared tin. Level off the top. Scatter the meringue pieces over top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until risen and golden brown. A skewer should come out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. Top with fresh raspberries or strawberries and dust with icing sugar just before serving.

Recipe adapted from TheEnglishKitchen

Banana Blondie Muffins

I made 12 of these in a muffin tin - lovely and moist; next time I might add a few walnuts

Cakes

• 4 oz butter, melted and if desired browned
• 4 oz light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 oz SR flour
• 1/2 cup mashed banana (1 medium banana)

Frosting

• 2 oz butter
• 2 oz light brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 4 oz icing sugar

Adapted from Cookies&Cups

Blondies
Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8x8 baking dish with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside

In bowl of stand mixer combine melted (or browned) butter and sugar. Mix until combined. Add in egg and vanilla and continue mixing until incorporated. Stir in salt, flour and banana until batter is smooth and even. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until center is set.

Transfer pan to wire rack to cool.

Frost the blondies when they are mostly cooled.

Brown Sugar Frosting

In a medium saucepan melt butter. Add brown sugar and milk and stir until mixture comes to just a boil. Remove from heat, allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Stir in powdered sugar with a whisk.

Spread on top of blondies and allow frosting to set and blondies to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Second time I made in a loaf tin to cut into squares

Cauliflower Tots

Made up half the recipe which did 10 reasonable size "tots"

• 2 cups cooked cauliflower florets, finely chopped
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup onion, minced
• 3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking spray

Microwave cauliflower for 5 minutes to cook

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Spray a nonstick cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes, turning halfway through cooking until golden.

Recipe courtesy of Skinnytaste.com