Thai Squid Salad {+ other Asian salad stories}

by katedh July 2, 2016

Thai Squid Salad {+ other Asian salad stories}

Jump straight to the recipe → "I'd say the most dangerous thing I've ever done is probably bungee jumping in Thailand" - Simon Cowell I bought an orchid at Bangkok airport once. And then got on the plane and proceeded to spend the next eleven hours in a panic that I was going to be arrested at Heathrow for bringing prohibited plant contraband into the country. I am pretty sure I didn’t ...

by katedh August 2, 2014

Eat More Veg , Gluten Free , Spring , Summer , Vegetarian

Beetroot, Courgette & Feta Fritters

There are times when parenthood seems nothing more than feeding the hand that bites you" - Peter Vries I don't tend to write much here about what I feed my son. This is very much a deliberate thing. Nutrition is a minefield at the best of times but talking about feeding kids is, in common with 97% of all parenting related matters, just so intensely political that I vowed not to do ...

by katedh July 17, 2014

7 a Day Series , Eat More Veg , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Winter

What to do with Beetroot

Jump straight to the recipe ideas → "The beet is the melancholy vegetable, the one most willing to suffer. You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip" - Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume So here's a Thursday factoid for you. The biggest beetroot ever grown weighed 71kg. It was grown by a man in the Netherlands in 2005. This beetroot therefore weighed just slightly more than Tom Cruise (so the internet tells me. I haven't ...

by katedh June 16, 2014

Dairy Free , Eat More Veg , Gluten Free , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

Vignarola (Roman Spring Vegetable Stew)

"Let’s leave to the English the taste for eating boiled vegetables without any seasonings or at the most with a little butter; we southern types need our food to be a little more exciting" - Pellegrino Artusi (1891) I am suffering from possibly the most middle class complaint of all time. Farmers market envy. Yes, I actually said that out loud. I keep stumbling upon blog posts with photos from US farmers ...

by katedh June 12, 2014

7 a Day Series , Eat More Veg , Featured , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

What to do with Artichokes

Jump straight to the recipe ideas → "These things are just plain annoying. After all the trouble you go to, you get about as much actual food out of eating an artichoke as you would from licking 30 or 40 postage stamps. Have the shrimp cocktail instead" - Miss Piggy So that 7 a day series I mentioned. A new vegetable each week and all that. Not really happened, has it? I ...

by katedh May 27, 2014

Eat More Veg , Featured , Gluten Free , Salads , Spring , Vegetarian , Wheat Free , Winter

Fennel, Feta, Orange & Almond Salad {+ thoughts on growing my own veg}

Jump straight to the recipe → "Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are" - Alfred Austin I consider myself to be a fairly logical, rational sort of person. I have become pretty boring since turning 30 and am not prone to random spontaneity or great frivolity these days. But every so often I go through phases where I am sure, convinced in fact, that every idea I have ...

by katedh May 19, 2014

Dairy Free , Eat More Veg , Gluten Free , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

Neon Pickles

“He looks as though he’s been weaned on a pickle” - Alice Roosevelt Longworth (on Calvin Coolidge)* Hello! It’s been a while. Sorry. I won’t pretend I’ve been terribly busy - I mean, some of you actually know me – but you know those weeks when you look up and suddenly it’s Friday and WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ALL WEEK? Well, it’s been a bit like that. And it hasn’t been greatly assisted by my son ...

by katedh May 12, 2014

7 a Day Series , Dairy Free , Eat More Veg , Gluten Free , Spring , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Wheat Free

A is for Asparagus

"Marriage? It's like asparagus eaten with vinaigrette or hollandaise, a matter of taste but of no importance" - Francoise Sagan So first up in the 7 a day series is asparagus. Not because it is alphabetically expedient but because it's brilliant and because it has an extremely short season and will be gone again by the end of June. Asparagus basically screams Spring. Arriving after the UK "hungry gap" of March/April where there is ...

by katedh May 5, 2014

Dairy Free , Drinks , Fish , Gluten Free , Meat , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian , Weekend , Wheat Free

Cinco de Mayo – Tequila & Tacos

"Why did the Mexican push his wife off the cliff? Tequila!" Yes, I do write my own material and yes, I am here all week (try the veal) etc. Anyway, it's 5 May! And because 90% of you reading this are European, that will mean absolutely nothing whatsoever! It's just the day after Star Wars Day, right? But those of you in the US, or unbashed Americophiles like me, will know ...

by katedh April 29, 2014

Baking , Spring , Summer , Vegetarian , Weekend

Rhubarb, Almond & Spelt Cake {+ more thoughts on wholegrain baking)

Jump straight to the recipe → "A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges" - Benjamin Franklin I had been putting my faith in the idea that the law of averages must (surely) dictate that, if you bake with wholegrains enough, you will eventually create something that does not resemble a musty cricket ball. And finally my faith has been rewarded in the form of this ...

by katedh April 10, 2014

Dairy Free , Gluten Free , Meat , Salads , Spring , Summer , Wheat Free

Pippa Middleton’s Smoked Chicken Salad

"It is a bit startling to achieve global recognition (if that’s the right word) before the age of 30 on account of your sister, your brother-in-law and your bottom" - Pippa Middleton Sunshine! Quick! Stick a salad recipe up before they take it away again! This one is almost topical too what with all the hoopla going on down under with K-Mid and HRH Baby Prince George. I also said hello to Father Middleton ...

by katedh April 7, 2014

Cookbooks , Dairy Free , Gluten Free , Salads , Spring , Summer , Vegan/Vegan Option , Vegetarian

Gwyneth’s Carrot & Ginger Dressing

"I'd rather smoke crack than eat cheese from a can" - Gwyneth Paltrow (2011) It occurred to me today, while queuing in the Post Office for the fourth time, that I wouldn't have the first clue where to buy crack or cheese in a can. Is this what it means to be truly middle class? Seriously, what even is cheese in a can? Is it an American thing? If we are talking about this ...