Burrito Bowl

There is no right way to eat a burrito bowl; you can mix and match from so many gorgeous bits and bobs but this is my perfect combination both in terms of flavours and textures. I always operate a ‘build your own’ policy in my house – just put it all out on the side and ask your guests to start a burrito conveyer belt.

My bowl starts with fluffy white rice and shredded lettuce. I accompany that with black beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, chopped chicken, pickled jalapenos and a good few dashes of hot sauce to finish.  I think chicken is the best meat for this dish, but steak, pork or even salmon might work for you. I chopped up one breast from a roasted chicken and it was plenty for two of us when served in this way. The beans provide lots of protein and it’s so tasty that you’ll definitely feel satisfied! I don’t think it needs tortillas, but of course you could wrap all of the above in a soft tortilla if you wanted to.

Black Beans:

• 400g tin of black beans
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 white onion
• Salt (smoked is nice if you have it)

Start by dicing the celery and onion then fry then gently in a frying pan. After 10 minutes add the beans, cumin and tomatoes plus about half a tin of water (use the tomato tin and swirl around to get as much as possible out of the tin). Leave to simmer for at least 30 minutes, adding more water if necessary as the mixture cooks down. Done!

Guacamole:

• 1 very ripe avocado
• Juice of half a lime
• Half a green chilli
• Big pinch of salt
• Black pepper

Pulse everything in a food processor, or chop the chilli finely and mash up with everything else in a bowl until you get the consistency you like.

Pico de Gallo (Tomato Salsa):

• 7-8 baby plum tomatoes
• Half a red onion
• Juice of half a lime
• 1 jalapeno or green chilli
• Handful coriander
• Big pinch of salt
• Touch of oil (optional)

Pulse everything in a food processor or chop all the ingredients as evenly as possible and combine. Add the oil (if using), salt and lime juice – keep tasting until it blows your mind.

What’s your perfect bowl?

Roasted Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Salad with Chive and Cashew Pesto

Ah beetroot…my old friend. Having fallen out of love with beetroot after cooking it so much in preparation for MasterChef, I decided this weekend was the right time for us to reconnect. I’ve been subject to a lot of nagging from friends and family to recreate my quarter final dish so I created this jazzed down version which I thought would be perfect for feeding our friends at the weekend.

Serves 6 for a light lunch with a big baguette.

Ingredients:

12 Fresh beetroot with stems and leaves intact if possible

2 125g soft goat’s cheeses (I like soft mould but any soft will work well)

For the pesto:

30g chives

50g unsalted cashew nuts

120g manchego

Zest of half a lemon

Bag of pea shoots

Bag of baby watercress

Juice of an orange

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Splash of white wine vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil

Light olive oil for roasting

Salt

Fresh black pepper

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, 190 degrees.
• Trim the stems from the beetroot leaving about 2cm left then wash and peel the beetroot with a speed peeler. (You might choose to do this in the sink under running water to avoid alarming purple hands which last a couple of days).
• Wash the stems and pat them dry with kitchen paper ready for sautéing later.
• Season the beets with salt and pepper then place in a roasting tin and drizzle with some light olive oil or similar oil. Give them a shake about to make sure they’re all coated then cover loosely with foil and roast for 45 minutes. When they’re cooked, leave them to one side to cool.
• In a food processor, combine the manchego, cashews and lemon zest then pulse until the ingredients start to look like fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the chives and about 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil along with a good pinch of salt. Keep pulsing until the pesto starts coming together – you can add more of anything if you think it needs it, just trust your own taste and keep stopping to dip your spoon in to check.
• For the dressing pour 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive in to a container with a lid (a little Tupperware box is perfect), add the juice of an orange, the mustard, a tablespoon of white wine vinegar and a generous amount of fresh black pepper. Shake vigorously until the mixture emulsifies and there is no layer of oil on the top. Taste it and adjust to your tastes.
• Choose the best stems, discarding any that look a bit tired. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and sauté the stems for about 5 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper as you put them in the pan.
• To assemble, spread the pea shoots and watercress across your biggest plate then dot teaspoon amounts of the pesto evenly in between the leaves.
• Trim the tops off the beets and slice them top to toe to reveal the beautiful marbled pattern inside.
• Arrange the beet halves over the leaves and top with the sautéed stems.
• Spoon the dressing all over the salad then cut the goat’s cheese in to slices, placing them gently on top.
• Slice up a fresh baguette and place the gorgeous big plate in the middle of the table so you can chat, eat and enjoy.

Tomato and Feta Salad with Herby Dressing

I tend to make variations of this salad all the time, but I thought this particular one was blog worthy! There is a great range of vinegars in the supermarket these days, and because they’re inexpensive, you can have a whole variety in your cupboards without spending very much. Sherry vinegar is lovely in place of white wine vinegar in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• Large handful of cherry or baby plum tomatoes
• Half a block of feta
• Half a red onion, very thinly sliced
• 4 or 5 sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 3/4 shallots
• Small handful of fresh mint
• Small handful of flat leaf parsley
• Tablespoon of capers
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

• To make the dressing, combine the oil and vinegar with the mustard and a couple of twists of black pepper then set aside.
• Peel and finely chop the shallots – it’s worth taking your time to do this properly 🙂
• Chop the herbs together and add to the dressing along with the shallots and capers. Combine well and taste to check the seasoning.
• Half the fresh tomatoes and place in the serving bowl with the sundried tomatoes and red onion. Crumble in the feta using your fingers to get a range of sizes which makes for a lovely texture.
• Dress the salad with your lovely herby dressing.
• Enjoy with pretty much anything (especially wine).

Try your own combination or experiment with green herbs to find your perfect version.

Sweetcorn Salsa Criolla

This is my take on a salsa criolla. The red onion makes a criolla a criolla, but I’ve added the heat of a green chilli and some roasted sweetcorn to make it mine!

Ingredients:

• 1 tin sweetcorn
• 1 red onion
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green chilli
• 1 lime
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method:

• Drain the sweetcorn and spread evenly on a baking tray.
• Toast in a medium oven for about 20 minutes then allow to cool on the tray.
• Finely (or as finely as you can) chop the red onion and red pepper and mix in a serving bowl.
• Remove half the seeds from the green chilli and finely chop the flesh. Add to the bowl along with the cooled sweetcorn.
• Add the juice of the lime, 3 tablespoons of oil and plenty of seasoning then mix well and check the seasoning.
• Leave in the fridge until ready to serve.

I served this with shredded beef for the World Cup final 2014!

 

 

Jerk Chicken Skewers with Mango Salad

As with all our recipes, we never profess to know the completely authentic ways to prepare food from around the world, rather we make the versions we like to eat, with ingredients we can find!

This recipe is a very easy way to serve a healthy, very tasty meal with plenty of chilli heat. We love Dunn’s River Jerk Paste which you can usually find in the world food aisle of big supermarkets, but if you can’t find it I’ve used the Tesco Ingredients one and still thought it tasted great. Depending on who you’re feeding, this might be enough food for a lighter tea or a lunch. If you need carbs (as if I could give this to Jason without), then try making Rice and Peas to go with it.

If you can, marinade the chicken the day before to give a deeper flavour but it will still be tasty even if you add it just before cooking.

Ingredients:

• Two chicken breasts
• Heaped tablespoon of jerk paste
• 1 small red onion
• 1 ripe mango
• Half a cucumber
• Handful of coriander
• Juice of a lime
• 1 red pepper
• 1 red chilli

Method:

• Slice each chicken breast length ways to make 4 strips, leaving them lined up against each other. Using wooden or metal skewers, push 4 skewers through the fillets then slice the chicken to create 4 kebabs. Spoon on the paste and use the back of the spoon to coat the meat. You probably don’t want to do this with your hands, unless you don’t mind smelling like jerk for a couple of days.
• Leave the marinade as long as you can.

Turn on the grill and start on the salad!

• Peel and half the red onion, then slice thinly.
• Slice the red chilli down the middle, remove the seeds and slice thinly. Even if you think you like it hot, you really won’t need extra heat if you’re serving with the chicken.
• Slice the cucumber in half lengthways then scrape out the seeds with a teaspoon. Slice in to thin strips.
• Deseed and thinly slice the red pepper.
• Slice up the mango (there are several good youtube videos that show you how to prepare a mango, so if you need to, watch one before you hack it to pieces!)
• Roughly chop the coriander and combine all the ingredients in your serving bowl.

• Add the lime juice, a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of salt then mix together and leave in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.

Once you’ve made the salad, you can finish off by grilling the chicken.

• Place the chicken skewers under the grill for 5 minutes each side – they really don’t need any longer or you’ll dry them out.
• Pile the salad in the middle of the plate and top with the skewers.

 

 

 

 

Day 7 – Green Bean Salad with Mustardy Dressing #7daysofsalad

We made our final salad as part of a summer roast dinner for family but the quantities I’ve listed here would feed two. It is worth noting that I base everything on mine and my family’s appetites so you might have a bit left over if you’re not big eaters – who doesn’t love leftovers though!

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of trimmed green beans
• 1 bag of pre-mixed and washed spinach, rocket and watercress salad
• 1 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Juice of half a lemon
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the beans. Cook for 5 minutes then tip in to a colander and rinse for a couple of minutes under the cold tap.
• Add the oil, lemon juice, mustard and seasoning to a small sealable tub and shake vigorously for 30 seconds! The dressing should turn from oily to creamy like the photo below. If not, carry on shaking.

• Take a big handful of the salad leaves and scatter over a serving bowl/plate.
• Tip over the beans then pour over the dressing. Toss the salad well to make sure all the beans and leaves see some dressing.
• Dig in!

We served this with tray baked chicken, roast new potatoes with pesto and tzatziki.

 

 

 

Day 6 – Grilled Courgette and Feta Salad #7daysofsalad

This is hands down my favourite recipe at the moment. It’s healthy, tasty and quick to make.

These quantities will serve two as part of a main meal. I served it with Sweet and White Potato Mash and Pan Fried Sirloin Steaks.

Ingredients:

• 3 courgettes
• Half a block of feta cheese
• 1 red chilli
• 1 clove of garlic
• Handful of fresh herbs (any combination or choice of these work well: mint coriander, parsley, basil, thyme, oregano)
• 1 lime
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

• Top and tail the courgettes, then slice them lengthways to create strips. Take your time on this part as it does contribute to the texture of the salad – the best method I found was to stand the courgette up on a flat end and use my knife gently downwards.
• Put all the courgette strips in a big bowl and add a tablespoon of oil and some salt. Toss the slices in the oil and lay out on a grill rack.
• Grill the slices under a hot grill for about 7 minutes each side. While the courgettes are cooking, make the dressing!
• You can make the dressing in a food processor if you wish, but I did it by hand this time. In a small bowl, add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the juice of a lime. Chop up the fresh herbs and add them in, mix well.
• Chop the red chilli (I took the seeds out but it’s up to you) and crush the garlic in to the mixture, mix well. Taste to check the seasoning and add more if required.

• Once the courgettes are cooked, lay them out on a serving plate and crumble over the feta cheese with your fingers.
• Dress the salad with the salsa.
• Enjoy!

The sauce we made here was more or less a ‘chimichurri’ sauce which is popular in South America. I add different things each time I make it depending on what I fancy – it’s good to experiment with heat, citrus and a variety of herbs. It goes with all kinds of meats, salad and vegetables. I guarantee once you’ve made it, you’ll be eating it every week like me.

I served this for Jason and I with pan fried sirloin steak and mash (half sweet potato, half white).

 

 

Day 5 – Panzanella with Crispy Salami #7daysofsalad

It has been a hot, sunny day in Manchester – perfect BBQ weather!  I’ve only started making this salad recently, as I never liked the thought of the bread being soggy, but I totally changed my mind when I tasted my first bite in Spain recently (you can read about it here). Cold tomatoes (especially the ones we buy from the supermarket) really don’t taste very good, so it’s best to leave them out of the fridge altogether or bring tomato based salads out of the fridge once assembled. This works really well for a BBQ as you can make it before you start cooking the meat and it will be just right when you are ready to eat.

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Ingredients:

• 1 long baguette (the fresh supermarket ones are the best)
• 1 red onion
• 6/7 tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 6cm long piece of salami

Method:

• Chop the salami in to small chunks (about 1cmx1cm) and fry in a hot, dry pan for a few minutes or until they start to crisp up.
• Half the onion, peel away the outer layers and slice really thinly. Add to the bottom of a large serving bowl.
• Quarter the tomatoes (I didn’t remove the seeds) and add to the onions.
• Tear about half the baguette in to small chunks and throw in to the bowl.
• Add in the salami along with any of the tasty oil from the pan.
• Season with plenty of salt and black pepper and pour over the oil (salami can be salty so be sure to taste before adding too much).
• Mix everything together and cover.
• Leave the salad at room temperature for about an hour (or longer) so the bread can soak up the tomato juices and the oil. It’s also a good idea to mix it all up a couple of times.

We ate this earlier today with the rest of the baguette, grilled fennel and mackerel fillets (recipes coming later) – we were all very happy indeed!

 

 

 

Day 4 – Green Salad with Capers #7daysofsalad

Our absolute favourite lettuce to use in a green salad is baby gem because there is a contrast in flavour between the sweet outer leaves and the slightly bitter, crunchier centre. You can add cucumber, spring onions, green pepper or just keep it simple as we’ve done here. This is really great with fish.

Ingredients:

• 2 baby gem lettuces
• 1 tablespoon capers
• Handful of flat leaf parsley
• Classic dressing

Method:

• Cut off the cores of the lettuce, slice in half lengthways then cut each half in to three.
• Pick the leaves from a handful of parsley and add them in.
• Add the capers
• Add the dressing just before serving (we recommend olive oil, lemon, Dijon)

Day 3 – Potato Salad #7daysofsalad

This salad is a real favourite with our friends – they would definitely pull a face if they turned up to a BBQ or party and we hadn’t made it!

These quantities will serve 4 people as part of a main meal or more as part of a buffet. Purely because they’re in season, we’ve used Jersey Royals on this occasion, but we usually go for Charlotte potatoes otherwise.

Basic Ingredients:

• 1kg new potatoes
• 4 tablespoons of mayonnaise (use light or extra light to cut the calories, or try 0% fat Greek yoghurt for a tangier version)
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
• Salt and black pepper

Method:

• Boil the potatoes in a large pan for about 15-20 minutes then drain and set aside to cool.
• Mix the mustard and mayo together.
• Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl and season with plenty of salt and black pepper.
• Loosen the salad by adding the juice of half a lemon.
• Add a flavour combination of your choice.
• Taste and adjust if necessary then chill in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.

Our suggested flavours:

• 1 mug of thawed peas, 3 chopped gherkins
• Bunch of chopped spring onions, smoked paprika and cress
• Crispy bacon and red onion

For something less creamy, instead of mayo try stirring through green or red pesto with some baby cherry tomatoes, or if you can find it, red pepper paste and some flat leaf parsley make a delicious version too. Think about the textures and tastes and always taste, taste, taste until you’re happy!

Potato salad with peas, gherkins and lemon juice