Couscous and Feta Salad

I'm always a bit meh about couscous... it either tastes of nothing, or of stock, or of pesto but I've finally found a way to not only make it taste nice but I actually find this salad incredibly moreish and pretty hard to stop eating but lovely to have in the fridge as a yummy lunch. This does have pesto in it but not too much and if you cube the feta quite small and add it when the couscous is warm then it becomes all soft and yummy.


Couscous and Feta salad

Serves 2

100g couscous
200ml hot vegetable stock
2 spring onions
1 red pepper
1/2 cucumber
1/2 block feta cheese, cut into small-ish cubes
2 tbsp pesto, ideally the fresh stuff
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
4 or 5 large fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped or torn

You just need a bowl to make the couscous in and a chopping board and you can do all the chopping while the couscous is brewing.

1. Put the couscous in a large bowl, pour over the hot stock, cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for 10 minutes until all the stock has been absorbed.

2. While the couscous is cooking slice the onions, peppers and dice the cucumber. Cube the feta and toast the pine nuts.

3. When the couscous is ready, fluff it up with a fork then add the vegetables and mix, then the pesto and finally add the feta, basil and pine nuts.

Tuna and Beans

This is one of the salads made for my studio picnic with my sister. It's from Nigella Express, although I tweaked it a tiny bit by adding some vinegar, and it was just yummy. Will definitely be making again.

Tuna and Beans

Serves 4-6 as a starter or part of a meal

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp lemon juice
2 x 400g cans borlotti beans
250g (200g drained weight) good quality tuna
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp chopped parsley to garnish
4 tsp balsamic vinegar

1. Put the chopped onion into a bowl with the lemon juice and let it steep while you get on with the salad.

2. Drain the beans and rinse to get rid of any gloop then place them in a bowl.

3. Drain the tuna and flake it into the beans.

4. Add the olive oil and some salt to the onion and lemon juice mixture, whisking to make a dressing, then pour it over the tuna and beans and transfer to a serving dish.

5. Fork the tuna and bean salad through, seasoning with salt and ground pepper, and scatter the parsley over.

6. Add the balsamic vinegar to taste.

Studio Picnic

My sister has work exhibiting in the London Art Fair which is coming up coming up so she's been working really hard in her East London studio for the past month and I thought she deserved a picnic, it also gave me an excuse to try out some quick, easy packed lunch recipes I've been wanting to test for ages three of them from Nigella Express.

I love picnics with pies, quiches and pates but this needed to be quick, easy to pack up and carry on the tube and simple to eat whilst perched on a painty chair. I decided on four different salads, some ginger ale and my chocolate fridge cake for pudding. I've listed the salads below and you can click on them to be taken to the recipe post which I've decided to do separately so they are easier to find, and follow.

It was so much fun - I highly recommend taking lunch to someone who is working hard and deserves a treat. An added bonus was having the leftovers for lunch the next day allowing us to go for a massive dog walk, get home ravening and have yummy lunch immediately. I also felt a bit smug for using a lot of the hoarded takeaway boxes I insist on keeping, I think slightly to my husbands disgust, but it does mean the photos don't look great - sorry Mumma!

• Sesame Peanut Noodles
• Mortadella Pasta Salad
• Couscous and Feta Salad
• Tuna and Beans

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Another one of Joe's choices for this weeks big shop. It was incredibly easy to make, soothing and tasty. I think next time I make it I may tweak it a little - I felt the broth was missing a little something that I can't put my finger on at the moment. Not that this should deter you from trying this recipe out and maybe you will let me know what you think if you do.

This comes from Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home - I still feel like I've only scratched the surface of what this book has to offer. What I love about this recipe is the use of pork fillet, which I have to confess to never using before. I'm not a huge pork fan but this was tasty and easy and really cheap compared to my usual beef. £4 something for nearly 500g so I cut it all into strips and put the remaining bits in freezer bag ready for the next batch of this. I think next time I will probably use straight-to-wok noodles and add them to the soup in the wok rather than cooking noodles separately.

Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup

Serves 4

275g pork fillet, cut into thin discs and then fine strips
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp fish sauce
250g ramen noodles
1 tbsp garlic oil
6 thin or 3 fat spring onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
1 litre chicken stock
300g beansprouts
175g baby pak choi, torn into pieces
2 tsps chopped red chili

All you need for this (apart from a chopping board and a sharp knife) is a saucepan to cook the noodles in and a wok or deep heavy-based frying pan. I'd advise doing all the chopping and weighing out of ingredients first then cooking the soup itself will be a matter of minutes.

1. Put the strips of pork fillet into a bowl and add the lime juice, soy sauce, paprika and fish sauce, but don't let this stand for more than 15 minutes.

2. Cook the noodles according to packet instructions and then refresh in cold water.

3. Heat a wok then add the garlic oil and fry the spring onions and ginger for a minute or so. Add the pork and its liquid to the wok, stirring as you go.

4. Cook the meat in the pan for another two minutes, then make up the chicken stock with boiling water, add the hot stock to the pan and bring to the boil.

5. Check the pork is cooked through, then add the beansprouts and baby pak choi. Add water if the soupy base has evaporated too much - about 125ml of freshly boiled water should do the trick, but you may not need it.

6. Arrange the drained noodles equally in warmed bowls, ladle over the pork and vegetables and finally the soupy stock. Scatter the chopped chili on top and serve.

Finished soup (without the red chilli)

Jamie Oliver's Chicken Kebabs with Avocado Dip

Every time I do a big shop, which I do online because it actually saves us money, I get Joe to look at my list of recipe's (I say list... it's a spreadsheet, I'm a geek) I want to cook and choose a couple that he wants to try out and I get the ingredients... or not depending on how Sainsburys are feeling. He chose this recipe from the Jamie Does... book and not only did I love it at the time, but I made the full amount for four people and we had the leftovers for lunch today and they were even more amazing. This is one of the first recipes I've cooked from this book even though I've had it for a while and it's definitely inspired me to use it more. I can see this recipe being a regular feature in the Harrod household.

One thing... these are billed as kebabs and Jamie raves in the recipe blurb about how great skewers are but I followed this recipe slavishly (because I have horrible lurgy) and you don't get told when to put the chicken on skewers. No big deal because I didn't really want to faff with those but I've added in when to do it... if you want to.

Chicken Kebabs with Avocado Dip

Serves 4

4 boneless chicken breasts, (approx. 125g each), cut into bite size chunks
4 Arab style breads or flatbreads
1 lemon cut into wedges to serve

For the marinade:
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 tbsp hot paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
3 tbsp olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the avocado dip:
2 ripe avocados
1 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
1 fresh green or red chili, de-seeded or finely chopped
a small bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

You need a griddle pan ideally but a frying pan would work just as well. You can use metal skewers if you want too and have them but they aren't essential. I used pitta breads because they are easy and you can freeze them and that's what I love about this recipe, the majority of things you can have in the freezer sot it's really pretty easy to make in some form or another.You can also make the dip the day before and marinade the chicken overnight so good for a yummy lunch with minimum preparation.

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the chicken chunks in the marinade until evenly coated, then cover the bowl with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Marinading chicken

2. Meanwhile, make the dip. Halve the avocados, remove the stone and spoon the flesh into a bowl. Add the other dip ingredients and mash together with a fork making it as smooth or chunky as you like. Taste and adjust the seasoning - I find avocado's often need quite a lot of salt.

Avocado dip

3. When you are ready to cook get a griddle pan on a medium heat and put the chicken on skewers if you are using them. Once it's really hot add the chicken and cook for 5 to 7 minutes turning occasionally - if you are not using skewers then it may take a bit longer, you need to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through.

4. While this is happening warm the bread through - I wrap my pittas in foil and put them in a warm oven for ten minutes.

5. Tear your bread in half or make a pocket, dollop on the avocado dip and top with the chicken. Serve with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over.

The proportion is weird... it wasn't a huge as this picture implies

Pepparkakor

Now it would have been sensible to post this before Christmas as they are the most festive biscuit ever invented but as you may know I'm a complete Christmas obsessive and I got completely swept away by it all and didn't get round to writing these up. However, I have been crisping the leftover ones up in the oven and they're are very cheering at this depressing time of year so if you fancy a bake why not try these? Pepparkakor are the Swedish version of ginger biscuits and they are out of this world - this is a recipe from one of my mother's old Swedish cookbooks.

Pepparkakor

Makes a lot - probably 80ish biscuits

500g butter
500g sugar
2 tbsp syrup
1/2 tbsp ginger
2 tbsp ground cloves
2 tbsp cinammon
2 eggs
1kg flour
2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

Pre-heat the oven to 200C/390F. You will need some lined baking sheets so you can do these in batches. You can use any shape cutter you like - I use a large and small star and a large heart for these. You can ice these or just sprinkle with icing sugar. The dough keeps for ages in the fridge and and if these biscuits go soggy a couple of minutes in the oven will crisp them right up.

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the sugar, syrup, ginger, cloves and cinnamon.

2. Let it cool and then add the eggs, flour and bicarbonate of soda.

3. Roll out the dough as thin as you can and cut into shapes.

Uncooked biscuits on baking sheet

4. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Finished biscuits on cooling rack