Asparagus, green bean and rocket warm salad

A really tasty, zesty salad to go with a mix of other Mediterranean dishes.

Serves 4
200g tenderstem (thin young spears) of asparagus
300g green beans, top and tailed
100g rocket
50g butter
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and black pepper

1. Heat 20g butter in a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the asparagus and beans. Turn to a high heat and cook for about 6 minutes, or until tender. 
2. Wash the rocket and pat dry. Place in a serving dish, and mix the beans and asparagus in the dish. Keep the griddle pan on the heat.
3. Add the rest of the butter, the lemon juice and the salt and pepper to taste to the pan until the butter has melted.
4. Drizzle the butter dressing over the salad.

Guest blogger recipe by Jack.

Puy lentil and halloumi salad

 A lovely homely salad, great for entertaining friends with plenty of other little dishes as a Mediterranean style meal.

200g of ready cooked puy lentils (or 80g dried puy lentils)
1 pack halloumi
Half a red onion
Juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
splash olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  If cooking dried puy lentils, cover with boiling water with a stock cube and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Slice the onion into thin strips
3. Mix the onions, balsamic vinegar, puy lentils and lemon juice together in a bowl and leave. The acidity of the lemon juice and vinegar will take the sting out of the onions.
4. Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan on a medium-high heat. Slice the halloumi into thin strips and place into the dry griddle pan. Flip within 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown on the griddle pan side.
5. Mix the halloumi with the puy lentils, and season with a little salt and a good pinch of black pepper. Be careful with the amount of salt as halloumi is very salty.
6. Add a splash of olive oil to dress.
7. Can be served hot or cold. 

Guest blogger recipe by Jack. 

Crunchy panzanella salad

A classic Italian salad with a twist. The traditional salad has torn soggy bread, but this recipe makes rustic croutons to give a better texture.

Serves 4 as a side
Half 500g loaf artisan sourdough bread (or any other good rustic thick crusted bread)
1 tsp dried oregano
Splash of olive oil
Sea salt to taste
8 well ripened tomatoes
150g torn mozzarella
Large handful bashed and slightly torn fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
White wine vinegar
1 clove garlic

1. To make the croutons, heat the oven to 180 degrees. Slice the bread into 1 inch chunky pieces,  place onto a baking tray, and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and oregano and toss to ensure the bread is covered. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until browned and crispy.
2. Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes into quarters, rip the mozzarella and bruise the basil leaves. Place into a big bowl and toss. 
3. To make the dressing, finely chop 1 clove garlic. mix 1 part olive oil to 3 parts white wine vinegar, or to taste. 
4. Once the croutons are browned, add to the salad bowl containing the tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. 
5. Dress the salad with the salad dressing.

This meal was served with.....
...watch this space

Guest blogger recipe by Jack.

Manchego omelette with patatas bravas and olive and feta salad

This is a recipe cooked with the other half for guests, can you tell? He is far more adventurous when it comes to cooking, probably because he doesn't limit himself to a predominantly vegan diet. I don't call myself vegan though, so a bit of cheese and egg isn't completely off my menu. Also, when I cook with him my portion sizes treble in size.

We decided to make a tapas style Spanish meal. I absolutely love the punchy flavours of Spanish food, and this meal didn't disappoint. Patatas bravas are Spanish roasted potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce on top. Manchego is a firm cheese made using sheep milk in the origin of La Mancha in Spain.

We had friends around so I took the photo quickly in bad light. It is much more colourful in real life, and packed full of flavour as Spanish food should be.

Manchego omelette with patatas bravas and olive and feta salad

Serves 4
Omelette
8 free range eggs
Knob of butter
50g Manchego cheese, sliced
Oregano
Salt and freshly

Patatas bravas
A good drizzle of olive oil
New potatoes (I kept the little ones whole and a few bigger ones I chopped into about 1inch chunks)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed and finely diced. 
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tsp hot chilli powder (or to taste)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp sugar

Olive and feta salad
Spinach
1 red pepper
4 tomatoes
Half a cucumber
Half block of feta, crumbled in chunks
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Green olives

Garlic bread
1 half baked baguette
50g lightly salted butter
1 garlic clove, crushed and finely diced
Dried oregano

1. Heat the oven to about 220 degrees and preheat a roasting tray
2. Par boil the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes.
3.  Drain the potatoes and add to the roasting tray with plenty of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 25 minutes, turning very occasionally.
4. Meanwhile, finely chop the onion and garlic and add to a saucepan on a medium heat with a glug of olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions have become translucent.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli, paprika, stock cube and sugar, cover, turn the heat to low  and let simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes
   
6. Make the garlic butter for the garlic bread by beating the butter, garlic clove and oregano together. 
7. Make slits in the the garlic bread, not cutting all the way through, so it can be teared once cooked. 
8. Stuff the garlic butter into the slits and place in the oven on a tray for about 10 minutes
9. Chop and combine all the solid ingredients for the salad, and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice
   
10. Beat the eggs and herbs along with some salt and pepper
11. Heat a frying pan over a medium heat, melt a good knob of butter and add the egg mixture
12. Break the sliced manchego into chunks and scatter over the omelette whilst it is cooking
13. Flip the omelette after 4-5 minutes to ensure it is cooked all the way through
14. Cut the omelette into 4 pieces and serve with a tearing of the garlic bread and a big portion of the salad.
15. Take the potatoes out of the oven, and serve with the sauce on top
    

Homemade falafel and halloumi mezze wraps with roasted peppers and chilli mint yogurt

Mezze is one of my favorite cuisines. I love to have the option to pick and choose my flavour combinations, textures and heat. This style of cooking can take time to prepare but it is definately worth it, as you will end up with some complex flavours that will please anyone who is lucky enough to taste it.

My falafel didn't cook as well as they should have after my first batch. This was because I didn't wait for the oil to heat back up to temperature (350 degrees or higher). If your falafel balls don't sizzle as soon as they touch the oil, they are at risk of not sealing and therefore just disintergrating as they cook. This can also happen if there is too much water in the mixture, so when preparing keep the water to a minimum.

Also, if you didn't want to deep fry your falafel, you can heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and shallow fry them, flipping them once they are brown on one side. I have tried baking falafel before but  they became dry and crumbly, which is not what you want from a good falafel.

Homemade falafel and halloumi wraps with roasted peppers and chilli mint yogurt

Serves 4
Falafel
2 cans of tinned chickpeas,drained OR 200g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
3 garlic coves, crushed and diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
handful of fresh coriander,stalks and all, chopped
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Plain flour
Sunflower oil (over 2 inches for deep frying, or 2 tbsp for shallow frying)

Peppers
1 red onion, sliced in half then into strips
1 yellow pepper, sliced into strips
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
A good lug of olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chilli mint yogurt
2 medium chillies, diced (we left the seeds in but it depends on your chillies and your tastes)
Bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped
Bunch coriander leaves,chopped
300g Greek yogurt
Squeeze lemon
Freshly ground black pepper

Extras
250g halloumi, sliced
Pot of organic houmous
Sweet chilli sauce
Olives
Sundred tomatoes in oil
Iceberg lettuce
Watercress, spinach and rocket
Cherry tomatoes,sliced in half
8 tortilla wraps

1. Heat the oven to 220 degrees and place peppers and onions in a heatproof dish. Drizzle with plenty of olive oil, season and place in the oven.
2. Bring all the falafel ingredients together and whizz in a food processor or use a hand blender. Slowly add the plain flour until the mixture holds together well when moulded. Heat the oil over a high heat.
3. Combine all of the chilli mint yogurt ingredients together.
4. Roll the falafel into balls a little smaller than ping pong balls and flatten a little. Drop into the hot oil. They should begin to sizzle straight away. Flip the falafel if you are shallow frying once they have browned. You will need to do this step in batches. Once one batch is cooked, place the falafel on kitchen paper to drain and begin the next batch.
5. Heat a griddle or frying pan on a high heat and dry fry the halloumi slices. Flip once one side has begun to brown
6. Heat up the wraps in the oven for a couple of minutes once your falafel is almost fully cooked
7. Serve falafel, halloumi,  peppers, yogurt, salad and other extras all seperate so friends and family can have the pleasure of building their own wrap. I recommend putting everything in the wrap (see above).

Roasted butternut squash salad with soy balsamic dressing

This was really, really good. The textures were amazing, and I love having hot ingredients in a cold salad. Roasting the squash gives it a lovely soft texture and intensifies the flavour. Also, if you're feeling like peeling a butternut squash sounds like a whole lot of trouble, then don't. The skin cooks and turns a little caramalised and chewy, just adding more texture and flavour. Cheers for that tip Jamie Oliver!

I found this recipe on BBC Good Food, one of my favourite recipe websites. I'm not one to plagiarise so here is the link: BBC Good Food roasted butternut squash salad with soy balsamic dressing. I couldn't help adapting it a little, but ultimately it was the same recipe.

Roasted butternut squash salad with soy balsamic dressing

Serves 2
Half a medium butternut squash , peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
Olive oil, to drizzle on squash
80g Puy lentils
100g rocket, washed
Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
Red cabbage, sliced thinly
1 large garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
Chilli flakes, to your liking
1 tsp clear honey
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Drizzle the butternut squash with olive oil in a roasting tray and season with a little salt and pepper. 
2. Add the whole garlic clove, skin and all and place in a pre-heated oven on 220 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Shake the pan to ensure the squash does not stick every now and then.
3. Pick over the puy lentils to ensure no stones are left in. Cover the lentils with double the amount of water and bring to the boil. Cover the pan, turn down the heat and simmer for about 20-25 minutes.
4. Whilst the lentils and squash are cooking, make the dressing. Mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, chilli flakes and honey.
5. Bring the rocket, cabbage and tomatoes together on the serving plate. 
6. Once the squash is soft and beginning to get colour, take it out. Peel the garlic (this should easily come out of the skin and chop finely. Mix the garlic into the dressing.
7. The water that the puy lentils were cooked in should have evaporated, and the puy lentils should be cooked through, but not lost their shape. 
8. Serve the lentils and squash over the salad, and drizzle over the dressing