cauliflower rice

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cauliflower rice (1)

I tried my hand at making cauliflower “rice” today. No, I’m not 5:2ing (don’t get me started on that nonsense) but I’ve seen this mentioned so much on the ‘net lately – and I love cauliflower and am always looking for new low-carb options – so I thought I’d try it out. It seems the main problem people encounter when making this is that the cauliflower ends up mushy. So I took the precaution of letting the cauliflower thoroughly dry on a tea towel before chopping it up. You can see the instructions below…
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sausage sarnie

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sausage sarnie
So there I was with a sudden craving for a meatball sandwich (something I haven’t had in YEARS) and all I had was some chorizo criollo in the fridge. It was time to improvise! The addition of spinach meant (to me) that there wasn’t any need for a side veg or salad, making it a super-simple all-in-one kind of dish, which I served open-faced as I prefer more filling/topping than bread. It also had a whack of parmesan sprinkled on top but was more photogentic without it. Makes 2-3 servings, depending on how hungry you are.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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garbanzo burgers

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garbanzo burgers

Got inspired this morning when I saw this Instagram pic by Ellie, co-owner of the Pear Café in Bristol. Hers were a much “healthier” version. I went for more of a traditional burger thing, first making two cheeseburgers with tomato, lettuce and onion, mayo and dijon. The other two I topped with fried onions and served with a soya-mayo (just mayonnaise with some soy sauce added). Both types were fabulous, served on freshly grill-toasted artisanal molletes (a soft Spanish bread roll), though in retrospect I realised I should have made eight smaller burgers from this recipe, which I did on my next try. Also the second time I added fresh cilantro – made all the difference. Very filling, super delicious.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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spinach & garbanzos with fried eggs

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garbanzos and spinach

The other day I had a bag of fresh baby spinach that needed using up so I had a quick look online for some “spinach and egg” inspiration and found this, which as it turns out is a typical Spanish dish. I hadn’t planned on making a stew, let alone something with garbanzos, but this looked interesting and so after a few adjustments to the recipe I’d found I decided this would make a nice meal. And it was! I used chicken broth but you can swap that for veggie broth if you want a vegetarian dish. Serves two but just double the recipe for more people or to have some tasty leftovers the next day.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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pollo al ajillo con espinacas

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pollo ajillo espinacasIt’s been awhile since I’ve posted something here that wasn’t a rice or noodle dish. But today I came up with this variation on pollo al ajillo which could be served with rice or, as a low-carb option, is perfectly tasty on its own. If you don’t fancy spinach you can just leave it out. Likewise the guindilla (hot chilis). From start to finish it takes about 45 minutes.

Unlike traditional pollo al ajillo recipes, which use the whole chicken chopped up into stew-size pieces, I am using boneless chicken breast. I’ve also made something similar to this with chicken thighs. So you can see it’s pretty versatile. I throw in my garlic right at the beginning, but those who prefer less “toasted” garlic should add it with the peppercorns (and chilis) after turning the chicken pieces to brown on the other side.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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chopo risotto

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Another “accidental” risotto, which came about after seeing some lovely chopo mushrooms at the market yesterday. And then the guy made me an offer I couldn’t refuse (just before closing time on Saturday is a good time to hit the market). These chopos were cultivated, which don’t have the same deep flavour as wild ones, but still a nice change from regular white mushrooms. They were also small enough that I just cooked them whole. And thus a new (for me) risotto was born.

Ingredients and instructions below…

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bacon basmati risotto

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The other day I fancied a bit of risotto without making a whole whack of it like I usually do. So I came up with this “single serving” option using basmati rice. It turned out very nice though I didn’t actually measure stuff so just use the amount of rice you’d usually make for yourself with a bit more broth than you’d normally use if cooking it with water.

Ingredients and instructions below…
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how to peel hard-boiled eggs without peeling

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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2gYHJNT3Y&feature=relmfu”]

A while back I posted a video that showed us how to peel a head of garlic in less than 10 seconds (still haven’t tried that one). And now… well, I’m sure you’ve read the title. Though I’m thinking this is only a good method if you are peeling (without peeling) an egg for yourself. You’ll see why.