healthy

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Tomatoes – Part 1

It’s not always possible to find a decent tomato in the north of Scotland. Even in the height of summer, homegrown ones can be insipid and have an odd chalky texture. And raw tomatoes are one thing I’m very fussy about. They have to be good or they have to be cooked.

There will be no turning my nose up at tomatoes this summer, however. There are beautiful, ripe, flavoursome specimens to be found everywhere and I’m eating them at most meals.

This was today’s breakfast.

The tomatoes need to be ripe, the olive oil needs to be good and the flavours need some time to fuse.

Chop or slice a handful of ripe tomatoes and place in a dish. Season with flaky sea salt and black pepper. Pour over about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of cider vinegar. Stir and leave to sit for half an hour.

Toast a bagel (or other bready item) lightly. Use a spoon to gather up the tomato-infused oil at the bottom of the bowl and drizzle evenly over bagel. Top with the tomatoes, another sprinkling of seasoning and, if you fancy, some shaved Parmesan cheese.

Also good with balsamic vinegar rather than cider vinegar.

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The Highland Cross (And a Sweet Nut Butter)

At the beginning of the summer I took part in the Highland Cross with two friends.  It’s a coast to coast event involving walking/running 20 miles then cycling 30 miles through some of Scotland’s most beautiful scenery. Armed with picnics and cameras, we weren’t your normal competitors.  After a couple of miles, we couldn’t even see the other walkers ahead of us and we finished almost last!  I know I’d like to run in the event in the future but this summer I had an absolutely lovely day  walking in the hills, chatting with my friends, cheering on the runners and munching away on silly amount of food I had in my back pack.

The Jelly Babies were kindly shared by one of the marshals.  My own snack of choice was a bag of Brazil nuts and dates. And it was this snack that inspired the below sweet nut butter.  It’s very rich and very good.  It’s terribly good for you and, once made, will keep in the fridge for at least four weeks.  Highly recommend smearing it on toast in the mornings and topping with banana.

Brazil Nut and Date Butter

250g Brazil Nuts

10 dates

Pinch of salt

  • Simple add the nuts and dates to a food processor and blend until nuts begin to release their oils.  Add a few splashes of water to loosen, a pinch of salt and continue blending until a buttery consistency is reached.  This can take several minutes.  
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Un-dull Dhal

I fell out of love with dhal a few years ago.  Before then I’d regularly make big batches for the freezer and it was a weekly staple when life got particularly hectic.  One day I just couldn’t face it anymore.  Like the macaroni cheese of my childhood, I’d eaten it too often and its uniform taste and texture was no longer comforting; dhal was just dull.

There’s a happy ending, though, as recently I discovered this dahl.  It’s the same lentil stew but with a mix of spices and quickly fried ingredients mixed through at the end.  It utterly delicious and each mouthful a little different than the one before.  I an enamoured once more.

Tarka Dhal (adapted from an epsiode of Saturday Kitchen where a Goan chef cooked for Rick Stein)

For the lentil stew:

Oil (ground nut, coconut, sunflower – not olive)

1 large onion, sliced thinly

3 medium tomatoes, quartered

2 garlic cloves

1 tspn turmeric

200g lentils

Water

Salt

For the “seasoning”:

Oil (as above)

1 tspn mustard seeds

1 tspn onion seeds (optional)

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 green chilli, chopped finely

3 garlic cloves, chopped

4 medium tomatoes – skinned, deseeded and chopped

½ tspn astofoetida (optional)

Heat a good glug of the oil over a medium high heat.  Once hot, add the onions and tomatoes and cook for approximately 6 minutes until onion is soft but not coloured and tomatoes are collapsing.  Add the garlic and turmeric and cook for another minute. Stir in the lentils then add enough water to just cover.  Add a pinch of salt then bring to a simmer.  Cook for 30 mins until the lentils are softened and the water absorbed.  You’ll probably need to add a little more water every now and again.

While the lentils are cooking, make the tarka.  In a large frying pan, add the mustard and onion seeds to the oil.  Place on a medium high heat and cook until the seeds start popping.  Add the onion then cook for a minute.  Add the garlic and chilli.  Cook for a minute.  Add the tomato and asafoetida and cook for another minute.  Remove from the heat and stir into the lentils.  Finally, stir the coriander and a good grinding of pepper into the dhal.

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Spiced Onion Crusted Chicken

I love chicken with the skin on, all crispy and juicy and tender.  Love it.  Don’t love the extra calories though and that’s why I do love the following recipe.

Based on a Madjur Jaffrey recipe, these chicken legs and thighs are thickly coated in a spiced onion mixture and roasted until crispy.  The onions taste divine, form a wonderful crust and keep the chicken inside lovely and tender.

Try it.

Really.

Spiced Onion Crusted Chicken(Based on a recipe from The Essential Madhur Jaffrey)

(serves3-4)

8 chicken pieces (legs and thighs), skin cut off

2 medium onions, chopped very roughly

3 garlic cloves

1 tblspn chopped ginger

1/4 tspn chilli powder

1 tblspn cumin powder

1 tblspn coriander powder

1/2 tspn turmeric

1 tspn salt

Pinch of pepper

3 tblspn vinegar (white or wine or cider – not malt or balsalmic)

Big glug of olive oil

  • For the best results this need to marinate overnight.   In a food processor, whizz together the onion, spices, seasoning, vinegar and oil.  Pour all over the skinned chicken pieces and cover.  Leave in the fridge overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 200 oC (maybe a bit more if non-fan oven).  Place the chicken pieces on a tray well spaced out and spoon any extra marinade over the top.  They should look like this:

  • Roast for 40 mins, until onion mariande is golden and crisp.
  • Let cool for 10 mins before eating.