lunch boxes

It felt like high time to expand my lunch options. I've been having the same sort of soups and salads for lunch for weeks, with only minor variations. Time to shake things up a little and make the work day just a little more interesting.

My Seattle-dwelling friend Carisa is a Mexican food fiend, so when she recommended this Mexican soup recipe I figured it must be a good one. Monday was not a good day at work, and it didn't seem like Tuesday was likely to be much better, so a burst of Mexican sunshine in a bowl seemed like the thing to lift my spirits.

I made a few changes to the recipe due to the contents of my cupboards and to adapt it to my taste buds - I didn't have quite enough chickpeas, I used pheasant instead of chicken (we had roast pheasant on sunday and there was just enough left over for this recipe), and added a sprinkle of chilli flakes for heat, and a handful of spinach. Also, we were out of oregano so I used thyme. The measurements in cups instead of grams added a little complication to the process, but I think I got the quantities about right.

I made a rookie-error and under-seasoned the dish, but that was easily rectified at the eating stage. I think if I made this again I'd add a bit more spice - it could do with being a little punchier flavoured for my tastes.



Overall? Sopa Ranchera was tasty, easy to make, with one or two minor adjustments it will make a good spring or autumn lunch.

My second lunchbox experiment was Ottolenghi's Aubergine Cheesecake. I ordered the Ottolenghi cookbook the other day, so while I waited for it to arrive I figured I would browse his recipes from The Guardian newspaper and get some practice in!

I do love it when something looks this colourful and enticing before its even finished:


I adapted the recipe again to suit my fridge contents, using a mild soft goats cheese instead of cream cheese and yoghurt instead of double cream, so my version is probably a bit sharper flavoured than the recipe intended.



It is like a pastry-less quiche. I can completely see why Ottolenghi describes it as a savoury cheesecake as it has a similar texture to it.



It travelled well to work and made a more interesting lunch box than usual, so I'll definitely make this again. Creamy and delicious.

Find the recipe here.

This week's colour is green

Green...It's the new black.

And it was the theme of this week's cooking. First up I made Lamb koftas's with green sauce. This is an indian dish of mildly spiced lamb meatballs in a yoghurty-herby sauce. It was something I found here on the BBC website and I've been meaning to make it for a little while. It makes a good winter night dinner with its comforting blend of warming spices and the creamy yoghurt sauce. You can make most of it ahead of time so it can be made quickly when you're ready to eat. Its definitely a tasty dinner, but not extraordinary in any way in my opinion.

Then at the weekend I made slow-cooked courgettes with lemons and dill to have on toast for lunch. This was from the Riverford Farm cook book, and can also be found here on their website. It was very good. I love the distinctive flavour of dill, so perhaps its unsurprising that I enjoyed the dish so much.

Not green, but a new twist on an old favourite, was a goats cheese souffle topping for fish pie. It worked well. Dan really enjoyed it. Because the souffle only needs a short time in the oven everything else does need to be cooked before you put the topping on - it doesn't spend long enough in the oven to cook the other ingredients.

Hope you enjoyed bonfire night!

Tiredness and coldness

Neither makes me feel terribly inspired in the cooking department.

A combination of late nights for work, poor sleep, and a half marathon have conspired to make me feel a bit drained of energy these last few days. I'm officially in a grump!

However, I have discovered a nice lunch salad recently which has made a good work packed lunch for a few days - continuing my exploration of Middle Eastern cooking I have been eating Persian rice and Pistachio salad. A bit more interesting than a soggy sandwich from the canteen!

Persian Rice and Pistachio Salad (for 1)

40g brown long grain rice (or white, I just happen to prefer brown in this as the nutty flavour complements the other ingredients well)
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
Pinch ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
15g dried fruit of your choice (sultanas or raisins seem to work well)
50ml freshly squeezed orange juice
A small amount of fresh mint leaves
15g shelled pistachio nuts
2 sticks celery - chopped finely
Small handful of salad leaves
Salt and black pepper

Put the brown rice in a pan with the spices, salt, and orange rind. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes (top up the water as it is absorbed by the rice - don't let it dry out). Once the rice is cooked take the pan off the heat and stir in the dried fruit, pepper, mint, and orange juice. allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before stirring in the pistachios and celery. Serve with a few salad leaves.