Pea, Mint & Feta Frittata

Last nights dinner was a really easy but delicious frittata with petite pois, feta cheese and plenty of mint. I found the recipe on the Good Food website, which is always my first port of call for a speedy midweek meal. I've been cooking more vegetarian food lately in an attempt to save money, much to Chris' disappointment. But as this fritatta has cheese and eggs in it, there's plenty of protein to keep even the most ardent meat eaters happy.

I added plenty of seasoning (you can never have too much pepper with eggs) and a sprinkling of cheddar on the top as I had it in the fridge, but other than that I kept to the recipe. I served it with a balsamic dressed beetroot salad and some fries. Considering it only has 5 ingredients and took about 10 minutes to make, it really was very good.

Ingredients are ready to go:

In the pan:

After the grill:

Salad:

Salmon with Creamy Spring Greens

Last night I made a delicious fish recipe from Good Food. It took less than 30 minutes to have a tasty meal on the table and other than a dollop of creme fraiche, it was reasonably healthy. Fish is something I always say I need to eat more of, so it's great to have a new recipe in my repertoir.

I added some spinach and used sugar snap peas rather than broad beans, but other than that I kept to the recipe. I served it with minted new potatoes, which tasted amazing crushed into the creamy sauce. It's a perfect meal for a warm summers evening, yum!

Spring greens:

Salmon cooking:

Topped with chives:

Minted new potatoes:

Vegetable Tagine

With a fridge full of random ingredients from various different meals, I decided to create my own version of a vegetable tagine. I hate letting anything go to waste (mainly because I’m poor!), so creating my own recipes with left over ingredients is a great way to save money and hopefully end up with something tasty for dinner.

It’s a very simple and cheap recipe as it doesn’t contain any meat, and helps you on your way to 5 a day! I’ve never been to Morocco (it’s on my very long list of places I’d like to visit), but I doubt this recipe is particularly authentic, but it does taste goooood!

Serves 4 hungry people:

Half a butternut squash

2 red onions

1 red pepper

1 carrot

2 parsnips

8 dried apricots

4 cloves garlic

2cm piece of ginger

1 tsp light muscovado sugar

1 tbsp harissa paste

1 tbsp tomato paste

3 tsp paprika

3 tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tins chopped tomato

Chopped mint to serve

Method:

1.       Put the chopped vegetables into a roasting tray and sprinkle on 1 tsp of paprika. Drizzle with oil and put into a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes. Check on them every 15 minutes to make sure they’re not sticking to the tin.
2.       Fry the ginger and garlic for 1 minute, then add the spices and fry for a further minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar, harissa and tomato paste and bring to a light simmer. Leave on the hob on a low heat to allow the sauce to thicken. If it gets too thick add a little vegetable stock to loosen it up.
3.       Add the apricots to the sauce for the final 5 minutes, then add the cooked vegetables and coat thoroughly with the sauce. Serve with couscous and top with the chopped mint.

Veggies roasting:

Tagine & couscous:

Moroccan Meatballs

This is a recipe adapted from a few that I’ve read online, I love Moroccan food and the more spice you put in the better! These are great as meatballs, or you can serve them as burgers with pitta, hummus and salad.

Serves 4:

500g lamb mince

2 red onions, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, grated

2cm piece of ginger, grated

4 tsp ground cumin

4 tsp ground coriander seeds

2 tsp paprika

2 tbsp harissa

Chopped fresh mint

2 tins chopped tomatoes

Tabasco

Method:

1. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger for 5 minutes until soft. Then add the spices and fry for 1 minute.
2. Add the onion & spice mix to the lamb, half the harissa and the chopped mint. Mix with your hands and shape into 24 balls.
3. Fry the meatballs in batches until browned on all sides. Add the tomatoes, the rest of the harissa and some tabasco to taste.  You may also want to add a sprinkling of sugar if the sauce is too acidic.
4. Simmer for 30 minutes and serve with couscous or pasta.

According to Chris, this looks ‘disgusting’, but I promise it was nice!