Thursday 4 July 2013

"Out with the old"...or "A new tortilla wrap recipe"

Isn't it funny how we sometimes hold on to a recipe because we have always used that particular one?  A while ago I found a recipe for tortilla wraps and have made these a few times since.  Given that the recipe was from my treasured River Cottage Bread book, I didn't think I could find a better one.  These are good and quick - what's not to like?

Fast forward to today and I have to say that I think I have unearthed the ultimate tortilla recipe for lovely soft wraps which are no doubt going to be my new favourite (sorry, River Cottage).  I love the soft texture which makes wrapping them so much easier. 

On this occasion I used wholemeal flour and filled the wrap with leftovers from yesterday's salad - delicious!  My dough-rolling skills were obviously not quite up to scratch today, resulting in the wonky shape you see in the picture but hey, it's homemade :-) 

I hope you'll give these a try - so simple and yet so satisfying.  And if you make a couple of batches, you can always freeze them for later use.


Wednesday 3 July 2013

Boys' salad

I woke up early today and couldn't wait to get up.  Some mornings are just like that, aren't they?  It makes for a good start to the day.  The dog was very excited to see me so early (but then, he is always excited) -  we snuggled up together, drinking coffee (me) and planning the day ahead (possibly both of us).  Those early hours of the morning are my favourite time of the day - it's peaceful and quiet with just the birds singing outside.  Beautiful! 

It didn't take long for my thoughts to steer towards food.  Earlier in the week I had already bought the ingredients for a salad recipe I came across whilst we were away.  Now, to be honest, the thought of chowing my way through a plate of limp lettuce and cucumber is not exactly my idea of a great meal but luckily this recipe is far, far removed from that.  Think roasted squash, spicy chorizo, yummy beans,...delicious!

I call it a boys' salad - it's big and satisfying, full of flavours and textures and would even fill up the hungriest of males.  I made it for my lunch today and LOVED it - it certainly didn't leave me feeling hungry and really delivered on taste :-)  If you prefer to make it vegetarian simply leave out the chorizo - it'll still be lovely.  Luckily, I made enough to have another portion later in the week and as an added bonus I roasted a further batch of just squash at the same time which made good use of the already hot oven. 




I can now honestly say that I just had a salad for lunch :-)

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Like a fish in water...Salmon with a twist

"I can do it..."
Yippee - we are home!  And whilst there is still chaos everywhere, it is just so lovely to be back in our own home again!  We have missed being here and Keith the dog spent a lot of time sniffing around.  I spent the same amount of time dusting, hoovering, dusting some more and smiling to myself.  How lucky we are to have a home, to feel warm & safe.  We had a lovely time where we were staying - Keith even improved his swimming a bit although he is still not too sure about deep water, judging by the photo ;-)  Still, it's good to be back!

Before cooking
Salmon burger...yum!
Not all the work has been completed yet, so there is stuff all over the house but we can work around that for now.  I couldn't wait to get back into the kitchen and try some of the recipes I promised to write about.

If like me you are quite partial to a burger, you might enjoy what I cooked for my dinner tonight: salmon burgers. 

Making these couldn't be any quicker or easier and I really loved the taste and texture.  And if you want to reduce the amount of red meat you eat or just fancy a change, then I can highly recommend these.  You could also replace the salmon with fresh tuna.