Euro 2016 Food Challenge: Turkey: Tabbouleh

I love tabbouleh. It's really simple and quick to make, and it tastes so lovely and fresh. I first ate it when I went to Syria in 2004 with my friend Hala, so it also brings back memories for me of all amazing food I had over there, not to mention all the wonderful people I met! I've loved Middle Eastern food ever since, and this is no exception.

There are literally hundreds of variations of this recipe, but this is my SW friendly version.

Ingredients 

100g bulgar wheat

3-4 fresh tomatoes

3-4 Spring onions

A quarter of a cucumber

A large bunch of parsley

A small bunch of mint

Juice of half a lemon

Put the bulgar wheat in a bowl and pour over enough boiling water to just cover it. Chop the tomatoes finely, and put these on top of the bulgar wheat so the juices soak in. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Finely slice the Spring onions. Finely chop the cucumber and herbs. 

When the bulgar wheat is ready, fluff the grains up with a fork, and stir through the chopped ingredients and the lemon juice. Season with salt to taste.

Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.  We had ours with roast chicken, and it was lovely.

 

Euro 2016 Food Challenge: Switzerland: Rösti

This recipe was borrowed extensively from the oven-baked rosti cake recipe on the BBC Good Food site.

Very tasty, but if I did it again I'd probably use a bigger dish, to increase the surface area / crispyness.  Proper comfort food, pair it with meat of your choice and a big heap of veggies to keep with the food optimising...

Ingredients

1.5 kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled

6 bacon medallions / equivalent fat-trimmed bacon

1 onion

Frylight

Heat oven to 190C / 170C fan / GM5.

Chop the bacon into short strips and dry fry until cooked through.

Boil the potatoes for 5 minutes, drain and plunge into cold water.

When they are cool enough to handle, pat the potatoes dry and grate into a large bowl.  Spray each layer with Frylight as you go, to stop the potato sticking together too much (the original recipe uses oil for this purpose - my mixture was quite sticky so I also used my hands to separate it out as much as possible). 

Peel and grate the onion (or cheat and blitz in the food processor like I did!).  Add this to the potato with the cooked bacon and use your hands to gently mix it all together.

Put a large baking tray in the oven for 5 minutes to warm through. 

Spray your chosen cooking dish liberally with frylight.  I used my silicon cake tin, which is great for not sticking.  If you're worried about the mixture sticking to your dish, line it with greaseproof paper first.

Scatter the potato in your cooking dish, being careful not to pack it down.  Spray the top with Frylight.  Place on the hot baking tray and bake in the oven for 1 hour 20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and crisp on the top.

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I made these yesterday for a dinner party and they were delicious. I'm a bit quinoa obsessed at the moment, and this recipe is based heavily on one in the "Best of Quinoa" booked I borrowed from the library last week. Seriously good, they'd make a great accompaniment for a barbecue.

(We also tried the "Turkey Sausages" from the quinoa book, but they weren't nearly as successful - although I reckon they could have potential with a bit of spicing up... Will post a recipe if I get round to trying them again.)

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

- 90g quinoa, rinsed and drained

- 240ml cold water

- 2 large red peppers, halved and seeded but with the stalks left on

- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved

- 2 garlic cloves, crushed

- A handful of basil, chopped

- 2 tbsp capers

- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Put the quinoa and water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil.  Cover and simmer for 10 mins until the water is absorbed (keep an eye on it towards the end so it doesn't burn in).

Set the quinoa aside to cool completely.  Put the tomatoes, garlic, basil, capers and balsamic vinegar in a bowl.  Mix well.  Then mix in the quinoa when it has cooled.

Spray a baking tray with Frylight. Put the prepared peppers in the tray, cut sides up.  If they don't sit straight, cut a fine slice off the bottom of the pepper, being careful not to cut through.

Stuff the peppers with the quinoa mix, spray a bit more Frylight on top, and bake for 20-30 minutes until the peppers are tender.

Syn-free Gravy!

I'm a certified gravy addict, so rationing it was pretty unthinkable to me.  I was so excited to perfect a Slimming World syn-free gravy, I thought it rude not to share.

• 2 onions, sliced
• A handful of chopped celery
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
• Frylight
• Chicken stock

1. Preheat oven to 200C  / 180C fan.

2. Place the veg on a baking tray, spray with Frylight, and roast in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until the onions are softened and crisping up around the edges.

3. Place the roasted veg in a pan with about some chicken stock (I use a chicken stock pot made up with about a pint of hot water).  If you are boiling any potatoes / other veg for your meal, reserve the water when you drain them and make the stock up with this - it'll add to the flavour.

4.  Bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. 

5.  Now put the gravy in a blender, and blend until smooth.

6.  Put the blended gravy back in the pan,  back on the heat, and simmer to reduce it to your preferred thickness.  

7.  Check the flavour and add seasoning to taste (salt and pepper - or another stock cube if you think it needs it).

Cajun Spiced Wedges (or "pimped up" SW chips)

Adapted from a recipe in the Dorling Kindersley "Eat More Vegetables" book.  These are lush.

4 potatoes

1 lemon

1 bulb of garlic

3 red onions

1-2 tbsp Cajun spice mix

Frylight

Cut each potato into 8 wedges, leaving the skin on.

Cut the lemon and red onions into wedges and separate the garlic cloves, discarding the outer papery skins but leaving the cloves unpeeled.

Parboil the potato wedges for 3 mins. Drain and leave to one side while they steam dry. 

Spray a roasting tray with Frylight. Tip in all the ingredients and toss them together.  Spray with a bit more Frylight and roast at 200C for 30-40 mins, turning occasionally.

I served mine with the pulled pork recipe from SW mag May/June 2016, and the hot and spicy coleslaw from the SW website. Delish!