Sweetcorn Fritters

Can you spot the pattern here? At certain times of the year, we seem to be inundated with the vegetable du jour, so after I've made my usual recipe, I'm forced to consult my cookery shelf for inspiration. Don't get me wrong, this is why I love my veg box, it forces me to constantly try new recipes.

At the moment, it's sweetcorn and tomatoes and rocket from our garden (well, plant pots). Last weeks salsa was definitely a success, but I wanted something new. I found this recipe in Bill's Sydney Food by Bill Granger. While he is almost unbearably smug on TV, I love the sunny, bright styling of his book and the simplicity of his recipes.

These are fairly simple to make and are bound to impress, sweet and crisy sweetcorn in a batter full of coriander and chilli. I had them for a simple lunch with avocado, rocket and tomatoes and a the obligatory dollop of yoghurt. But, I have a sneaky feeling that they'd work perfectly with a fried egg and beans for brunch. Bill suggests serving them with roasted tomatoes and bacon. If you're making these for a lots of people, you can cook them in advance and just warm through in the oven.


Ingredients

Serves 4

2 corn cobs, kernals removed
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 small bunch coriander, chopped
1 small bunch spring onions, sliced
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2tsp paprika
1tbsp sugar
2 eggs
250ml milk

• Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl and mix with the paprika. Whisk in the egg and milk with plenty of salt and pepper until you have a smooth batter.
• Mix the sweetcorn, chilli, coriander and spring onions in a bowl and stir in the batter until combined.
• Heat a large frying with a large glug of oil. Once hot, place a tablespoon of mixture into the pan and press on it lightly to spread it out into a fritter.
• Cook for a few mins on both sides until golden and remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper while you cook the rest of the fritters.

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Easy Flatbread Pizza

These pizzas are a great last minute dinner. So easy to make and a great (healthier) alternative to takeout pizza. You need to start with flatbreads rather than tortillas (try a turkish corner shop for the best) as they are sturdier and will hold up to the toppings better.


I often make an absurdly quick tomato by sizzling some garlic and chilli in olive oil, pouring in a can of chopped tomatoes and simmering for 15mins or so until thick and seaoning well. But you could just as easily use halved cherry tomatoes.

Top with whatever you like and bake for 10-15mins until the cheese is bubbling and golden. The key here is restraint - keep it simple and don't pile on the toppings if you want to keep your pizza crisp otherwise, and I'm speaking form experience here, you end up with a soggy mess.

Some ideas for toppings:

• A thin layer of tomato, a little mozzarella and some pine nuts. Top with shredded basil when cooked.
• Top with rocket and avocado
• Goats cheese, walnuts and a few dollops of onion marmalade
  
• Chargrilled aubergine and pine nuts (a little oregano would be good here)
  
• Any combination of anchovies, capers and olives
• Thinly sliced pear, gorgonzola and pine nuts, topped with some rocket or watercress.
  

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Fajitas

Another student recipe, perfect for eating with a big group of friends. Surprisingly healthy, this is ful of veggies and will make a couple of chicken breasts go a really long way. We also had some sliced chillis on the side so you can make it really spicy if you're into that kind of thing...

Thinly sliced chicken breast, marinated in a punchy mix of paprika, ground cumin and ground coriander. Fry it up with lots of sliced onions and peppers. Load this onto your tortilla, top with some grated cheese, guacamole, a fresh and zesty salsa and a big dollop of soured cream (or yoghut). Then roll it up and stuff it into your mouth - be prepared for a bit of a mess.


Ingredients

Chicken
2 chicken breasts, sliced
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tbsp paprika
2 onions, sliced
2 red peppers, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli, finely chopped

Guacamole
1 avocado
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 lime
2tbsp yoghurt

Tomato salsa
200g cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 red onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cucumber, finely chopped
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
1 lime
1tbsp olive oil

To serve:
200g grated cheese
1 small pot soured cream
8 tortillas, warm

• Put the chicken in a freezer bag and sprinkle over the spices.Close the bag, massage the spices into the meat and leave whilst you prepare the rest of the vegetables. Ideally, you'd leave it overnight to marinate in the fridge.
• Heat a large frying pan with a little oil, add the peppers, onions, garlic and chilli and cook over a high heat until softened.
• Remove from the pan and add the chicken, cook for 5 mins or so until browned. Add the onions and peppers back to the pan and cook for another few mins. Season well.
• For the guacamole, scoop the flesh out of the avocado and mash well, add the garlic, juice from the lime and yoghurt and stir well. Season well.
• For the salsa, simply mix the tomato, onion, cucumber, coriander and garlic together, squeeze over the lime juice, drizzle over the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and stir well.

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A New Ready Meal...

I can't remember the last time I bought a ready meal. Seriously. I'd rather eat a boiled egg and soldiers or beans on toast or a bowl of ice cream for my tea. Not only are they expensive, but they are generally pretty unappetising affairs.

But now, Innocent have gone and brought out their veg pots, I'm not sure where they're aimed exactly, but I'm thinking a healthy alternative to crappy shop bought sandwiches, pumped full of salt and fat. One of these little pots is 3 portions of veg, and a smoothie is 2 portions of fruit; so eat both and you get your 5-a-day. Clever, huh?

Anyway, I digress. The point of this post is that my firend who works at Innocent got me some for cheap and I set about thinking of ideas to tart one up for dinner. Of course, I would happily heat one up and eat it on it's own, straight from the pot, no need for washing up. But, I think with a little effort, you could use one as a base for a really taste meal. All the hard work making it tasty and cramming it with vegetables has been done for you; all you need to do is spruce it up and think about adding some protein (they're all vegetarian). See what other people have come up with here.

First up is the Sweet Potato Chilli - 'a spicy hearty stew of sweet potatoes, red peppers and smoky paprika'. I used it as a base for a mexican-esque wrap. Take one warm tortilla, dollop on some warm chilli and top with diced avocado, red onion, a splodge of yoghurt and some fresh coriander. You could stop here, wrap it up and enjoy (with lots of napkins) or go further and grate on some cheese and top with a fried egg, or some chorizo or chicken or steak...

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Triple Decker Club Sandwich

These are inspired the by The delightful Rose in Oxford, in fact just looking for a link to the website is making me drool. Many mornings, lunches and afternoons have been happily spent here drinking vanilla tea, eating scones and everything else. It's all organic, made from scratch and outrageously good.

The club sandwich is legendary, layers of chicken oozing with mayonnaise and avocado, crispy bacon, lettuce and tomato. A heart attack on a plate, maybe. The best way to start the weekend, definitely. This is my version - I like to secure the little triangles with cocktail sticks not just for looks, this helps hold the entire creation together. For next time I'm planning on having this with a handful of crisps to wedge into the sandwich, a guilty pleasure if you will.

Ingredients

Makes 2 rather large sandwiches

6 slices bread
150g cooked chicken, shredded
2 tomatoes, sliced
6 rashers streaky bacon
1 avocado
2 tbsp mayonnaise
handful lettuce, shredded

• Toast your bread. Meanwhile cook the bacon in a frying pan until golden and crispy.
  
• Cut the avocado in half, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh. Mash in bowl with a little salt and pepper, and 1tbsp mayonnaise.
• To assemble the sandwiches spread half the avocado onto one slice of bread and top with half the chicken and another slice of bread. Top this with half the bacon, tomatoes and lettuce. Spread half the mayonnaise onto the third slice of bread and complete. Repeat for the other sandwich.

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Mexican Breakfast

As with most things I make, this isn't exactly authentic, but who cares when it tastes this good. And it did, believe me. This is a kind melding together of all things vaguely Mexican that I know of, initially inspired by this recipe from BBC Good Food, I made the spicy bean mixture, topped with cheese and grilled until bubbling and golden, on top came a fried egg, a spoon of tomato salsa, a handful of diced avocado and a splodge of greek yoghurt (in the absence of sour cream).

I would go so far as to say that this is almost healthy, plenty of beany protein and a hefty dose from the egg too, a couple of portions of veg and good fats from the avocado, all that colour is definitely good for you. This is a weekend breakfast though, you need a few hours reading the paper with a cup of tea to let it all digest. Then maybe another for lunch?

Breakfast Tostada

Serves 2

1 400g can refried beans
1 200g can kidney beans, drained
2 large flour tortillas
50g cheddar grated
1 green chilli , thinly sliced
2-4 free range eggs
3 ripe tomatoes, diced
½ red onion, diced
½ lime
½ avocado, diced
4tbsp sour cream or greek yoghurt

• Mix the tomatoes, red onion and lime juice together and season well.
  
• Mix the re-fried beans with the kidney beans and ½ the chilli, check if it needs extra seasoning.
• This makes a lot of bean mixture, leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days or freeze well.
• Spread a thin layer over the torillas, sprinkle with the cheese and remaining chilli and grill until the cheese is bubling and the tortilla crisp.
• Meanwhile heat about 1tbsp oil in a and fry the eggs to your preference. 1 or 2 each depending on how greedy you're feeling.
  
• Once the tostadas are cooked, top with the fried egg, a spoonful of salsa, some avocado and a dollop of sour cream.

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