She (Occasionally!) Cooks; Veggy Chilli

I've been a vegetarian my entire life and it's never something that I've considered changing about myself. Like most vegetarians I have struggled to get a sufficient amount of protein in my diet (there's only so many nuts a girl can eat!) but then along came Quorn! I know I don't have a frame of reference but I think it tastes pretty damn good, so I thought I would share one of my favourite meals with you all; chilli. I love anything and everything Mexican and chilli makes for a really hearty winter warmer and it's great on a student budget too! 

So here's what I use for this yummy meal;

Olive Oil, Rice, Ouorn Mince, Pointed red pepper, 1/2 Tin of Mixed Bean Salad, Chopped Tomatoes, 1 green chillie, Crushed Chillies, 1/2 red onion, 1 Clove of garlic and generous handful of coriander.

I will admit that I am the worst at cooking rice. But this Asda white rice came out surprisingly good! I just took a handful (roughly enough for one person) added a tiny bit of oil and salt to the boiling water and let it gently simmer while I cooked the chilli. 

The great thing about Quorn is that you can cook it from frozen, so I threw in a dash of oil to a hot frying pan and cooked the mince on a low heat. I then added the chopped onion, green chilli and garlic (I always crush garlic to get more flavour) and let that cook through. I then chucked in about half a tin of chopped tomatoes and sliced red pepper followed by the beans. Slowly let that simmer and thicken slightly before adding salt and pepper to taste and some crushed chillies for extra heat. Keep tasting it so you don't end up blowing your heads off!

Finish off with a good amount of coriander and let all the flavours combine for about five minutes before serving with rice and lots of cheese!

Et viola! A really filling and satisfying dinner, maybe not one to have just before donning that new body con leather skirt... But hey that's what Spanx are for!

I'm back to living away from home so I'll be experimenting a lot more with food and blogging all of my successes and some of my mishaps (I'm sure they'll be a few!)

:) xoxo

She Eats, She Wears, He cooks: Surf 'n' Turf

I've decided to do something a little different with a guest post by my lovely boyfriend. As I'm a vegetarian and he's a big meat eater I figured I'd balance out my blog a little :) He's a great cook so enjoy! 

 :) xoxo

Surf 'n' Turf. Unison of land and sea on a plate. Every meat eaters dream - well mine at least. Chowing down on a a large tuna steak smothered in the salty goodness that is bacon. I’m no good with recipes, I usually make it up as I go along so I usually combine some unorthodox components. Most likely a combination of what I have in the fridge and cupboards all piled together onto round china. 

Most recently a cod fillet slow baked on a bed of bacon - unsmoked, however smoked adds a further depth of flavour - along with a steak medallion. Fried potatoes to replace chips (a personal favourite).

Take your potatoes stab them several times with a sharp knife, cook in the microwave for around ten minutes for medium sized ‘taters. Once cooked, watch your fingers and cut into slices to your preferred thickness and fry gently in a pan with a hearty wedge of butter.

For your garnish or a side of sorts, I’m usually a touch naughty and go with a cream sauce with fried mushrooms and onion - depending on the mood either spring or good ol’ regular. Fry up your ‘veg’, the term veg held very loosely, season to taste. I find adding a squeeze of lemon juice adds that little bit extra. Then turn the heat down, add your cream and allow to simmer for a while. Trick is to not let it reduce too much as it tends to get a little heavy, just remember to taste often.

On to the most important part - the meat! I prefer to cook both meats separately as they tend to cook better. As an example; back to the central theme of my ramblings - bacon. I prefer my bacon slow cooked to a crisp, and my fish baked with the exception of tuna steaks of which there is no other way but to flash fry dry on a griddle pan.

That’s all folks!

Without cheesecake, there would be darkness and chaos.

Okay, I'm paraphrasing Don Kardong but you can probably tell that I am a big fan of cheesecake. Hey, I like cheese and I like cake it only makes sense. So, I thought I'd share my favourite recipe for a lemon and vanilla cheesecake topped with raspberries (shown above).

Ingredients:

For the biscuit base:

10 digestive biscuits

75g melted butter

1 tablespoon clear honey

(I like to add a little vanilla extract in the base as well but its optional)

For the filling:

700g mascarpone cheese

1 lemon, juice and zest

200g caster sugar

4 tablespoon icing sugar

Method:

Crush the biscuits (the finer the better) and tip into a bowl, mix with the melted butter and honey. This is when I'd add splash of vanilla extract. Then tip the mixture into a grease proof  paper lined cake tin and spread using the back of a spoon. Refrigerate while you make the filing.

For the filing, mix the mascarpone, lemon zest and juice, caster sugar and vanilla extract (to taste) until combined. But not too much as this will cause it to split and you don't want that!  

Spoon the mixture into the tin over the chilled biscuit base and smooth over. Leave chilling in the fridge for at least two hours. 

Top with raspberries or your choice of summer fruit et viola! 

A really easy dessert that can be adapted for all tastes, I plan of trying to recreate Wagamamas White Chocolate and Ginger cheesecake (gluten free for the boyfriend). Admittedly not something for everyday but everyone should indulge from time to time.

:) xoxo

I just can't live without... Nando's Peri Peri

It might seem strange that, as a lifelong vegetarian, I am completely obsessed with Nando's Peri Peri sauce! I've been putting it on everything at the moment and I mean everything so it seemed appropriate for my first 'I just can't live without...' post. 

I never really realised just how versatile this little bottle is but I've been including a splash here and there in breakfasts, lunches and dinners! So I've put together a few of my favourite meal ideas using Peri Peri;

Breakfast: Fried egg and mushroom sandwich with a dash of spice to kick start the morning (trust me, it's beautiful on a hangover) or simple cheese on toast with a little extra heat. 

Lunch: Grilled halloumi and portobello mushroom coated with Peri Peri on a rocket salad. I like to add avocados and sweetcorn along with the usual tomatoes and cucumber. I'm a massive fan of warm and cold foods together, especially warm salads. 

Dinner: As you have probably already gathered I am a sucker for spicy food, especially in pasta. Add a little splash of Peri Peri in a simple (student) tomato and onion sauce and let your taste buds explode ;) 

Or homemade chips for dipping. Because nothing beats homemade chips.

I believe that food should be enjoyed and that there is a happy medium between junk food and detoxing. Indulging from time to time is a good thing :) Plus eating spicy food can speed up your metabolism and can do your heart some good too!

I think I'm gonna make these kinds of posts a regular thing. Let me know what you think! 

I will post some of these recipes in more detail in time :)

:) xoxo