Dinner: 05.02.2011

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Time for friday dinner again! This meal, I - don't quite- hasten to add (if only I had- it was rockin...)was not made by me! Sadly a late evening at work kept me away from the kitchen...

It starts with one fillet of cod, seasoned only with salt and pepper and a salad of grilled Jeruselum artichoke, watercress and roasted hazelnut. What i love most about this combination is that they are both so simple and easy. There are minimal ingredients but it needed literally nothing more.

The soup is leek and chickpea, drizzled with olive oil. And these we had with my new favourite thing- yoghurt flatbreads!

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Souper!

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Here's a quick recipe for a nice throw together soup I made the other day- A real store cupboard recipe. Soup is one of my favourite things to eat this time of year... It makes it a little less depressing.
Generally my soups are very thik, but this is quite a thin one.
This recipe is packed with beans and there's no cream (Not a fan of cream based soups!) so it's as healthy as it is tasty... Of course.

Butter , Chickpea and Sundried Tomato Soup

Empty a tin of butter beans and half a tin of chickpeas into a pan. Pour in a cup of vegetable or chicken stock. Squeeze in a teaspoon of pureed garlic (simple and store cupboard-you see?) and a tablespoon of tomato puree. Add two tablespoons of finely chopped sundried tomatoes and a teaspoon of their oil.
Slice and ad two spring onions and season with a pinch of paprika, salt, pepper and dried basil. I also add a tiny pinch of chilli powder as I like all my food to have a bit of warmth behind it- but thats optional! Warm through and blitz briefly to break down the beans a bit, but leaving it a little textured.

I serve my soup with a sundried tomato and parmesan home made roll. And in a tea cup, apparently... But only when all my bowls are in the dishwasher!

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Dinner: Cod with Chickpeas and Chorizo

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This was made as a light supper one evening before a little post dinner walk. It turned out to be utterly gorgeous. Due to the lightness of the fish and the salty richness of the sausage, Cod and chorizo is one of those all time classic combinations. This meal has been fast tracked into my all time favourites, and, like most cod recipes, its very simple and quick.

The scallops were done as a little starter. Mostly just because I cannot get enough of them. This time, they're dressed with soy, coriander and ginger.

Recipe:

Cook a medium sliced onion until soft. Add 100g of smoked chorizo peeled and cut into 1cm cubes, turn up heat and cook a little more. Then add two chopped cloves of garlic, a pinch of crushed chilli flakes, a handful of coriander leaves, a tin of chickpeas and 2 ripe medium tomatoes (cubed, with the seeds removed). Add 150ml white wine and cook for ten minutes till warmed through. Add two big handfuls baby spinach leaves and simmer until wilted. Season and put to one side.

Fry four cod fillets skin side down in a little oil until just done. You could use any type of white fish but why would you when cod is so thick and meaty and amazing?

Pile the chickpea mix onto a plate, and top with the cod.

Bueno!
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