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French Toast Roll-ups: Nutella, Cream Cheese and Fruity Goodness

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Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but Nutella and shoes seem to run a close second.

~ David Alejandro Fearnhead

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is almost here! It was always one of my favourite holidays growing up as we always got the Thursday and Friday off school. This wasn’t/isn’t a typical occurrence in Dublin, but thanks to having an American Mam made a lovely difference to our  winter term.  I remember how jealous my fellow-students would be when we would swan out on Wednesday evening for a nice long weekend. It was even better when my sisters and I were in boarding school (not as interesting as it sounds!) as we usually only came home every other Friday night, arriving very late and leaving fairly early on a Sunday, as in those days there weren’t many trains on a Sunday and we had at least a 4 hour journey ahead of us. So, when we got to come home on a Wednesday night (and I think one year at least on a Tuesday night), it made it even better. 4 glorious days at home, tons of good food on top of a break from the drama that is secondary school. However, over time, due to different siblings being in college where the stakes are higher, my Mam moved Thanksgiving to the weekend so we could all be together to celebrate it.

The day itself was full of food – lime jelly salad (it’s one of those things that sounds gross but it actually amazing), date roll, sherry cake, several different kinds of potatoes, stuffing, and so much more besides! There would be the nine of us plus a minimum of two other guests. The year my sister got married was a huge gathering – our family, my brother-in-law, his parents and siblings on top of our usual 3 guests. One thing that I always liked was that we never had a separate table for the younger ones. Instead, our tables were in a long row with the guests sprinkled among family. I always loved hearing the stories about extended relatives and how so-and-so was related to us. One of my Mam’s friends was a public servant and knew tons of scandal about all the politicians. We learned so much about the on-dits that were rocking Ireland’s political and social domains.

When I moved to Korea, I didn’t really think about Thanksgiving too much or the fact that I wouldn’t be celebrating with any family. When November rolled, someone always organised a dinner for the community as most of my expat friends were American. And, somehow, using limited kitchen space and utensils we would prepare feasts – one of my friends used to secure an actual turkey two years I was there and cooked them to perfection (the other year we roasted a turkey breast in my toaster oven). Our meals would have tons of traditional food – from green bean casseroles to sweet potato dishes and pumpkin pies. We’d also have other foods more typical of our life in Korea – fried chicken, sometimes kimchi or japchae or my least favourite side – pickled radish (it comes part and parcel with fried chicken). It may not have been a Thanksgiving with our lifelong family and friends but that didn’t stop them from still being huge fun and an important part of my expat existence. In fact, I will admit I think I’m going to miss the gathering this year.

However, this year is my first one with my family in three years!  It’s also the first one I will have ever celebrated with my nephew and nieces. My nephew was living in America at the time of my last family Thanksgiving (and his first) so I didn’t get to celebrate it with him. So, already this Thanksgiving is looking up and for the first time in donkey’s years it is actually happening on Thanksgiving day. My Mam usually makes all the deliciousness that is needed and my contribution usually is pumpkin pie (my sister makes the pie crust because hers is absolutely perfect) but this year I’m not quite sure what other contributions I will make. Maybe my cider will be a nice contribution for the kiddos as well as the adults, minus the alcohol, of course? We shall see.

However, in my family November is not just Thanksgiving month – we have two birthdays (my sister, Mary Ann, and my older niece) as well, and this year we also had the baby’s christening. The recipe that follows would make a good brunch during the holiday weekend – plus with the raspberries, blueberries and cream cheese you have a not so subtle nod to the American flag. I made it for my niece’s birthday brunch and these roll-ups weren’t just a hit with the kids but the family all-round, especially her parents. In fact, with the leftover cream cheese filling I made a whole new batch yesterday for them again.

The birthday breakfast table (by me) and the birthday cupcakes by my sister.

The birthday breakfast table (by me) and the birthday cupcakes by my sister.

I originally made this recipe after being inspired by Jhuls from The Not So Creative Cook. Her Nutella French Toast Roll-ups are altogether jaw-droppingly good and I decided I wanted to adapt them for 4th July. Which I did, using almost the same recipe as below. Even a friend who doesn’t “do” desserts really enjoyed them. They are simple and more than likely you have most of the ingredients on hand. Further, this is a very forgiving recipe: it’s easily doubled or halved, the cream cheese filling can be adjusted to your own personal taste buds, and you can mix up the fruit or leave it out as per your own choosing. I used cherries when I was in Korea and raspberries in Ireland. As the French toast cooks, not only do the chocolate and cream cheese melt into a marriage of decadent delicious delight, the fruit becomes a little jammy and adds that extra level of tastiness to an already amazing French Toast breakfast dessert. Yep, technically this is a brunch item but really it’s a rich, satisfying fried bread and chocolate yumminess that you can eat at either breakfast or for dessert. So, Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Additionally, you might want to check out these recipes to enhance your own Thanksgiving:

Slightly Boozy Homemade Apple Cider

Salmon and Pesto Toasties

Apple and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

french toast 2

French Toast Roll-ups: Nutella, Cream Cheese and Fruity Goodness

Makes 26

Ingredients

  • Cream Cheese Filling
    • 1 cup cream cheese
    • 1 cup icing sugar*
    • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 26 slices white bread, crusts can be left on or removed**
  • Nutella
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1 cup raspberries or cherries, halved
  • ¾ cup shredded coconut, toasted (optional)
  • 4 eggs
  • 6 tbsp milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 -2 tsp cinnamon
  • Butter

 Method

  1. Soften the cream cheese with a fork.
  2. Sift the icing sugar into the cream cheese and mix it and the vanilla into the cream cheese.
  3. Put aside and chill. You can make this ahead of time up to 48 hours in advance. I usually make it at least 24 hours in advance as I find it spreads a bit better when nicely chilled.
  4. Combine the milk and eggs in a shallow bowl and set aside.
  5. Combine the sugar and the cinnamon together on a plate and set aside.
  6. Meanwhile, flatten the bread using a rolling-pin. It does flatten better without the crusts but to waste less bread, I left them on when making my most recent batch and the still worked really well.
  7. Spread some Nutella on the bottom half of one slice and then the cream cheese filling on the top half.
  8. If using, sprinkle about a tsp of  the toasted coconut on top of the Nutella and cream cheese.
  9. Place a mix of the blueberries and raspberries/cherries in a line at the bottom of the slice and then roll the bread to close over the filling until it forms a tube and set aside
  10. Repeat steps 6-9 until each slice of bread is rolled with the fillings.
  11. Melt the butter over medium heat and once melted, roll each slice of bread into the egg mixture and then transfer to the frying pan, seam side down.
  12. Cook until browned on each side and then transfer and roll in the sugar mixture.
  13. Eat as is, or serve with maple syrup and whipped cream. You can also serve as a side dish with eggs, sausages, pudding and rashers/bacon. Alternatively, serve it with any remaining cream cheese filling and fruit.

*I recommend equal amounts of icing sugar to cream cheese, but you can use ½ cup instead.

Tips

Leftover Fruit: Pile the roll-ups into a pyramid and then top with the remaining fruit for a pretty display.

Bread Crusts: If you are making this on Thanksgiving day, you could remove the crusts from the bread and then use them for stuffing.

Oven Roasted Yogurt Chicken and Vegetable Curry

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From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting….On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet sock, it cools the hot little brain.

– EB White

It’s Autumn! Hooray! Autumn is my favourite season, narrowly beating out winter (which has Christmas and my birthday, so it does still rock!) thanks to all the amazing food, the crisp, crunchy leaves, and Hallowe’en, not forgetting blazers, jumpers and snug cardigans. With the onset of autumn, my tummy revels in comforting soups, spicy curries and hearty casseroles.  I find that these help me to acclimate to any sharp changes in the weather and to remind me that my two favourite holidays are just around the corner. The following recipe really seals the deal in reminding me that it’s autumn with the scent and taste of spices like cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and a hint of nutmeg wafting their way out of the oven.  The deep purple of aubergine, the bright orange of sweet potato, and the heady red of cherry tomatoes come together to remind me of the changing colours of the trees.

This recipe was inspired by one of my favourite bloggers – I’ve already shared two of her recipes on this blog – the wonderful vegan caramel used in this ice-cream cake and this scrambled egg recipe, which I  use nearly all the time.  I love Michelle’s Crockpot Lentil and Chicken Curry and it is one of my favourite staples, particularly during winter months. I wanted to make it during my last 2-3 weeks in Korea in an effort to use up some lentils but when I did, I had actually run out of canned tomatoes. I didn’t want to buy anymore as I was at the point where I needed to get rid of stuff, not buy new things. So instead I incorporated the spices Michelle used into a yogurt curry and threw a few other spices in as well.

When I first made this recipe, I marinated the chicken for around 30 minutes. I knew it wasn’t enough but, to be honest, I was too hungry to care! While I was waiting on the chicken to marinate I decided to throw some tomatoes, onion, and  aubergine (one of the people who had bought some of my kitchen-ware had gifted me about 10 aubergines!), in to roast them along with the chicken. It was tasty but not as tasty as I knew it could be. When I was telling my sister about this dish, she thought it sounded intriguing and as she, very kindly, has offered me the use of her kitchen, suggested I cook it for her and her family for dinner at some stage.

curry attempt 2About 2 weeks ago, I made it for them but decided to use carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and butternut squash, mostly because I really couldn’t remember what I’d used in Korea but also because, well, autumn! While the chicken was lovely and tender, and the presentation was on point with the chicken legs positioned on top of the vegetables, the meal itself was a bit a disaster. It took so long and, even then not all the vegetables were completely tender. It was okay but everything tasted “separate” and far too sweet. I think it was the type of yogurt that I used as well as too much nutmeg, the immense cinnamon stick as well as the choice of vegetables that led to such a sweet taste.

Luckily, when I made this recipe this week gone out it was ah-may-zing! This time everything came together perfectly and the taste and aroma of the spices came through in everything from the onion to the chicken to the yogurt gravy the marinade created. Even better, the cooking time was much less (by an hour!) than the week before’s attempt. The key I found was to use a casserole dish that was not too deep or too thick, and to position the chicken and vegetables carefully to maximise roasting them to perfection. In fact, I used a casserole dish and a rimmed baking sheet as the chicken pieces were quite large but you could divide the meal between two casserole dishes. I bought four chicken legs and had the butcher chop them into two – so that I had eight pieces. All eight pieces did fit into the casserole dish once the vegetables had shrunk. While the  ingredient list is long, it’s quite an easy dish to put together and is best served with rice and/or naan.

Lastly, thank you to my sister and brother-in-law for allowing me the use of their kitchen and for letting me use the cherry tomatoes from their own garden.

PS Sorry for the delay in getting this post out, I had wanted it out on Sunday, but I got totally distracted by the Rugby and Football Matches (we won the Rugby but lost the Football #coybig!). We are in the playoffs though for the European Cup so hopefully we will win that!

tomatoes

Oven Roasted Yogurt Chicken and Vegetable Curry

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp medium curry powder
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 – ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 1 small, thin cinnamon stick*
  • 2 cloves
  • 2 cardamom pods, (slit the pods open to use the seeds inside)
  • 4 chicken legs, halved (so 8 pieces)
  • 500ml plain, natural yogurt
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, diced (equalled around 2 cups)**
  • 1 medium, fat, aubergine, chopped
  • 1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • About 10-12 cherry tomatoes, whole with stems removed
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, whole, skins removed
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

  1. Put all the spices from the curry powder to the cardamom seeds in a big bowl. Stir until it’s nicely combined.
  2. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and coat each with the spice mixture. Leave for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the yogurt and using a spoon coat the chicken until the pieces are well covered in a blend of yogurt and spices.
  4. Cover the bowl with clingfilm/saran wrap and place in the fridge for 3 hours.
  5. At around 2.5 hours of marinating time, preheat the oven to 240°C.***
  6. Meanwhile, parboil the sweet potatoes.
  7. Once the sweet potatoes are ready, toss with the remaining vegetables and garlic in the oil.
  8. Remove the chicken from the fridge and place in the casserole dish, along with any remaining yogurt marinade and spices. If you are using two dishes, as I did, make sure that all the chicken will fit comfortably with room around them in one of the casserole dishes as later on you will transfer everything into one dish.
  9. Arrange the vegetables around the chicken, making sure to not overcrowd the casserole dish.
  10. Place the chicken and vegetables in the oven for around 20 minutes at 240°C.
  11. After 20 minutes lower the temperature to 200°C. It will take about another hour and ten minutes after that.
  12. After 45 minutes turn the chicken and toss the vegetables. If you are using two casserole dishes, you may want to swop their levels in the oven at this stage.
  13. At around 1 hour and 15 minutes of cooking time, the chicken should be nicely done and vegetables roasted. If using two casserole dishes transfer the chicken from one casserole to the other and then arrange the vegetables around the chicken.  Ensure that you transfer all the drippings as well.
  14. Let it cook for around 15 minutes more or until it’s browned to your satisfaction.
  15. Remove from oven, and serve with rice and/or naan.

*The cinnamon stick that I used, in the first attempt since I was home, was so fat. This time I used what looked like cinnamon bark, so if you using  a stick use a thin one. The photo below does not do justice to how thick this cinnamon stick was at all:Cinnamon

**I used sweet potato in this recipe but you could also use butternut squash. Follow the same process (around 2 cups) of diced butternut squash being par boiled before adding to the other vegetables.

***I used a fan oven so I am using the BBC conversion guidelines to adjust for a normal electric oven temperature.

Tips

Kid friendly: This dish is quite piquant so when serving to younger kids (my sister’s kids are under 5) have some natural yogurt on the table to mix with their curry.

Note:  I will be sharing this on Tell ‘Em Tuesday link up by peeled wellness

In My Kitchen – October 2015

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Time absolutely flies. I am home now almost 3 months. It’s really hard to believe. Korea seems a bit elusive, and I simultaneously feel like it was a million years ago and that I am going back tomorrow. It’s hard to know if I am missing it yet – I miss my friends and having the chat but I don’t think I have fully realised I am not going back yet.  However, the positive about being home is being able to appreciate the weather a lot more than I did in Korea. Autumn in Korea can be gorgeous but where I live in Ireland I am surrounded by beautiful parks and most of the streets around me have trees lining them that produce some of the most gorgeous colours, so I am able to appreciate it a lot more! I love autumn even with the coolness and dampness. The crunch of leaves, tasty soups and everything Hallowe’en more than make up for the negatives! The below picture was taken at the National Botanical Gardens which is about a 5 minute walk from my house!

botanics

However, enough rhapsodising about autumn and on to this month’s installment of In My Kitchen, a fabulous blogging event by Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial:

In my kitchen is this very beautiful eco-friendly Three Blue Birds dishcloth my mom brought back from her trip to America to see my Grandma. It is reusable for over 200 times which is great and can be used as an alternative to paper towel. This was my mam’s gift to herself but it’s a bright addition to our kitchen!

thebluebirds

In my kitchen is a Lego Star Wars Interceptor. My good friend, Ashley, gave me this for my birthday last year and I finally made it with my nephew. As you can see Darth Vader was replaced by someone else already! Although his correct place is in the toy box in the sitting room, he manages to roam his way into the kitchen whenever the little ones are visiting!

dv

In my kitchen, are some Hallowe’en Balloons. Boo!

halloween balloons

In my kitchen are, some Dr Oetker baking supplies. I am thinking of incorporating these into an a spooky ice-cream cake or cupcake. I haven’t decided anything about the dessert otherwise but we shall see!

dr oetker

In my kitchen, is this lovely Peruvian tea from my friend, Erika. She gave this to me when I went to visit her in July. This is such a delicious tea and very comforting especially on cold mornings. It may never replace my beloved Barry’s Tea (an Irish tea) but I do recommend it. Like my friend, I drink it with milk and sugar, so I didn’t find it particularly bitter. However, a warning for those who are subjected to random workplace drug testing, a cup of this tea can seemingly lead to a positive result as the tea comes from the same plant as cocaine (source: Wikipedia). Oh, the things you learn! The tin we are keeping this tea in was leftover from some cinnamon tea my aunts brought with them from America when they came for the funeral. They are not so fond of Barry’s Tea as we Irish are so this was their contribution! That tea is all gone now but the box was too pretty to get rid of.

ERika's tea

In my kitchen is some leftover soup. While my mom was away I was in charge of making dinner. We had take-away Indian one night and one disastrous split-pea soup (took longer in the crockpot than it should have and it still had a very “sticky” texture). One meal that was very successful was a vegetable and sausage soup, I had made using left over roasted vegetables from Sunday’s dinner. The sausages were cooked separately in order to accommodate my vegetarian brother. In my family, we don’t always blend our soups instead we tend to like them “chunky”, so while not pretty looking it was quite tasty!

soup

About once a week, my sister has offered me the use of her kitchen to make something – last week’s endeavour was based on a meal I had made my last month in Korea when I ended up not having all the ingredients I needed to make Healthy Recipe Ecstasy’s Crock Pot Chicken and Lentil Curry. I had run out of tinned tomatoes and I was at the point of not buying anything anymore in an effort to use up everything I had on hand. Instead,  I made it into a yogurt curry but I wasn’t completely happy with how long I marinated it. This last week was my second attempt and I’m still not 100% satisfied! I can’t quite remember my vegetable combination either so I need to figure that out, too. My sister is kindly letting me make it again this week. Fingers crossed!

currydishtake1

Last but not least here are some foodie photos from my trip to Edinburgh and London at the beginning of September. One of the highlights was visiting Harry Potter Studios where we tried Butterbeer.

food

And that’s my kitchen! Thanks once again to Celia for this lovely opportunity and I hope to see you all with a new recipe shortly!

 

In My Kitchen – Between three places – September 2015

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When I started writing this post in the middle of July I was really excited to share some final glimpses of my Korean kitchen. I had planned on sharing photos of a few things like my rice cooker that had helped me so much in the 3+ years I had been there. However, the madness that led me to go home early and the subsequent seven weeks have meant that picking up a camera and even writing a little bit has been tough! Technically this kitchen is more of a July Kitchen than an August one as I still am having difficulty having any desire to take a photo or to even cook  but it does show some of the things  from my kitchen that I loved and some of the things I made in my last few weeks in Korea. Additionally, I do have a few things to share from my kitchen at home.

My Korean Kitchen

First up, in my Korean kitchen were these rather wonderful pull out shelves. For anyone who has a small kitchen and/or are incredibly short, they are the perfect solution for extra space.  I find, it’s a lot handier to reach frequently used items like oils, vinegar, soy sauce than having to climb on to a stool to get to the shelves above the counter. I placed them on top of my fridge and I can easily reach 3 of the four shelves. The “baking” shelf is a little harder to reach for me though! Whenever I have a kitchen of my own again, this will be one of the things that I buy.

imk shelves

In my kitchen, was my toaster oven. I bought this  three years ago for less than $50 USD and it was definitely my favourite thing in my kitchen. I’ve made lasagna, shepherd’s pie, roasted a turkey breast and much more in this little thing.

imk toaster ovenSince the last IMK, I have made Jhul’s Nutella French Toast Rollups (pictured below) and Elaine’s Sweet Potato Hummus (not pictured as my camera’s batteries had died). They were both amazing and you should check them out!

Nutella French Toast Rollups

I also had a girls cooking night with some friends. We did this on the 3rd July for 4th July (and for Canada Day). Patriotic cheesecake cake, traditional Canadian butter tarts, blueberry blondies and a twist on the above Nutella French Toast Rollups were made. We had a bbq on the day and all these delicious deserts as well as many other amazing dishes were eaten.

girlsnight4july

RWB Nutella Rollups

And that is everything from my tiny Korean kitchen. I definitely won’t  miss it in it’s entirety but I will miss aspects of it especially since it challenged me to be creative in how I cook.

In my Irish kitchens 

Since coming home I haven’t cooked very much – except for sausages. I really, really missed Irish sausages in Korea. They are so full of flavour and are great no matter how they are cooked: grilled, roasted, fried, baked, boiled… you name it! Sausages are my dad’s favourite food and he likes to have them as often as possible. For us that’s on the weekend but if he got his way it would probably be every day!

I really got into making my balsamic roasted tomatoes.  I made them for my sister when she got out of hospital (I have a new niece!) and I offered to make dinner for her. I don’t have any photos of the spread  but I made a few salads and these tomatoes to be served with some hummus on french rolls. My sister and brother-in-law were impressed and since then I’ve made three more batches. They keep well for around a week (Ok, they could probably keep a little longer but I am still learning a lot about canning, preserving etc) and are handy for sandwiches, salads and pasta dishes galore!

IMG_1520[1]

In my kitchen (my Mam’s kitchen to be precise). I have a jar of Tesco brand roasted peppers. This is the next project that I want to do when I get back from my holidays: make my own roasted peppers and preserve them.

jarroastedpeppers

Lastly, my friend Kate is visiting me and we went to an Afternoon Tea at Gallaher’s Bistro. This is my third Afternoon tea in about a month and my second time there. It’s great fun and for one who wants to do something a little different with their friends, or on a trip to Ireland.

tea

Be sure and check out the rest of the In My Kitchen posts available at Celia’s wonderful Fig Jam and Lime Cordial blog. Every month, Celia hosts this series with bloggers contributing from all across the world. It’s definitely worth a look see. I love to browse all the entries at the end of the day in work –  a little treat for finishing my tasks or at home with a cup of tea. I usually pick two or three every few days. It’s a great way to make some pleasant reading for the whole month!

Warm Cashel Blue Cheese, Avocado and Balsamic Roasted Tomato Salad

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“[Salad] freshens without enfeebling and fortifies without irritating.”

~ Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Well, it’s been two months since I last posted a recipe and man, has it been a very eventful two months. To begin with, as any regular followers of this blog would know, I was planning to leave Korea and return to my native Ireland in August 2015. I had been planning to return to Ireland for about a month before heading off on the Camino in sunny Spain. The Camino is a very, very long walk and the route I was going to take was around 700km. I was going to have some friends join me at different points for a few days. After that, it was going to be a winter of study preparation in order to do a CELTA course in the spring, plenty of cooking, and tons of walking.

Unfortunately, my sister’s death meant that I returned home two weeks early and all my plans got a little topsy turvy. The unexpectedness of her death and the amount of time it took to get her home, combined with an injured knee and general unfitness, led me to push my Camino trip off until the spring. Instead, over the last sevenish weeks since her death (three weeks since her burial), I’ve been working on promoting her final act of charity (she had been a Catholic Missionary in Liberia). Her final project before her death was to raise money for a summer program. If you are interested, you can donate to this program up until the 15th September when we will close the fundraising.

http://www.gofundme.com/liberiamission

My sister and me, on my last visit home.

My sister and me, on my last visit home.

So what does the future hold for me now? Over the next few weeks I am going to travel around Ireland and the UK  with Kate and then I will come back to Ireland and start my study a bit earlier than I had originally planned. I want to just spend time with my family. I don’t want to have any regrets in my life. I want to live life fully, just like my sister did. Granted, I can’t be exactly like her – we are totally different people with many interests that didn’t even remotely correspond. One way to live my life more fully and to have fewer regrets was to get this cooking blog back on track. I had planned on doing at least one recipe before leaving Korea and a few before heading on the Camino. Instead this will be my first one in two months and it will be a couple of weeks before I get the next one out. Luckily, I have a few recipes on the back burner that I had been testing in Korea, so I just need to retry them here at home.

The following recipe was one I had been playing around with in Korea over the last few months. Since coming home, I’ve made several batches of my balsamic roasted tomatoes for my family and I wanted to somehow incorporate them into this recipe. I drew inspiration not only from warm salads but also from the presentation of one of my favourite Korean foods: Bibimbap. Last year, on a trip to Jeonju my fellow Native English Teachers and I were involved in a competition to make the best bibimbap.  The colours and layout of bibimbap is very beautiful and I loved mimicking that in this recipe. Instead of rice, I used couscous as I think it lends itself a little better to this salad. It also is one of the easiest things to prepare – some instant couscous, olive oil, and hot water.

Bibimbap

Bibimbap

My favourite elements of this salad are the crisp freshness of the cucumber, the sweetness of the balsamic roasted tomatoes and the sharp bitterness of blue cheese. Additionally, I forgot the spinach but it is my usual go-to green for this salad. The warmth in this salad comes from the couscous and spiced potatoes. So without much further ado, I present the salad:

Warm Blue Cheese, Avocado and Balsamic Roasted Tomato Salad

Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1 small potato, diced
  • ¼ tsp chili flakes
  • ¼ tsp paprika
  • ¼ tsp basil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 3-5 tbsp cooked instant couscous*
  • ½ yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 3 scallions, sliced on the diagonal
  • 2 -3 tbsp balsamic roasted tomatoes**
  • ½ cup cucumber, diced
  • ½ avocado, diced
  • ¼-½ cup Cashel blue cheese***
  • handful of spinach (optional)

Method

  1. Get a large almost flat bowl with a low rim and set aside.
  2. In a plastic lunch bag add ½ tbsp of olive oil, chili flakes, paprika, basil, salt, and pepper. Mix the seasonings and the oil together.
  3. Add the diced potato and ensure that the seasoned oil coats the potato.
  4. Meanwhile, heat some oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. You want enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Once hot, add the seasoned potato and cook until browned, stirring occasionally.
  5. In the bowl, arrange the remaining ingredients thus, leaving room in the centre for the couscous, and a section for the potatoes: avocado, blue cheese, scallion, yellow pepper, cucumber, balsamic roasted tomatoes.
  6. Once cooked add the potatoes between the tomatoes and the avocado.
  7. Use around 3-5 heaped tbsp of cooked couscous in the middle.
  8. Drizzle some oil from the balsamic roasted tomatoes onto the couscous and toss the salad. Photograph as necessary and eat with gusto!

*This recipe only requires a few tablespoons of cooked couscous. However, I usually make up about a cup at a time and set aside the remainder for the next days’ meals. To make couscous, pour what you think you will eat into a heatproof bowl. Drizzle some oil or add a tsp of butter to the couscous. Top immediately with boiling water; I always use an electric kettle to boil mine. The water should just cover the couscous. Cover the bowl immediately with a plate or lid and leave it to stand for 5-10 minutes. I usually use the time it takes to cook the couscous to prepare my remaining vegetables. After 10 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork and use immediately. If you aren’t using it all straight away, remove what you are eating and place the remainder in a container in the fridge.

** I love these balsamic roasted tomatoes and they have become a popular lunch item in my sister’s kitchen as well. Since coming home I have made these several times, (in fact when we have tons of cherry tomatoes in the house, my mam suggests that I make my oven tomatoes thingy to use some of them up!) and now I make enough to store in a sterilised jar. They are really handy for sandwiches, salads and pasta. If storing in a jar, refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.

***I used Cashel Blue Cheese in the  photographed version, but you can use your favourite blue cheese instead if you can’t locate this one. Cashel Blue Cheese is an Irish Blue Cheese  that is available all over the world, including New Zealand, Australia, USA, Ireland, UK and online.

TIPS

Even healthier options: Add some black beans or green lentils to your salad for that extra healthy kick. You could also leave off the blue cheese for a lactose-free version. For a gluten-free version, substitute quinoa for the couscous.

For an even warmer salad: Make the balsamic roasted tomatoes (they need about an hour) to serve right from the oven.

For a larger crowd: Double all the ingredients and use as starter or side dish.