Summer Porridge

After posts full of cake and chocolate yesterday, I though it was time for something healthier.

This is one of my favourite summer breakfasts and I often have some variation on it. It's so quick and easy, the only hard part is remembering to put the oats to soak the night before!

Start the night before, by putting the oats in a bowl. I use about 40g per person. Pour on your choice of milk until it comes just above the level of the oats. I tend to use oat milk to cut down on the dairy I eat, a good apple juice also works well. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning coarsely grate half an apple per person and stir into the oats. Top with your choice of fruits, I used a mixture of cherries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. It's also good to add some dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots. Sprinkle with a few chopped nuts and drizzle on some good honey, if desired. My favourite is Greek honey which is dark and has an almost caramel like flavour.

Enjoy!

Herby Rainbow Coleslaw

I love summer. The long warm days, light nights and the feeling that there is time to achieve anything. I know this summer hadn't been perfect but, in London at least, we've had enough decent weather to make my mood more buoyant.

This is a quick salad I made on a lovely summers evening. I had some leftover fresh beetroot and decide to make a take on coleslaw.

I shredded beetroot, carrot and cabbage (you could also add onion but I'm not a fan of raw onion) and then added a tarted up mayonnaise.

My friend who is pregnant was eating with us so I used bought mayonnaise to avoid raw egg and enhanced it with a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, seasoning, lemon juice and finely chopped parsley and mint and then mixed it with the vegetables to form a fabulously colourful salad.

This is great with a BBQ or a cooked chicken and salad.


The herbs came from my garden

Pink Lady Apple Sorbet

I love fresh fruity sorbet's and ice creams. There used to be a fab little place in Ealing which sold a huge variety, but since it closed I've been missing my fix.

Although they did more interesting flavours I always really enjoyed their green apple sorbet so decided to have a go at recreating my own version.

I love Pink Lady apples. They are so much sweeter and juicier then most varieties of apple and as they are naturally so sweet it meant I had to add very little sugar.

This recipe is so simple. I started by making a apple purée as the base by cooking 8 apples chopped into rough chunks (pips, skin and all), adding 1 tbsp of caster sugar and the juice of half a lime for some zing plus a small glass of water and cooked until the apples were soft and starting to fall apart. I let it cool for a few minutes and then sieved the mixture to end up with a smooth purée which was a lovely pale pink colour without adding and food colouring. I popped the purée into the fridge to chill.

Once cold I churned in my ice cream maker until frozen.

I have one of the basic ice cream makers which you freeze the bowl and then churn the mixture until frozen. It's not great and I want to buy the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid but unfortunately I can't justify that at the moment. In the meantime it does the job! If you don't have an ice cream maker you can place the mixture in the freezer and give it a good stir every hour or so to break up the ice crystals.

Once frozen either eat immediately or pop into a freezer proof container and freeze until you want to use it.

I served the sorbet by piling spoonfuls into a glass and topping with a spring of mint. Such a lovely, light and relatively healthy pudding.





I am entering this into Kavey Eats Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge this month, which has fruit at the theme.

Jubilee BBQ

What could be more British than planning a BBQ on a slightly rainy bank holiday? BBQs remind me of my childhood. Come rain or shine we would BBQ at every opportunity. I particularly remember the rainy ones. My Grandad getting out the hair dryer to encourage slightly damp coals to burn hotter and my dad holding a golf umbrella over the BBQ whilst I cooked wearing a waterproof particularly stick in my mind.

Fortunately this Saturday the sun broke through the clouds shortly before the fire was lit. I wanted to keep things simple so I made some burgers and chicken and chorizo kebabs. People often think of BBQs are unhealthy but with a little thought they can be healthy and clean.






For the kebabs I took cubes of chicken breast, slices of chorizo and a mixture of vegetables. I threaded them onto skewers and marinated in a simple marinade for about 3 hours. For the marinade I chopped a mixture of parsley, basil and mint, added a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a crushed garlic clove, seasoning and a good glug of olive oil.

The burgers were made by mixing beef mince with an egg, seasoning, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, chopped rosemary and a crushed garlic clove. I then formed them into patties. I added a bit too much egg which made the mixture sticky so I dusted each with flour before cooking.

The trick to a good BBQ, for me, is to constantly turn the meat. Far more often than people normally do and also make sure the grill is not too low. This ensures that the meat doesn't burn before it is cooled.

Here are the cooked kebabs and burgers.


Serve with a green salad and a jug of Pimms to wash it all down! Obviously the Pimms isn't healthy so keep this as a treat!