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| Recipe of the week... ... Roasted Veg & Halloumi Salad |
Ingredients: 200g carrots, 200g parsnips, 1 red onion, 1
clove of garlic, 1 red chilli, cooking oil, 300g halloumi, 1 orange, 1 small
handful of fresh parsley, salt and pepper
Serves: 2 bowlfuls of salad
Time taken: 45 mins max
Hi readers,
How are you all today? Are you faring well?
As I write, it’s a Tuesday afternoon in Spring. We’ve sun
and cloud in Sheffield, which is an improvement on this morning’s gloom and
drizzle. Slowly but surely, we’re all adjusting to darker mornings and lighter
evenings after the clock’s turned at the weekend.
Some clocks, anyway. We’re all still finding rogue watches
and kitchen devices with winter time, trying to catch us out. And will be for
weeks to come. But, it feels like summer. Weekday evenings suddenly hold great
potential for a beer garden or a barbeque, sitting out in the garden with a
book, running in a t-shirt and shorts.
What might become of your summer? It’s exciting, to not
know.
Meanwhile, for now, I have a few recommendations which might
brighten your Spring…
--
RANDOM
RECOMMENDATIONS
1) FILM: A WRINKLE IN TIME
For no other reason than Oprah. This is a film out at the
cinema right now, based on a fantasy young adult novel, and Oprah stars – in every
sense of the word. She actually glitters on-screen. Oprah’s character is a
witch and she isn’t acting at all – she just IS magical. With show stopping
eyebrows and a selection of lipsticks which dazzle. Go and see.
2) NEW MUSIC FOR SPRING
There’s all sorts coming out at the moment! I’ve been
singing in the shower to Snow Patrol and singing in the car to Janelle Monae.
Keep an ear out and see what you might discover! I recommend tuning into Sunday
Brunch on a weekend for snippets of new songs which they share at the start and
end of each ad break.
3) PEAKWALKING.CO.UK
If you’re local to Sheffield, see HERE for a website with
lots of great walks in the Peak District. I went on the Lathkill Dale Stroll
with a couple of friends at the weekend and we had a great time. You can select
a walk based on the distance you’d like to attempt and the terrain (if, say,
you’re not feeling up to big hills, or don’t have the footwear for walking far off
the beaten track). All the walks are simply and accurately described, easy to
follow, and you learn something along the way!
4) ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE
We just finished reading this book in time for last week’s
Book Club and it went down really well – everyone had positive things to say!
Told in first person, you live the everyday life of Eleanor as it rapidly unravels.
She’s an unusual character and you’ll definitely end the book wanting to be like
her, in one way or another. It’s an interesting, refreshing read. Likely to get
you thinking on the topic of mental health. With a surprise ending.
5) PIZZA HUT
Random, but I went for my tea last night for the first time
in years and had a grand time! They have the salad bar and ice cream station,
same as I remember. And there’s a futuristic fizzy drinks machine now, which
adds flavour shots to your drink as it pours. You can put together any kind of
pizza – the only limit is your imagination. They have vegan cheese now. And I
would HIGHLY recommend your order the onion rings.
--
RECIPE TIME
This weekend I tried out a second Spring recipe from the
March edition of the Co-op’s Food magazine, for a vegetarian and gluten-free Roasted
Veg & Halloumi Salad. This warm salad is packed full of British veg and
makes for a tasty, healthy tea.
I was feeding The Vegan, as it happened, so I enjoyed my
salad topped with halloumi and just subbed my other half’s cheese for a couple
of Quorn vegan burgers instead. This maybe didn’t make for such a good-looking
bowlful of food, but was well received nonetheless. If you’re feeding a vegan, I
would recommend. Or perhaps try roasting some seeds/nuts/chickpeas for a
non-vegetable topping to the dish?
Fancy giving this Roasted Veg & Halloumi Salad a try,
readers? Here’s the recipe in just seven simple steps…
--
Recipe: Roasted Veg
& Halloumi Salad
Ingredients: 200g carrots, 200g parsnips, 1 red onion, 1
clove of garlic, 1 red chilli, cooking oil, 300g halloumi, 1 orange, 1 small
handful of fresh parsley, salt and pepper
1.
Set a little music playing, open a window wide,
stretch really tall. Maybe make a brew? Try to clear your mind as you peel an
orange and break into segments, removing as much of the pith as you can.
2.
Heat the oven to 200C and line a baking tray with
greaseproof paper.
3.
Begin with some veg prep. You want to chop your
carrots and parsnips into batons, cut your onion into wedges, chop your
parsley, finely chop your clove of garlic, and deseed then finely chop your chilli.
4.
Add the veg, garlic and chilli to your lined
baking tray along with a splash of cooking oil, toss together until well
coated, then season with salt and pepper. Roast for half an hour, turning
halfway through.
5.
Take a 20-minute break! Do something special
with this little window of time.
6.
Then heat a nonstick pan. Slice the halloumi and
brush with a little oil, and fry for a minute or so on each side.
7.
Once roasted, carefully remove the veg from the
oven and spoon out into a couple of dishes. Top with the orange segments and sliced
halloumi and serve, sprinkled with fresh parsley.
--
What do you reckon, readers? Might you give this recipe a
go? Do the pics take your fancy? Can you handle the heat of half a chilli per person??
Are you open minded enough to try a dish that combines parsnip and orange?? An
interesting combination, some might say.
I recommend. With little effort, you can pull together a
colourful, tasty, healthy, filling tea for two. This can easily be presented
nicely, lending the impression more work went into it than is really the case.
There are no expensive or difficult-to-source ingredients. It’s something a bit
different!
While we’re not quite into Summer yet, I’ll be enjoying a
warm salad on a light Spring evening. With a refreshing bev and good company.
Will you?
Please send in your stories from the kitchen and feedback on
this recipe, readers! Do you have any tips for success with the dish, or
suggestions on how it could be improved, perhaps? A version 2.0?
Wishing you all wonderful, calm rest of your week. Take
care, readers.
And roast safely,
Hayley
