When I was younger, salad was defined as lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber and, if we were lucky, coleslaw and potato salad. My grandma also used to include spring onions, celery and occasionally mustard and cress. How things have moved forward! This salad is so colourful and delicious and once the butternut squash has roasted, it takes no time at all to put together and since it's bursting with nutritional goodness it's ideal to eat as a main course as well as a side.
A few months back we had a fruit bowl overflowing with pears and for a quick dessert my daughter made poached pears quite similar to this recipe. I was reminded of how we had all enjoyed them when I was out shopping this weekend. The conference pears looked so beautiful I decided to buy a few and make her recipe for you all to try.
“When You’re Grain Free and Feeling Like A Nut, But Can’t Eat Tree Nuts or Peanuts!” - this is the theme for the "Go Ahead Honey it's Gluten Free" event hosted by Shirley of GFE - Gluten Free Easily and All Gluten Free Desserts this month. I'm always ready for a challenge and this recipe came about by accident when some cookies I'd created failed! I adjusted the recipe and created a crunchy cereal or topping or snack and it's rather addictive so be careful you don't eat too much!
You wouldn't believe the number of onions we consume in one week! We tend to use two onions a day, at least, and that doesn't include the red onions and shallots we like to roast as well. They are extremely high in flavonoids which tend to be at their highest in the outer skins. One which is worth a mention is quercetin, a potent natural anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory. This can be found in yellow and red onions and is believed to help hay fever sufferers, something some of you may find interesting as we approach the Summer months! High in Vitamin C, onions are also a good source of chromium, copper and manganese.
A week or so ago, I was delighted to find out that my blog is now part of the Sainsbury's Blogger Network so when I was asked to write about my signature dish, I was more than happy to say "yes". But what is my signature dish? I asked the family for some ideas. My husband thought it was my lemon pie recipe. My eldest remembers his favourites from the past and thought it was "square pizza" - I used to make a fantastic home-made pizza.
It was my husband's birthday yesterday and I decided to make my Ginger and Lemon Tart in a glass instead of a birthday cake since life is a little hectic at the moment! I definitely think I should have used smaller glasses though because we only ate half of it but that's a good thing since there's some left for tonight.
Tenderstem broccoli or baby broccoli is one of the sweetest of Spring vegetables. A cross between broccoli and Chinese kale, it was first cultivated in Japan using traditional plant breeding techniques. Nutritionally, it's a great source of vitamins A, C and K as well as calcium and its tender stem is very similar in texture to asparagus.
