Food Minia

Rhubarb is such an odd fruit.  It's almost a twisted fact of nature that rhubarb is great at this time of year, just as we should be donning our suncream and sunglasses.  Then you have a spring like this one.  Days of dismal rain and almost tempted to switch on the central heating. So rhubarb suddenly has a strange purpose.  The joy, if you like, in the drizzled disappointment of British weather! After initial reluctance, my son loved this cake and so did I.  It lasted for 2 further days in a tin and I also froze some wedges which defrosted in the microwave beautifully. Great served warm as a pudding with silky double cream or custard or cold as a cake.  Ok, I'm not winning any prizes on health here but I figure it's still healthier than a chocolate bar, and, cream aside, it's pretty low in fat. Rhubarb Cake - makes 1 large cake Ingredients 60g, 2oz Margarine 300g, 10.5oz Sugar (I used a mix of half white and half dark soft brown sugar which gave lovely little toffee f

Cauliflower pakoras are something I'd never made before until recently, but as part of my 7 a day challenge I made some vegetable pakoras using peas and loved them.  When I moved house a few days back and restocked my cupboards (including buying some gram flour), the helpful assistant in the shop suggested cauliflower was pretty good and, in fact her favourite.  She also said that fresh spinach was, in her opinion much better in Indian food than frozen. I always like a bit of advice when it comes to cooking so I gave it a go.  The jury is out in the spinach.  In my opinion frozen is just as good but the great thing about baby spinach is you can use it as a salad vegetable or cook with it and it just so happened I had some in my fridge so I went with it. Traditionally I don't think the cauliflower is precooked but although I don't like soggy cauliflower, I'm not overly keen on cauliflower which bites back either so I partially precooked mine.   Caulflower pakoras - ser

Quesadillas was something I used to make for my son when he was very little.  This is a slightly updated version with plenty of sneaky hidden vegetables! Quesadillas - Serves 2 adults and a toddler Ingredients 1 tomato, diced 1 tbsp fresh coriander, cilantro chopped 1/4 Green pepper (capsicum), finely chopped Approx 1-2 inches courgette (zucchini) finely chopped 1/2 tin (drained, 120g, 4oz drained weight) red kidney beans 1 Clove garlic 1/2 tsp mild smoked paprika 45g, 1 1/2 oz Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar 4 tortillas Salsa or chilli sauce, to serve Method Mix the ingredients apart form the cheese tortillas and salsa and heat in a saucepan for 5-10 minutes or until hot through and combined. Spread half the mix on a tortilla, top with half of the cheese then put a second tortilla on top.  Don't be tempted to overfill them as they'll fall apart. Dry fry in a non stick frying pan. When browned on one side, flip by putting a plate on top then turning out and sliding back int

Cannelloni is a surprisingly easy dish to cook for one.  I had made some tomato and pesto soup the other day and the leftovers were in the fridge.  It occurred to me that it would also make a really good pasta sauce.  But I had no cream cheese, no goats cheese, no mince, nothing traditional for a cannelloni filling in the house.  So why not vegetables.  Why not?  You know what, it didn't just work , it was delicious! A great idea for fussy kids not keen on vegetables (or even adults!) Spinach and Carrot Cannelloni - Serves 1 adult or 2 children Ingredients 1/2 a carrot, peeled and grated 20g, 2/3oz Fresh spinach, finely shredded 2 tbsp Single cream (light cream) but any cream could be used 30g, 1oz Extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar 200-250g 7-9oz of homemade tomato and pesto soup 4 tubes cannelloni.  Mine were quite small, weighing 45g, 1.5oz.  Make sure you choose the dried kind which can be cooked without precooking Method Mix the grated carrot, spinach, cream and grate in a t

Glazed tuna, a pretty tasty invention, I have a feeling this would work with any kind of robust oily fish.  The idea is you add the flavour after the cooking so you don't get issues with the sweet sauce burning in the pan.  I enjoyed this and have made it twice already, what's more, fresh or frozen tuna is a great source of Omega 3 (tinned isn't).  It's also great to make something like tuna the star of the show when so often it's just bunged in a sandwich as a cheap protein source, although I have to admit my favourite way to have tuna is sushi but with the sweet gingery notes, this still hits the mark. This isn't mad spicy so should be fine for kids but no babies please as it contains honey. Honey and Ginger Glazed Tuna - Serves 2 adults Ingredients 2 tbsp grated ginger 2 tbsp honey 2 tsp Soy Sauce 1 tsp Sweet Chilli Sauce 1 tsp Sesame Oil 2 Tuna Steaks Spray oil Stir fried vegetables and noodles or salad and rice to serve Method Mix the ginger, honey, soy, c

Chickpea pancakes might sound like an odd proposition for breakfast but bear with me.  Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour or 'Besan' has a distinctive, savoury taste but there is something delicious about that served with syrup, just like that salty sweet combo of bacon and syrup is something fantastic, so was this. The amazing thing about chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour is it has over double the amount of protein compared with wheat flour which makes them amazingly filling so a great start for the day, and, handily for coeliacs (or people choosing to avoid gluten), it's naturally gluten and wheat free. The verdict was "nice but not quite as good as the normal ones" from the household, I disagreed.  I really liked them and I felt seriously full until lunch. Gluten Free Pancakes - Makes enough for 3-4 Ingredients Batter 225g, 8oz Chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour (besan) 2 tsp Gluten free baking powder 1 tsp Cinnamon 2 Apples, grated (including skin but excluding the core