Lunch: Lemon Balm Drizzle Cake and Indian Inspired Potato and Chickpea Salad

Some of my colleagues and people I am meeting through Zoom are saying that they are losing track of days, but I am like - Is it Friday yet ? 

I have been busy at home during a crisis trying to work.  In fact, I think I am sure I am working harder from home more than i ever did in the office, unless it feels that way from staring at the computer screen for hours on end. But on balance, working from home means my lunch has never been so good.  

There always seems to be cake of my own making of course! 

I  teased some of you with a glimpse of this Lemon Balm  Drizzle Cake in my In My Kitchen blog post, but here it is in all its golden gorgeousness. 

Lemon Balm also known as Melissa Balm is a lemon scented perennial herb.  I often infuse the  lemon balm leaves (like mint) in hot water and drink like a herbal tea.  It can also be used in a number of recipes  like ice-cream and custard, but here I added it to cake. 

The 'Lemon Balm - Lemon Drizzle Cake' was splendid, with flecks of green lemon balm running through it, I even topped the outside with lemon balm leaves for adornment. Only comment, perhaps it could have been a bit more lemony, but I know whay that was - I did not have enough lemons, so made do with what I had.

Also a change from sandwiches and pasta salads, I made a Indian inspired Chickpea Salad Potato Salad smothered in mild spices and mango chutney.  I don't think my mother would approve, but I know my nephews and nieces would.  It was still warm when we ate it and I liked that as often my salads at work are cold or just room temperature. 

This lockdown potato salad recipe comes from The Guardian to which we subcribed to about a month ago. To be honest we should have subscribed to it a while back as it perhaps the only online newspaper that I consistently read for news, not just recipes. 

And the 'Lemon Balm Drizzle Cake' comes from Mary Berry which you can find online.  I substituted lemon balm for Lemon Verbena Drizzle Cake.  

I am sharing  this Indian Inspired Potato and Chickpea Salad with Kahakai Kitchen, for Souper Sundays,  a space where bloggers can come share together to share homemade comfort foods like soup, salads sandwiches.

Sweet Potato and Blackeye Bean Soup

My toes have been cold. I think i may need to get myself some slippers when things return to some form of normality, as the thick slipper socks just ain't keeping my toots warm.  Feeling nippy also makes me hanker for a good bowl of homemade soup, both to warm my hands which are also often cold and for my belly.  

We have an abundance of sweet potatoes in the house, as one of our back up meals during the working week is often Double Potato Feta Bake, so it wasn't that hard to make soup with what we had at home.  I also have a stash of blackeye beans, so something a little more heartier was called for. 

We are eating twice a day, namely brunch and then supper, but sometimes in between we want something light and its a welcome excuse for us to have a lunch break at home from the solitary work, so soup is a good solution.  

This Sweet Potato and Blackeye Bean Soup was a well flavoured soup, not just from the sweetness from the sweet potatoes, but also hints from the other herbs, namely the sage.  I haven't had blackeye beans for a little while, so the soft nuttiness added both flavour and melt in the mouth texture.  On the last day of eating and reheating the soup, the sweet potatoes disintegrated completely. 

I am sharing this  Sweet Potato and Blackeye Bean Soup with Soup, Salad and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Other Blackeye Bean recipes
Aubergine, Black-eyed peas, Pepper and Coconut Pot
Baked BBQ  Blackeyed Peas and Rice
Black-Eyed Bean and Lemon Hot Pot
Black-eyed Bean and Squash Stew with Preserved Lemon
Blackeye bean and Vegetable Crumble.
Cajun Blackeyed Peas with Summer Vegetables 
Ginger Blackeyed Peas

Savoury Cherry Tomato Clafoutis with Coriander and Cumin

The red food phase continues.

Today I share with you a Savoury Cherry Tomato Clafoutis - I made this on Sunday after teasing D all summer that it would be the first dish I would make with his homegrown tomatoes, it wasn't though.

Traditional clafoutis is a sweet batter dessert made with black cherries, this savoury version is adapted from a cookbook and I have had it bookmarked for a long long time.  The original recipe uses basil, but of course I had to inject my own into it with spices and stronger herbs.

I made two versions, one basil (above) and the other coriander, chili and cumin  - you can see from the difference between the two if you look closer. 

Don't they look fancy in the gratin dishes?!.  I got the gratin dishes for the vegetarian café and sadly don't get used much these days as they are tucked away in boxes, so it was nice to bring them out and make the dish a bit more fancy.

The clafouti had puffed up wonderfully like a soufflé, but then fell back down whilst D was taking these photographs (see the golden sides).  It is one of the most delicious dishes I have had for a long while.

Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans

A little while back, I was lucky to stumble upon a vegetable market with reasonable priced vegetables and 2 proper bunches of herbs for £1.50.  I mixed it up with dill, coriander, parsley and mint.

After making the Iranian Pearl Barley Soup known as Ash-e Jo or Ash-e-Jow . I was looking forward to making and eating this Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans.  I have been intrigued by it for a long time, but never got round to making it at home until now.

I know the green bobbing on the top looks like green olives, but its actually dried limes.  I showcased it early on in the month In My Kitchen blog post if your interested in seeing what it looks like in dried form.  Its the first time I have used dried limes in cooking which was interesting, they certainly do impart an interesting soured flavour that I don't think would have been captured by lime zest or even lime juice. 

I am sharing this Iranian  Ghorme Sabzi - Iranian Herb Stew with Kidney Beans with #EatYourGreens Vegetarian and Vegan Blog challenge hosted by me this month and the event is also co-hosted by The VegHog.  Please do join in.  For those of you who have not participated before, please Follow this link on how to join in .  I am also sharing this green bowl with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.; and as this Stew contains a whole tin of kidney beans with My Legume Love Affair #118 hosted by Vidhya's Vegetarian Kitchen.  The challenge was initiated by  Susan and hosted by Lisa's Kitchen. 

Coriander Potato, Red Pepper and Corn Salad

I am quite pleased with myself today.  I feel like between the two of us, we have accomplished something.

We got up and spent all morning in the garden allotment plot while the summer sun was out for Springtime.  D tied back the unruly climbing and trailing rose stems.  He also transferred some of the herbs into bigger plots. I cleared a plot today and whilst I was weeding, I found myself  actually enjoying the weeding, removing the woven weeds from the soil was quite therapeutic.  My body will ache in a couple of days, but that's its way of saying - exercise more.  I will share progress later in the week as we intend to spend some more time in the garden allotment plot either later today or tomorrow (providing the heavy rain stays away).

I was also quite pleased  to have some left over salad in the fridge (a bit like this one) as I did not want to make something having spent hours in the garden toiling.  

This particular Coriander Potato, Red Pepper and Corn Salad was made a while back with what we had in the house having not been out grocery shopping that weekend.

I know some people are not that keen on coriander, my youngest brother being one of them - but I love it. So this Coriander Potato, Red Pepper and Corn Salad appealed to me.  The zesty coriander injected flavour into mediocre new potato's from the supermarket, the red pepper gave it crunch and colour and the tinned sweetcorn, burst of sweetness.  Once you took a forkful, your mouth is further teased by the popping of mustard seeds.  I liked it. 

I am sharing this Orzo Pasta Salad with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.  

Vegan Green Meatballs

I have made this recipe before, but I called it Hara Masala Kofta aka Green Sauce Meatballs. I had served it with Spaghetti before, this time the Green Meatballs that happen to be vegan, were served with steamed Basmati rice.

The aromatic coriander green sauce clung beautifully to the mock 'meatballs'.  I enjoyed every mouthful.

By the way, my blogger friend The Veg Hog  is hosting #EatYourGreens Vegetarian and Vegan Blog challenge this month, so please do join in.   For those of you who have not participated before, please Follow this link on how to join in.  This Vegan Green Meatball recipe is my contribution to Eat Your Greens this month. 

Preserved Lemon Coriander Orzo Salad

Remember the Preserved Lemon Coriander Salsa that I shared early on this week, well, some of it was stirred through cooked Orzo Pasta to take into work for lunch.

I have to say, it was okay, but it did not work quite as well as the piquancy of the Preserved Lemons did not cling onto the Orzo Pasta so well.  I won't grumble though, it filled a little hole in my belly.  The best part for me was the fragrant coriander, but then I do like coriander very much.  

I am sharing this Preserved Lemon Coriander Orzo Pasta Salad with Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen.  

Preserved Lemon Coriander Salsa

I would not describe myself as an early riser in the morning.  I do like my snug bed, but when it comes to work - I like many working people, have to get up and go.  I am often at work 7am in the morning, if not earlier.

This morning the car journey into work was a little more interesting.  We got to see Venus and Jupiter together in the pre-dawn sky.  I had not tweaked what it was and said out loud to D, 'those stars look like they are going to collide'.  He then mentioned that he had heard on the radio whilst showering something about some astronomical phenomenon happening today at dawn. Well didn't we, well me mostly get lucky to see two of the brightest planets Venus and Jupiter appearing together.  It was truly amazing, a bit like the red sun a couple of weeks ago.   The skies recently have been quite spectacular.

I made this Preserved Lemon Coriander Salsa at the weekend with what we had in the fridge as I could not be bothered to venture far.  Its made mostly from fresh ingredients other than the preserved lemons which came from a jar.

Marrow, Manchego Cheese, White Beans and Sage Pithivier

I made this Marrow, Manchego Cheese, White Beans and Sage Pithivier with some of the marrow that was left over from the Marrow Conserve recipe (featured in the photograph) next to the jars.

I have to admit, I was not overly impressed with the filling whilst I was making it.  It looked a bit simple and boring.  I was also unsure what cheese to use and still had some remnants of Manchego cheese left over from Griddled Summer Vegetable Tart with Manchego Cheese Tart and added that to the mixture when it had cooled down. The puff pastry was filled, folded into pasties and then baked to taken into work the following day for lunch. 

Well surprising  these Marrow, Manchego Cheese, White Beans and Sage Pasties were delicious.  I have to concur with my husband that I too also enjoyed it. 

The following day, I  used the last of the filling to make some into pithivier style, but you can also just top puff pastry sliced like a flat tart or pizza.

Ruby Tandoh's Banana Thyme Cake with Lemon Glaze Made at Home

I have made sweet tarts and cakes with fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary and bay leaves many times; and cakes with ripe bananas many, many times, but not the two combined together. 

So my curiosity was peaked when I found a recipe for Banana Thyme Cake in Ruby Tandoh's new cookbook Flavour.  I have borrowed the cookbook from the library.  I spotted her Crumb: The Baking Book there too, but decided that I would pick that up some other time. 

We always have overripe bananas in the house.  

I have to say the bananas coming into the UK recently have been rather disappointingly bordering on still green and unripe.  We tend to have bananas for our working desktop breakfast or lunch, but recently the bananas brought home have been overlooked until of course they are too ripe and only good for making a sweet bake.

This Banana Thyme Cake was lovely by the way, but the zingy Lemon and Thyme Glaze was the best part and I am not an cake icing person.  You can find the full recipe if you click here and the link will take you to The Guardian. 

Sweet Potato Rosemary Scones (vegan)

You may not be able to see the flecks of green, but I assure you there is some finely minced rosemary in these Savoury  Sweet Potato Scones.   Take a bite and you will not just taste it, but get a gentle waft of it.  

I made these Savoury Sweet Potato Scones over the weekend to accompany a Stew and they worked very well, as these scones are a little on the dry side, but I guess that can be the nature of scones yearning for a spread of some sort to uplift it further.   

Another reason for making these scones was that I had some plant based milk in the fridge that needed using up.  

And in case your wondering, why heart shaped?! Well, I could not find my round scone cutter, so had to use the closest size which was in the shape of a heart. I need more hearts in my life. 

Vegan Hazelnut Swede Lemon Drenched Cake

This prettily dressed up Hazelnut Swede Lemon Drenched Cake has come and gone in our home and while it lasted, it made every one who had a slice or a taste, first crinkle their noses and then purse their lips and nod their heads in approval. It was intriguing. 

For my overseas readers, you may know Swede as Rutabaga.  It is a vegetable that I avoid eating in savoury meals, I find it sweet like parsnips and don't often enjoy it, but hide it in a cake then it takes on a different flavour all together.  I know it won't convince everybody, but all I can say is try it before you pass judgement.

I have made a few dishes with both swede and turnips  of late.  Previous to this blog post you may have seen my Turnip, Kale and White Bean Stew, Swede Mash on top of a Veggie 'Meatball' dish and of course that dark Rutabaga Cinnamon Nutmeg Cake with Miso Caramel Sauce reminisce of Sticky Toffee Pudding.   

I have to admit, at first I also was not sure sbout theHazelnut Swede Lemon Drenched Cake.  I found it a little earthy on some bites, but as each day passed and I had another slice, I came to like it, really like it.   It was unlike anything that I had ever eaten, which made it a delight.  It also loved how the rosemary lemon syrup seeped beautifully into the hazelnut sponge.  

This cake can be made with eggs, or flaxseeds which will make it suitable for vegans or those who do not eat eggs.  Oh did I mention its also gluten free too.  I am sharing this with CookBlogShare hosted by Hijacked By Twins; and Simple and In Season hosted by Feeding Boys - even though Swede is a winter vegetable, you will still find it in the supermarkets springtime and Honest Mum for Brilliant Blog Posts. 

Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa

My first ever experience of a fruit in a salsa was at a deli, the name of the place escapes me - it may not even be there anymore as this was 10 years ago.  

Anyway, it was a salsa made with mangoes.  I have bee n making fruit salsas on and off since.  Last year it was Strawberry Salsa and a few year before that it was Papaya Salsa and way before that Kiwi Salsa.    Today on this bright sunny day, I share you with Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa.  

Handsome Whippet and Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa

Most salsas are made with fresh tomatoes, but this Pineapple Jalapeno one is not but enhanced further with red onions and my absolute favourite herb, fresh coriander.  This salsa was really lovely and complimented the Green Chile, but of course you can dip your tortilla chips in this chunky refreshing salsa. 

On another note, a little while back a fellow blogger asked me about the images in the background of some of my food photographs.  I have been doing this for as long as  I have been blogging.  It was a suggestion introduced to me by my husband as we do not have the luxury of a dedicated space with good (natural) lighting; and also a lack of crockery that comes with food styling for food bloggers, so playing around with images from various sources has been most welcome.  Although not an original ideas, it was nice to see that in doing it on my blog that I had inspired other fellow bloggers in doing this too.
Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa 
Ingredients
Makes enough for six servings
Half fresh pineapple, peeled and diced as small as you can
60g fresh coriander, minced
1 small red onion, peeled and minced
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoon jalapenos from a jar, minced including 2 - 4 tablespoons of its liquid (or use 1/2 lemon or lime juice)
Pinch of salt
Method
In a wide bowl, mix all the ingredients together.
Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to eat.
Good for a few days if kept refrigerated.

Creamy Chestnut Mushroom Blue Cheese Dill Lasagne

A generous portion of Creamy Chestnut Mushroom Blue Cheese Lasagne.

Lasagne is not the easiest to photograph, its a flat dish for a start.

So the best way to sell it to you is with its flavours, but that is a little hard when one of the main ingredients is mushrooms and I am not big on mushrooms, but here goes.... This Creamy Chestnut Mushroom is smothered in Blue Cheese and fresh dill herb.  

I actually made this Creamy Chestnut Mushroom Blue Cheese Lasagne early on in the year, when we had load of cheese left over from the Christmas and New Year - this Creamy Chestnut Mushroom Lasagne was made around the same time as the vegan Pickled Mushroom Strogonoff with Watercress.  Though it can be, this lasagne is not vegan, its made with blue cheese, milk and butter and a garnishing of fresh dill.

I have to confess I don't often make Lasagnes at home that often.  It its one of those dinners that is Ds makes, like weekend breakfast or brunch and coffee made in the cafetiere.    But I did this time as it was my decision to pick up the chestnut mushrooms in a bid to use up the excess cheese. I am sharing this recipe with Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary for No Waste Food Challenge.  

Vegan Chestnut Mushroom Christmas Pull Apart Wreath

I've had a busy weekend, time spent finishing off wrapping the last of the Christmas presents and some planning ahead cooking, one of which is a very time consuming Chestnut Mushroom Wellington.

The Chestnut Mushroom filling was so vast that I made a number of small Mushroom Wellington loafs and put them in the freezer, but I still had plenty of Chestnut Mushroom filling to experiment with.  

At one point, I had thought to make a Pull Apart Christmas Tree, I made one with veggie mincemeat early this year, but then decided on a Pull Apart Wreath. 

My homemade edible wreath is not perfectly round, but I am one of those people that that hates waste, so its kind of square, but I think that is what makes it a little more visually interesting.  However, I am still hoping to make a round wreath again in the future, perhaps with a pizza filling.  

The recipe is slightly adapted from the brilliant Nadine Abensur's Mushroom Wellington filling from The Cranks Bible.  The slight adaptation I make are with the nuts, sometimes I use mixed nuts or just what I have and I often use dried tarragon in place of fresh.  I know Nadine  Abesur would be good to share the recipe, but here's the link that will also take you to her website.  To see step by step instructions for the Pull Apart Wreath, I followed this photograph. 

I have been enjoying participating in Food 'N' Flix, so I am joining in this month again.  The movie chosen this month is Kampus.  I watched it last year.  I originally wanted to make the wicked gingerbread man character in the movie, but with time running out I changed my mind.  Then I spotted the big bowl of Brussels sprouts on the table during the Dinner fight scene, but again I changed my mind making this Christmas Pull Apart Wreath.   My inspiration comes from the opening scene of Krampus you first see a wreath, before the camera slowly scans down to the Black Friday chaotic madness in the supermarket.  I am sharing this Chestnut Mushroom Wreath with Food 'N' Flix hosted by Heather at All Roads Lead To The Kitchen.  

I am also sharing this with  am sharing this post with  Harvest Monday hosted by Dave over Our Happy Acres as the herbs, the bay leaves and rosemary are from my garden, not much else is growing.  Its also an opportunity for me to say Thank you to Dave for hosting and to those who have visited my blog through Harvest Monday - Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year Monday Harvesters!  I hope to participate a bit more regularly come 2017. 

Cold Minted Pasta Salad

I hope your having a good weekend.  We went to Hay on Wye for the day today and got back an hour or so ago, so I won't stay blogging much tonight as I want to make the most of the warm bright evening.  

Instead I leave you with this this cold pasta salad that I made last month.  I made  it around the same time as the vegan summer sushi. 

Avocado Coriander Chilli Spaghetti

This Avocado Coriander Chilli Spaghetti was a throw it in the pan meal.  I make these kinda of meals quite a lot when I get in home from work; and these are the ones that are often not photographed either due to poor lighting or hunger pangs more of a priority than blogging.  

Another thing to say about these kind of meals is that I don't often measure the ingredients and judge it by eye, so it never tastes the same the next time round,  but always hits the hungry spot. 

This Spaghetti Pasta dish is very much like the Butternut Squash dish I made a month or so back, its essentially Spaghetti Pasta Aglio, Olio e Peperonicino or chilli flakes tarted up with soft buttery avocado and zesty herbs, mostly coriander.  And to finish it off, some freshly squeezed lemon juice to give it some zing. 

Curried Root Vegetable Stew with Chilli-Coriander Dumplings

I made this Indo-Anglo Curried Vegetable Stew on Sunday for the working week ahead, the recipe serves 6, but D is a greedy man and can eat for 2, so it ended up being a meal for 2 days (including this evening), rather than 3.  

Stews have been on our evening menu quite a bit lately.  Some of you may remember that I made one early on in the month with Butternut Squash and Kale.  Another reason its been on the menu is that we have both been enjoying the lightness of the dumplings.   This time thought I wanted to give the stew an Anglo-Indian twist with chillies, curry powder and coriander!

Of course you can make your own curry powder, but there are plenty of brands about and if there is one that you like, use it.  I have to be honest, I don't make my own curry powder at all.  My mother or sister in laws give me some when they make it, which in fact is not that often as they don't really use curry powder in their cooking, so I rely on those packets from South Asian and Oriental grocers.  

Anyway, I found the Curried Root Stew was mild for my taste, a little more chilli would have been desired on my part, but it was good none the less.  For me though, the zingy lemony coriander dumplings were the stars as they managed to elevate the stew flavours further.  

The root vegetables were tender, but not quite falling apart melting in your mouth.  I prefer that - had they been over-cooked they would be erring on baby food for me and i am not into mushy food that much. 

D liked this Curried Root Vegetable Stew but suggested serving with something like pickled onions, I'd probably serve it with some mango or lime chutney! 

Dill Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

l have a confession to make.  I don't like mashed potatoes.  It is baby food designed for grown ups. I avoid making it, but if I have to the only way I can eat it is if it is disguised in panko crusted  croquettes or dolloped over a good Vegetarian Shepherdess Pie, but my dearest loves mashed potatoes, so it is for him I make them now and again.  

Here the mashed potatoes are enhanced with herby dill and a good smack of horseradish powder or sauce.

Once you've made it though, there is the question of presentation.   

The mash was ridiculously smooth, so smooth that it almost melted in the mouth like snow - except of course it was warm.