Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Watercress’

Honey & Soy Glazed Salmon with Green Quinoa

Posted in Fish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 23 February 2023| Leave a Comment »

And so we’ve realised that we do like quinoa after all. This green salad is delicious and the quantity given below is half that suggested by Neven Maguire. Feel free to double if you think you can manage it.

Wine Suggestion: We think this suits a young, fruit forward Cabernet Franc like Olga Raffault Cuvée Domaine. Unoaked and joyful dark cherry fruits with a crispness and earthiness that really complements the kale, spinach and watercress.

Honey and Soy Glazed Salmon with Green Quinoa – serves 4

  • 100ml soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • a good pinch of chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 4 salmon fillets, skin on

FOR THE QUINOA:

  • 75g quinoa
  • 150ml vegetable stock
  • 50g curly kale, remove the stalks
  • 50g baby spinach
  • 50g pistachios, toasted and chopped
  • 40g watercress
  • ½ an avocado, diced
  • ¼ cucumber, deseeded and finely diced
  • 1 tbsp chopped coriander
  • lime wedges, to garnish

Rince the quinoa then put into a small saucepan with the vegetable stock and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 10-12 minutes until tender and the stock has been absorbed. Tip into a large bowl and leave to cool.

Put the soy sauce, honey and chilli flakes into a small bowl and whisk to combine.

Prep the rest of the ingredients for the quinoa and fold them gently in to the cooled quinoa. Taste and season with salt and black pepper.

Season the salmon fillets, then heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the rapeseed and sesame oil, then fry the salmon fillets, skin side up, for 2-3 minutes, until lightly golden. Turn them over gently and cook for another 4 minutes. Turn the heat to hight and pour in the honey and soy mixture. Allow to simmer for a couple of minutes, spooning the sauce over the salmon, it should thicken to a syrupy sauce.

Put the quinoa onto a large serving platter and sit the salmon fillets on top. Drizzle over the syrupy sauce and garnish with the lime wedges.

(Original recipe from More Midweek Meals by Neven Maguire, Gill Books, 2022.)

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Barley with Roasted Kohlrabi, Tomatoes & Watercress Salsa

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Vegan, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on 9 July 2022| Leave a Comment »

We don’t think we’ve ever roasted kohlrabi before but they have it in our local farm shop so we thought we’d give it a go. We mostly see it raw in salads but have to say it is absolutely lovely when roasted. The recipe is simple though there are a few bits to it. Try the roasted kohlrabi if nothing else.

Wine Suggestion: A medium bodied, pure fruited red like Olga Raffault’s Chinon les Barnabés which has a charming perfume and an array of purple and red fruits sitting lightly on top of a deep core. For this dish you need that juxtaposition of purity and depth to play alongside the earthy range of flavours.

Barley with roasted kholrabi, tomatoes & watercress salsa – serves 4 as a main

  • 4 small kohlrabi
  • 4 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained and finely chopped (optional)
  • 140ml olive oil, plus a bit extra to drizzle
  • 1 large head of garlic, cut a slice off the top to expose the cloves, plus 4 extra cloves, crushed
  • 300g ripe cherry tomatoes
  • 300g pearl barley
  • 2-3 banana shallots, finely sliced
  • 2 tsp caraway seeds
  • 5 strips of lemon zest and 2 tbsp juice, plus some wedges to serve
  • 1 red Scotch bonnet chilli
  • 3 tbsp tomato purée
  • 150ml dry white wine
  • 100g watercress
  • 60ml double cream (optional if you don’t want dairy but nice if you do)

Preheat the oven to 190C fan.

Trim and peel the kohlrabi, then cut them into 8 wedges (more if you have any big ones). Put them into a large bowl and toss with the anchovies, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 crushed garlic cloves, ½ tsp of salt and plenty of black pepper. Spread them out over a tray lined with baking paper.

Put the whole garlic bulb onto a piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and season with a little salt and pepper. Wrap the bulb tightly in the bulb, then place it in the corner of the baking tray with the kohlrabi. Put the tray in the oven to roast for 25 minutes.

Turn the kohlrabi pieces over, then add the tomatoes to the tray and continue to roast for another 20 minutes, or until the kohlrabi wedges are soft and deep brown and the tomatoes are blistered. Turn the oven off, then leave the tray in there to keep warm.

While the vegetables are cooking, put the barley into a medim-sized saucepan and cover with lots of cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes or until almost cooked but still with a bite. Drain and set aside.

When the vegetables are cooked, remove the garlic bulb in the foil. Put a large sauté pan over a medium-high heat with 50ml olive oil, the roasted garlic, remaining 2 cloves of crushed garlic, the shallots, caraway seeds, lemon peel strips, Scotch bonnet, and 2½ tsp salt. Gently fry for 12 minutes, stirring, until the shallots are soft and golden brown.

Add the tomato purée and cook for 30 seconds before adding the wine, 500ml of water and lots of black pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 7 minutes, then add the cooked barley and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Discard the Scotch bonnet and the lemon peel.

Whizz half the watercress, the lemon juice, 60ml of olive oil and ¼ tsp of salt in the small bowl of a food processor until smooth.

Transfer the barley to a large serving bowl. Drizzle over the watercress salsa and cream over the barley and gently swirl them in. Top with the rest of the watercress, then the roasted kohlrabi and tomatoes. Serve with extra lemon wedges.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage, Ebury Press, 2020.)

Read Full Post »

Chopped Chicken Salad

Posted in Chicken, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 11 May 2021| Leave a Comment »

You should try this the next time you have some leftover roast chicken. In fact, it’s even worth cooking some chicken specially. Great for lunch with some fresh bread and butter.

Chopped Chicken Salad – serves 4 (generously)

  • 2 cooked chicken breasts, diced (or just use some leftover roast chicken which is what we did)
  • 3 celery sticks, diced
  • 4 scallions, sliced into rounds
  • ½ cucumber, deseeded and diced
  • 100g radishes, thinly sliced
  • 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 tarragon sprigs, leaves finely chopped
  • 2 thyme springs, leaves only
  • 1 heart of romaine lettuce or Little Gem lettuce, finely chopped
  • 50g watercress, stems finely chopped and leaves left whole
  • 50g rocket, roughly chopped
  • 50g Parmesan, finely grated

FOR THE DRESSING:

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • ½ tsp runny honey
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed

You need to start with a very large bowl, big enough to toss all of the salad ingredients together in.

Make the salad dressing in the bowl by whisking all of the ingredients together with some salt and black pepper.

Add the chicken to the dressing in the bowl and toss to coat. Fold in the chopped celery, scallions, cucumber, radishes and cherry tomatoes, then the herbs. Stir it all together and season with salt and black pepper.

When you are ready to serve, add the lettuce, watercress, rocket and Parmesan to the bowl. Toss everything together and serve as it is or tip out onto a large serving dish.

(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers’ One Pot Wonders by Si King & Dave Myers, Seven Dials, 2019.)

Read Full Post »

Mussels with Watercress & Bacon

Posted in Fish, Food, Gluten-free, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on 20 April 2021| 2 Comments »

We loved this mussel dish from Gill Meller’s book, Gather. Mussels, watercress and bacon are a truly fabulous combination, but not one we’d thought of before. Our farm shop had landcress rather than watercress available so that’s what we used, but it’s very similar, just not grown in running water. Cleaning mussels is a job I love and hate in equal measure, same with cleaning mushrooms. 

Wine Suggestion: A new find – the Quinta de Chocapalha Arinto from near Lisbon in Portugal; zesty citrus and hints of saltiness. So fresh and tasting of days at beachside restaurants eating mussels, helpful when travel is restricted.

Mussels with watercress and bacon – serves 2

  • 2-4 rashers streaky bacon
  • a small knob of butter
  • ½ a small onion, sliced
  • 1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 1kg mussels, cleaned
  • 150g watercress, plus extra to serve

Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan, then cook the bacon for 6-8 minutes, or until crispy. Keep warm.

Put a knob of butter and a spoon of bacon fat from the pan into a large sauce pan. Heat until bubbling, then add the onions and garlic and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes or until the onion is soft but not coloured, then add the mussels with 2 tbsp of water. Bring to the boil, then cover the pan with a lid and shake gently. Cook the mussels for a couple of minutes or until the shells are just open. Throw away any that don’t open.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the mussels from the pan into a warm bowl, leave the onion and cooking liquor behind on the heat. Cover the mussels with a tea towel and put somewhere warm. You need to work quickly now to make the sauce while the mussels stay warm.

Put the watercress into the pan and cook for a minute or two until wilted, then tip into a  food processor and purée until smooth. This should be quite thick so if it’s too liquid, put it back into the pan and boil off the excess liquid over a high heat.

Put a generous spoon of purée on each plate with the mussels, crispy bacon and a little fresh watercress.

(Original recipe from Gather by Gill Meller, Quadrille, 2017.)

Read Full Post »

Watercress & Scallion salad

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 2 May 2018| Leave a Comment »

Watercress & Scallion salad

We love this green salad with barbecues as the scallions taste amazing and you’re not likely to get the barbecue out just for a green salad.

Watercress & scallion salad – serves 8 to 10

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 shallots, sliced into fine rings
  • 2 tsp caster sugar
  • 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 3 bunches scallions, trimmed
  • 4 bunches of watercress (or failing that a bag of mixed salad leaves as we had to resort to this time but it we prefer it with watercress)

Heat a pan over a medium heat, then fry the shallots for a few minutes with a splash of oil, then add the sugar and vinegar. Bring to the boil, then set to one side.

Toss the scallions in a little oil then cook on a hot barbecue for a a couple of minutes on each side (use a griddle pan if that’s easier). Put the scallions in a bowl with the shallots and the rest of the olive oil. Season and toss with the watercress.

(Original recipe by James Martin IN: BBC Good Food Magazine, April 2008)

Read Full Post »

Watercress, cucumber & radish salad

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , on 25 September 2017| Leave a Comment »

Watercress, cucumber & radish salad A lovely later summer salad. We used mixed radishes from our garden – red, white and everything in between. Freshly picked they had a wonderful peppery kick that we never seem to get from shop bought radishes.

Watercress, cucumber & radish salad – serves 8

  • 1 cucumber
  • 200g watercress
  • 300g baby radishes, halved if large

FOR THE DRESSING:

  • 6 tbsp natural yoghurt
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 sprig of dill, leaves only, chopped

Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together in a bowl, then season.

Peel the cucumber into long, thin strips using a vegetable peeler. Discard the seedy part.

Toss the watercress, cucumber and radishes together in a serving bowl and toss with the dressing.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food.)

Read Full Post »

Roasted beetroot with watercress & horseradish apple sauce

Posted in Healthy, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 5 December 2010| Leave a Comment »

This is the first of three side dishes which we served with a delicious baked ham (scroll down to see the other dishes and final result).

If you are having guests between now and Christmas we highly recommend this tasty menu (much of which can be prepared in advance). We served this up on a Friday night after work, as part of the Irish Foodies Christmas Cookalong,  and it was entirely hassle free.

We boiled the ham and roasted the beetroot the night before.

Menu to serve 8:

  • Ginger beer & tangerine glazed ham
  • Roasted beetroot with watercress & horseradish apple sauce
  • Chilli & tangerine braised lentils
  • Roasted cauliflower with garlic, bay & lemon

Roasted beetroot with watercress & horseradish apple sauce (to feed 8 as a side dish)

1kg raw unpeeled beetroot

2 apples, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cider or red wine vinegar

6 tbsp freshly grated horseradish

4 tbsp soured cream

watercress

  • Heat oven to 180C (gas 6). Leave the beetroot whole – wash and pat dry.
  • Wrap individually in foil and roast until tender (1-2 hours depending on how big they are). Cool in the foil before peeling.
  • Heat a small frying pan and toss in the apples with the sugar and a tbsp of water. Cover and cook until mushy. Remove from the heat, add the vinegar and whizz in a food processor (or use a hand blender).
  • Stir the horseradish and sour cream into the sauce and season with salt.
  • To serve, cut the beetroot into wedges, put in a bowl and mix with the sauce. Serve on a bed of watercress.

Click here for original recipe from BBC Good Food.

Read Full Post »