Roasted cauliflower with "romesco" sauce, with farfalle and beans

It may not be your traditional pasta dish, but together the flavours were lovely.  All ingredients (except the wine) found inside and outside Todmorden's market.  Oil, garlic, pasta, nuts, roast peppers, herbs and spices from The Mediterranean Pantry - vegetables from the two stalls outside.  Roasting the cauliflower brings out a lovely nutty flavour, but don't leave it in too long, you still want a little crunch left in it.

Olive oil
Cauliflower
Roast red peppers (from a jar)
Garlic
Ground almonds
White wine (optional)
Pasta (farfalle today)
Green beans
Edamame beans (can be bought frozen if you can't find fresh, or omit)
Salad leaves
Radishes

1.  Break the cauliflower into decent sized florets, toss in olive oil and roast at 180 for about 20 minutes.
2.  Meanwhile make the "romesco" sauce.  It might normally be a bit hotter than this one, but I didn't fancy chilli so didn't add any.  Soften crushed garlic gently in olive oil, add chopped red peppers (from the jar) and allow to cook gently.  Add a cup of white wine (or water) and a big handful of ground almonds, simmer for 5 minutes.
3.  Start the pasta cooking in boiling salted water, steam the beans on top.
4.  Remove the sauce from the heat - add it to the cauliflower, toss about in it and put it back in the oven to finish off.
5.  Make a simple salad.
6.  Serve, scoff .... it was very summery and very delicious.

Smoked mackerel and a medley of salads

A sunny day in Todmorden - miracles never cease!  So, a medly of salads for tea tonight.  There is no real recipe for this - boil the pasta, chop vegetables, open a tin and flake smoked mackerel - remember to squeeze lemon onto the avocado, or it will go brown.  I added garlic mayonnaise to my celery, apple and almond salad, but it's not universally liked, so I left it off the main serving.

Tomato and avocado salad

Cherry tomatoes
Finely chopped red onion
Radish
Avocado
Squeeze of lemon juice

Celery and apple salad

Celery
Apple
Almonds
Garlic mayonnaise (optional)

Pasta and mackerel salad

Pasta (random odds and ends of GF today)
Chopped red onion
Sweetcorn
Smoked mackerel

Green leaves
Olive oil
Sherry vinegar

Baked trouts with almonds

Welcome back to the 70s!  I seem to be on a roll with this fish baking malarky at the moment, tonight's was trout circa 1973 with the addition of flaked almonds!

Still simple as .....

Olive oil
Potatoes
Celery
Carrots
Courgette
White wine
Garlic
Trout
Flaked almonds

1.  Wash and chop potatoes, par boil and then roast in olive oil, in a hot oven.  The potatoes will take about an hour - the fish 30 minutes tops.
2.  As the potatoes are roasting prepare the veg - peel and chop and toss in crushed garlic and olive oil.  Place in the bottom of another roasting pan.
3.  Lay the fish on top of the veg and drizzle with olive oil, splash a little white wine on the veg so that it helps create some steam.
4.  Bake fish for about 15 minutes, fling on flaked almonds and bake for 15 more minutes.

Scoff.  Absolutely delicious - check the fish after 20 minutes, you don't want it over cooked - the veg being al dente is no bad thing.

Bring on summer - spicy hake with 3 salads

There was some sun today - hurray! So, I thought I would try to prolong the good sunshiny vibes with a salad dinner.  I had spicy hake, but also chucked a burger in for the victim ... just as well, as spicy fish was properly poo-pooed (silly! was delish).  OK - in order of cooking - beetroot, borlotti bean and mozzarella, coleslaw, waldorf (kind, sorta, ..ish) salads... spicy fish "goujons", green salad.

recipes - such as they are - beetroot, borlotti bean and mozarella salad.  I had beetroot and borlotti beans in the veg box this week, so made it from scratch - vacuum packed beetroot, and tinned beans would be proper tasty, and much less time consuming.  So, starting from the raw state... roast washed (but not peeled) beetroot in a tray with garlic, slosh of olive oil and splash of balsamic until beetroot is soft - I cover tray in foil and test after about an hour, knife should go in with very little resistance.  Meanwhile, pod and then boil borlotti beans - takes about 12 mins from boiling - but depends on beans.  Cool beetroot, cool and drain beans.  Skin beetroot (I always use gloves) and cut into bite sized pieces.  Mix together beetroot pieces, beans, chopped radish, mozarella - torn into bite sized bits, basil leaves, seasoning, olive oil - taste...yum yum - add splash of lemon juice/vinegar if needs a little sharpness.  Sorta waldorf ... well, as kids we hated walnuts, so Mum invented this with almonds... it may have morphed over the years, but it's proper simple, so morph it yourself.. Chop a fair bit of celery into small, but still chunky, chunks, add some chopped onion... chop apple - add - squirt with lemon/lime juice - mix up until all apple has touched acid juice, at this point I added chopped orange and red pepper.  Chuck in handful of almonds, small spoon of mayonnaise, good teaspoon of horseradish and about 2 tbsp of natural yogurt - season - taste, adjust... should be crunchy, savoury and refreshing.  Coleslaw... everyone has their own recipe - but finely shredded red onion, about 3 times as much red cabbage and white cabbage, grated carrot - lemon/lime juice or cider vinegar, and good pinch of rock salt... let sit for 30mins, cabbage will start to soften slightly.  Stir in splodge of mayonnaise and some natural yogurt (adjust proportions depending on whether you are trying to reduce fat (0% mayo lowest fat... all mayo if you are a skinny imp wanting to chunk up).

Spicy fish - was hake (could've been most white fish, tuna or salmon) - cut into strips and tossed in flour and fish curry spices - fried - hot and quick...

Delish.

Lettuce... OK - for completeness - I tossed it in lime juice and a whisper of olive oil.