Hey dhal!

Stokesy got on the case getting dinner ready while I was having my massage. It's a hard life isn't it. So I came home to lentil dhal, cumin/coriander cauliflower (cauli from the veggie box) and real poppadoms (fried by me).

For the cauliflower........cut into small florets then boil until tender. Drain and allow to dry. Heat some oil in a pan, then add cumin and coriander seeds until they crackle. Now chuck your cauli back in and stir fry until hot. finish with a big pinch of salt.

The secret to getting lovely crispy and non-greasy poppadoms is to get your oil really hot before you throw them in the pan. then they are in the oil for the minimum time.

Cardamon and Banana Raita

Fancy a light delicately flavoured dessert? Simply combine the following ingredients:

200ml natural yoghurt - I like YeoValley the best
1 banana, sliced
Handful raisins (soak these in water for 10 mins to really plump them up)
Squeeze of honey
6 cardamon pods - take the seeds out and grind to a fine powder
Handful of almonds - toast then smash into pieces

Throw the whole lot in a big bowl, stir stir stir. Eat eat eat

Red fried rice

Hmmm Monday night dinner, always a tricky one. Especially tricky when you crash out on the sofa til 9pm oops! And watching trash TV too........'How clean is your house', I love those girls.

So peeling my eyes open at 9pm and responding to my growling stomach.......modern woman hunts for leftovers in the fridge. Aha some rice (short grain brown, gorgeous texture), red curry paste (made in a large batch last week).

In a big frying pan fry this lot for 5 minutes.......the curry paste, a little coconut milk, pinch of stock powder and splash of fish sauce. Now add the rice, mix mix mix and heat very thoroughly so you don't get food poisoning. for the last couple of minutes add the prawns and some finely sliced peppers. We had this with a pile of steamed kale and a big squeeze of lime juice.

From the veg box......Roasted Baby Leeks

The baby leeks from Dot's veg box were just gorgeous. Produce like this needs such little tweaking meaning less work for me....yippee. So trim then blanch for 2-3 mins in boiling salted water. Put them in a roasting dish, splash of olive oil, a few slices of garlic, salt and pepper. I would have added a little red wine vinegar but I couldn't get the lid off the bottle :o(

Then into the oven (200degrees) for 10 minutes.

I let them cool and just ate them warm on their own, but I think they would be really good with some baked trout.

On a side note, the baking dish was a very kind present from Sheila, who is highly likely to read this. Thank you Sheila!

Mmmmm......Spiced Turnip

We all went rock climbing yesterday (Me + Stokesy, The Dictator and her husband - The Combat Wombat). We went with Kierron from Adventurous Experiences, he's the guy in the 'Visit Isle of Man' advert. He does loads of cool trips...check it out http://www.adventurousexperiences.com/


On our return wanted something warming. Man those rocks are cold! A quick rummage in the veggie box and hey presto Spiced Turnip.


Chop the turnip into chunks then boil until soft. In a big fryig pan.......fry 1 tbsp sunflower oil, 1 green chilli (finely chopped), 1 tsp mustard seeds.....add 1tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp salt......then add the turnip. Mix mix mix. then finish with some finely sliced ginger and fresh coriander.

We had the turnip with lamb curry and rice (as above) but the lamb curry was all that tasty. I should have spent more time trying to get the flavour right but was too sleepy after all that fresh air

From the vegie box......beetroot/carrot/apple juice

This delicious juice was kindly put together by the boyfriend. Simply throw carrots, beetroot and an apple through your juicer...........then enjoy a super healthy drink.

Veggie box is here....yippee!

Dot and Robin Price run a small-holding in Lezayre (Isle of Man) which is in organic coversion. Dot informed me last week that they are now doing organic veggie boxes. This is so exciting for the Isle of Man!!!! To those of you reading from 'the mainland' yes I know you have been able to get these things for years, I used to get one when I lived in the UK. However I think that Dot + Robin's box is way better. Why? Because it is a truly local veggie box, all coming from their farm and travelling about 2 miles to the market.


Once I have the box in my clutches I'll then post my recipes each week that have included their produce. So this week I have: potatoes, carrots, beetroot, turnip, green cabbage, cauliflower, 2 boxes of eggs, coleslaw and some gorgeous baby leeks (see Exhibit A above). Now what kind of idiot would think they were spring onions??? hahaha yes that would be me, in my defence I only glanced at them and I had...errm...the sun in my eyes.

The entire contents of the box was just £10............I think this is an absolute bargain. So to order yours ring Dot on 470507. No, I'm not on commission.