Soup: celeriac and bramley apple

Last winter for a while I posted a soup recipe every week. This winter, as soon as the cold winter started, I started making soup again. For a long while I got away with last year's recipes, but eventually I got bored and started again.

 

I like this soup because the smooth, earthy flavour of the celariac goes so well with the sharp freshness of the apples. It's tasty, filling, easy and healthy - next to no fat, and no Weightwatchers points.

Packed lunch: baked vegetable frittata

So, I'm not blogging much at the moment. Am I the only one who sometimes finds that when the to-do list gets too long, even if each and every one of the things on it is fun, everything becomes a chore, even the things that are meant to be a hobby? 

I'm tired, I've got a couple of (good) things I really need to think hard about, and one or two less fun things to worry at (a boiler being one of them. Sometimes home ownership sucks). There's uncertainty in the air right now, and that always messes with my head. So I've given myself a week or two off feeling guilty about things, for the sake of preserving my sanity. I'll probably blog a bit - the second I no longer feel obliged I'll want to - but it's not going to be every day again for a wee while. Sorry.

I have a holiday coming up in a week, and suspect that after that, I'll be back blogging more frequently.

However, I do need to share this recipe for baked vegetable frittata with you. I wish I could take credit for it, but it's actually (whisper it) from the Weightwatchers website. But it's yummy. And easy. And filling. And if you care about this sort of thing, it's only two propoints a wedge. Unless you're me and decide that the yummyness would only be improved by a tablespoon of mature cheddar on each slice. In which case it's three.

The thing is, I find frittata... hassly. Frying a selection of veg, then the omlette, it all sticking in the pan and being a pain, and the whole flat smelling eggy. But because for this one you cook the veg, then bung 'em all like a dish like a quiche and wander away while it bakes, it's easy. We've had it for dinner - in which case I'd allow a couple of slices, and serve it with something more substantial than a salad - and the leftovers for lunch. And it was so yummy sliced up cold the next day, the following week I made it and we had it for lunches all week. A wedge of not-fried frittata, baked with the cheese on top, and a nice salad. Yum. Go and make yourself some. It's lush.

A summer work packed lunch

 

A few weeks ago, I stopped posting weekly soup recipes, because I'd stopped making soup for packed lunches at work.

But what have I been eating in the meantime? Now, I'll admit that, having spent more days not working in April than working, thanks to a magical combination of bank holidays and birthday annual leave, I've not had to be quite as organised as usual. And there have been one or two weeks where I've just nipped out to the Co-op near work or even to Pret if I was feeling flush.

However, most of the time it's been salads, based around beans or grains, with lots of veg, and a little bit of cheese, or tuna, to perk it up.

This is one of my favourites - bulgar wheat salad. Very loosely based on tabbouleh. Even more so at the moment, when my new parsley plant is looking too fragile to plunder and I'm not putting any in!

These quantities serve 4, or two people for two days. I'll admit that if we're having something like this I'll boil double quantities of wheat on Sunday, get it cold as quickly as possible, save half, and make up four portions. To me, the veg is ok when chopped for up to two days, the bulgar wheat for four, which is why I do it that way. But follow your nose and your own standards when it comes to how long you think food lasts for!

150g bulgar wheat

Stock cube/powder

Four tomatoes

Half a cucumber

Half an onion diced very finely, or four spring onions, or a large bunch of chives

Juice and zest of a lemon

Tsp mustard

20 or so black olives, pitted and halved

100g of cheese - feta, goats, or halloumi you cook while the wheat is boiling are all lovely (I know this quantity might sound mean, but actually, it's plenty)

Cook the bulgar wheat as per packet instructions, only substituting water with stock made up with the cube or powder.

Cool it down as quickly as you can - I find spooning it out in thin layers in the flattish Tupperware I use for packed lunches helps this.

While it's cooling, dice your veg and divide them, the olives and the lemon zest evenly between the four containers. 

Finely dice or crumble your cheese, and split it evenly between the containers.

In a jam jar or similar, combine lemon juice and mustard. Put the lid on and shake, or mix in a more sedate fashion with a spoon.

Split this between the containers, and use a fork to mix up the ingredients and fluff up the bulgar wheat. 

I keep mine in the fridge at home, and on my desk once I get to work, and have never yet given myself food poisoning!