Orange, red onion and beetroot salad

A Hugh F-W recipe from the Guardian. A quick and perky starter for a winter lunch or supper. Serves four.

3 beetroot, roasted, peeled and thinly sliced
2 oranges, peeled with a knife to get rid of all traces of skin and pith, then thinly sliced (hold the fruit over a bowl, to catch any juice, and squeeze any juice you can extract from the skin and add this to the dressing)
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

For the vinaigrette
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Arrange the beetroot, orange and onion on four plates (or on one large platter). Whisk together the reserved orange juice, vinegar and mustard, then whisk in the oil. Season to taste, and trickle the dressing all over the salad.

Courgette, anchovy and lemon fettucine

This was OK but not amazing. I might have used too much pasta.

Guardian recipe. 8.5 WW points per serving.

This recipe fits our continuing January criteria of low-effort cooking, while also tasting uplifting enough for this time of year. The courgettes get cooked in the pasta water at the end. Then, after you have drained off the water, you melt the anchovies with garlic in the same pan (one-pot cooking!) and finish it by tossing it all together with lemon zest. A supremely simple supper.

Plenty for two. Takes 25 minutes of extremely relaxed pottering.

Some extra virgin olive oil

250g fettucine (or you can use pappardelle, tagliatelle, or any long, flat pasta)

3 medium courgettes, sliced 1cm thick

30g anchovy fillets, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

Sprinkle of chilli flakes

Small knob of butter

Zest of 1 large lemon

Salt and pepper

Heat a large pan of salted water with a splash of the olive oil and, once it has come to a rolling boil, chuck in the pasta, give it a stir and whack a lid on.

Look on the pasta packet to see how long it takes to cook and, when it is four minutes away from being ready, drop in the courgettes and add an extra two minutes to the cooking time. Give it a good stir and stick the lid back on.

When the time is up, drain and put the empty pan back on a medium heat.

Gently fry the chopped anchovies, garlic and chilli in the butter and a healthy glug of olive oil for around three to four minutes until the anchovy pieces start to melt.

Turn off the heat, tip in the pasta and courgettes, along with some seasoning (a little salt and lots of pepper) and the lemon zest.

Toss, stir and give it all a good roll around, breaking up some of the courgette slices as you go, and add another slug of olive oil if you think it could do with it.

Once all the pasta is well coated, give it a last taste (you might want the extra zing of a squeeze of lemon juice), and serve in warm bowls.

Fennel with Blood Orange and Grated Courgette

Unusual flavour but tasty. From Abel and Cole. 2 Weight Watchers points per serving.

"This combo is quite addictive, and it's absolutely stunning served with grilled or pan-fried fish. Healthy, quick and easy – you've got to love it! Serves 1-2 as a light main or 4 as a side dish."

• 1 medium-sized fennel
• 2 blood oranges
• ½ large or 1 small courgette
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp of a good extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp almond slivers, lightly toasted

First, slice the fennel into thin (1/2 - 1 cm) panels. Then roughly cut each into large bite-sized pieces (about 2inx1in). Place in a salad/mixing bowl.

Cut the top and bottom off the oranges. Stand on a cutting board and cut the skin off in panels, working your way around the orange. Squeeze the juice from the flesh embedded in the skin over the fennel.

Then, cut the segments out of the orange (leaving behind the pithy bits and the opaque papery skin) over the bowl, dropping them on top of the fennel. This allows extra juice to drip over the fennel, and this acts as an instant salad dressing! Squeeze the remaining orange over the salad and discard.

Grate 1/2 a courgette straight into the bowl, using a medium sized grating - i.e. you don't want it grated finely like Parmesan. Add a pinch of sea salt, a grinding of black pepper and a splash of olive oil.

Toss and add in a handful or two of cooled, toasted almond slivers. Serve or chill for up to 2 hours (though, if you’re making in advance wait to add the almonds until right before serving!).

Dark Chocolate Ginger Beetroot Cake

From Abel and Cole. 7 Weight Watchers points per serving if there are 12 servings per cake.

A Shropshire-based beetroot grower once invited me for tea and offered me a slice of chocolate beetroot cake, alongside beetroot sorbet and other beet treats. This is my take on the cake. It's a fabulous way to use up your roots, and the beetroot is not there as a gimmicky ingredient. It lends a lovely moistness, an earthy sweetness and a rich, ruby tinge. Serves 8.

• 200g beetroot
• 125g plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of sea salt, crushed finely
• 150g caster sugar
• 200g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3 whole eggs
• 150g dark chocolate, finely grated
• Crème fraiche to serve

First, cook your beetroot. Put in a pot, cover with water and boil for 1 hour, or until tender enough to pierce right through with a fork. Peel, brushing the skin off with your fingers while holding the beets under a lightly running tap. Roughly chop and puree in a food processor until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 190C. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Separate the eggs. Whisk the yolks with the butter and the sugar until pale and creamy. Whisk the whites until stiff and meringue-like. Gently fold the yolk mix to the flour. Then, fold the whites in 1/3 at a time. Gently stir in the beet puree, chocolate and ginger.

Grease an 18.5cm (7in) cake tin with butter, dust with enough flour to coat - or line with parchment paper. Add the cake mix. Bake for 50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. It will be fairly moist, almost fudgy in the middle. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, then turn our and cool on a rack. Serve with crème fraiche.

Chilled Beetroot Consommé

From Abel and Cole. 0 Weight Watchers points per serving.

This summer soup requires no fat for cooking and is ideal if you're slimming for summer. Be sure to use raw beetroot.

• 700 g (1 & 1/2 lb) raw beetroot peeled and chopped
• 10 large spring onions, chopped
• A sprig of thyme
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• A few parsley stalks
• A bay leaf
• A 2 inch strip orange zest
• 2 & 1/2 pints of water
• 1 cucumber
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• Salt and freshly milled black pepper

• To garnish:
• 5 fl oz natural or low fat yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons snipped chives

Put the prepared beetroot in a large saucepan with the chopped spring onions, the thyme, garlic, parsley, bay leaf and orange zest then pour in the water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 1 hour. At the end of this time the beetroot will have lost its redness and have a pale look. Now peel and dice the cucumber, add it to the soup and simmer for about 10 minutes.Pour the soup through a sieve and leave to drain through (the soup becomes quite clear). Season to taste and add the vinegar and lemon juice to sharpen the flavour. Chill well and serve with yoghurt and a garnish of snipped chives.

Juicer

The juicer I want. A masticating cold press juicer. Yeeeeah.

The Oscar VitalMax

Chilli chocolate truffles

A tasty looking recipe from Cooking for Engineers: Hatch Chile Infused Chocolate Truffes

Here's a plain chocolate truffle recipe from the same site: Chocolate truffles.

All Bran Loaf

2 Weight Watchers points per serving if there are 12 servings per loaf.

Very easy tea bready cake to make.

Put

4 oz kelloggs All Bran

5 oz Sugar

10 oz Mixed dried fruit

INTO a large bowl and add

1/2 pint Milk

SOAK 1/2 hour

Mix in 4 oz SR flour

Put into well greased 2lb loaf tin

Gas 4 /350 F / 150 C for one hour.

If top seems to be browning too fast cover with tin foil.

Abel and Cole Detox Juice recipes

Good Morning Sunshine - surprisingly tasty! 2 Weight Watchers points per serving.

A sweet and stimulating juice; full of instant energy for early mornings or the afternoon slump. It’s cleansing on the liver and full of antioxidants, which quench the cellular fires caused by toxins and free radicals.

• 2 oranges, peeled
• 3 carrots, scrubbed
• ½ lemon, peeled

Sparkling Fruit Gingerale

A bubbly, warming tonic to soothe the tummy, and aid in toxic elimination. Apple skins and ginger have anti-inflammatory properties, and ginger is especially calming to the stomach and gut.

• 1 apple, cored
• 1 orange, peeled
• Handful grapes
• 2cm ginger, peeled
• ½ lime, peeled
• Sparkling mineral water

Juice the fruit, ginger and lime and pour into a tall glass. Add as much sparkling water as you like.

Spiced Pear and Apple

A treat for your tastebuds and digestive system! Pears and apples are high in pectin, which helps lower cholesterol and cleanse the intestines. Live yoghurt supports the balance of good gut bacteria, which in turn support the immune system and stress-coping systems.

• 2 ripe pears, cored and quartered
• 1 apple, cored and quartered
• 1cm slice of ginger, peeled
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 tablespoons natural live yoghurt
• 1 small pinch cinnamon
• 1 small pinch ground nutmeg

Juice the fruit and ginger, then stir in the remaining ingredients.

Mint Relaxer- Not very taster.

Cleansing for the kidneys, skin and liver. Celery is calming, and supportive to circulation and detoxification. Cucumber gives strength to connective tissues, which hold you together. Mint is soothing to the gut, and lemon jump-starts the liver and kidneys.

• 1 apple
• ?2 celery stalks, trimmed
• ¼ cucumber
• 1 small handful fresh mint
• ½ lemon , peeled, halved

Veggie Night Cap - 0 Weight Watchers points per serving.

Rich, satisfying, and an antioxidant powerhouse! This juice makes a lovely evening drink for those on an alcohol break. Greens and beetroot stimulate the liver to remove alcohol, chemicals and toxins. Garlic and chilli cleanse the blood and promote circulation.

• 3 stalks celery, leaves included
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 carrots, scrubbed
• 4 spinach or kale leaves
• ½ medium beetroot, peeled
• ½ lemon, peeled
• 1 small garlic clove
• Small pinch cayenne/chilli powder, or a dash of tobasco
• 1/2 teaspoon tamari or soy sauce

Watermelon, strawberry and lime juice

• ½ mini watermelon, scooped out and seeds removed
• 5 strawberries
• Juice from ½ lime

Pass all the ingredients through your juicer. Serve on ice. If you don’t have a juicer, place in a blender with an ice cube or two and blend until frothy. Pass through a sieve and drink, or shake with a splash of white rum and pour into a martini glass for a daiquiri with an incredible summery twist. Serves 1-2

Pork chops with honey mustard and orange

1)Fry up a couple of onions in olive oil til soft not brown.
2) Add 2 pork chops to the of pan and just colour each side so no longer pink.
3) Remove all to an oil smeared oven dish (eg pyrex) that the meat just fills. (Otherwise honey will spread and stick all over dish and not to chops.)
4) Mix in a bowl a dessert spoon of honey to a dessertspoon of grainy mustard
5) Smear this mixt over the chops then add the grated rind of an orange then the juice. You could add an eggcupful of brandy/ cointreau or orange flav liqueur too if you like. Cover with tinfoil and bake 180degreesC for c. 1 hour depends on quantity. Check after half an hour if too dry add little orange juice from a packet or water if nowt else. remove tinfoil for last 10-15 mins.

Serve with chopped roasted sweet potato (roast in oven at same time) smeared in olive oil plus grated orange peel and juice maybe also bit of rosemary or sage. plus mashed spuds. Yum.

For extra extravagance you could add cream at end too- just spread on chops for last 10 mins.

Colcannon

Very very very tasty :) I added three rashers of bacon, chopped up finely and fried with the onion. A Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe from the BBC recipe store.

Ingredients

500g/1lb2oz mealy potatoes, cooked
250g/9oz cabbage, shredded and lightly steamed
2 tbsp cream
salt and black pepper
1 large or 2 small onions, sliced
thinly
a little bacon fat, beef dripping or other frying oil

Method

1. Sieve or mash the potatoes and mix with the cabbage and cream. Season well with salt and pepper.
2. Fry the onion in the fat over a moderate heat until it is soft and beginning to brown.
3. Using a spatula, press half the potato and cabbage mixture in an even layer on to the onion and fry for 4-5 minutes until it is well browned and crispy underneath.
4. Cut the mixture into 4 quarters with the spatula or palette knife and turn them over carefully so that the crispy bit is uppermost. Press the remaining potato and cabbage mixture on to the first layer and after a few more minutes, cut and turn again.
5. When the bottom is again browned, you will have a crispy top too, a crispy bottom, and a crispy layer in the middle.

Nigella's Chocolate Orange Cake:

Haven't made this yet.... Rebecca from college recommended it.

INGREDIENTS
1 large or 2 small, thin-skinned oranges
6 eggs
1 heaped tsp baking powder
50g cocoa
200g ground almonds
250g caster sugar
50g cocoa
Half tsp bicarbonate of soda

METHOD
Put the whole orange in a pan with cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours, or until soft. Drain. When cool, halve the orange and remove big pips. Pulp everything in a food processor. Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180c).
Add the eggs, baking powder, sugar, bicarbonate, almonds and cocoa to the orange in the processor. Run until you have a cohesive cake mixture.
Alternatively, chop the fruit finely by hand and add the eggs one by one, alternating with spoons of almonds and cocoa, then the oranges.
Pour and scrape into a buttered, 20cm springform cake tin and bake for 1 hour.

Read more

Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash

Allrecipes recipe. Prep time 10 mins / Cook time 50 mins

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the parsley, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add squash and toss to coat.

Transfer to an ungreased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until squash is just tender.

Abel and Cole's How to get 8 meals out of one chicken

That's four meals for two apparently... www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/chicken8

Sicilian Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Aubergines

Delia Online recipe. Serves 2. Without the olive oil this recipe is 11.5 WW points per servings. With the olive oil it is 16.5 WW points!!

Aubergines, tomatoes and Mozzarella are the classic ingredients of any classic Sicilian sauce for pasta, and roasting the tomatoes and aubergines to get them slightly charred adds an extra flavour dimension.

Ingredients

8 oz (225 g) spaghetti

12 large tomatoes (roughly 2 lb/900 g)

1 large aubergine, cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) cubes

2 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped

about 4 tablespoons olive oil

12 large basil leaves, torn in half, plus a few extra for garnish

5 oz (150 g) Mozzarella, cut into ½ inch (1 cm) cubes

salt and freshly milled black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F (200°C).

Method

First of all place the aubergine cubes in a colander, sprinkle them with salt and leave them to stand for half an hour, weighed down with something heavy to squeeze out the excess juices.

Meanwhile, skin the tomatoes by pouring boiling water over them and leaving them for 1 minute, then drain off the water and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins. Cut each tomato in half and place the halves on one of the baking trays (cut side uppermost), then season with salt and freshly milled black pepper. Sprinkle over the chopped garlic, distributing it evenly between the tomatoes, and follow this with a few drops of olive oil in each one. Top each tomato half with half a basil leaf, turning each piece of leaf over to give it a good coating of oil. Now place the baking tray on the middle shelf of the oven and roast the tomatoes for 50-60 minutes or until the edges are slightly blackened.

Meanwhile, drain the aubergines and squeeze out as much excess juice as possible, then dry them thoroughly with a clean cloth and place them in the other baking tray. Then drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil all over them and place them on the top shelf of the oven, above the tomatoes, giving them half an hour.

Towards the end of the cooking time, cook the pasta. When the tomatoes and aubergines are ready, scrape them, along with all their lovely cooking juices, into a saucepan and place it over a low heat, then add the cubed Mozzarella and stir gently. Now drain the pasta, pile it into a warm bowl, spoon the tomato and aubergine mixture over the top and scatter over a few basil leaves.

Tomato, Aubergine and Courgette Gratin

Recipezaar recipe. I didn't do this exactly as stated- I merged it with the aubergine parmegianna recipe. It was very tasty indeed! The onion improved the flavour of the tomato sauce and the courgettes varied it. I put a fine layer of parmesan after each layer of veg and tomato sauce from the parmegianna recipe.

Ingredients

15 ml olive oil

1 sliced onion

225 g mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 1/2 ml dried marjoram

1 1/4 ml dried thyme

salt and pepper

2 courgettes

2 small aubergines

55 g fresh breadcrumbs

75 ml parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

In a non-stick frying pan, heat 1 tsp of the oil over medium-high heat; cook onion, mushrooms, garlic and 2 tbsp water, stirring, for 3 minutes or until softened.

Add tomatoes, marjoram, thyme and salt and pepper to taste; cook for 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring often.

Slice courgettes and aubergines diagonally into 5 mm thick slices. Toss aubergine with remaining oil.

Spread 125 ml of the tomato sauce in a glass baking dish. Layer with half of the courgette, aubergine and sauce, repeat layers.

Mix breadcrumbs with cheese; sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered at 200 C for 35 minutes or until bubbling.