All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Thai Vegetable Noodle Soup

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I am still making an effort to have interesting lunches. Soup is perfect at this time of year as it freezes well and just needs heating through for an (almost) instant lunch. This is my Thai Vegetable Noodle Soup and I make it with plenty of chilli. I love the heat of the chilli with the creaminess of the coconut but you can make it as hot as you like.

This is a great recipe for using up any vegetables you have in the house. I like to use a few different colours if I can to brighten up the soup a little. The lime and coriander really lift the flavours and give it a zing and freshness which is just what I want from this soup. read more

Five Minute Salmon Noodles

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I blinked and it is the end of January! I can’t believe this is my first post of 2021. But these five minute salmon noodles are quite an apt recipe for now. I’ve been working from home and the appeal of toast and sandwiches has worn pretty thin. However, I don’t want to be making a time consuming lunch each day. So I started to think about food I could make in a few minutes; a few basic recipes which will add variety to my working week and be a doddle to make.

I used some sweet chilli hot smoked salmon for these noodles. It was reduced and I used it for two lunches (the other of which I’ll tell you about below). A handful of fresh vegetables, dried noodles and a soy dressing made from store cupboard ingredients are all you need for a delicious lunch in minutes. read more

Salami and Mozzarella Open Ciabatta

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Ciabatta with salami, mozzarella and tomatoes

Sometimes there’s nothing better than a sandwich. It could be a properly crusty, thickly sliced loaf filled with simple cheese and chutney, a bagel filled with pastrami, gherkins and mustard or some thin rye bread topped with smoked fish and herbs. I don’t think I could ever tire of something that you can just grab and eat with your hands. My salami and mozzarella open ciabatta is just the thing for a simple, no fuss, full of flavour dinner. Don’t tell anyone but I could have eaten all four pieces to myself.

ingredients

You will need (for two big sandwiches or four smaller ones):

  • 1 ciabatta loaf
  • Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil for cooking and extra virgin olive oil
  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced in half
  • 1 ball mozzarella, torn into small pieces
  • 8 slices salami

method

Start by baking the ciabatta according to packet instructions. Leave to cool before slicing in half lengthways and opening the ciabatta up, then slice it in half again so you end up with four equal sized pieces.

Turn the oven to 220C and put the tomatoes in a single layer in a baking dish. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar, add the vinegar to suit your taste, and then season.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the tomatoes are starting to brown at the edges.

Preheat a grill to medium.

Rub the garlic clove, cut side down, over each open face of the ciabatta. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the ciabatta and then place under the grill for a few minutes until lightly toasted.

Remove the ciabatta and then load each slice up with the tomatoes, salami and mozzarella. Put back under the grill until the salami has crisped up a little but be careful not to let the ciabatta catch.

Unintentionally this reminded me of a pizza and actually, considering how easy it is to make I would definitely try it again instead of a pizza! I love this combination of flavours; sharp and sweet tomatoes, creamy mozzarella and punchy salami. There are so many variations of this that you could make. One I would really like to try would be some leftover griddled aubergine, goat’s cheese and pesto. Or maybe one with figs, blue cheese and honey. Or maybe…

Smoked Pea and Potato Soup

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smoked pea soup with cheese sandwiches

There’s been a spate of soup recipes appearing on my blog recently. I’ll tell you for why: because there’s nothing more comforting I would like to have for lunch during the week. Sure, a steaming bowl of cauliflower cheese would be a fantastic winter luncheon but that’s more effort than I am willing to put in for what is effectively the most rushed meal of the week. So instead I take a bit of time at the weekend and batch cook some soup, freeze it and reap the rewards in the weeks to come. This Smoked Pea and Potato Soup is probably one of my favourite soups of all; all the salty, smoky tang as if it had bacon or ham in but it’s vegan.

Ingredients

You will need (for four portions):

  • 1 onion, diced
  • Oil for cooking
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 600ml vegetable stock
  • 350g frozen peas
  • Sprig fresh mint
  • 1/2 tbsp smoked salt
  • Black pepper

Method

Add a little oil to a saucepan and add the onion, potato and garlic. Fry for 5-10 minutes until the onion is softened, you’ll need to stir it regularly to stop the potato from sticking.

Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Tip in the peas, smoked salt, a good bit of black pepper and the mint. Bring the pan back to a simmer and continue simmering for 5 minutes.

Remove the soup from the heat and the blend the soup. Leave the mint in if you like it extra minty or take it out before blending if you don’t.

If you want to eat it straight away return the soup to a low heat to ensure it’s warm and check the seasoning before serving. If you are freezing in then leave it to cool before diving between pots and popping in the freezer.

I’m not sure you can go wrong with peas and mint together, it’s such a classic. The smoked salt really adds an extra something to this soup; I love ham or bacon with pea soup but wanted to avoid using meat in this recipe. The potato not only thickens the soup but makes it more filling too. Vibrant in colour and flavour you can’t fail to be cheered up just looking at it. I’ve been particularly enjoying this smoked pea and potato soup with cheese and pickle sandwiches! What are your favourite freezer soups?

Roasted Superfood Salad with Baxters Super Good Soups

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ingredients for superfood salad

Comforting, nourishing and wholesome; there’s nothing quite like a bowl of soup. It’s my lunch of choice, especially during the week when I want something quick and easy. I like to vary what I have with my soup and more often than not I don’t have it with bread, preferring to have a salad or some leftovers on the side. This recipe for roasted superfood salad works particularly well with Baxters new Super Good Chicken Noodle Soup because the turmeric, chillies and carrots in the soup mirror the flavours of the salad. The Baxters Super Good range is made to help you eat well and feel great; full of flavour and health-boosting ingredients.

Ingredients

You will need (for one):

  • 2 carrots, cut into batons
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp each turmeric and paprika
  • ½ tsp dried chilli
  • Salt and pepper
  • ½ small broccoli, cut into florets
  • 1 small mug frozen peas
  • Juice 1 lemon
  • Small bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
  • 1 can Baxters Super Good Soup (I used their Super Good Chicken Noodle Soup)

Method

Preheat an oven to 180C.

Mix together the carrots, oil, spices and seasoning and tip onto a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes.

Add the broccoli to the carrots and roast for a further 10 minutes. I like to cook the broccoli from raw as it has a lovely toasted flavour but you could steam it quickly before adding it to the carrots if you prefer.

Get a small pan of water on to boil and then add the peas. Boil for 2-3 minutes then drain and put to one side.

Pop the soup into a saucepan or microwave to warm up until just simmering.

Remove the vegetables from the oven and add the peas, lemon juice and coriander.

Serve the vegetable salad alongside the soup and enjoy.

The sweetness from the carrots and peas works so well alongside the earthy turmeric and punchy paprika. The little heat from the dried chillies combined with the fresh coriander and lemon means this roasted superfood salad is so full of flavour. This is exactly what I am after at lunchtime; something filling and healthy to give me plenty of fuel for the afternoon. Top tip: make a double batch of roasted veg as it keeps really well in the fridge meaning you can just grab the salad and soup and off you go!

This is a featured post and I was reimbursed by Baxters for my time and ingredients. All opinions and words are (as always) my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support me.

Smoky Chipotle Tomato Soup

By 21 Comments

Smoky Chipotle Tomato Soup - close up

I made some enchiladas a few weeks ago and added one chipotle chilli for four people. You couldn’t taste it at all; there was a little bit of smoky flavour but no chilli heat; it wasn’t the end of the world, they were still very tasty. When I made this Smoky Chipotle Tomato Soup I added one chilli again, this time for two people, and it was probably the hottest thing I have ever eaten. It’s amazing how different two chillies that look just the same can have completely different heat levels. Despite it being so hot, it was actually rather delicious. Served with lots of bread and a glass of milk.

Ingredients

You will need (for two generous bowls):

  • 1 onion, roughly chopped £0.10
  • 1 carrot, diced £0.08
  • Olive oil for cooking £0.10
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed £0.05
  • 1 chipotle chilli, roughly chopped £0.20
  • 1 tin tomatoes £0.75
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste £0.05
  • 250ml vegetable stock £0.30
  • 150ml single cream £0.55
  • Salt and pepper £0.05

Total £2.23

Method

Start by frying the onions and carrot together in a little olive oil on a medium heat. Cook them for at least 15 minutes and then add the garlic and chipotle chilli and fry for another five minutes.

Pour in the tomatoes, vegetable stock and tomato paste and bring everything to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes.

Blend the soup until it’s the texture you like (I like mine almost completely smooth) then return to a low heat, add a little salt and pepper and the cream. Stir everything together then serve with some crusty bread. You can top with a little fresh coriander if you like.

I served this with some bake at home baguettes that I had pre-sliced before baking and I spread a little sundried tomato paste and parsley to each slice before baking.

I do like adding a dribble of cream to a tomato soup; in this case it did help to take the edge off the chilli. The base of carrots and onions adds a lovely sweetness to the soup along with the savoury flavour from the stock and the slightly acidic tomatoes it ends up lovely and balanced with a smoky backbone and, in this case, very spicy. If you don’t fancy it as hot, add a little smoked paprika for a similar smoky tomato soup without the chilli heat. Simple to make, cheap and easy to scale up for more portions this is a vibrant, happy soup for a rainy spring day.

Three Easy Soup Toppings with New Covent Garden Soup

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Mushroom Soup with Cheese and Crouton Topping

I like to look forward to my lunches; whether I’m using up some leftovers to make a quick salad, sticking all sorts of ingredients in a sandwich or slurping on soup. Sometimes it can be very tempting to just grab the quickest thing in the kitchen but if I do that I am invariably disappointed at lunch time. So say hello to my three easy soup toppings which can all be made in less than five minutes, using ingredients you probably already have and can be made in advance to enjoy at work.

New Covent Garden Soups are currently encouraging everyone to revive their lunch life, something I was really keen to get involved with as I think lunch can make or break a day. Below are my three easy soup toppings and the soups that I chose to serve them with. You can get creative and add any of the toppings to any of the soups and have a go at putting your own twist on them too.

Wild Mushroom Soup with Blue Cheese Croutons

You will need (per bowl):

  • One slice stale bread, crusts removed and cut into cubes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Blue cheese (you could use any other cheese if you prefer)

Mix the bread with the oil, a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper.
Fry the bread in a non-stick pan on a medium heat for a few minutes until lightly golden.
Leave the croutons to cool before mixing with as much blue cheese as you like, ready to top the warm mushroom soup.

Sweet Potato and Corn Soup with Toasted Seeds and Spices

You will need (per bowl):

  • Handful pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tbsp each cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, coriander seeds, cardamom seeds

Get a small frying pan on a medium heat. Add the seeds and spices and warm for a few minutes, stirring often, until they are smelling toasted and lovely.
They’re ready to pop on your soup, or store for later.

Tomato and Spinach Soup with Herb and Lemon Oil

You will need (per bowl):

  • Small handful basil
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice ½ small lemon

    • read more

    Beetroot, Lentil and Bergamot Lemon Salad

    By 14 Comments

    Beetroot, Lentil and Bergamot Lemon Salad

    I’ll be honest, salads don’t tend to excite me very much. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the freshness a few leaves bring on the side of something else but as a standalone dish, it’s not really for me. However, things have changed and I’ve started to make, what I would call, more ‘bulky’ salads. This particular combination of beetroot, lentil and bergamot lemon is so colourful and combined with a bit of goat’s cheese is equally good warm or cold.

    You will need (for two large salads):

    • 3 medium beetroot
    • 100g soft goat’s cheese
    • 100g green lentils
    • Two handfuls of rocket
    • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 tbsp bergamot lemon juice
    • Salt and pepper

    Cook the lentils according to the packet instructions. Cook them in stock rather than water if you want to add a bit more oomph to your lentils.

    Place the beetroot in a saucepan with cold water. Bring the pan to the boil then reduce to a simmer and leave for 30-40 minutes depending on the size of your beetroot.

    Drain the beetroot and leave to cool before removing the skin. I find the best way to do this is to gently rub and squeeze it off with your hands. You end up with fantastically pink palms afterwards but it’s so satisfying to remove the skins this way! Chop the beetroot into chunks.

    Drain the lentils when they are done. I always give them a quick rinse afterwards too.

    Add the lentils, beetroot and rocket to a bowl and crumble over the cheese.

    Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and a good pinch of salt and pepper before pouring this over the salad.

    The lentils bring plenty of padding to the dish along with the earthiness of the beetroot and the freshness of the rocket it’s really vibrant. The goat’s cheese adds creaminess and the delicious bergamot lemon dressing finishes it all off nicely. A good excuse to make something different to make the most of the distinctive bergamot lemon flavour. I really like this salad; filling, flavourful and full of texture.

    A few ideas for lunch with Philadelphia

    By 9 Comments

    Original Philadelphia with soda bread, cucumber, dill and rocket

    Sometimes I just don’t know how I get myself in such a mess. Each weekend starts with grand plans for exciting ideas for lunch; all planned in to use everything up in the fridge, easy to make and delicious too. Yet somehow I never get past the ideas stage. I just somehow think that all this food will appear in my kitchen and I’ll sail through the week with something different for lunch each day. You can imagine my surprise every lunch time when I’m greeted with the same old sandwich, and sometimes in moments of absent bread desperation, cereal at work.

    When Philadelphia asked if I would like to try out their new whipped soft cheeses I thought this was an ideal opportunity to force me to try out some new lunchtime recipes. Three flavours of soft cheese meant three different lunches for me in one week; almost too much excitement.

    Lunch 1: Original with Cucumber, Dill and Rocket on Soda Bread
    I did think about smoked salmon and cream cheese as it’s such a classic but I wanted to stick to a vegetarian lunch so I just had everything but the salmon. It was nice to chop the cucumber in the morning and assemble everything at lunch to prevent dreaded soggy bread. I liked this one, it was clean and fresh.

    Lunch 2: Garlic and Herb Wrap with Speck and Rocket
    As I hardly ever eat wraps I thought I’d give them a go for lunch. Wrapping this up tightly in clingfilm was crucial to prevent the whole lot unravelling in the fridge. The faint garlic and herb was really good with the smoky speck and peppery rocket. I only had one wrap but it was surprisingly filling.

    Lunch 3: Olive with Tomatoes on Seed Crackers
    This was an ‘assemble at work’ lunch so that the crackers remained crisp, although they did break up into many pieces during the walk to work. Never mind. It was good that the olives in the cream cheese were diced quite small so that you got a piece with almost every mouthful. The tomatoes I had were really ripe and sweet which was really nice with the salty olives and toasted seeds on the crackers.

    I liked the challenge of making something different for work each day and now we’re coming into the winter season I think some weekend soup cooking will serve me well. I don’t normally have cream cheese in the kitchen but I did find it easier to think of a lunch with it available as it’s sort of a two in one; I don’t need butter and cheese, I can just use cream cheese. If I bought some more I think it would spur me on to have more interesting lunches; no bad thing.

    Thanks to Philadelphia. I was reimbursed for the ingredients I used. All opinions expressed are my own.

    Pea and Bacon Soup for a #thriftyorganic challenge

    By 14 Comments

    Pea and Bacon Soup

    In case it has escaped your attention, September is the month where people make a fuss about organic; aptly named Organic September. I have to admit that the majority of food that I buy is already organic so for me I wanted to try some new organic ingredients that I hadn’t tried before. I loaded up my weekly veg box with tomatillos, Homity pies and all sorts. I was challenged as part of Organic September to make an all organic three course meal, for four people, which cost less than £30.

    I have done a few dinner parties before but not a budget conscious one so I was looking forward to seeing what I could make without going over the allowance. Initially I thought a roast chicken would be quite a good idea but with the cold weather closing in I wanted to make something a bit more hearty and autumnal.

    My three course menu ended up being as follows: Pea and Bacon Soup (recipe in this post), Beef Cooked with Beer and Onions (see below) and Blackberry and Pear Pavlova (recipe for this one to follow). My total spend in the supermarket to get all the ingredients I needed was £25.85. I already have organic flour, sugar, vegetable stock and oil in my cupboards so if you don’t the spare change allows you to pick up these bits too and have plenty leftover to use in future. I used my change to pick up some lovely organic bread to serve with the soup.

    Pea and bacon soup is one of my favourite combinations but as I don’t have a freezer I have nowhere to keep frozen peas so don’t get to make it very often. Not to worry though as my recipe conveniently uses a whole bag of peas at once. It makes four big portions, or four smaller ones for your dinner party with two left for lunch the next day.

    You will need (all ingredients organic):

    • 1 bag frozen peas (750g)
    • 1 medium onion, sliced
    • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
    • 600ml hot water with 2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder stirred in
    • Oil for frying
    • Salt and pepper (not organic)
    • 6 rashers of bacon, diced

    Start by frying the onion and potato together over a low/medium heat with a little oil until softened.

    Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

    Stir in the peas and return to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes.

    Blend the soup with a hand blender or in a food processor then pour back into the pan to keep warm. Check the seasoning and add any salt and pepper as needed.

    While the soup is keeping warm dry fry the bacon in a frying pan until brown and crispy.

    Serve up the soup with the bacon on top.

    I love what a fantastically vibrant colour the soup comes out. It’s light and fresh but without being too frugal. The sweet peas and salty bacon are classic companions and the potato gives the soup a lovely texture. A sprig or two of mint would be a good addition if you have any hanging about.

    With the starter all eaten it was on to my Beef with Beer and Onions. A delicious and slightly cheaper version of Boeuf Bourguignon I love this recipe. It’s one I’ve made before so you can find the recipe here. Slow cooked (for a no fuss dinner party) and simply served with some mashed potatoes and some shredded cabbage that came in my veg box.

    Everything was followed up with my Blackberry and Pear Pavlova, the recipe for which is here.  Have you given something new and organic a try this month?


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