My Noodle Obsession

When I know I like something I tend to get a little obsessed about it! Especially with food! I go through phases of liking things and wanting to have it all the time! Throughout most of August it was ice-cream! Understandable considering it was nearly 30degrees for the majority of August! But not just any ice-cream, Ben & Jerry’s Topped Salted Caramel Brownie. My days I spent so much money on that ice-cream!

But now I am obsessed with Vietnamese Noodles, Bun Ga Nuong! Made with Rice Noodles, herbs, vegetables, crispy onions, peanuts and Nuoc Cham (a chilli and garlic dipping sauce) and served at room temperature. I like them because they aren’t really unhealthy. I have found it! A healthy takeaway! Traditionally a street food staple in Vietnam, these noodles have become a part of my go to recipes for when I am wanting something quick and healthy but full of flavour! Healthy doesn’t have to mean boring!

My obsession began when I went into London Westfields one day and decided I wanted to try something different! I had seen that there was always a large queue at Pho within the food court and wondered what the fuss was about. I don’t know why but I have always been a bit nervous about trying Thai/Vietnamese foods so I read the menu and decided to try the Bun Ga Nuong, this is the lemongrass chicken. It came with all the trimmings and Pho also serve their Bun with a veggie spring roll and the Nuoc Cham in a little bowl to pour over yourself.

I loved the different textures and flavours that you get with this. The peanuts and crispy onions give you an amazing crunch against the soft rice noodles. I used the spring roll to mop up and juices at the bottom of the bowl when I had finished. Its so fresh but definitely feels like a guilty treat! I couldn’t resist the idea of making this at home so I had a look on google and tried to find a recipe that looked very similar to Pho’s. I looked and found a few very traditional recipes which I most probably should have tried but I came across a video from Spoon Fork Heart that looked very similar. Siri is Thai food blogger and she too liked the noodles she got within her local so recreated it at home.

I followed her recipe using products I had found in my local Sainsbury’s. The marinade for the chicken was so simple to make! Using fresh lemongrass, shallots, fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil it was so simple. I had cut the chicken breast into thinner pieces so it cooked quicker.

The smell floating around my little kitchen were amazing! As well as eating it, I do feel as though the smells from this dish, from the lemongrass on the chicken, the fresh chopped herbs and chilli within the Nuoc Cham, is my favourite thing about cooking this dish.

The noodles are just a nest of noodles that I cooked to the packet instructions. and then I assembled my bowl! Putting the lettuce, herbs cucumber at the bottom. Next comes the noodles, bean sprouts, carrots, and then top that with the sliced chicken. And then top with chopped peanuts and some crispy onions. My little cheat for this though is that in the speciality ingredients section in Sainsbury’s they sell a bottle of the Nuoc Cham. I have made the dressing before but I ended up making a bit too much and had a lot left over that I didn’t have anyway of storing. So when I saw this I thought ‘GET IN’ now I have some all the time for whenever I am craving noodles!

Give these noodles a go! Trust me! If you are wanting an introduction to trying Vietnamese/Thai Food then these are a perfect place to start! You can increase the heat by adding in fresh chilli. I didn’t put coriander in mine as I am not a massive fan of it but that too adds to the flavour and I do like it when I it wilts into this dish. I hope you too become as obsessed as I am with this dish! Its amazing! I treated myself to a new bowl and chopsticks just for this!

 

Healthy doesn’t mean boring

Everyone says it but little believe it. Healthy honestly does not have to mean boring! When you’ve got people out there like Jamie Oliver, Tom Kerridge, Joe Wicks and many other food influentials out there saying it I don’t know why people feel the need to keep eating bland, cardboard foods even when you are on a budget. I’ve recently been watching Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight for Good and was inspired by the fact he was really pushing people to try new things and break the barriers on things you can actually eat when you are trying to diet!

Now I am not dieting, I am going to say I don’t need to diet. I am fortunate in having a fast metabolism as well as an intense job that sees me on my feet for 12hours+ a day which means I burn a lot of calories even when I make bad decisions. But I know I am not going to stay in this job forever so I do like to make healthier options so that when I come to do shorter days and less intense work that I don’t want it to catch up on me.

By making these healthier choices I don’t want to feel like I am missing out on anything. I’ve never wanted to be the type of person to deny myself from anything. I want to know that what I am putting into my body will help me in the long term rather than being a quick fix. As I said in my last post I am still on my iron tablets and I am noticing a difference! I feel more awake and more energised but again when I finish the course I want to carry on feeling that way rather than it just dropping. So by eating iron rich meals and making them interesting I feel more confident in myself that I am helping my body.

For this recipe I took inspiration when I was going home for the weekend and whilst waiting for my train saw a poster at Leon showcasing their new additions to their menu. One of which is the Sage, Squash and Kale salad. I have always wanted to cook more with butternut squash and thought I am going to try and make this! Put my own twist on it with things I already have rather than splashing out on loads of ingredients. See what I come up with! Now because its nearing the end of the month, I didn’t want to spend too much money! So I got a bag of kale and the butternut squash and the rest I thought I would see what I had at home!

This is what I came up with! I didn’t make it vegan and I didn’t have lentils so I cubed the butternut squash and roasted it with some salt, pepper, thyme and oil until softened and starting to brown. Slowly roasted some tomatoes, lightly steamed the kale so it still held its shape and some crunch, added some frozen peas and toasted some pine nuts! Simple. 

I then thought how could I up the anti! How could I make it more exciting! It needs a sauce and maybe a meat based protein. I mean you could leave it as it is, season it and add a drizzle of oil and fresh lemon juice to keep it vegan but when making it I fancied using some of my Cranstons Honey and Mustard Sausages! Cranstons is a North of England/Cumbrian butchers! Whenever we go to the Lake District we stock up on their sausages as to me and my family there is no better sausage than a Cranstons sausage! So I roasted the sausages until golden brown, sliced them and added them to the mix!

All that was left was a sauce! Honey mustard mayo!

Portioned out and with the dressing drizzled over the top, I had some dinners for the week! Safe to say it was delicious! Low in calories and rich in iron and more! I love using inspiration from other places to create meals for myself! Whether its an actual recipe or just seeing an image and thinking I could do something like that!

If you are ever up in Penrith or nearby then I definitely recommend popping into Cranstons and see why I love it so much! It honestly is the best butchers I know!

First meal prep of 2018

I haven’t been very good with my blog throughout 2017 but this year I plan to change that! So to get started I did some meal prepping and wanted to tell you a bit about why I meal prep and what I made.

Due to my long hours I never like to have anything heavy when I get home as I don’t like to eat and then go straight to bed so a low carb meal is what I’ve opted for here. Swapping pasta for cauliflower. I love this recipe as it’s a nice twist on the standard cauliflower cheese but it also brings this versatile vegetable back into my diet. So for this recipe I have made cauliflower, kale and sausage bake which I found on BBC Good Food!

Towards the end of the year, I started to get really tired very quickly and I also had to take some days off from work due to the tiredness making me feel ill. I found out that I was anemic meaning my iron levels were low. So for this year I’m making a conscious effort to take care of internal health as that will also benefit my outward appearance. I’m trying to do this by bulking up on my vegetable especially those that are iron rich. I’m not cutting meat out altogether but the meat I do eat I’d like it if it comes from British sustainable sources and having a small amount and bulking my meals out with vegetables.

This meal is perfect for cutting down on meat but bulking up! The sausage is almost like a crumb or another texture which you use for the topping and the main element of this dish is the cauliflower. Even though this dish is wrapped in the cheese sauce its actually quite a light dish.

I have slightly changed the way it is listed on the website purely because of the way I make my cheese sauce and I’ve also added in mushrooms to add to the meaty texture without the meat.
So here is how I did it!

First of all I prepped the cauliflower! I got one that was bigger than my head to make sure I had plenty and it ended up filling my biggest pot when it came to cooking it! I took off all the stalks/leaves but these can be used for other recipes! (One I have tried and loved is a Jamie Oliver Super Food Recipe Pg 156). Cover the cauliflower in a pan with water and bring to the boil then drain.

Meanwhile, I made the cheese sauce. Now this is the only way that I have been able to make a cheese sauce and I stand by it as it works every time. In a jug I put 2 heaped tea spoons and 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard and mix together to make a crumb. Slowly add the milk by first making a paste then loosen with more milk. I always guess when it comes to how much milk I need but when it comes to cooking the sauce more milk can be added if its too thick. At this stage I add in some cheese and almost let it infuse whilst I’m making the rest of the dish.

I then took the sausage meat out of the the skin and fried it off in a small frying pan and cooked it all the way through as well as added some colour to it. You could fry it off even more than this and then it’ll be extra crispy on top of the bake.

I added mushrooms so I sliced them and the fried them in a pan with a small amount of oil, When they had shrunk a bit and had taken on a slight bit of colour I added in the kale (mine is a bit yellow as it was on the turn). When I cook anything like Kale in a frying pan I add the smallest amount of water just to help steam it a little and it helps speed up the cooking without taking away any of the nutrients. When the kale had wilted I cranked up the heat and added in the cheese sauce. Continuously stirring to make sure the flour doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pan and adding more milk in if its too thick. For this I wanted mine t be a bit runny as it thickens up more in the oven and I wanted it to coat all the cauliflower.

Transfer the cauliflower into an over proof dish and cover with the sauce and mix up to make sure it is evenly coated and evenly distributed. Sprinkle over the sausage and the rest of the cheese and put in the oven at about 180degrees on a fan oven. Cook until golden and bubbling!

I do love this dish, its like a home favourite that has been pimped up and by having it as the main rather than a side is a win for me!

So go on give it a go! If you are cutting down on your carbs, upping your vegetables, reducing your meat consumption or just fancy trying something new then give this a go!

Links: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cali-kale-sausage-bake

 

My Fave Foodie Websites!

I love finding inspiration from others in terms of what to cook! I love collecting cook books but when you have the World Wide Web now at our finger tips there are more recipes circulating around! Which means more variations, new ingredients and more options on what to cook tonight!

These are my current favourite websites that I like to look at to gain inspiration on what to cook that night or one to save for another day!

Jamie Oliver’s website is one of my favourites! I love his flavour combinations and I love his books. His website shows just that bit more than what you would see in his books but also it means that if you don’t have his books then you can still access some of those recipes on his website!

Sainsbury’s recipe section offers a wide range of products and obviously if you like the recipe you can just add those items into a basket on the groceries page and get them delivered to your house! Supermarkets have really upped their game in terms of providing more than just being a supermarket, I have 100s of Sainsbury’s recipe cards that were free to pick up when I was younger. Now I can save trees by finding those recipes online!

Can’t forget BBC Good Food now can we! I always like looking though the different sections of this and trying to find things I wouldn’t normally think to cook! Over the years when I have been trying to get inspiration I always head here! Its such a simple and easy to use website!

I love this ginger & lime chicken recipe! I make it quite a lot actually, its perfect for summer or keeping simmer alive! Its perfect on the BBQ or fried on a griddle pan or even to put it in the oven and roast it and keep adding on the marinade! It makes it go more jammy when you put it in the oven! But its even nice cold in salads or with a different side such as a vibrant cousin cousin salad but this chicken should definitely be something you should try, I tried it and now my family love it!
Now everyone loves halloumi! How can you not love a bit of squeaky cheese! These wraps are so tasty and fresh, again another perfect summer time recipe!

So whats your favourite websites to use? If you haven’t used any of these already then I would highly recommending you to!