Salmon with Red Pesto

The group made this lovely summer dish of Salmon with red pesto, green beans and baby potatoes.

First we prepared the salmon fillets by covering them with red pesto and wrapping them in silver foil ready for the oven.

We also prepared the green beans by cutting the ends off and putting them in a saucepan of water, ready to cook later.

We also par boiled some baby potatoes and finished them off in the oven to crisp them up. The salmon was cooked for about 30 mins in the oven and the green beans were cooked for a few minutes in boiling water.

Some people in the group had never tried salmon before but found out that they loved it after trying this meal. It's great to try different foods and flavours and the group love discovering new and exciting things to cook. 

Bruschetta

Bruschetta is a simple and tasty starter using fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic in a simple olive oil and white wine vinegar dressing on top of toasted bread.

Firstly we chopped the fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic and mixed them in a bowl. We added salt, pepper, a glug of olive oil and a sprinkling of white wine vinegar.

We then had to cut the bread into 1cm thick slices, ready to be toasted:

Having some help with the bread.

Then working independently:

We then toasted the bread and topped with the tomato and basil mixture and added a little mozzarella.

A very healthy, fresh starter, perfect for the summer!

Beef Curry

Whilst searching the internet for prospective recipes the group found this recipe for a beef curry on BBC Good Food:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/aromatic_beef_curry_90850

The group realised that we already had a lot of the spices and herbs in our cupboard so decided we should put them to use.

In a big pot we cooked the onions, garlic and beef and added in all the different spices.

We added the tin tomatoes and allowed everything to cook so all the flavours could infuse together.

It was very flavourful and all the spices worked really well with the beef. The whole group thoroughly enjoyed the curry.

Grilled Courgette and green bean salad

The group saw a picture of this salad and really liked the vibrant colours and thought it looked far more excited than a traditional lettuce based salad.

We grilled sliced courgette and green beans and roasted vine tomatoes in the oven.

We also baked the feta cheese in a tin foil parcel with a dash of olive oil and a sprinkle of oregano for about 8-10 minutes. After this we broke it up into small pieces.

For the dressing we used fresh lemon juice and olive oil and topped with toasted and chopped hazelnuts, the crumbled feta and fresh basil.

Everyone enjoyed the salad and some even said it was the best salad they ever had. The flavours were unusual but really tasty. As a group we discussed all the different vitamins in this salad and worked out we were getting 3 out of our '5 a day'- All from one dish!

We talked about replacing the green beans with asparagus, this is something the group would like to try in the upcoming weeks.

Courgette and Lemon spaghetti

The group found this recipe and thought it would be perfect for a warm summers day.

To make enough for four you will need:

400g Spaghetti

2 lemons (zest only)

3 large courgettes

bunch of parsley

70g Grana Padano (grated)

5 garlic cloves (finely chopped)

pinch of crushed chillies

olive oil

 

First we measured out the spaghetti and put it on to boil.

We then grated the courgettes, zest the lemons and chopped the garlic.

We then fried the garlic in a little oil, then added the courgette, chillie flakes and lemon zest and cooked for 3-4 minutes.

We then drained the spaghetti and added the cooked courgettes and mixed well.

We served this with parsley and some of the Grana padano.

Everyone enjoyed the spaghetti and was surprised at how tasty it was for such a simple recipe.

Prawn Cocktail

Today the group wanted to make Prawn cocktail. When looking at recipes we saw a few using avocado and the group really liked this idea.

We did some research and found that avocado is a really good source of potassium and lots of vitamins.

Everyone really liked the idea of putting the prawn cocktail in the avocado, so the avocado became the bowl!

The group agreed that the flavours worked well and made for a fresh, light starter.

Blueberry cakes

The group found a recipe for light and fluffy blueberry cakes. To make twelve of these you need:

85g Blueberries
1Tbsp of granulated sugar
85g Butter
225g self raising flour
85g Caster Sugar
1 medium egg (beaten).

First we washed the blueberries and mixed in a bowl with the granulated sugar.

Then for the cake we put the flour in the bowl and rubbed the butter in- like you would for a crumble topping.
We then added the caster sugar and mixed.
Afterwards we made a well in the mix and added the egg. We then mixed until the ingredients became a dough.

We then divided the dough into twelve to roll into balls and put a few blueberries on top.

After spacing them out on the baking tray we put in the oven at 200

Degrees for about 12 minutes.

Fresh from the oven...

..And ready to eat.

They were lovely and light, which was perfect after a filling lunch.