Cooking for my vegetarian girlfriend
And other adventures with Jane
Ingredients: Strawberry, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, salt
Preparation:
Blend around 120g of strawberries with, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, 3 tables spoons of balsamic veingar until a smooth dressing. Taste and add a small pinch of salt.
Use sparingly over mixed leaf salad
Ingredients: Red cabbage, carrot, corriander, sweet chilli sauce
Serves 2
Preparation
Shred the cabbage, carrot together. Add some chopped corrainder and drizzle with a little sweet chilli sauce.
Optional – add some sesame seeds to finish.
Serves plenty and will keep for a few days.
Ingredients: 1small garlic clove, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, a pinch of sugar, ground pepper and sea salt
Preparation: In a jar combine all the ingredients and give a good shake until emulsified. drizzle on salad and keep in the fridge for a few days. 
A nice simple fruity salad
serves 2
Ingredients : half a diced red apple, little gem lettuce, walnuts, red grapes, celery, small tablespoon of mayonaise.
Preparation: In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped little gem lettuce and combine with good quality hard diced red apple, celery, grapes and a spoonful of mayonnaise. Roast a handful of walnuts in a dry pan and keep a constant eye. There is a fine line between them being cooked or burnt become bitter. Add the nuts to the mixing bowl and stir through. Make sure there is only a small amount of mayo, as this dish should not be too thick or heavy.
Important. If you are making a relish to keep for later, you must use sterilised jars. The simplest way to prepare a sterilised jar and lid is to wash them in very hot water, then put the jar in the oven for 10/15 minutes at 100C Fan and also boil the lid at the same time. Take out the hot items with a clean cloth or sheets of clean paper towel and place on a rack to cool. When filling the jar, make sure the spoon is sterile too.
Ingredients: An onion, a clove of garlic, a cube of ginger, 1 small red chilli, half a red pepper, fresh coriander, fresh sweetcorn ( or small tin of sweetcorn), a deseeded tomato, 2 tbsp of vinegar, 2 tbsp of soft brown sugar, a pinch of salt and white pepper
Preparation.
In a pan, cook the chopped garlic, onion and ginger over medium heat to soften but not burn/brown too quick. Next add all the remaining chopped ingredients, except the fresh coriander to the pan and cook until the liquid is reduced down. This will take about 5/7 minutes.
Next mix in a large handful of coriander and transfer to the sterilised jar with lid. Make sure everything is sterile.
This is a great dish to make ahead for work lunches, as it will keep for a couple of days and can be sliced into portions to have with a salad.
Serves 2
Ingredients: 1 large courgette, 1 tbsp butter or equivalent, half an onion or some shallots, 4 large eggs, 50g of grated cheddar, salt and pepper.
Preparation:
Grate the courgette and tab and press dry with some kitchen paper to remove any excess water then set aside.
Saute chopped onions and courgette with a pinch of salt for around 5/7 minutes until the mixture is softened.
In a bowl, crack the eggs and whisk with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then add the onions and courgette mixture and the cheese and stir through.
Next, pour the mixture into a suitable greaseproof round tin. I suggest one which more than 2inches deep and 6 inches wide.
Place the dish in the oven at around 150c Fan for 20/25 minutes until set.
Couscous is very flexible, and it can be prepared in many different combinations. This recipe is a reminder of a basic couscous salad and how much to weigh out. Using a little imagination, this dish can be changed into hundreds of different options. It is also brilliant at using up leftover salad material or other vegetables that can be chargrilled and added to the couscous.
Serving for 2
Ingredients: couscous, water, spices ( ground cumin, ground coriander, ground paprika, ground garlic salt, white pepper), cucumber, 2 medium tomatoes, 1 small red onion, homemade hummus and flatbread.
Preparation:
For two people, use 110g of couscous with 170ml of boiling water. Stir through and allow 5 mins for the couscous to expand and soak the water up.
Next, add your spices or herbs and stir in any vegetable combination ( salad or chargrilled) that you desire.
Serve with some homemade hummus and small flatbread or even a piece of grilled halloumi.
A beautiful knock out salad which is sure to impress.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
Battered halloumi – halloumi, 60g flour, 30ml milk, 30ml water, 1/4 tsp garlic powder
Jalapeno dressing – a small red onion, 1 large green chilli, juice of a lime juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of white wine vinegar, seedless watermelon and mango, coriander, cos lettuce
Preparation
Prepare the batter with a pinch of garlic salt and be ready to fry and serve on the salad. Full instructions on how to make the halloumi are here.
First prepare the dressing.
Slice the green chilli and the red onion and place in a bowl. Next, add the chopped garlic, vinegar and sugar and let it stand together for at least 10 mins.
Discard the excess liquid by straining the chilli mixture and return to the bowl. Add the watermelon, mango, coriander and olive oil and stir through.
On a large serving board, spread out some torn cos salad leaves and dress with the jalapeno dressing and then add the freshly cooked battered halloumi and serve immediately.
This is a very nice salad which has no dressing or added olive oil, so you can pretty much knock your self out and eat loads guilt free. I would also push this salad to the centre of the table and have it as the main, rather than being considered a side salad event.
I served this salad with stuffed peppers , home made hummus with a couple of flat breads.
Ingredients: Iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, mint, kalamata olives, feta cheese, lemon juice
Preparation: Tear then shred lots of icebergs leaves and place in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 de-seeded tomatoes then sliced thin tomatoes to the bowl. Now grab around 6 inches of cucumber and peel and de-seed and slice, then add to the salad bowl. Mix through a good handful of kalamata pitted olives, with some chopped mint and around 50g of feta cheese. Finally squeeze half a lemon to the salad and gently give the salad a little mix to ensure the ingredients are evenly distributed.
A quick and simple coleslaw which is tastier than the shop bought stuff. Try and avoid adding too much spring onion to avoid lingering after taste of onions. It does not keep well! So eat and bin the rest, as the mayonnaise used will separate when left in a fridge overnight. However, as the red cabbage once cut has a long shelf life, it is better just to make some more on an as and when basis.
Ingredients:
Cabbage, carrots, spring onion and mayonnaise
Preparation:
Simply cut some red cabbage and shred. Mix in some grated carrot. I always aim for around 3 to 1 mix of cabbage to carrot combination. Then add a dollop of the mayo. Go easy with the mayo, as you dont want to thickly coat the veg, as mayo is so very rich and high in calories and it very easy to add into too much.
For varations, you could use mix in white cabbage, corriander etc. 
Cooking for my vegetarian girlfriend 
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