It's all in the balance - Lunchbox ideas with #FloraLunchbox

Who would have thought that packing a lunchbox could be such a challenging thing? In previous blogposts I have already alluded to a certain lack of thought in what you gave your child to take to school for lunch, back in the days when summers were hot, winters were cold and I carried my packed lunch in a bag the size of hand luggage, but back then, the received wisdom was that trans fats were harmless and that food should be bright and convenient – to heck with the E numbers and other additives, that inadvertently sent your child on a rollercoaster of craziness during the afternoon’s lessons. Thankfully, parents are now beginning to think about the variety and suitability of lunches, and it’s great that the people at Flora are giving people alternative ways of filling lunchboxes with delicious food which facilitates good health and stamina to take on the rigours of fronted adverbials, 'Goodnight Mr Tom' and dodgeball.

Lola and Finn are picky discerning eaters… but it is pleasing to see empty lunchboxes when they come home from school most nights, knowing that I lovingly filled them that very morning with a balance of wholesome food and the odd treat. It was interesting to read the great suggestions that Flora made for recipes that could easily be put together to make a luscious lunchbox which can be found here and in particular, their really useful lunch planner. It got me thinking about the little quirks that go into my children’s lunchbox, many of the ingredients of which are present in Flora's suggestions. Phew, maybe I am supermum after all.  Here we go – from the weird to the wonderful:

The ‘Tuna Crunch Barm’

Not really earth shattering, but Lola’s sandwich of choice. It used to be a mixture of mayonnaise, tuna in brine and tinned sweetcorn, but over the years it has evolved into really quite a treat! Don’t be surprised to find a sandwich filling that with the tuna contains diced red onion, diced peppers, spring onions maybe, sweetcorn definitely, and occasionally, the mayonnaise is switched for a salad dressing, just to make the whole thing taste ‘zing’.

‘The Enthusiasm Frittata’

So called because everything I have got left (in the fridge) goes into it… *tumbleweed*

Finn loves eggs – From that first 'proper food' meal of loosely scrambled egg, circa 6 months old, to today’s vociferous dunking of soldiers on a Sunday morning, Finn knows his eggs, and this one appeals to his lunchtime tastebuds. This week’s offering was made with six beaten eggs, some leftover potato, some leftover roast gammon and spring onions. You fry off the frittata filling with a bit of oil, butter or Flora and then add the eggs, which have been seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. Stir the filling round so that all the ingredients become equally dispersed and then leave the mixture to cook and set. Once the bottom of the pan has become quite set, put the pan under a pre-heated grill and allow the top to set, puff up and become gloriously brown. Allow to cool, cut into chunky wedges and put into the lunchbox.

The Carrot, Coriander, Lemon and Hummus Combo

Proof, if it were needed, that you can put anything in a buttie. I live in an area of the country where it is de rigeur to put a pie inside a buttered barm, (this should be on your foodie bucket list…) so this combo doesn’t seem that weird to me. If you use something like a wrap then this becomes a delicious Vegan lunchbox main, especially if you use Flora that is dairy free. To make this ‘interesting' sandwich, you need some hummus, some coriander, a squeeze of lemon and some grated carrot. Grate the carrot and mix it with the hummus. Then mix in some chopped coriander (I am a bit of a coriander fiend so I have loads in, but I tone it down for Lola, who likes this combo, because I know coriander can sometimes taste a bit soapy) and a squeeze of lemon. Mix and taste. You might need a touch of salt; you might need a bit more lemon. Once you’re happy with the taste and the consistency, load it onto bread/into a wrap.

Flapjacks. The treat to make the afternoons seem not so bad.

The recipe that I use for Lola and Finn’s favourite flapjacks is here. Other recipes are available. Lola and Finn are fans of the apple flapjack in particular and I have been experimenting with substituting some of the oats with some millet, which gives a nice crunchy texture. However,  I do believe that anything coated with butter/golden syrup/brown sugar is going to taste mighty fine and a little bit of flapjack will leave your bubs sated and with enough energy to take the world on.

Maybe, with a little bit of help, it is possible to improve on the current percentage (a mere 1.6%!) of children who eat a packed lunch that is nutritionally comparable with the guidelines set out for school dinners. It’s vital for the long term health of our children that little changes are made to produce, maybe over time, a lunch that strikes a balance between health, wellbeing and …the odd flapjack!


This post is an entry for the #FloraLunchbox Linky Challenge, sponsored by Flora. Check out their lunch planner and recipe ideas here <http://www.flora.com/article/category/1104207/healthy-kids >

Hob Top Lunch - Chilli Beef Wraps

Yeh, I know, I should be encouraging a little more decorum when it comes to eating lunch, but when you’ve had no breakfast, spent the morning running around catching up on housework and you get to 1pm and you realise that you haven’t eaten yet and that actually you could eat a scabby horse round about now, that there is something quite appealing about rustling up something and then diving in, no laying of the table, just get on with it. And that is what happened right here and in the spirit of my ‘doing things better’ this year, I decided to sit down and blog about it instead of doing the ironing.

I bought some tortillas ages ago because I had the notion I was going to make fajitas for Lola and Finn but for reasons that I cannot remember it didn’t happen. I probably thought to myself, “Sod it, we’ll get a takeaway…” Anyway, the tortillas have been lodged behind the toaster for longer than I care to remember and as I had some sad looking peppers, beef mince that was about to go past its sell by date and a basket full of spices so I set to work.

You could juzz this up by making it far spicier than I have; I always have to factor in the delicate palates of my bubs. I had some salsa in the fridge which spiced the mixture up as required and a spritz of lime made it all taste tingletastic. We all ate stood up, next to the cooker, just a couple of spoons and a handful of tortilla. Lunch is served.

Chilli Beef Wraps

Serves 3 to 4 people

Ingredients:

Olive oil

Two onions, finely chopped

1 big clove of garlic

1 red and 1 yellow pepper, diced

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp chilli flakes

400g beef mince

Salt and pepper

Handful of chopped coriander

To serve –

Lime wedges

Tortillas

Salsa

Guacamole, etc.

Method:

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan.

Over a medium heat, fry the onions until translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for about a minute or so, take care not to burn the garlic.

Add the diced peppers and the cumin, the coriander and the chilli flakes. Fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the mince and saute until brown. Season.

Increase the heat and cook the mince until it becomes quite dry. You will need to keep the mince moving so it does not burn.

Once the mince is of a dryish consistency, taste again for seasoning. Stir some of the chopped coriander through the mince and then scatter some over the top. Serve decorated with lime wedges from the pan if you like, with tortillas and salsa and guacamole…

A Tale of Two Kormas - Creamy Chicken Korma

 

Whilst we all know that the quickest way to a man's heart is a six inch knife through the chest; the other, less gruesome way is through his stomach. In fact, the wooing of Phill involved, amongst other things, some carefully selected and cooked meals - lasagne, beef stroganoff, croissant bread and butter pudding, all of which I don't believe I have ever blogged about and maybe, right there, lies a series of themed posts for Valentine's Day. Anyway, one night, very early in our fledgling relationship, he told me that a) he likes cooking and b) he cooks a mean korma. The description he then gave was quite mouth watering: you have to start the day before because it is such a complex process, it involves rendering a pound on onions down to almost nothing, yadda yadda yadda...

 

Nearly 13 years on, I am yet to taste this korma.

 

He mentions it every so often, usually when I am making curry and he comes wandering into the kitchen, enticed by the heady smells of herbs and spices, gets a spoon out the drawer, tastes the sauce I am cooking and gives the 'quality control' verdict, but he has never got round to making me his korma, which has taken on mythical proportions since it was first mentioned all those years ago. He does cook on occasions - he once made steak pizzeola, which tasted absolutely lush but my enthusiasm was dampened a little when I realised he had used every plate, dish and bowl in the kitchen to create his masterpiece and I was in charge of washing up...  But he can cook, but never the dish I thought he might cook...

 

Which brings me to this korma. This is from Neven Maguire's 'Food from the Sun'. He is an Irish chef who I discovered whilst on maternity leave, watching the 'GoodFood' channel in the afternoon, drifting in and out of consciousness whilst I had a plus 9lb baby writhing inside me who kept waking me up,,,(thank you Finn). I remember that I liked his kitchen and I liked the dishes he created, so I bought his book and have cooked from it here and here.

 

He calls this an authentic korma - to be honest I wouldn't know. What I do know is that it is pretty easy, does not involve a pound of onions and I did not have to start the day before. In fact, start to finish it took about an hour. It's a very comforting dish and Lola and Finn really like it, despite the touch of latent heat it exudes, just when you think it is only going to give flavour. I might use it as a lever to try and get Phill to make a korma...

 

Creamy Chicken Korma - adapted from 'Food from the Sun' by Neven Maguire

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum, Dad and one other

 

Ingredients:

 

 

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped (I used three - I like an oniony curry)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp finely grated root ginger

1 green chilli, seeded and chopped finely 

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp chilli powder

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp tomato puree

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

150ml double cream (or to taste - you might need more, depending on how far down you have reduced the sauce)

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

 

 

 

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Stir in the ginger and green chilli, and cook for 1 minute, stirring.

 

 

 

Add the garam masala to the pan with the turmeric, chilli powder and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute, stirring. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree and bring to the boil stirring continuously.

 

 

 

Add four tablespoons of water, (actually - I added about 150ml of water and a chicken stock cube at this point) stir well to combine, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the sauce is well reduced.

 

 

 

Cut the chicken into 2.5cm (1in) cubes and then add to the reduced down sauce. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and completely tender.

 

 

 

Stir in the cream and simmer gently for another few minutes until well combined. Season to taste.

 

 

View on Instagram here

 

To serve, arrange the basmati rice and chicken korma on warmed plates and scatter over the coriander.

 

Resisting the lure of the Curry House: Chicken Lahori

 

 

Friday night is curry night. And Friday night is THE night of the week that I am utterly banjaxed and grateful that the day after is Saturday and I can choose to do absolutely zilch (yeh right, I start the washing and clear all the crap I have been unable to shift all week because I have been a) taking an interest in my children b) generally distracted and c) marking something or other) and for some reason Friday night feels like a take away night. It's like a reward for getting to the end of another week without telling someone to stick it where the sun doesn't shine. This week, I evidently wasn't knackered enough to tell Phill to find the menu for the Indian takeaway; I volunteered to cook one. I had the ingredients, I could have wine whilst I was doing it, Finn's football on the Saturday was a later kick off.... why shouldn't I?  And I am glad I did because this recipe is, frankly, glorious. Punchy spice with a languid kick of chilli right at the finish, it was made for the bottle of Riesling that I had opened and half consumed by the time I actually got round to serving this.

 

A Google search consisting of 'Atul Kochhar, curry and chicken' threw up the frankly amazing Chicken Lahori. It was very easy to make, low maintenance and after half an hour or so cooking away whilst I was rounding up washing and threatening my kids with violence if they didn't get their uniforms off THIS MINUTE, this was ready to be served. It filled the kitchen with the heady smells that I normally associate with Phill bringing in a Friday takeaway. Thank God it's Friday and for once, I cooked it all myself...

 

Chicken Lahori adapted from the recipe by Atul Kochhar in the Daily Telegraph

 

Serves 4 in the original recipe: I approximately halved the ingredients below to create a hearty meal for two.

 

Ingredients:

 

5 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 black cardamom pods

4 green cardamom pods  

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 bay leaves

3 onions, chopped

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste*

3 tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons red chilli powder

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

4 green chillies, chopped

800g chicken thighs, skinless and

boneless cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons plain yoghurt (You can add more if you find this too spicy for your palate)

400ml chicken stock or water (I used chicken stock)

2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander

1 teaspoon garam masala

Salt

 

*Ginger-garlic paste: Blend equal quantities of peeled garlic and fresh ginger with 10 per cent of their total weight in water, using a blender or mini food processor. Store in a sealed container in the fridge. If you want to keep this for longer than a few days, add 5 per cent vegetable oil and 2 per cent lemon juice when you blend. Or you can freeze this in ice-cube trays.

 

Method:

 

 

 

Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the whole spices with the bay leaves until they crackle. Add the onions and sauté until lightly browned. Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for a minute, stirring well, then add the ground spices (except the garam masala) and the green chillies and tomatoes. Cook for 5–8 minutes or until the tomatoes soften.

 

 

 

Add the chicken pieces with the yogurt, stock and salt to taste, and mix in well. Simmer gently for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked. If the sauce is too thick, add more stock. I found that after the recommended cooking time the sauce was still a bit loose for my taste, so I increased the temperature and reduced the sauce further.

 

 

 

Stir in the chopped coriander leaves and garam masala, then serve.

Bonfire Fodder - Buffalo Chilli

 

If I was having one of those bonfire type gatherings, this would be my food of choice, because it is easy to scale up or down, looks as well atop a jacket potato as it does on some fluffy rice, and warms your bones as you stand out watching hundreds of thousands of pretty sparks shoot across an inky sky. Of course, some carefully chosen alcohol would also keep you warm against the cold, but it doesn't keep your hands warm as you wrap your hand around the glass, whereas a bowl of this stuff warms you inside and out, and tastes splendid.

 

Buffalo. I am not deliberately trying to be fancy. The fact is, it was at the back of the freezer, almost in the permafrost (I need to defrost the freezer) and I bought it because it was cheap. In reality, this is how I acquire the vast majority of some of the weirder ingredients in my freezer - if it has a yellow sticker, then it will be bought for some point in the future, and as far as the buffalo is concerned, that point has now been reached. You could obviously use diced beef; It would still be tremendous.

 

I kept the chilli reasonably tame because of Lola and Finn who aren't fond of eating anything which feels like it should be on fire. You should be far more liberal if fire eating happens to be your thing.

 

If you cook this really slow, you should produce unctuous chunks of beef which you theoretically cut with a spoon, and like most dishes of this nature, it is amazingly good the day after. And if you really go for it you could freeze vats of the stuff to be eaten on another random winter night, minus fireworks, when you need something to defrost your bones.

 

 

Buffalo Chilli, loosely based on any recipe or any version of chilli or a stew that I have ever made.

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad, plus 1 other, generously

 

Ingredients:

 

1 chipotle chilli

4 tbsp. olive oil

3 peppers - I went for all red - diced

1 onion, diced

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

1 fresh green chilli, deseeded if you like, finely chopped

800g diced buffalo (or diced beef)

3 garlic cloves

250ml beef stock

1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

2 x 400g tinned tomatoes

3 x 400g tins of kidney beans

1 tbsp. fresh coriander stalks

 

Method:

 

 

 

Soak the chipotle chilli in a few tablespoons of water until it is soft. Whilst this is happening, you should crack on with the rest of the method.

 

Heat 2 of the tbsp. of oil in a suitable pot/pan that will be big enough to take all the ingredients later on.

 

 

 

Add the onion, the peppers, the chilli, the coriander stalks and the celery with some salt and saute until soft but not coloured.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

 

 

 

Put the rest of the oil into the pan and then add the meat. You should cook the buffalo until it is well browned; consider doing this in a couple of batches as you want the beef to brown, not steam. Add the chopped garlic and a little bit of salt and pepper. Cook the garlic only until fragrant and then add the beef stock. Deglaze the pan with the stock and bring it to the boil.

 

Return the pepper mixture to the pan and add the herbs and spices.

 

 

 

Add the tomatoes and the kidney beans and some seasoning. You will need a good amount of seasoning so don't be shy.

 

Lastly, remove the chipotle chilli from the soaking liquid and chop finely. Add this and the soaking liquid to the mixture and stir well.

 

 

 

I simmered this, covered with a tightly fitting lid, on a really low heat for a couple of hours, checking it now and then to ensure it wasn't boiling dry. After a couple of hours gentle simmering, I removed the lid and raised the heat to reduce the sauce to the consistency that I like.

 

 

Easy does it! Ottolenghi Chicken with Caramelised Onion and Cardamom Rice.

 

 

Easy. Often things aren't are they? Though there are those annoying types who think that somehow something being easy isn't enough of a challenge and that something that doesn't test your perseverance is somehow not worth bothering with. It's a bit like that 'if it isn't hurting, it isn't working' adage that gets trotted out every so often by those who are probably well meaning but extraordinarily irritating. And whilst these people always seem to be atop of everything, I refuse to believe that there isn't a part of their lives which is as chaotic and stupid as mine, so even they would be appreciative of something that was as effortless as this recipe.

 

This 'effortless' thing, however, is all relative. There requires some involvement: some rudimentary chopping skills, the opening of a packet of rice and a requirement to be in or around the kitchen whilst the thing cooks, but other than that, it is something you can 'knock up' (not the greatest phrase ever) whilst doing something else, like sorting out a small amount of the chaos that is your life maybe, if you happen to be me.

 

I have waxed lyrical about my love of all things Ottolenghi elsewhere on this blog. This recipe, unsurprisingly, does not disappoint on any level. Yum!

 

Ottolenghi Chicken with Caramelised Onion and Cardamom Rice, adapted from 'Jerusalem' by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum, Dad and one other

 

Ingredients:

 

4 tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, finely sliced (250g in total)

1kg chicken thighs, with bone and skin, or 1 whole chicken divided into quarters (I used chicken thighs)

10 cardamom pods

⅓ tsp whole cloves

2 long cinnamon sticks, broken in two

300g basmati rice

550ml boiling water

1 chicken stock cube (my addition)

 5g parsley, chopped

5g dill, chopped (I omitted this, as I don't like it really and as a result, didn't have it)

5g coriander, chopped

100g Greek yoghurt, mixed with 2 tablespoons of olive oil (optional)

salt and black pepper

 

Method:

 

 

 

Heat half the olive oil in a large sauté pan for which you have a lid over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion has turned a deep golden brown. Transfer the onion to a small bowl and wipe the pan clean.

 

 

 

Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and season with 1½ teaspoons each salt and black pepper. Add the remaining olive oil, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and use your hands to mix everything together well. Heat the frying pan again and place the chicken and spices in it. Sear chicken for 5 minutes on each side and remove from the pan (this is important as it part-cooks the chicken). The spices can stay in the pan, but don’t worry if they stick to the chicken.

 

Remove most of the remaining oil as well, leaving just a thin film at the bottom.

 

Add the rice, caramelized onion, 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper. Add the currants. Stir well and return the seared chicken to the pan, pushing it into the rice.

 

 

 

Pour the boiling water (in which I dissolved a stock cube) over the rice and chicken, cover the pan, and cook over very low heat for 30 minutes.

 

 

 

Take the pan off the heat, remove the lid, quickly place a clean tea towel over the pan, and seal again with the lid. Leave the dish undisturbed for another 10 minutes.

 

 

Instagram

 

 

Finally, add the herbs and use a fork to stir them in and fluff up the rice. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

 

Serve hot or warm with yogurt mixture if you like.