Quorn "Meat" Balls with Tomato and Mint Sauce

Recipe Ingredients: (enough for 4)

• 1 pkt of Quorn balls (these can also be soya balls or any other vegetarian substitute, in the case of not being able to find these you can use full button mushrooms about 300 grs, or real meat)
• 300 grs spaghetti
  
• 1 diced onion
  
• 1 large diced courgette
  
• 1 very finely diced carrot
  
• 2 garlic cloves minced
  
• 1 piece of ginger root the size of a garlic piece minced
  
• 2 finely chopped medium hot chillies
  
• 1 vegetable stock cube
  
• 1 can of Italian plum tomatoes diced
  
• 1 soup spoon of paprika
  
• 11 chopped fresh mint leaves
  
• a little bunch of chopped parsley
  
• 4 soup spoons of fresh single cream (I used very little as I wish this dish to be healthy)
• a little olive oil, salt and black pepper (to taste)
  

To cook the spaghetti put a pan on the stove with some water and a little salt and vegetable oil (a couple of soup spoons full), the salt will enhance the spaghetti flavour and the oil will stop the water over-frothing when boiling the pasta due to the starch in the spaghetti. This will take 10-12 minutes to be fully cooked which should be enough time to do the sauce.

To do the sauce I used a wok pan, with a little olive oil on the stove high temp, once hot I added the, onion, courgette, garlic, carrot, ginger and chilli + seasoning. Once the onion is semi-transparent (around 4 minutes add the Quorn balls, stock cube and tomatoes, bring this to the boil and reduce heat to medium let it cook another 6-10 minutes at this stage add the cream and mint cook for a further 1-2 minutes, remove from the heat and add the parsley, mix well and serve over the spaghetti. Enjoy!!!

Broccoli Spears and King Prawn Quinoa

A delicious and healthy recipe, that is light and well suited to this time of year (summer). Also long awaited by you my followers, with my apologies for the wait.

Recipe Ingredients: (for 4 people)

• 350grs Quinoa
• 250 Pealed Prawn (raw) cut in halves
  
• 1 white onion, chopped
  
• 1 medium carrot, diced
  
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
  
• 200grs broccoli spears, (branches sliced)
  
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped
  
• 4 mild chillies, chopped
  
• 1 piece of ginger (size of a garlic clove) minced
  
• 1 fish stock cube (like knorr or Oxo)
• 1/2 can plum tomatoes pealed and chopped
  
• 1 soup spoon of turmeric
  
• 1/2 soup spoon of paprika
  
• 2 soup spoons of chopped coriander
  
• olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste (+ 1/4 glass of wine "red or white)

Preparation:

Put In a pan about three to four tablespoons of olive oil ,a pinch of salt and a little pepper. Place this one on the heat and let it heat, once hot add the onion, garlic, ginger, carrot, chilli, chopped branches of broccoli, chives, paprika and turmeric. Cook a little for about 1 to 2 minutes stirring occasionally, when it starts to get a little stuck to the pan, de-glacé it with 1 / 4 cup of white or red wine, and it will form a thick sauce, to which you add a glass of water, the tomatoes, broccoli, the fish stock and the Quinoa .

Once boiling reduce the heat to minimum and put a lid on the pan, watching it from time to time to see if a little more water is needed, let cook for about ten minutes, then add the prawns and let it cook three to four minutes more stirring occasionally, adding last coriander cover the pan again with the lid and let stand about two to three minutes which will make it ready to serve .... bon appetit.

Holidays, and apologies!!!

Me and my pearly whites (hair too) :)
and you can see I just been on hols as I am unshaven.

Quarteira Beach

I have been on holidays, all went well and I had a whale of a time, as I ate fresh fish nearly everyday ... which was planed so as here in the UK is difficult to get fish of that same quality and as fresh, unless you live by the seaside. But mainly I went to to Portugal to have an implant done, and to whiten my teeth, which I done both....was totally painless and at a fraction of the price here in the UK (I will put details bellow) The total cost of an implant including bitumen and crown (zicornea porcelain) is around 1200 Euros, while the starting price for a lower quality implant in the UK is £2000. The clinic is in Faro, a few minutes in a car from the airport, Dentist Nuno Jorge, Dental Clinic Ria Faro (picture Bellow) well worth the trip a holiday and super cheap cosmetic dental treatments as well as normal ones too.

Now MY APOLOGIES, for not having communicated that I went on holidays and not posting here, leaving you to guess. I am so sorry but the trip was sudden. Hope I am forgiven.
Will soon post pics of the holidays. Thanks for following me and supporting me...appreciated.

Fruit Salad with Port Wine

Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 Round Melon (cut into two halves, flesh removed and cut into pieces)
  
• 3 Fleshy Oranges (segments removed without skin, pip's or membranes)
  
• 1 bunch of grapes seedless (cut in halves)
  
• 1 banana (cut in slices)
  
• 1 Red apple (cut in quarters and then slice with the skin)
  
• 1 tin of pineapple (or half of fresh pineapple) (cubed)
  
• 1 Ripe peach (cut into little pieces)
  
• 1/2 fresh orange juice
  
• 1/2 pineapple juice
  
• juice of a whole lemon
  
• 2 shots of Port wine
  
• pinch of cinnamon
  
• a couple of scrapes of nutmeg
  
• 1 soup spoon full of denmerra sugar
  

The preparation is simple, just mix all the chopped up fruit in a ceramic bowl, the melon skins should be immediately refrigerated after the flesh is scooped out. Then mix into the fruit all the liquids and condiments. and leave these to mature and ferment for a minimum of two hours (I prefer leaving them overnight) in the fridge.

Then you present the salad in the chilled melon halves, or in small ramekins etc, you you'd like to indulge you can also place a spoon of clotted cream on each serving on top and a mint leave.