peter gordon's warm pea, broad bean, fennel and herb roasted sweet potato salad

Experimentation ahoy! Months and months ago Brenda gave us a Peter Gordon recipe book called Salads: The New Main Course, which looks quite dry and therefore has never been used. Until this week that is, as we're scrabbling around for new salad dishes to augment the usual Mediterranean/Mozzarella, Peach and Ham/Rice and Chicken and Sesame Chicken salad axis.

However whilst relatively simple to make, this dish is a little bit pfaffy, all of which equates to demi-high levels of stress in the kitchen.

Despite my unjustified high horsing it turns out pretty well, and completely not what I'd expected. I thought the fennel and lemon juice would totally overwhelm the peas and broad beans, but in fact the combination of herby roast sweet potato goes really well with the parmesan and beans, and the fennel and lemon only come through later.

It's a keeper I think, and I think it'll be better next time as we're coming into the season and we can have fresh, podded beans rather than the canned variety I got this time. It's probably worth getting some frozen as well, so we can have it any time.

Food of the Milos
Breakfast: Choc Krispies, toast and butter;
Lunch: Chicken and veg, cake and two yoghurts. Why won't he eat yoghurts at home, but eats loads at Julia's?
Dinner: Veg bolognese

sources
warm pea, broad bean, fennel and herb roasted sweet potato salad with parmesan dressing - Peter Gordon, Salads: The New Main Course, p45

sweet potato and halloumi casserole

Tonight we're using up a variety of things which have been kicking around the vegetable bowl to make a lovely sweet potato and halloumi casserole. 

It's an odd recipe from the pre-New Zealand Black Book, and I distinctly remember cooking it for Manwaring on his trip to Upland Road, Kelburn. We've had it a few times since but the combination of ingredients is suitably challenging enough for Ana to need to be convinced each time I cook it, and usually I can't be bothered to try.

She loves the halloumi, (even if stewing it makes it squeakier than usual), and cherry tomatoes are a staple of our diet, but shallots and pesto aren't high on her list of favourites. However, it's the very pesto and chilli which really gives the dish a big ole flavour you wouldn't expect from such light ingredients.

However tonight I leave out the new potatoes and accidentally hit upon the perfect combination of veg for Ana, so much so she has two bowls whilst watching Come Dine with Me:

Food of the Milos
There's no point fannying around with what he has for breakfast as it's the same most days, the variety in Milo's diet happens from lunchtime onwards. Today he and Ana have boiled eggs for lunch, and then he reluctantly has ratatouille for dinner. Usually he loves it, and indeed he positively cheers when Ana tells him what's for tea, but then it has to be spooned into him as he won't feed himself.

sources
sweet potato and halloumi casserole - Possibly Sainsbury's Magazine, now in the Black Book

toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad

As we're off to Folkestone-by-the-Sea for my mum's 69th birthday (or 70th if you're my brother), tonight's dinner is a matter of using up what we've got in the fridge. Luckily we've got *just* enough spinach for both of us, meaning I don't have to take a jaunt to Sainsburys.

I bulk it up with the last of the basil leaves, double pine nuts and a highly un-bikini blitz extra portion of Sweet Potato:


Strangely, unlike last time there doesn't seem to be any issues with it tonight. Okay the avocado is a little soft, but the potato and the vinegar dressing are all in working order. Maybe our taste buds were a being a little wonky? Although I take Sarah's point, I didn't mention the presence of the lurrve pear so maybe the whole thing was sulking?

Food of the Milos
Back to Julia's and it seems the tactic of not giving him so much milk in the morning, and avoiding the snacks on the way, means he eats more breakfast. Well, a sweet yum yum on top of his toast and phili anyway. Cheesey pasta for dinner, and then he gets a double dose of pasta with the remainder of Rob's mushroom pasta 'sauce'. If you can call mushrooms in tinned tomatoes a sauce. Maybe it counts down under? Snigger

sources
toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad - Donna Hay, The Instant Cook, p49

toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad

Similar to last night's ratatouille, we've also had several sweet potatoes sat around the veg bowl for aaaaages, so in a continued effort to lose the winter fat we have one of the ana's favourite salads - roast sweet potatoes, tomatoes and pine nuts with a red wine vinegar and honey dressing, and spinach.


However just like last night *something* doesn't quite work. Initially I thought it was the aged nature of the potatoes - they were a little floury - but in the end I think it was the vinegar tasting funny. Not sure why though. I tried it without dressing and it was fine, but I can't believe vinegar goes off - does it?

Food of the Milos
Our eggs broke in transit this week, which means somebody has scrambled eggs for breakfast. Was he at Zoe's or Richmond park with Jenny today? Can't remember, but he did have ratatouille for dinner.

sources
toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad - Donna Hay, The Instant Cook, p49

sweet potato & halloumi stew

Where's the snow? Where's our snow day? Booo...

Having battled back on the metal beast along icy roads, I want something hot and hearty for dinner tonight. Because of the time it takes to read stories to the monkey and put him to bed, I rule out vegetable cottage pie and tomorrow the ana's are learning how to make tomato curry so that leaves an old classic from the Black Book - Sweet Potato & Halloumi stew.

I think it's from Sainsbury's magazine circa pre-NZ. Seeing as the blonde bombshell is having it tomorrow I leave out the chilli. It's still nice though, better than Lucy's pumpkin soup anyway - ha ha ha ha ha!



Food of the Milos
It's his first day back with Julia so he gets his usual porridge and apricots for breakfast, tuna and tomato pasta for lunch and last night's gnocchi for dinner. He has a lovely fat, warm tummy for me to raspberry when I get home.

sources
sweet potato & halloumi stew - The Black Book

toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad

More diet-related stresses, only today the glee is on the other side of the kitchen. As it turns out there is a slight discrepancy between the scales at the gym and the analogue one, saggy from fat AOL staff constantly huffing and puffing on it, has gone to the great scales in the sky. The digital one is far less accommodating and my massive weight-loss is scaled down to half a kilo. Boo!

With this in mind we rock a classic tasty salad. I've cooked it a million times but for some reason it turns into a catalogue of errors: Whilst the potatoes and tomatoes are roasting I have to make a dash to Sainsbury's to get the spinach, which is okay. When I get back I realise I've forgotten to get any bloody avocado. Gah!

The evening even less impressively as I spend two hours revising for my theory test on Friday. This week looks like it's going to be 'fun'.

Food of the Milos
Porridge for breaker, the usual glut of fruit, cheese sandwiches at Zoe's and the ana's perform miracles getting the left-over fish curry down him. He usually likes it but he surprises us by wolfing the onion and french beans down. Wowzers!

sources
toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad - Donna Hay, The Instant Cook, p49

toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad

More health, if you ignore the hearty dose of honey in the vinagrette. It doesn't look that filling, but I used two large sweet potatoes so there's absolutely loads to go round (me).

Food of the Milos
Back to ana's fine pasta sauce and pasta, which is handy as he gourmandises most of it but like a good banana, leaves a little soupcon for me to 'test' whilst washing up.

source
toasted pine nut and sweet potato salad - Donna Hay, The Instant Cook, p49

toasted pine nut & sweet potato salad

Off to the finest of counties for the weekend, so a swift pre-drive lunch is required which also uses up fresh stuff. Miss D Hay to the rescue.

The milos refuse at the first hurdle...