Tag Archive for: Katriona MacGregor

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Quinoa, Courgette and Herb Cakes

These little cakes from the book Healthy Speedy Suppers by Katriona MacGregor are free of gluten and dairy if you’re sensitive to either. The quinoa gives them a firm, nutty texture, which is delicious with the fresh herbs and courgette/zucchini. Dipped in a little garlic mayonnaise, chilli jam or tomato chutney, they’re wonderful.

Healthy Speedy Recipe 2

 

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

140g/5oz/1 cup quinoa

300g/10 ½ oz courgette/zucchini, grated

3 spring onions/scallions, sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed handful of mint leaves, shredded handful of parsley leaves, chopped

10 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped juice of ½ lemon

55g/2oz/ ½ cup cornflour/cornstarch

1 egg

rapeseed/canola oil, for frying

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

garlic mayonnaise, chilli jam or tomato chutney, to serve

green salad, to serve

Method:

  • Tip the quinoa into a small saucepan and cover with 300ml/10 ½ fl oz/ 1 ¼ cups of cold water. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and cook for about 5 minutes until all the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is cooked. Turn out into a bowl and leave to one side to cool.
  • Meanwhile, place the grated courgette/zucchini in the bowl of a food processor with the spring onions/scallions, garlic, mint, parsley, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice and cornflour/cornstarch. Crack the egg straight into the mixture, add the quinoa, and season with salt and pepper. Blend for about 30 seconds to mix the ingredients thoroughly and to form a thick paste. Tip the mixture out into a bowl and taste to check the seasoning.
  • Heat about 5mm/1/4 in rapeseed/canola oil in a large frying pan until the oil is hot enough to sizzle loudly when you drop in a tiny bit of the courgette/ zucchini mixture.
  • Drop a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into the hot oil, flattening slightly with the back of the spoon to form round patties. Repeat until you have 3–4 cakes in the pan at the same time, or as many as your pan will fit comfortably, with room to turn.
  • After 3–4 minutes the underside of the cakes should be nicely golden and holding their shape. Gently flip them over and cook until the second side is golden. Lift the cakes out of the oil onto some paper towels and keep warm. Repeat until all of the mixture has been used; you should end up with 12–14 cakes.
  • Serve the cakes warm with green salad and your choice of dip.

Part-time variation:

  • To make a very quick garlic mayonnaise or aioli, add 2 crushed garlic cloves to 4 tbsp good-quality mayonnaise along with a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with freshly ground black pepper and, if needed, a little sea salt.

Healthy Speedy Suppers

Katriona MacGregor

Healthy Speedy Suppers

£16.99, available from Nourish Books

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Fig, Prosciutto and Gorgonzola Croutes

This recipe from Healthy Speedy Suppers by Katriona MacGregor, was given to the author by her good friend and fellow cook, Bella Thomas-Ferrand, it sings of indulgent Italian eating, both with its classic flavours and ease of preparation. A friendly greengrocer will find you figs, but failing that, good supermarkets have them out of season. After a few days in the fruit bowl and the help of sticky balsamic caramel they will be delicious. If sourdough isn’t available then any good-quality crusty loaf will work, the chewier and more rustic the better.

 

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

6 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

8 ripe figs

2 tbsp pine nuts

8 slices of sourdough bread

2 garlic cloves, peeled

extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

8 slices of prosciutto

100g/3 ½ oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

handful of rocket/arugula

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

  • Pour the vinegar into a small pan, add the brown sugar and heat gently. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up and simmer rapidly until the liquid is reduced and syrupy.
  • Slice the figs into quarters, vertically through their stalks, and place cut side down in the balsamic syrup. Cook over a medium heat, with the syrup bubbling, for 1–2 minutes, then turn the fig quarters, spooning the liquid over the figs. Remove the figs to a small plate, then boil the remaining syrup until reduced to a thick glaze.
  • Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a small frying pan for 1–2 minutes until lightly coloured, then leave to one side. Toast the sourdough on both sides using a griddle/grill pan or alternatively under a grill/broiler. Rub the garlic cloves over the toasted bread, then drizzle with olive oil.
  • While the bread is still warm, top each slice with 2 slices of prosciutto, followed by the caramelized figs, Gorgonzola and a drizzle of both the balsamic glaze and some more extra virgin olive oil. Scatter over the rocket/arugula and pine nuts and grind over some salt and pepper.

Healthy Speedy Suppers

Katriona MacGregor
Healthy Speedy Suppers
£16.99, available from Nourish Books

 

 

 

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Garlic Roast Salmon with Courgettes and Olives

Lightly roasting courgettes/zucchini with garlic and herbs brings out their sweet flavour without losing their naturally sweet crunch. I use a mixture of yellow and green courgettes/zucchini in this recipe but do just use green if the yellow ones prove elusive.

salmon_2675228b

Ingredients:
3 large courgettes/zucchini
3 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
16 cherry tomatoes
4 salmon fillets
2 lemon wedges
handful of parsley, chopped
handful of basil, chopped
16 pitted black olives
sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper

Method:

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.
  • Slice the courgettes/zucchini diagonally into bite-size chunks. Place in a bowl with the garlic, olive oil and some salt and pepper and toss together.
  • Line a deep roasting tray with baking paper. Spread out the coated courgettes/zucchini, scatter over the cherry tomatoes and place the salmon on top of the vegetables.
  • Squeeze the juice from the lemon wedges over the salmon and then nestle the wedges among the vegetables. Sprinkle over the parsley. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the fish is cooked through.
  • Take the tray out of the oven, lift off the salmon fillets and leave to one side on a warm plate. Add the basil and olives to the tray and stir to mix through the courgette/zucchini mixture.
  • Return the tray to the oven for 5 minutes until everything is warmed through.
  • Serve the salmon on top of the vegetable and olive mixture.KM

You can find more delicious recipes on Healthy Speedy Suppers by Katriona MacGregor.

Katriona MacGregor is a chef, cookery writer and journalist who writes a hugely popular weekly column for The Telegraph. Her personal experience of stress, fatigue and autoimmune thyroid disease has lead her to create recipes that are simple to make but focus on good ingredients and wholesome food.

HealthySpeedySuppers_WEL_Cover

Katriona MacGregor
Healthy Speedy Suppers
£16.99, available from May 2016

 

 

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