Quinoa and Chickpea Salad

This recipe is delicious and is perfect either as a main course or a side dish at a summer BBQ. 

 For four servings, you'll need;

1/2 cup quinoa
1 can cooked chickpeas
1 lime
1 cucumber
4 handfuls of plum tomatoes
1 red onion
1 handful basil leaves
Black pepper & paprika to season

Boil 1 cup water and add your quinoa. It expands at an unholy rate so don't be tempted to add more (I've learnt that the hard way numerous times when cooking hungry..). It'll take about 20 minutes, and will be ready once the water has absorbed. I also added herbs and spices (paprika and fresh basil leaves) to the pot to let the flavours infuse.

Chop up all your veg. Add your chickpeas to the bubbling quinoa to warm them through.

Once your quinoa is cooked, take a large mixing bowl and throw everything in together. You might need to strain your quinoa if it's particularly soggy (yum).

Grab your lime and squeeze liberally all over the salad. It gives it a really zesty, fresh taste, which makes the dish in my opinion.

Twist some cracked black pepper over the dish and you're go to go.

It's also really easy to swap in and out different ingredients. I added feta to mine this evening:

... it also tastes great with baked salmon, as well as with roasted chicken breast (spread some tomato purée and paprika over the chicken whilst it's cooking for a really fresh flavour).

Enjoy!

Summer Holidays - Sissi, Crete

I've just spent a week in the sun with some of the funniest girls I know.

We stayed at the SENTIDO Vasia resort and spa in Sissi, Crete - a place I'd definitely go back to. Lovely staff and a great atmosphere. We were upgraded to the penthouse suite on arrival, which kicked things off pretty nicely!

The hotel is just outside of the sleepy fishing village, Sissi - which is genuinely one of the prettiest, most relaxed places I've ever been to. I could talk to you about the eating, drinking & sunbathing we did but I'm pretty sure you'd get bored hearing about us taking full advantage of the all-inclusive quite easily!

I want to tell you about the village itself. If you're planning a trip to Greece soon, or need some holiday inspiration, this is the place for you!

Sissi is tiny, and not very touristy, so you get a real feel for how village life is.

Meet Sandra - aka the cutest dog you will ever see:

You don't know how hard it was not to steal her and bring her home.

I've forgotten the name (sorry!) but there's an incredible cocktail bar on the harbour front that you absolutely have to go to. You can't miss it, it's by far the best decorated bar.

Next up, tipsy swing time!

After you've walked off your cocktail, make your way to Taverna Agistri for the tastiest, most authentic food you'll eat all holiday. The staff were so friendly, the food was fresh and they even made us dessert from scratch when what we wanted wasn't on the menu (loukoumades, FYI. YUM). I had fresh prawns to start and lamb kleftiko for my main course - definitely going to make my own version soon.

Bottles of local wine were flowing, along with complimentary shots of Raki, so I didn't take any photos - but you'll just have to trust me on this one - or read some reviews on Tripadvisor if you need more persuasion.

One of the best weeks I've ever had with my beautiful best friends.. Paux maux!

Fruit Infused Water

All this sunshine has really set the bar for summer now. Bye bye boots, there's no going back - it's flip flops all the way till September now. 

Over the weekend I saw loads of girls with fruit infused water so I thought I'd have a go at creating my own. 

The beauty with this instant detox fix is that there's no set list of ingredients - go wild with that 5 a day!

In my old Yankee candle holder mason jar there is:

• Sliced cucumber
• Sliced lemon
• Frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants)
• H2o baby

Pop it in the fridge and leave it to infuse 'till your heart's content. 

You know how some people say fruit tea smells amazing but taste of nothing? Not this. Obviously, the longer you leave it to infuse the stronger the taste, but I poured after about 20 minutes and it was really fruity. 

Pour into a glass or bottle (or drink straight from a straw), and top up the water as necessary.. bearing in mind the flavour won't be as strong, so you might want to add more fruit too.

I've left my second infusion in the fridge overnight, I hope it's really strong in the morning..

Apparently mint and strawberry make a cracking combination, so that's definitely one to try this weekend.

(Sorry about the blurred quality of the photos, it was dark! I don't know how this beaut manages to make mason jars look so good..) Plenty of more beautiful images to drool over on Pinterest.

Any other infusion combinations I should try?!

Simple lunch box idea: roasted ratatouille

This recipe is the ultimate accompaniment to any lunch or dinner - make a big batch that will last you a few servings and you've got home-made lunches sorted all week.

It's clean, healthy, really tasty and so easy to make.

It's also one of those dishes where you can swap in and out vegetables according to taste (or, in my case, what's left in the fridge on a Sunday).

What I used:

1 butternut squash
1 courgette
1 red pepper
3 field mushrooms
3 celery sticks
1 tub tomato passata
Turmeric
Paprika
Salt & Pepper

If I'd had any, I would've added aubergine and an onion too.

Chop your veg. Throw it all into an oven proof dish:

Add a little extra virgin olive oil, then pour over the passata, turmeric and  paprika. Season with black pepper. I use a whole tub of passata to give it a liquidy consistency, but if you want it to look like this:

... only use half.

Put it in the oven at a low temperature (around 110 degrees), and leave it for an hour.

I like it with chicken breast & spinach, salmon & feta but it also tastes amazing on its own as a ratatouille.

After an hour, when it's looking like this, take it out and leave to cool. Serve as you will.

Boom! Cheap, healthy lunch.. come at me!