Easy Chicken, tomato & squashed new potato traybake

Here’s a recipe you can literally throw together during the week; basically all you need to do is put all the ingredients in a big tray and roast! You get a lovely flavour from the chicken juices and tomatoes, which combine to make a sticky sauce for the potatoes. This is why I like to squash them with a fork so they soak up the juices in the tray.

This recipe massively punches about it’s weight in terms of simple ingredients and prep time - it tastes like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen! And it’s so good for you as well, lots of protein, fibre and healthy fat in the olive oil.

ingredients

Serves 4

• 6 chicken legs

• 1 kg new potatoes

• 250g cherry tomatoes

• 1 red onion, half moon slices

• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

• 3-4 sprigs fresh oragano, or 1 tsp dried

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• Good pinch of sea salt & grind of black pepper

method

• Preheat the oven to 180°c

• Spread out the chicken legs in a large tray, then add all the other ingredients.

• Drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil, rub into the chicken and mix into the veg as much as you can.

• Put in the oven for 1 hour, checking half way.

• Serve with any green veg you like!

• And that’s it!!

Purple broccoli & potatoes with celeriac, quinoa & green tahini

Bit of a different one from me today as I don’t often cook with blue anneliese potatoes or celeriac, but wow, I need to pick them up more often! This salad was so tasty and even won over my celeriac-hating other half! I think the way forward is roasting the celeriac to get the sweetness and a softer flavour.

The veggies all arrived in my Able & Cole box (as did the celeriac); I’ve been trying them for the past few weeks and I’m really enjoying cooking with different ingredients and creating dishes to include them in.

This salad was so tasty and amazingly healthy, here are a few nutrition facts you might find interesting:

purple potatoes have more potassium (fluid balance, muscle contractions and nerve signals) than bananas surprisingly and contain lots of antioxidant polyphenols, which mop up the free radicals in your body that cause cell damage.

Celeriac is also packed with antioxidants plus Vit C (immunity), K (blood clotting and bone health) and B6 (supports neurotransmitters that regulate mood, such as serotonin, dopamine and GABA).

Purple sprouting broccoli is another great source of antioxidants (like anything purple!) , Vit K, C, folate (mental health, cardiovascular and immune system health, cell division and DNA creation) .

And last but not least quinoa, a complete source of protein as it contains all 9 essential amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and protein forms the basis of all tissues in your body. It is also packed full of: manganese (metabolism, growth, development), phosphorus (tissue health), copper (heart), folate, iron (energy), magnesium (muscles, energy), zinc (immunity, growth and around 100 essential enzyme reactions).

Note: if you can’t get blue anneliese then switch for sweet potatoes.

Ingredients

• Serves 4-6, or 8-10 as part of a mezze

• 3 blue anneliese potatoes, 1cm slices, halved

• ½ large celeriac, 2 cm rough cubes

• Pinch of dried thyme

• 150g tri-colour quinoa

• 100g purple spouting broccoli

• Dressing

• 100g tahini

• 20g fresh parsley

• 1 small garlic clove

• Juice 1 ½ lemons (approx 3 tbsp)

• 3 tbsp water

• ¼ tsp sea salt

  Method

• Pre heat the oven to 180ºc.

• Spread the potatoes and celeriac on 2 large trays with a pinch of thyme and drizzle with 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, roast for 20-25 minutes until soft and browned.

• Rinse the quinoa really well and cook as per the packet instructions, rinse and drain well. Toss in a good pinch of salt and set aside in a pan with the lid on to keep warm.

• Blitz the dressing ingredients in a mini chopper or use a stick blender in a deep jug.

• While everything is still warm layer the quinoa, veggies and dressing, serve immediately if you can, but if you have to make ahead then this salad is lovely at room temperature too.

Broccoli & spring green salad with hasslebacks and wild garlic pesto

It’s officially spring and this salad is perfect for the time of year. Lots of greens, some crispy hassleback potatoes and a wild garlic pesto made from leaves picked in our local park. I love this salad served warm on it’s own or part of a spread. It would be great if you’re BBQing over the next few weeks too.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 500g new potatoes

• 200g purple sprouting broccoli, trim & halve any with thick stalks

• 200g green beans, both ends cut

• 250g spring greens

• Juice of ½ lemon

Pesto

• 20g wild garlic (15 leaves)

• 30g basil

• 50g pinenuts

• 20g parmesan, grated

• 5 tbsp olive oil

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc.

• Make the pesto: toast the pine nuts in a frying pan (no oil) for 2-3 minutes, watching closely so they don’t burn. Allow them to cool before making the pesto. Next blitz the parmesan in the food processor and then add the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

• Prep the potatoes: put them, one at a time, onto a wooden spoon and, starting at one end, cut across their width at 3mm intervals with a sharp knife – the spoon keeps the potato stable and stops you from cutting all the way through.

• Spread the potatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with 2-3 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle each one with sea salt. Roast for 50 minutes until the tops are crispy.

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and char the broccoli for approx 10 minutes until just cooked, so it still has a bite.

• While the broccoli is cooking, steam the green beans for 5-6 minutes.

• Warm a plate briefly in the oven and then put the cooked broccoli and green beans on it while you prepare the spring greens. Cover the plate loosely with tin foil.

• Add the spring greens to the same pan as you used for the broccoli. Drizzle with a little olive oil, if needed, sprinkle with salt and fry on a low-medium heat for 3 minutes to soften.

• Toss the veggies in ½ tbsp olive oil, plus the juice of ¼ lemon and a pinch of salt, then arrange on a serving plate, spreading each vegetable out as evenly as possible.

• Nestle the potatoes in between the greens, top with spoons of pesto and squeeze over the remaining lemon quarter if needed. Serve straight away.