dairy-free – Food Notes

Apple, fennel and radish salad

This is a wonderfully light salad which makes a perfect side dish for your summer dining table. It’s very versatile and will go well with pretty much anything. I served it alongside grilled fish – Herb-Marinated Grilled Sea Bass, and the fresh flavours made for a lovely accompaniment.

More in salads: Watermelon, Tomato and Halloumi salad | Griddled courgette, pine nut and mozzarella salad | Bulgarian Shopska Salata (Salad)

Apple, fennel and radish salad

Serves 6 | Prepare 15 mins | Cook 5 mins
Easy | Vegan | Gluten and Dairy Free

You’ll need:

50g blanched hazelnuts;
1 granny smith apple, cored;
1 fennel bulb, trimmed;
100g radishes, trimmed;
2 tbsp olive oil;
1.5 tbsp lemon juice;
1 tbsp roughly chopped dill.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Roast the hazelnuts on a baking tray for 5 minutes or until golden and smelling nutty, leave to cool while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients, then roughly chop.

Finely slice the apple, fennel and radishes, the mix together in a bowl. Mix the oil and lemon juice, season and toss through the salad. Scatter with the dill and roasted nuts, and serve.

Nutritional information: 113kcals/1.6g protein/3.3g carbs/3.1g sugars/10.4g fat/1.2g saturated fat/1.6g fibre/trace salt.

Original recipe from Waitrose and Partners Magazine, issue August 2013, not available online.

Herb-Marinated Grilled Sea Bass

Grilled fish is without doubt the best way (ok… my favourite way) to eat fish. The fish retains it’s flavour, it’s lovely and juicy and it just tastes perfectly fresh. This dish is perfect for summer – it’s light, but filling and the fish is so tasty it needs just a simple side salad or two to complement the flavours.

For this dish, I also attempted to gut and descale the fish myself – first time for everything! I reckon the lockdown is a good time to learn more about preparing food from scratch completely… Though usually you’d ask your fishmonger to do this for you!

This is a recipe from Waitrose & Partners Food Magazine.

More with fish: Sea bass with potato and tomato bake | Swordfish tacos with mango & jalapeno salsa | Chipotle salmon with avocado salsa and chilli broccoli

Herb-Marinated Grilled Sea Bass

Serves 4-6 | Prep 15 mins, plus marinating | Cook 20 mins
Easy | Dairy and Gluten Free

You’ll need:

2 green chillies, stalks trimmed;
12 garlic cloves, peeled;
56g fresh coriander;
50g fresh mint, leaves picked;
4 tsp ground ginger;
5 limes, 1 cut into wedges;
3 whole sea bass (about 300g each), gutted.

Put the chillies, garlic, coriander, mint leaves, ginger, the juice of 3 limes, a good pinch of salt and 1 tbsp water into a blender and whizz to make a smooth salsa. Divide the salsa into 2 portions; put 1 portion in a serving bowl, cover and set aside in the fridge to serve with the fish.

Cut 3 slashes into both sides of each fish, then rub the remaining salsa all over the outside and inside of each fish. Cover, chill and marinate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the grill to high. Put the fish on a rack and grill for 6-8 minutes on each side until charred and cooked through. Transfer to a serving dish and squeeze over the juice of 1 lime. Serve immediately with the remaining salsa alongside and the lime wedges for squeezing over.

Nutritional information per serving (4): 1268Kj/300kcals/6.1g fat/1.5g saturated fat/3.7g carbs/1.1g sugars/1.2g fibre/55g protein/0.8g salt.

Original recipe from Waitrsoe & Partners Food, issue August 2020, not available online.

Mary Contini’s Pollo alla cacciatora (Hunter’s chicken)

I love recipes like this when I have people over. If you start cooking a little before your guests arrive, you can pop it in the oven and enjoy a chat and some nibbles while this dish practically takes care of itself. It is very flavoursome and fairly easy to make. You can either joint a whole chicken or use 4x thighs and 4x drumsticks here. This recipe also thought me the secret to a perfectly crispy chicken skin in a stew – a little flour. This was originally from a Waitrose magazine (Aug 2014). The original recipe reckons you can serve up to 6 people, but my hungry crowd of 5 mopped every single last bite here. I’ve made some small changes to the recipe, which I hope you’ll enjoy.

More with chicken: Simple chicken & veg soup | Roast chicken with goats’ cheese and watercress stuffing | Malaysian-style chicken

Mary Contini’s Pollo alla cacciatora (Hunter’s chicken)

Serves 4-5 | Prepare 30 mins | Cook 2 hrs
Easy | Dairy-free

You’ll need:

5 tbsp olive oil;
2 garlic cloves, peeled;
1 large onion, finely chopped;
3 celery sticks, finely chopped;
2 carrots, finely chopped;
1 bay leaf;
100g smoked pancetta, cut into small lardons;
1.5 kg whole chicken, jointed and cut into 8 pieces (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, 2 wings) or 4 thighs and 4 drumsticks;
3 tbsp plain flour;
125 ml white wine;
400g fresh or canned plum tomatoes, roughly chopped;
3 thyme sprigs;
75g pitted olives, drained;
small handful basil leaves.

Before you start preparing your ingredients, salt the chicken liberally and let it sit at room temperature while you prep the rest of the ingredients. This will ensure it’s well seasoned from within.

Preheat the oven to 200C | 180C fan | gas mark 6. Heat the oil in a large casserole, add the garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes to flavour the oil. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until softened but not browned. Add the bay leaf and pancetta and cook until the pancetta is golden, about 4-5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the ‘saffritto’ from the oil and set aside.

Dust the chicken with flour and raise the heat under the casserole. Brown the chicken over a medium-high heat (in batches if needed, one layer at a time), turning until golden and crisp all over. Return all the chicken to the pan and add the wine. Bubble to evaporate off the alcohol, then return the saffritto to the pan. Stir in the tomatoes, thyme and olives. Pour over boiling water until the chicken is just covered and season to taste.

Bake, uncovered, for about 1hr – 1hr 20 mins until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is tender. Before serving, remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Stir in the basil and serve as suggested above.

I served this with fresh green salad (lettuce, cucumber, spring onion, black olives, sea salt, red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil), mash and garlic bread (though if you want to go authentic, opt for a good quality crusty bread).

Original recipe by Waitrose Food Magazine, issue August 2014, no longer available online.

Chickpeas and chard stew

This is an easy and quick summer stew, ideal for a mid-week supper. It goes perfectly with some crusty bread on the side too. The original recipe by Waitrose magazine has you making your own pesto but you can use ready made one for an even easier option.

More with chickpeas: Chickpea, pepper and tomato curry | Sweet potato, ‘Nduja and chickpea hash | Vegan chickpea & squash ‘meat’ balls with vegan mayo

Chickpeas and chard stew

Serves 4 | Prep 10 mins | Cook 30 mins
Easy | Vegetarian | Gluten-Free

Tip: Use free-from pesto for a vegan version.

You’ll need:

1 tbsp olive oil;
1 onion, chopped;
1 garlic clove, sliced;
2 rosemary sprigs;
2 x 400g cans chick peas;
3 large tomatoes, tough core removed, and roughly chopped;
2 tsp vinegar;
200g pack swiss chard, woody stalks removed and leaves roughly shredded;
4 tbsps pesto, to serve

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook gently for 10 minutes, until soft and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic plus the rosemary sprigs; continue to cook for 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas and their liquid, the tomatoes and 300ml water; season and simmer briskly for 15 minutes. Break up some of the chick peas with a potato masher.

Just before serving, stir the chard through the stew, wilting for a couple of minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tsp vinegar, then ladle into shallow bowls and top with a table spoon of pesto. Serve with crusty bread, if liked.

Modified from this recipe by Waitrose Magazine, Issue August 2018, available online here.

2 posts have been published to the site Food Notes on Jul 30th in previous years:

== 2018 ==
* Lentil, squash, halloumi and bacon salad
* Yotam Ottolenghi’s Caramelised Onion Crostini

Chipotle black bean chilli with guacamole

This is a lovely recipe for a quick and easy vegetarian meal. I love the smoky flavour of chipotle chillies and they work perfectly in this black bean chilli. I’ve made some subtle changes to the original recipe from Delicious magazine – using ground cumin instead of cumin seeds and not adding milk to the chilli (though if you don’t like heat then do add 2 tbsp milk when adding in the vinegar).

Serve with rice and/or tortilla wraps, sour cream and grated cheese on the side.

More with beans: Emilia’s Bulgarian Bean Soup | Speedy Pepper & Black Bean Chilli | Summer Pork, Fennel and Beans

Chipotle black bean chilli with guacamole

Serves 4 | Prep 5 mins | Cook 35 mins
Easy | Vegan | Gluten and Dairy free

You’ll need:

1 tsp ground paprika;
1 tbsp ground cumin;
1 tbsp olive oil;
1 red onion, finely sliced;
3 garlic cloves, crushed;
2 tbsp chipotle paste or 1 dried chipotle chilli, left whole;
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes;
1 tsp red wine vinegar;
Pinch of sugar;
2 x 400g cans black beans, drained and rinsed;
1 lime, quartered, to serve;

For the guacamole

2 ripe avocados;
Juice of 1 lime;
1 red chilli, finely chopped;
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, plus extra to garnish.

Toast the paprika and cumin seeds in a dry frying pan for 2-3 minutes until fragrant, then set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan over a low-medium heat, then fry the onion for 7-8 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic, then cook for 1 minute. Add the toasted spices, chipotle paste/whole chilli, tomatoes, vinegar and sugar. Season, bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

For the guacamole, peel and stone the avocados, then mash with a fork and mix with the lime juice. Stir through the chilli and coriander.

Remove the lid and add the beans. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, then serve with the soured cream, guacamole and lime wedges.

Original recipe from Delicious Magazine, issue June 2013, available online here.