Lunch – Food Notes

Kimchi omelette sandwich

Stay with me here. Yes, eggs, cheese and kimchi are GREAT together. These sandwiches make for a decent brunch or lunch and you’ll find them quite filling too. This one is from a Waitrose magazine promotional insert and I’ve made some small changes in the recipe. At home, I doubled to serve 2!

More with eggs: Rachel Khoo’s Stewed Spinach Eggs (Ägg med stuvad spenat) | Help yourself brunch for a crowd |Spanish baked eggs

Kimchi omelette sandwich

Serves 1 | Prep 10 mins | Cook 15 mins
Easy | Vegetarian

You’ll need:

30g butter;
1 shallot, chopped;
60g spinach;
2 eggs;
80g (3-4 tbsp) kimchi;
20g cheddar, grated;
2 slices sourdough bread

Heat half the butter in a non-stick frying pan over medium-heat. Fry the shallot for 2-3 minutes until just golden. Add the spinach and leave for a minute or so to wilt, then fry, stirring, for another minute. Tip out of the pan and set aside.

Beat the eggs in a bowl. Drain any excess liquid from the kimchi and roughly chop any larger chunks. Mix into the eggs. Heat the remaining butter in the pan over a medium heat. Add the eggs and cook gently, swirling the uncooked mixture to the edges, for 3-4 minutes until almost set. Add the cheese and then fold over the omelette. Cook for another minute or two, so the cheese melts inside.

Toast the sourdough. Top one slice with the omelette followed by the spinach. Finish with the second slide of sourdough, cut in half and serve straight away!

Recipe from a Waitrose promotional insert from 2020, not available online.

Griddled courgette, pine nut and mozzarella salad

You may get the idea that my griddle pan is getting well used this summer. And that’s exactly how it should be! By now I’ve griddled countless aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes, pork chops, steaks and lamb cutlets… And everytime, it’s incredibly simple and easy food that just tastes amazing. All of those dishes have something in common – very little fuss and big flavours from the simplest of ingredients – little, but always really good, olive oil and my griddle pan. This salad makes a perfect light meal that truly captures the tastes of summer for me. I served it over just cooked orzo and it was perfect for a light dinner.

More with courgettes: Courgette, chilli and basil pizzas | Courgettes with crisp cheese crumbs

Griddled courgette, pine nut and mozzarella salad

Serves 2 or 4 if side/starter | Prep 10 mins | Cook 15 mins
Easy | Meat Free

You’ll need

1 lemon, juiced;
extra virgin olive oil;
1 garlic clove, halved;
3 courgettes, sliced ½cm thick on the diagonal;
1 ball mozzarella, torn into pieces;
pine nuts 2 tbsp, toasted until golden;
mint a handful, chopped to serve;
orzo to serve.

Whisk the lemon juice with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the garlic along with plenty of seasoning. Brush the courgette slices with oil, and griddle on both sides until charred and softened (you’ll need to cook them in batches), then drop them into the dressing as you go.

Scoop the garlic out of the bowl and discard. Give the courgettes one more toss in the dressing, then arrange on two plates. Add the cheese, pine nuts and mint. Drizzle over any dressing left in the bowl and serve with orzo or bulgar wheat.

Original recipe from Olive magazine, available online here.

Anna Jones’ Traybake Harissa Shakshuka

I’ve never thought of baking shakshuka in the oven and really don’t know why! It saves quite a bit of time in terms of fussing over it (ever little helps, right?) and it’s really easy to put together. Shakshuka is quite popular these days and it’s certainly one of my favourite breakfasts too. While traditional ingredients including tomato, peppers and onions, it is easy to change up and play around with flavours. Anna Jones’ version uses harissa and beans to put a twist on the dish and it works really well.

My favourite thing about this recipe is how little hands-on time it requires. Outside of the 5 minute prep time, you pretty much leave it to cook itself and you have a whole hour to do anything! I had a cup of coffee and then made Anna Jones’ flatbreads featured in the same magazine to go with the shakshouka. And if you don’t need breakfast for 6, you can easily half the quantities to serve 3-4 people, just allow 1 egg per person.

In Anna Jones’ recipe, the feta is optional but I think it really brings the dish to life so I’ve left it as part of the recipe in my slightly modified version below.

Traybake Harissa Shakshuka

Serves 6 | Prep 5 minutes | Cook 1 hr
Easy | Vegetarian | Gluten-Free

You’ll need:

2 x 400g tins cannellini beans;
100ml olive oil;
2 tins chopped tomatoes;
2 heads garlic, sliced in half;
3 tbsp rose harissa;
6 eggs;
150g feta cheese;
Parsley, chopped, to serve.

Heat the oven to 220C/200 fan/gas 7. Drain and rinse the beans. Drizzle the olive oil into a large baking tray and add the beans, mixing them well. Add the tomatoes, garlic, harissa and 400ml water, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for an hour until the sauce has thickened and is sticky around the edges.

Remove from the oven and turn on the grill as high as it will go. Make six little holes in the tomato and bean mixture with the back of a spoon, then break an egg into each hole. Season and place under the grill for two minutes, or until the eggs are just set.

Remove, scatter over the parsley and crumble the feta on top. Eat straight away with some bread for mopping up, or with homemade flatbreads, recipe here.

Original recipe by Anna Jones from October 2018 Feast magazine, available online here.

Bulgarian Shopska Salata (Salad)

Shopska Salata is a firm staple in the Bulgarian kitchen. Often served as a starter, or as a side, you will find it on the table of almost every Bulgarian home and on the menu of pretty much every restaurant in Bulgaria. It’s delicious, easy to make and perfect side to any meal.

Shopska Salata

Serves 4 | Prep 10 minutes | No Cook | Easy | Gluten-free, Vegetarian

You’ll need

2 large beef tomatoes;
1 cucumber;
1/2 or 1 small red onion;
1 tbsp chopped parsley;
1 tbsp sunflower oil;
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar;
75g feta cheese;

Roughly chop the tomatoes, quarter and slice the cucumber, finely chop the onion and mix in a salad bowl with the parsley. When you are ready to serve, add the oil and vinegar and mix the salad. Crumble the feta cheese on top of the salad and serve.

Lentil, squash, halloumi and bacon salad

I made this salad for a lovely light lunch when working from home one day. With little preparation required, it’s perfect for a simple meal when you don’t have much time to be preparing food. The combination of halloumi, bacon, squash, red onion and lentils is fantastic as it is, but elevated even further by adding dukkah pomegranate seeds. For a vegetarian option, you can just omit the bacon. As far as salads go, you really don’t have to do much convincing when you mention halloumi and/or bacon…

Lentil, squash and za’atar halloumi salad

Serves 2 | Prepare 5 minutes | Cook 30 minutes | Gluten-free , Vegetarian| Easy

You’ll need

250g frozen butternut squash, defrosted and cut into bite-sized chunks;
1 red onion, cut into wedges;
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil;
1 tbsp red wine vinegar;
250g pack ready-to-eat puy lentils;
2 handfuls spinach;
1/2 pomegranate seeds;
1 tsp cumin seeds;
125g halloumi cut in 6 slices;
4 slices smoked bacon (optional).

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 7. Toss the squash and onion in a large roasting tray with 1 tbsp olive oil, season. Roast for 25 minutes, tossing halfway through. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk the remaining oil with the vinegar and season. Tip in the lentils, warm veg, spinach and most of the pomegranate. Mix gently.

Heat frying pan over a medium heat. Scatter the cumin and Za’atar over the halloumi and fry for 2 minutes on each side. If you are using bacon, you can fry it too at this point. Divide the salad between two plates, top with the halloumi and sprinkle with the remaining pomegranate.

Original recipe from myWaitrose magazine, issue April 2013, not available online.