Orange, chilli and mixed leaf salad

At long last I have been sucked into the corporate machine that is Apple,
and I have got myself an iphone.
Once I work out how to use it there will be no stopping me!!
For now, I am happy to play with the camera - which takes much better snaps than my last phone.

Here's a quick Friday night salad that goes well with an oily fish like mackerel.

Serves 2
2 large oranges, segmented (keep the shells for the dressing)
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
1/2 a bag of baby leaf salad.


Dressing.
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp clear honey
4tbsp orange juice (squeezed from  the shells)

Toss all the salad ingredients together. Drizzle with honey, mustard dressing.

As with most salads, this is better if you serve it at room temperature.
I used hot plates for my fish, which meant the orange warmed up on the plate, and was delicious.

Slow Cooked Red Cabbage

With spring now upon us, and the weather starting to brighten up a little,
this will probably be the last time I make slow cooked red cabbage for a while.
It's a family favourite though and was just perfect to go with our beef wellingtons last weekend.

1 onion, thinly sliced
1kg red cabbage, finely shredded
1 cooking apple, peeled and cored, and cut into chunks
4 tbsp light brown soft sugar
2tbsp white wine vinegar
2tbsp redcurrants jelly

Preheat oven to 180C / 160 Fan
Fry the onion in a little oil for a few minutes, to soften.
Add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil.
Sometimes I add a splash of red wine  or port at this stage.
Stir and season.
Cover and transfer to the preheated oven for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until the cabbage is tender.

Serves 6.   You can make this a day ahead and just gently reheat on the stove.
It also freezes well.

Shredded Pork with Pomegranate Salad

Who knew pork and pomegranate was such a lovely combination?
Instead of spending hours cooking my own pork, I bought a little pulled pork joint from the supermarket.
It came with a little sachet of bbq sauce and was just enough for the two of us.

Salad (serves 2 with some left over)
2 heads of pack choi, cut into long strips
seeds from 1 pomegranate
6 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
6 radish, cut into matchsticks
about 1/3 cucumber, deseeded and sliced
1 green chilli, finely sliced

Dressing.
2tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp soy sauce

When the pork was just about ready I wilted the pak choi, in a pan, with a tbsp of the dressing.
Then I added in the rest of the salad ingredients and tossed it all together.
Serve the salad with the pork and a little of the dressing drizzled over.