It’s as simple as mixing in a tin of butterbeans with a tin of tuna, then flavouring with chopped parsley, red onion, cherry tomatoes and a few extras. It really doesn’t take too long to prepare and doesn’t break the bank either.

I adjusted the recipe slightly and added salt and pepper, the beans were just to fresh for me otherwise, even with the dressing.

Also I didn’t have dijon mustard just regular old English mustard. I wasn’t sure what difference this would make but I read somewhere that the only difference between the two is that Dijon has vinegar in it so I added a little white wine vinegar to the dressing mix and it was delish.

Was excited to hear I tempted one of my Twitter buddies @MissKHart to try the recipe. If you give it a go let me know how it turns out

RECIPE

Apparently I’m a bit late with sharing this recipe as it’s a traditionally served on Christmas Eve, nevertheless here it is.

Looks like a pretty sweet and crunchy combination of pomegranates, apple, beetroot, oranges and more. Hit the button for the recipe and let me know how it tastes.

RECIPE

Not such a fan of hazelnuts though so would maybe swap that for almonds or pistachios? Hmmm. If you try it let me know how you get on.

Hit the button below to view this and other pretty looking recipes on Bon Appetit’s Food Lovers Cleanse. This recipe’s for breakfast on day 10.

Recipe

I was a little over excited whilst making it so have a slightly vague recipe but basically it includes:

Bottom layer:
1 tin of red kidney beans
1/2 tin of sweetcorn
1/2 a cucumber diced
1 red pepper thinly sliced
1 1/2 spring onions
A good handful of watercress ripped by hand
Another good handful of rocket ripped by hand

Dressing:
A light dash salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil
Poured a little on the salad just to bring it together a little and poured the rest in the little vinaigrette pot I reused from my M&S salad at lunch yesterday.

Top Layer:
Grilled halloumi cut into triangles (I love Halloumi! and was so excited that I could pull out my George Foreman an Grill it myself)
Grilled ciabatta bread cut in triangles
Cherry Tomatoes sliced (and put into a measuring spoon. Perfectly sized to hold it and stop it turning my bread to mush)
Sprigs of watercress
Raisins and sultanas

Honestly I’ve been stopping myself from gulfing it down since about 10am. Especially the halloumi.

I think I’ve discovered my inner epicure as I’m loving the colour combos, varying textures and creative potential of these new lunches. Plus I seem to be getting quite excited over thoughts of juicy red beetroot, bright orange shredded carrots and nutty Quinoa… What will I do next I wonder!

Love that the table was set with Freesias, one of my favourite flowers.

After several months of ooohing and aaahing over these goodies I had to share on my blog, especially as she went to trouble of creating these custom cupcakes for me. Described as:

“Baked with a fresh raspberry centre with a light vanilla buttercream underlay, the other is piped with a vanilla foam centre and topped with a strawberry compote. All are vanilla sponges topped with a marshmallow fondant disc. (Pink shiny stuff is edible!) – “

Yum! What’s more… “10% of all Kalistrophy profits go to sponsor the Leicester Kashume SDA School in the Gambia. This is a visionary community project that was started in a area divided by unrest to provide a place of education for dozens of children who were without school access.”

So treats that reward in more ways than one! That’s what we like to hear. You can check out more of Cake by Kalistrophy below and on her Facebook page, her website’s coming soon!

My Christmas dinner party was all about candles and sparkly things but for our Spring table I figured there had to be flowers. My favourite flowers are Fresia’s but in a last minute rush trip to Sainsbury’s I had a choice of Tulips (which I also love) or these *quick google search* Alstroemerias. Thought they picked up the gold and toasty themes of our menu and dark wood dining table quite nicely.

I have to say I really enjoy making guests feel special with a few detailed touches. Maybe 2011 will be the year I make this a more regular affair… We’ll see.

Anyway this was a special occassion for my Mum (who reads my blog daily *waves* hi Mum) and a few close family friends and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much fun and I thought I’d share a few pictures.

PS: Can I just say I don’t think you ever really know a person until you’ve played Taboo with them. Fact!

Seeing this fruit salad (which I hunted though a million blogs to find) reminded me of those moments. (Psst click image for recipe.)

I’m suddenly imagining marshmallow plates, and caramelised peanut coasters and, and, and spun sugar cups! I should really stop right now my sweet tooth is obviously leading me down a very rocky road…

Mmmm did I say rocky road???

Marvellous instructions and full detailed recipe available at the adorably named Sprinkle Bakes.

RECIPE

Myself and 5 of the best and funniest ladies a girl could know descended upon Atlanta for 10 days of adventure, much of which was rewarded with some pretty fine dining. I thought I’d share my favourite 5 places which as a vegetarian I found quite impressive but I also have it on good authority that the meat dishes were yummy too.

1: Tuk Tuk
So I’ve been back a week and all I keep thinking is why didn’t I have one last farewell order of Pad Mee before I left. I am actually suffering with withdrawal from their delicious and incredibly well priced Thai menu. The staff were especially friendly and we got our first taste of southern hospitality when the manager sat us down in a very non-pushy way and took us through their specials and vegetarian options.

For my first visit I wanted something light and was recommended the Mieng Kum described as an “old fashioned spinach leaf wrap with lime, ginger, onions, roasted peanuts and coconut in a carmelized palm sugar”. I love the taste of coconut and it was exactly what I wanted, super tasty and only $9.

On my second visit I was in the mood for a substantial meal so had the Pad Mee. You know when you eat something and it actually makes you happy. Your eyes get a little big and you might have to do a little happy wiggle…or is that just me… well anyway if you’re in town and looking for a yummy vegetarian dish try this “sauteed vermicelli rice noodles with mushrooms, sprouts, scallions and egg”. You can add tofu and it’s $13.  Oh and it comes with the most amazing chilli sauce too.

2: Market

Market restaurant in Buckhead, Atlanta describes itself as “a destination for those who value simple elegance and contemporary dining. Emphasizing comfort and creativity, the menu features Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s “greatest hits;” reinventing classic dishes by infusing eclectic flair”.

Eclectic is definitely the word I’d use for it. We arrived quite late in the evening so I opted for a salad  with champagne mango, goats cheese, black olives and Thai basil, $10. It was like innovation on a plate and amazing on the tastebuds, just the right amount of sweetness and saltiness.

The restaurant is actually part of the W hotel so there’s valet parking with a very kind manager, and just round the corner and up the stairs is the Whiskey Blue roof top bar which sells the most delicious virgin blueberry mojitos you could imagine.

3: Johnny Rockets

After an afternoon spent in the Aquarium staring at giant whale sharks (HUGE!), we escaped the sweltering heat and ventured into nearby Johnny Rockets, a very American diner. Think Grease and you’ll get the picture of Johnny Rockets. They even give you dimes for the jukebox on your table so you can pick a song and hear it play over the diner’s radio.

In terms of the menu along with burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings and fries there’s an equally epic menu of milkshakes, malts and my personal favourite… the root beer float. Cold super fizzy root beer with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yuuuuuuuum! Oh and they draw little smiley faces with ketchup too.

4: IHOP

Ok this isn’t the fanciest place to dine abroad but IHOP (International House Of Pancakes) has been on my hit list ever since we were first introduced as an 18 year-old on my first trip to New York (aka a looooong time ago). Then it was all about their banana, maple and pecan pancakes, this time around it was a stack of cinnamon apple… boy oh boy… I think I might just take a moment to reminisce on that one…

5: Justins

The locals seemed to give us mixed reviews on the soul food menu at P Diddy’s restaurant in Atlanta and we kind of felt the same, not that we didn’t enjoy it but it wasn’t exactly amazing. What really put this on my top 5 though was the people. On the decks was a fantastic DJ named Jimmy Jones playing all the kind of music that keeps you from sitting down and on the dance floor was the very talented TJ who mesmerised us with our first experience of the Chicago step and even taught us a few moves. Fab times… check him out in the vid below.

So those are my top 5, though I’m sure there are numerous other places we’ve yet to discover. If you know of any feel free to let me know and I look forward to enjoying them on my next trip.

Take this cupcake with blackberry and peach buttercream icing for example. Yum Yum!

If you fancy making your own I found a recipe on Recipezaar. I haven’t tried it myself but if you do give it a go keep me posted on how it turns out.

PS: I’m not actually vegan, I’m a fish-eating vegetarian (Pescetarian apparently). Just FYI

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