Tomato and red pepper pasta salad

We all know salad is supposed to be healthy but the traditional lettuce/tomato mix I've always found rather boring. So as I am trying to eat more healthily at the moment I have been seeking out some more exciting salads. This one is from the latest (Aug/Sept) Slimming World magazine. There are some others in there that I shall definitely be trying too but this is the first one.

Italian roasted tomato and red pepper salad

Serves 2 (original recipe is for 4 for I halved it - one for today (Saturday) and one for lunch at work on Monday)

200g mixed red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 tbsp dried basil

1 tsp garlic granules

Freshly ground black pepper

Frylight spray oil

150g dried pasta

100g roasted red peppers in brine from a jar, drained, rinsed and finely chopped

3 spring onions, finely chopped

40g rocket leaves

A handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped

2 tbsp fat free dressing (I used Kraft light honey and mustard dressing)

1. Preheat oven to 160C/140C fan/Gas 3. Put tomatoes on a baking tray cut side up, sprinkle with the dried basil and garlic granules, season with pepper and spray with Frylight. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until just collapsing, then leave to cool.

2. Cook the pasta for about 10 minutes. Drain, cool under cold water and transfer to a salad bowl.

3. Add the roasted tomatoes and any juices, peppers, spring onions, rocket and fresh basil and toss. Drizzle with the dressing, toss well again and serve garnished with the whole basil leaves.

This was peppery but very tasty, and I really enjoyed it. And healthy too :-)

Baking on a too hot day!

So just over a week ago on one of the hottest days of the year my nearly 3 year old son Alexander insisted on cake making. I tried a number of different suggestions of other things we might do painting, racing cars, the paddling pool in the garden etc but no all he wanted to do was make cakes!! As there was no way that I was putting the oven on I decided on refrigerator cake. Having just treated myself to  Jo Wheatley's "A Passion for Baking" (only £5 at Sainsburys - a bargain!) I had a look through and fond just the thing. The recipe is below:

White Chocolate Tiffin

250g digestive biscuits
60g desiccated coconut
60g glacé cherries, washed dried and halved
125g unsalted butter
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp malted drink powder (E.g. Horlicks or Ovaltine)
1 tbsp caster sugar
500g white chocolate

The recipe suggests a 30 x 23 cm baking tin with a depth of about 4cm, although mine was slightly larger.

1. Lightly grease the tin and line with a sheet of parchment (I didn't grease mine but just used baking parchment)

2. Tip the digestive biscuits into a freezer bag and, using a rolling pin, crush them into smallish, random-sized pieces and tip into a bowl. (Alexander took the biscuit crushing very seriously!!). Add the coconut and cherries.

3. Tip the butter, syrup, malted drink powder and sugar into a small saucepan. Place over a low heat and stir until the butter has melted and the mixture is thoroughly combined. Pour into the bowl with the crushed biscuits and stir until evenly coated. 

4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and press into an even layer. Leave until completely cold (I put the tin in the fridge as it was such a hot day!)

5. Break the white chocolate into chunks and melt in a heatproof bowl. (I did this using 30 second bursts on 50% power in the microwave, but you could melt it over a pan of simmering water). Stir until smooth, spread over the tiffin base and leave until set completely. (Again I did this in the fridge).



6. Once the chocolate has set, cut it into squares. 

Once cut, I kept it in the fridge, given how warm it has been lately. This went down very well at work and I'll definitely make it again.

Alexander loved it!!