A Good Kind of Purgatory...

I'm not a big salad person.  It's all a bit too 'good' for my liking.  This, however, is the exception. 

Roasted butternut squash, seasonal leaves, cherry plum tomatoes, creamy roquefort coated in a maple and dijon dressing and topped with parma ham reasons with me that sometimes good is not that bad!

Serves 2 healthy portions (pardon the pun)

Quantities to suit your taste of:

Butternut Squash (cut into bite sized pieces)
Olive Oil
Sprig of fresh Thyme and Rosemary

Salad:
Cherry Tomatoes
Seasonal Leaves
Roquefort or Gorgonzola Piccante Cheese
Toasted Pinenuts
Parma Ham

Maple and Dijon Dressing:
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
1 Red Onion thinly sliced
3 tbsps Wholegrain Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 tbsp Light Olive Oil 
Salt and Pepper to taste

Drizzle the squash with olive oil, sea salt, rosemary and thyme.  Roast the butternut squash in the oven at 200 degrees for around 20 minute until cooked through (but not falling apart).  Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients including the onions in a jar and shake well.  Refrigerate until needed.

Place the salad ingredients, excluding the parma ham, cheese and pinenuts, along with the squash into a bowl and coat with the dressing - you may not need all of it.  Plate up the salad into the centre of the plate, break up the cheese and place on top of the salad.  Top with the parma ham and grab a fork before someone else does.

See... Who Needs To Plan Ahead?

I have always extolled the virtues of being disorganised every now and again and the good things that can happen when you get sidetracked and don’t plan ahead.  Admittedly this has usually been done to get me out of a difficult situation but on this occasion I was proven right.

Have you ever find yourself wandering around the supermarket searching for inspiration?  On one occasion recently I found myself doing just that and even worse (ever the optimist I am writing this up in a thunderstorm!), even after a fairly dismal Summer I was feeling just a little bit Mediterranean.  Now that I would say is something of a conundrum.

As a result I found myself packing what can only be described as a plethora of (gorgeous) foods none of which would make a single complete dish under normal circumstances – I really should write a list.  Not one to be beaten this was the end result and one I can happily recommend for a quick but very tasty supper. 

Tuna with Creamed Chorizo (serves 4)

4 pieces of Tuna Loin (size to suit your appetite)
16 New Potatoes (just cooked and cut into bite sized pieces)
225g cooking Chorizo (you can buy the ones ready to eat but uncooked will yield better flavour) cut into ½ cm slices
1 Onion (chopped)
1 clove Garlic (finely chopped)
100ml Double Cream
100ml Chicken Stock
200g Fine Beans (just cooked and cut into 3 or 4)
Flat leaf Parsley (to garnish)
Drizzle of Olive Oil
Seasoning

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and add the sliced chorizo quickly cooking on both sides for a couple of minutes.  Remove from the pan leaving the juices.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan and fry on a medium heat until translucent but not browning.  Add the potatoes and beans and coat in the juices.  Add the chorizo back into the pan, stir to combine and cook for a couple more minutes (the chorizo should be leaking gorgeous red oil which is what will predominantly flavour this dish).

Pour in the stock and the cream and leave to bubble until thickened and reduced (shaking the pan rather than stirring so as not to break down the potato).  Season to taste then remove the pan from the heat and keep warm.

Brush the tuna loins with olive oil and season.  Sear on both sides in a hot pan until cooked to your liking.

Chop the parsley finely and add to the chorizo dish.  Serve topped with the seared tuna, lemon wedges and crusty bread to mop up the delicious sauce.

P.S. equally good with Chicken.