The best lunch time cup-a-soup ever!

That's pretty much all you need.

The fastest lunch idea ever is the good old cup-a-soup. Due to the simplicity of this dish, it totally qualified to be on my quick and simple lunch idea list you can find in “Never buy lunch again, make ityourself with these great ideas”.

I bought some Tupperware containers resembling a cup size, but also sometimes take it in my porridge container for a more filling lunch or when I want more noodles and perhaps some added veggies. I prepare a couple ahead and keep them in the fridge at work.

Ingredients make 1:

1 tsp Miso paste

½ packet Dashi soup mix

1 spring onion

1 fresh or dried Birdseye chili

80 gr tofu, smoked or regular

Vermicelli rice noodles

½ tsp dried seaweed

1 dash fish sauce

1tbs coriander, chopped

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So the only thing that might be unusual in this is the Dashi, which is just a Japanese version of soup stock powder. Mine is bonito fish flavoured. It is not fishy at all but adds flavour to your cup-a-soup.

Best place to find them is in a Japanese food shop, same goes for the dried seaweed. You can also cut a sushi algae sheet, which is available in high street supermarkets, if you have troubles finding it.

Firstly you will need to break the vermicelli into small pieces so they fit in your cup and are easy to eat. It is all about simplicity, so my assumption is to eat with a spoon. I would suggest putting the desired amount in a Ziploc bag, take a rolling pin and bash them, but make sure there is an open gap, so the air can escape. I, of course didn’t think about it and bashed them in their thin packaging, causing a little explosion with little noodle bits everywhere.  If you take them out and try to break them up, they might go all over. Well it is called trial and error for a reason.

All you have to do after is cube the tofu, finely chop the spring onion and chili. I stack the cup with noodles, then Miso and then the rest. Once you made it by the recipe, you might want to adjust flavour or experiment a bit youself to adjust it to your preferred taste. 

If I make a bigger container I add some of the stir fry veggie pack to give a bit more oomph. The veggies will soften a bit but still leave a crunch, always buy the stir fry veggie pack, to get a nice variety.

Now all you have to do is add boiling water, cover and let it stand for about 5 minutes. Since you can keep it for a couple days in the fridge without a problem it is the optimal lunch and I hope you enjoy!

Grilled polenta with spicy tomato sauce

This tasty vegetarian meal is done in no time, is gluten free and makes a lovely starter or even main. You can buy the readymade polenta in your high street supermarket for close to nothing. It is also great to keep a couple packets as spares, for the days where you want a quick meal. In Austria, polenta is a common ingredient, used either creamed or as block, since in the UK I haven’t had it as much, mainly because it doesn’t seem to be as popular or perhaps not as known. I stumbled across it one day and since then use it much more frequently. 

The ingredients are something everyone, most likely, has in their home. It is perfect for adding a twist to common ingredients.  I use Austrian pumpkin seed oil to drizzle over it, it is possible to get it around the world but it might be tricky to find. Health food stores might stock it but you can also order it online. It is cold pressed oil that it is great on salads and has an amazing flavour. Yes, I am totally bias on this one. If you haven't got this to hand, some olive oil will work nicely too.

Ingredients to make 4:

1 packet of readymade polenta

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp chili flakes

2-3 dashes of Worcester sauce

2 tsp sugar

1 dash balsamic vinegar

1 red onion

1 tbs butter

5-6 cherry tomatoes halved or quartered

3 tbs Olive oil

1 tsp mixed herbs

1 tsp smoked paprika

1-2 spring onions

Fresh basil leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs pumpkin seed oil

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Let’s start with the spicy tomato sauce. You will need a pan and keep it on a low heat. Chop the red onion finely, add butter to the pan and once melted, add the red onions. Turn up the heat, add sugar and let the onions caramelise for a few minutes. Keep an eye on it as we don’t want them to burn.

Add the chili flakes and give it a stir, leave for another minute then add the tin of chopped tomatoes and also about half a tin of water. Keep the pan uncovered on a medium heat. Add Worcester sauce, balsamic, smoked paprika and the cherry tomatoes. The sauce should now have a deep red colour. Turn the heat on low and let the excess water evaporate. It should usually take about 10-15 minutes, give it a stir every so often.

The marinade is super simple. Add olive oil, mixed herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix. Cut the block of polenta into 8 slices and evenly coat each slice in the marinade.

Heat up a skillet pan and make sure it is very hot before placing the polenta on it. This will ensure you get the lovely charred lines on it. You won’t need any oil as the marinated slices already have all the oil you need.  

Give each slice about 5 minutes before checking. Moving it too much about won’t give them the lovely charring we are looking for. It also depends on the thickness you have cut it but 5-7 minutes on each side should be sufficient when cut thinly.

When the tomato sauce has evaporated most of its water and is a thick sauce it is time to dish up.

The picture has 2 portions on it, because it looked nicer, but 2 per person should be sufficient as starter and you can add more if you have it as a main.

Garnish with basil and spring onions, bon appétit.

Goat's cheese filo parcels on tomato carpaccio and honey mustard dressing

I have often had this dish and it's varieties when living in France and fell in love with the mix of goat’s cheese and honey.  So when I cooked for 8 of my family and friends in June, I needed something that is easy to prepare and gives me time to spend with the guests in the mean time. This was the perfect solution.

It is a simple dish that through its sheer simplicity, makes a great dinner party starter.

Originally I used different colour tomatoes but then I forgot to take a picture. The picture here is from the evening meal and as I liked my own dish that much I had the same again next day for lunch (top picture).

We bought the tomatoes at a farmers market so the taste was outstanding, the tomatoes were just right and slightly sweet. This dish is at its best when the tomatoes compliment the filo parcels, so try to get ripe tomatoes, otherwise they might have a bit of sharpness that doesn’t bring out the best side of it. 

I also use my rainbow pepper grinder to season the dish. Black pepper is ok but the mixed ones just add a level of sophistication to this simple dish.

Ingredients make 4:

1 roll of goat’s cheese

1 packet filo pastry

4 Different colour ripe tomatoes

1 packet of rocket

1 shallot to sprinkle the dish

For the dressing:

6 tbs olive oil

6 tbs white wine vinegar

3 tbs whole grain mustard

2-3 tbs of runny honey (to taste)

2 tbs water

Salt and mixed peppercorns for seasoning

So lets start with the filo parcels. Cut the cheese into 8 slices.  Then lay out one layer of filo pastry, place the goats cheese in the middle and wrap it up, the way you do it is up to you. 

On the pictures I decided to go for the simple and easy way. If you have some butchers string you can also use 2 filo sheets per cheese slice and then wrap them up in a “purse shape”. Whatever tickles your fancy.

When you are done with the parcels, sprinkle them with a tiny amount of water, then cover with cling film. Filo pastry dries out super quick and will break during baking, so it is important to keep the pastry moist. In france they have a bit thicker pastry which is slightly easier to handle but with this trick they will turn out good too.

Next heat the oven to 200C and whilst this is heating up we can turn to dressing the plate with super thin slices of tomatoes in different colours and also a bit of rocket, task done. I know some people say to cut tomatoes with a serrated blade but I disagree. I would suggest cutting them with a big, normal knife, which is either super sharp or has been sharpened before attempting to cut the tomatoes. The weight and sharpness of the knife will then just glide through the tomato, without any effort whatsoever. If you get ripe tomatoes this is essential otherwise they will look butchered and not as nice.

For the dressing take an empty jar, add and mix all ingredients, then close and give it a shake. You perhaps will have to adjust the taste, so make sure you try it. If too sharp add a bit more honey, we want the dressing to be sweet but not overpowering, so if too sweet add a bit of vinegar and salt. Once you played around with it, you will get the hang of it quickly. Also add a couple tbs of water, shake again and we can move on to the filo parcels.

Once the oven is warm place the parcels in the middle of the oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes depending on the oven, if you are unsure have a look. The filo pastry should be golden brown but not burnt. If you decided to go for the “purse shape” it might be trickier with the bits on top, filo is burning notoriously quick, once the “golden brown” stage has been reached, so make sure you keep an eye on it.

While you are waiting, add the dressing to the salad, not too early as it will cause the salad to wilt. 

When the parcels are ready place them in the middle of the plate, drizzle with a bit of honey and voila, start wowing your guests!