Tag: Light Lunches

Festive entertaining doesn’t finish on Christmas Day; most of us have family and friends visiting through the Crimbo-limbo of “Betwixtmas” and through to New Years. If you’ve got leftovers from Christmas Day, you can easily use them to make light meal and “nibbles” options that your guests will love, without having to resort to cold meats and bubble and squeak. Here’s how, with our Christmas leftovers recipes for meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans:

Boxing Day Bhan Mi (Meat)

Ingredients:

• 2 small baguettes
• 50g pâté
• ¼ cucumber, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 140g cooked turkey sliced/shredded
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 red chilli, ½ finely chopped, ½ finely sliced
• Sriracha
• For the pickled slaw
• 2 small carrots coarsely grated or julienne
• ¼ tsp grated ginger
• ½ tbsp rice vinegar
• ½ tsp golden caster sugar

Method:

To make the pickled slaw, tip the carrots and cabbage into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the ginger, rice vinegar, sugar and a few pinches of salt. Pour over the vegetables and toss together. Set aside for at least 15 mins.

Halve the baguettes lengthways and spread the pâté over the bottom half. Top with the pickled slaw, cucumber and turkey. Mix the mayonnaise with the chopped chilli and dollop over the top.

Scatter over the mint leaves and sliced chilli. Sandwich together and dig in.

Festive Bar Nuts (Vegan Nibbles)

Ingredients:

• 500g nuts (cashews, pecans, peanuts, macadamia almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and Brazil nuts)
• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped rosemary
• 1 tsps of sweet smoked paprika
• 2 tsp dark muscavado sugar or 2 tbsp runny honey
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.

Place a medium pan on a medium heat, add the butter and sugar/honey and heat for 3-4 minutes until the butter has melted and stir to combine.

If using Brazil nuts, roughly chop some of them up into halves and quarters to make them more bite size.

Place all the nuts onto two large roasting trays, then carefully divide the melted butter and honey mix between the two, then scatter over the paprika and rosemary. Toss to coat all the nuts, then cook for 20-30 minutes, or until golden all over, carefully shaking the tray every 10-15 minutes to make sure they cook evenly.

Season with a little salt and leave to cool.

Leftover Root Veg Gnocchi (Vegetarian)

Ingredients:

• 400g parsnip peeled and cut into chunks or leftovers
• 600g potatoes peeled and cut into chunks or leftovers
• 60ml olive oil plus a drizzle to serve
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg (around 1 clove)
• 100g ‘00’ strong white flour
• 1 egg
• ½ small pack thyme leaves picked, to serve
• 30g walnuts toasted and chopped, to serve

Method:

If you’ve not got leftover roast root veg, then heat your oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Toss the parsnips and potatoes in 2 tbsp of the olive oil and tip into a roasting tin along with the garlic cloves. Roast for 40 mins or until the veg is completely soft. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little. Or in a microwave heat up gently the leftovers and then mash, then add to a bowl along with the flour, egg & nutmeg. Begin to knead the dough mix until it becomes pliable.

Tip the dough onto a floured surface, cut into four chunks and roll each into a sausage about 35cm long and 2.5cm wide. Use the back of a table knife to cut each sausage into small pillow-shaped gnocchi, each around 2cm long.

Heat a frying pan with a tablespoon of rapeseed oil.

Add half the gnocchi and fry until lightly golden on each side, around 3-4 mins. Transfer them to a tray using a slotted spoon while you cook the second batch. When all the gnocchi are golden, return them all to the pan to warm through before dividing between four plates. Sprinkle over some black pepper, then top with the thyme leaves, toasted walnuts and a drizzle of olive oil, if you like.