Feel Good Food

Last week I picked up a copy of this special Feel Good Food magazine put out by Woman & Home magazine. I found the photography really great along with loads of delicious recipe ideas. As spring is starting to appear - one does feel like a little bit of a change in the type of foods you eat - a little less heavy and instead using simpler fresh ingredients for lighter meals.

This omelet was made using spring onions and fresh goat cheese with fresh mint sprinkled over the top. All the colours are just so beautiful and the styling so well done.

I just love lamp and this roast rack of lamb looks perfect for a Sunday lunch. It's been cooked in a hot herby dressing made of Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and some olive oil. All you need is some fresh mint sauce and you're good to go.

A king prawn and cucumber salad - I think this could actually work as a starter or a small lunch. There's coriander in it for a little bit of a punch and the dressing uses Thai fish sauce, fresh lime juice, caster sugar, chillies, garlic cloves and shrimp paste.

A nectarine, Parma ham and feta salad with chili - now this is something I would definitely tuck into for dinner in the summer. Easy to whip up when you get in from work - small, simple and satisfying.

I love beets and these are sweet baked with a dressing using read wine vinegar and pomegranate molasses - I've actually never heard of that but am now intrigued and must see if one of my local stores has it.

This is a crunchy baked chicken dish and I think perfect to make on a weekend and freeze for later in the week - especially on a school/work night so you don't have to prepare anything. A nice alternative to shepard's pie or lasagna as it uses chicken.

To top off all these scrumptious dishes - nothing beats this lovely lemon yogurt cake. Less guilt but plenty of pleasure with this simple cake using lemon curd and Greek yogurt for the filling, the topping has low fat cream cheese mixed with yogurt. If I lived closer to my mother, I'd make it for her for Mother's Day. But think it would be just as nice for Easter.

If you'd like any of the recipes for the dishes I've featured - please do not hesitate to contact me.

Have a lovely weekend and Happy Mother's Day to those of you who hold that special title.

Traditional Potato Soup

Last Saturday, I was intent of using up the various things we had in our pantry and thankfully, my daughter Sophia loves potato soup. It's so easy to make while you are doing other things around the house and I pulled the basic recipe from Darina Allen's book Irish Traditional Cooking. So simple and delicious. The recipe is below - I omitted the milk and added a couple of stalks of celery chopped up which I sauteed in with the onions and potatoes.

Unfortunately, I did not bake the brown bread as well but the chives are actually out of the garden - just starting to grow again! (Oh, the bowl the soup is served in is another beautiful piece designed by my talented mother, Jilly Walsh.)

Potato and Fresh Herb Soup
4 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 cups diced onions
1 1/2 lbs. peeled potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon in total of the following chpped fresh herbs: parsley, thyme, lemon balm, chives and marjoram (I actually only used chives as a garnish as I did not have all the herbs)
3 1/2 cups of chicked stock
1/2 cup creamy milk

Note: if you dont' have the fresh herbs, just leave them out; the soup will still be very good. Dried herbs give too strong a flavour.

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan. When it foams, add the onions and the potatoes and toss them in the butter until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and sweat on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Add the fresh herbs (reserving a little for garnish) and the stock, and cook until the vegetables are soft. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor. Taste and adjust seasoning. Thin with creamy milk to the required consistency. Serve sprinkled with the remaining chopped herbs.


My husband recently gave me one of those hand held blenders for Valentine's Day which I'd been dying for especially because I make so many soups and the ladling of liquids into a blender and then back into the pot is such a pain. So, this time, I just put this into the pot on the stove and whizzed it all up in seconds. They are fantastic! My new favourite kitchen gadget!

Galway Bay

Just thought I'd post a few images from a recent trip up to Galway today. It was a beautiful day with of course it's own share of rain showers but spectacular nonetheless. This was the pier at the end of the road near The Twelve hotel out in Bantra.

It was low tide and just simple and beautiful.

It was actually raining which you can't really tell here but had it not been I would have taken a little stroll out on the beach.

This the view that greets you as you drive all along the coast road in Galway - it's not surprising why so many people come up here to visit. Breathtaking.

The clouds were great too - big billowing masses moving in from the Atlantic.