Sally Serves It Up

I found the idea for this delicious recipe in my new Clean Gut book by Alejandro Junger. Some of you may know him from Goop, as Gwyneth is always going on (and on) about how amazing he is. Naturally, I snapped up his new book about gut health, something I find really interesting, as soon as it hit the shelves! It has some fantastic recipes that are on the right side of not-too-mental healthy with lovely ingredients that are approachable and easy. I evolved these lamb tacos according to what I had and made a DELISH cucumber and mint salad with tahini dressing to go with them - these are a little more Middle Eastern what with all the mint, sumac and tahini. I think it works really well. 

Ingredients - Serves 2

300g organic lamb mince (I bought this from my butchers and could really taste the difference)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp sumac

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tsp coconut oil

Pinch of salt and black pepper

Lettuce leaves for wrapping

Heat up the oil in a frying pan until just smoking and add the mince. Cook until brown and a little crispy. Add the onion and pepper, along with all of the spices and seasoning and cook for about five minutes on a medium heat until soft. Serve in a bowl and garnish with spring onion. 

For the cucumber and mint salad: Slice some spring onion, little gem or romaine lettuce and cucumber and arrange in a dish. Mix 1 tablespoon of tahini with 1 tablespoon of water and the juice of a lemon and a pinch of salt. You may need a little olive oil to get things going but try to persevere (using a jam jar to shake everything would be good, or even a mini blender). Drizzle over the salad and sprinkle with lots of chopped mint. 

Gosh it’s been a long time! Sorry - I’ve been busy getting married and what not. All very exciting. But now I’m back from a very rainy honeymoon in Tuscany, feeling very wined and dined, and wanting to eat super well. Out come the cruciferous vegetables, lots of greens and yummy protein. Here’s the recipe for a soup my Dad always makes when he’s trying to be extra healthy - it’s very yum. Serve with some tabasco (or Frank’s Hot Sauce - much better I think). 

Ingredients - Serves 4

1 head of broccoli, including stalk, roughly chopped

200g spinach

1 red onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 unwaxed lemon

1-1.5 litres chicken stock

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or 1 tsp coconut oil

Heat up the oil in a pot and fry the onion for a few minutes. Add the garlic and rind of the whole lemon. Cook for another minute and then add the broccoli. Stir around and add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil and cook for ten minutes. Turn off the heat, add the spinach and put the lid on so that it can wilt. Blitz everything with a hand blender until well mixed, add the juice of the whole lemon and season to taste. 

I made this Ottolenghi recipe the other week for a bigger group with a huge deboned chicken. I loved it so much that I made it again this Sunday but with chicken thighs instead. Boneless chicken thighs would work well, as would drum sticks. Basically any chicken with this amazing sauce is DELISH. Everything goes all caramelised and yummy.

I served it up with some sauteed asparagus and raw courgette ribbons tossed in extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, basil and sea salt. I sprinkled the whole thing with some toasted seeds which makes it all crunchy and slightly smoky - just lob them in the oven for the last 5-8 minutes of the chicken’s cooking time.

Ingredients - Serves 4 (but it’s flexible!)

2 chicken thighs per person

2 heaped tbsp zatar

1 heaped tbsp sumac

1.5 tsp all spice

1 tsp cinnamon

2 red onions, finely sliced

1 lemon, finely sliced

Sea salt and black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

200ml water

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and then mix in the chicken. Cover and allow to marinade in the fridge for at least 3 hours. When you’re ready, preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the chicken (skin side up) on a large baking tray, along with all of the marinade and cook in the oven for about 45 minutes, until the skin has gone golden and the chicken cooked through. Leave to rest for at least 15 minutes before eating.