Quinoa, butternut squash and halloumi salad: Recipe and Playlist

I bought myself some quinoa a while ago, but it’s just been sat in my cupboard, until today. I decided it was time to give it a go, after all, the sun is shining and cooking with quinoa is about as adventurous as I’m going to get today. If I can get through this recipe without writing ‘buttnut’ again, it will be a success.

Playlist to accompany your cooking 

The sun is out, so here’s a happy but chilled playlist to accompany your cooking. Crack open the windows and turn up the volume.

Don’t Move – Phantogram

Dayvan Cowboy – Boards of Canada

Numb – Clams Casino

Unlock your Mind – Soul Rebels Brass Band

U-Love – J Dilla

God From the Machine – Santigold

Serpents – Sharon van Etten

The Fall – Rhye

Nova – Buriel and Fourtet

White Noise – Disclosure featuring Aluna George

Overgrown – James Blake

Are ‘Friends’ Electric? – Gary Numan

Came out of a Lady – Rubblebucket

Constant Conversation – Passion Pit

Ingredients – serves two

1/2 cup of quinoa

1 small butternut squash

1 pepper

8 slices of halloumi

Mixed salad leaves

Salt and pepper

1 garlic clove

Dressing

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves

1 small chilli

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1 small glug of sweet chilli sauce

Black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Slice your halloumi into 8 slices, season with black pepper and leave aside, slice your pepper.

Prepare your butternut squash by cutting into small cubes. Pop your butternut squash in the microwave for a minute or two if it’s too difficult to chop.

Put 1/2 cup of quinoa in a sieve and wash under cold water for around two minutes. This washes the bitter outer taste off.

Season your butternut squash and drizzle with olive oil, before putting in the oven for around 20-30 minutes until soft, turning half way. Add your pepper after about 10 minutes.

Toast your quinoa in a saucepan with a little olive oil to remove the water for 1-2 minutes, then and add a cup of water, a clove of garlic and some black pepper and bring to a rolling boil, then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

While your quinoa and butternut squash are cooking, prepare your dressing and your bowl.

Put your salad leaves in a bowl.

Chop two cloves of garlic into small pieces and lightly fry in a little olive oil.

Thinly chop your chilli and mix with the honey, soy sauce, sweet chilli, oil, pepper and garlic.

After your quinoa is cooked, take it off the heat, leave it covered in the pan for 5 minutes.

While your quinoa is resting, heat a griddle pan and fry your sliced halloumi for a couple of minutes on each side.

Mix the quinoa, butternut squash and pepper together and arrange on top of the salad leaves.

Add some dressing.

Place your grilled halloumi on top.

Serve and enjoy.

The Port House, 417 Strand: Official launch review

I’ve been in London around a month now and I’m loving it. Aside from the commuting, the rude people and the prices, it’s pretty great. However, it was made that little bit better this week, when I discovered gin and tonics as big as my face at the official launch of the Port House restaurant on the Strand.

Billed as the rather tempting combination of ‘gin and tapas’, I tottered along and arrived a fashionable two hours after the start time (bloody job…). The place was heaving, with everyone clutching huge goblets of gin, overflowing with an array of leaves and sticks and fruit.

Gin as big as my face

I luckily positioned myself quite well between the bar and the many plates of tapas flying past, getting the best of both worlds. The Dingle gin and tonics on offer included some interesting additions, including grapefruit and coriander, orange and cinnamon, lime, strawberry, rose petals and green apple. They all looked great and tasted great too (I didn’t work my way through aaall of them…). The flavours weren’t overpowering but added an interesting twist and a nice dimension to an already wonderful drink.

Upstairs, three of the restaurant’s ports were on offer: Porto Kopke white, rose and 20-year-old tawny. It was the first time I had tried a rose port and I really enjoyed it. It was fruity, very morish, but still maintaining a serious edge and not too sweet. The white would make a great aperitif, with a delicious rich and slightly nutty flavour. It was recommended to me as a ‘portonic’ – served with tonic and lime. The tawny was nicely balanced, smooth and long, with the flavours lingering in my mouth for ages.

Between all the port and gin, I managed to grab a few dishes of the tapas. Deep fried cheese is always a winner, but the Port House’s Tetilla Templada, served with membrillo was delightfully melt-in-the-mouth naughty. The Berenjena con Hummus (aubergine tempura with hummus dip) was lightly fried, crispy, with fresh, flavoursome hummus. There was quite a bit of dip left, so some of that went on the Brochetas de Gambas al Pil Pil. Marinated in chilli and garlic, the prawns had a pleasant heat to them and were really succulent. Setas con Huevos de Pato (seasonal wild mushroom with onions and garlic, pan-fried and tossed in a whole duck yolk) were also really tasty and not remotely slimy (I have an issue with slimy mushrooms).  My favourite dish was the Txistorras (chargrilled Navarran chorizo sausage), which had quite a delicate texture, but was packed full of flavour and spices.

Overall, the menu has many of the standard tapas favourites, but has also ventured into some interesting choices, such as Vieras a la Gallega (Scallops cooked with garlic, onions, cream and Serrano ham topped with breadcrumbs and manchego cheese) and Jamon Ibérico.

The staff and owner were lovely all evening, despite the mad rush and struggle to wield trays of tapas around a packed restaurant. The whole place had a wine cellar atmosphere – all exposed brick and low-level lighting – which was a welcome change to often kitsch-y route tapas bars go down. The Port House is an intimate venue that would be perfect for a romantic dinner (ooh, all that garlic) or with friends at the weekend. Go for the giant gin, stay for the tapas.

Brief hiatus…

Hi all,

I’m sorry things have been a bit quiet of late… I’ve recently moved to London and am currently getting settled and into the swing of things.

I will be getting back on the blogging bandwagon very soon and bringing more reviews, recipes, music and drinks your way.

 

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