Marie Cookpad

  We really are having the most beautiful weather here in the UK. This is the type of summer we all dream of but only very rarely get.  It's just lovely.  Its grilling weather, the type of weather you want to be enjoying out of doors.  We get so much rain over here, that when the sun shines, we really do make hay!     Or at least cook and eat Al Fresco if we can.  Oh, I do love a good BBQ, don't you?      I took full advantage of our new BBQ grill and temperatures in the 30's yesterday to grill our chicken out of doors.  I love our new BBQ.  Its the nicest BBQ Grill we have ever had, and I can't say enough about it!  But first the chicken!    This lovely dish was adapted from two that I found in a cookery book I have by Clodagh McKenna entitled Homemade.  I love this book. Its a book I picked up a few years ago in a garden centre for next to nothing.   There was a recipe in the book for a Moro...

  In an attempt to lower my carb intake and eat healthier I found myself throwing together this simple and easy casserole the other day.  It was quick easy, and I managed to get in two of my five a day in one fell swoop!    Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are cubed and tossed together with halved cherry tomatoes and courgette fingers (Zucchini to you North Americans.)  I like to season them with a mix of seasoning salt, black pepper and garlic powders, but you could use fresh garlic as well.    You could also use whole chicken breasts as well  if you didn't want to cut them up and just scatter the vegetables around them in the baking dish. However, doing so will take a bit longer to bake!   Over top goes a delicious mix/sauce of mayonnaise, sour cream, some of the seasoning and Parmesan cheese  . . .  I dollop it all over and then spread it out.  works a charm.   You can also use low fat mayo and sour cream if you wish ...

  Once the warmer months hit, I want to be out and about outdoors. I am all for ease in the kitchen and I really don't want to be chained to the stove if I can help it!  Who does!  That's when my lazy streak takes over and I get inspired to do things that are quick and easy, with minimum of fuss and little or no cleaning up.  Actually . . .  truth be told I try to do that most of the time anyways.  Quick, easy and fuss free doesn't necessarily equate to tasteless however as this recipe I am showing today will show you!    I love tray bakes.  They are so simple to put together, and if you line your baking tray with foil, there is very little to clean up!  A quick spritz of low fat cooking spray also ensures that nothing sticks, and keeps the fat down as well.  You get the effect of frying without the frying.   Today I have used a mix of vegetables, all cut into similar sized chunks . . .  carrots, potatoes, swede, parsnips,...

  Proof positive here in The English Kitchen today that I don't always cook hedonistic, unhealthy food.  I actually cook/prepare a lot of healthy food.  Healthy doesn't necessarily have to be blah.  This salad is light and delicious with a fabulous rich creamy dressing, and yes, you CAN have your bacon and eat it too!   This is a recipe I have adapted from a magazine type of book I have in my library entitled, "Easy to Make, Favourite Family Meals" by the people at Good Housekeeping.  It is chock full of great meal ideas and this is one of them.   Its a case of simple ingredients being put together in a delicious way and makes a beautiful light lunch or supper!  The recipe did not specify to use streaky or back bacon. I decided to use back bacon because it is leaner and I felt it would go better.  I used oak smoked dry cure back bacon.   I used a mix of yellow and red baby plum tomatoes because that is what I had and they were beautiful....