It’s the last week of January – how are your new year’s resolutions going? If you wanted to eat more plant-based foods or reduce your alcohol consumption, then this menu might help with that!
Saturday:
Breakfast: Fried eggs and mozzarella – fried eggs, mozzarella and tomatoes – whatever way you slice it, this is a great breakfast. It could very well work as a brunch, if you’re looking for a lie-in.
Lunch: Minty winter salad of peas and ham – this minty winter salad is a brilliant way of using up leftover chicken or turkey – but if you don’t have that it can stand on its own.
Dinner: Pulled-apart lamb – this slow-cooked shoulder of lamb is paired with Peshwari naan to create the perfect melt in the mouth dish.
Cocktail: Red wine is great to pair with lamb. I’d recommend wine from Blackdown Ridge, which is a vineyard in the South Downs.
Sunday:
Breakfast: Kedgeree – kedgeree has its origins in an Indian breakfast dish which mixes smoked fish, eggs, and rice. I’d recommend making a large amount of kedgeree, so you can eat the rest for breakfast over the week.
Lunch: Courgette, mint and pecorino open sandwich – this is a very simple, and none the worse for that, open sandwich lunch for two people. It’s particularly good served with soft folds of prosciutto, moistened with a little olive oil.
Dinner: The only way to cook celeriac – celeriac is a very underrated winter vegetable, but this is a way to cook it to make it absolutely shine. The result is a sort of celeriac dauphinois without all the hassle.
Monday:
Dinner: Salmon and dill with creamy maccheroni – this pasta dish is pure comfort food, with a slight twist. There’s something to be said about a warming pasta dish when it’s so cold!
Tuesday:
Dinner: Egyptian cabbage salad – cabbage is another great winter vegetable which can be easily transformed into a delicious dish. You can also add or subtract meat to the recipe as you like!
Wednesday:
Dinner: What to do with leftover cabbage – you’ll probably have cabbage left over from yesterday’s dinner, which can be used in this salad peppered with cashews and sesame.
Thursday:
Dinner: Lebanese kibbeh – I’ve written about some of the top food trends of 2020, and Middle Eastern food is one of them! You can recreate this food trend by creating Lebanese kibbeh, a dish that uses minced lamb and bulghur.
Friday:
Dinner: Salad of blue cheese, grapes, walnuts and celery – January is the month most likely to offer up elderly chunks of blue cheese, which can be repurposed into a salad with grapes, walnuts and celery. It’s a great way to use up what’s left at the back of the fridge.
Cocktail: To go with the bright taste of the grapes, I’d recommend having a Sansu yuzu fruit drink, which is a light yuzu drink that acts as a great alcohol alternative.
Next week I’m going to be presenting a menu for the first week of February, using more ingredients that will be coming into season.