Mini squash fondues

October 17, 2016November 1, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

This week I decided to sort my life out and by ‘sort my life out’ I mean throwing away all the old tat I’ve collected over the years because my flat is starting to resemble an episode of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners. I must suppress my inner hoarder and throw away that old camera lead. But what if I need it?! You don’t though because you lost the camera that lead went with four years ago. Oh yeah… But what about this colourful set of glitters? They’ve never even been used, they could be good for a fancy dress party? When have I ever been to fancy dress party, they’re going to charity… Wait! You can’t throw away those shoes! I love those shoes, I bought them in Morocco. Yes I can, they’re disgusting, they smell of dead camels and you haven’t worn them for seven years, they’re going in the bin. Wow, I’m actually being quite ruthless I thought to myself as I glanced over at mini hoarder Corrie in the corner. She was busy having a full blown tantrum and tearfully clutching onto an old baseball cap, a manky pair of Ugg boots and my old school copy of ‘Lord Of The Flies.’ Oh for god sake, this is going to take a while.
And it did, around three weeks in fact but I can now proudly say hoarder Corrie is gone and has been replaced with organised ‘sorted’ Corrie who is here to stay. At least for a bit anyway. To celebrate I’m finally going to let myself make something I’ve been wanting to make for ages, squash fondues! Yes people, it’s Autumn so get those loose fitting tracksuit bottoms back in circulation because it’s time for a dinner of hot melted cheese.

Mini squash fondues
Serves 2 / Hands on time 30 mins / Takes 1 hour / V
2 mini squashes (roughly 550g each) I used onion squash
75g vegetarian emmental
75g vegetarian mild cheddar or Gruyere*
50g vegetarian Italian hard cheese or Parmesan*
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Handful of finely chopped fresh parsley
4 tbs vegetarian white wine
2 tsp Pomoro extra virgin olive oil
Serve with crusty stale bread and salad leaves.

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6. Finely grate the cheeses and mix them altogether in a large bowl. Put to one side.
2. Using a sharp knife carefully cut the tops of the squashes off to create the lids and put to one side. Carefully hollow out the squash by cutting a hole in the top and then scooping out the seeds with a spoon.
3. Once you’ve hollowed out the squash check to see if each squash stands up on its own. If they’re uneven and tilt, carefully level off the bottom of your squash with a knife (take care not to cut too deep, you don’t want to create a hole. If you do though don’t panic, pop the bottom back on a make a little foil coat for your squash to sit in to prevent it from leaking).
4. Crush a garlic clove into each squash followed by a small sprinkle of parsley and 1 tablespoon of white wine into each. Season well with salt and pepper.
5. Fill each squash with half the cheese and then add another tablespoon of wine to each squash. Season again and stuff the squashes with the rest of the cheese. Top with the remaining parsley, season with salt and pepper and pop the individual squash lids on.
6. Put both squashes on a baking tray and bake them for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven, remove the lids and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately with a simple green salad and stale bread to scoop the delicious melted cheese out bread to scoop out bread. Happy scooping.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian
*Gruyére is a cheese of protected status originating from Switzerland. The production and maturation is defined in Swiss law and all Swiss Gruyère producers must follow these rules, however this doesn’t specify the use of animal rennet. Therefore it could or could not be vegetarian.
*Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiani) is always made using animal rennet, therefore it is not vegetarian. Substitute for Italian hard cheese if applicable.

Winter root vegetable salad

September 30, 2016November 1, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

They suddenly looked up, their glossy black eyes bore into ours as we reluctantly walked towards them. ‘We’ll be alright’ I thought ‘after all, they’re just a bunch of stupid’… But then they bolted, like a shoal of fish they ran as one to the corner of the field before swiftly turning to face us blocking our exit. Oh shit. Several began to stomp their hooves, others edged closer but the rest simply stood staring, waiting for us to make our next move.
Fuck this! We turned and started to briskly walk towards the nearest stile but they were hot on our tail, I started to run but so did they. AGHHHHHHH! I clambered over the stile followed by a breathless Jamie and my petrified mother whose pacemaker was in over drive. We pulled her over just as they reached the fence, their eyes wild and blood thirsty.
As you know, I don’t eat cows but after this encounter I might consider it. ‘They won’t hurt you’ the locals said, ‘they’re just curious’ curious my arse, they tried to eat my mum!
Anyway, apart from that we had a marvellous walking holiday so apologies for the late post. To celebrate my return to civilisation and a reletively cow free Camden, I thought I’d treat myself to a roasted vegetable salad with goats cheese. Didn’t fancy cow cheese, too soon.

Winter root vegetable salad
Serves 2 / Hands on time 20 mins / Total time 1 hr / V Gf
3 carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds and sticks
1 medium beetroot, peeled and chopped into rounds (I used golden beetroot)
1 medium cooking apple
1 large sweet potato
4-5 sprigs of thyme
60g lambs lettuce
100g vegetarian soft goats cheese
1 tbs rapeseed oil
Dressing
2 tsp Pomora extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7. Peel the vegetables apart from the apples. Chop the sweet potato into wedges and the carrots into a combination of rounds and sticks. Slice the beetroot relatively finely and core the apple and cut into eighths (don’t cut them too small or the apple with disintegrate).
2. Tip the veg onto a large oiled baking tray and add the sprigs of thyme. Season well with salt and pepper, add the rapeseed oil and give it a shake and turn until the veg is nicely coated.
3. Roast in an oven for 40-45 minutes, shaking the vegetables halfway through roasting.
4. Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining the extra virgin olive oil, cider vinegar and salt and pepper. Put to one side.
5. Once roasted, remove the vegetables from the oven and pick out the thyme sprigs. Serve warm on a bed of lambs lettuce topped with soft goats cheese and a good drizzle of dressing.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian Gf– Gluten free

Blackberry & apple crumble

September 21, 2016January 21, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

Okay summer, you can bugger off now, I’m ready for warming soups, hot cups of Horlix and oodles of apple crumble with silky custard. The tights are firmly back on.
I haven’t actually made a crumble since I was at school, I normally buy one from Sainsbury’s and eat the whole thing for dinner with my mum whilst watching Embarrassing Fat Bodies. What? Is that bad?
Anyway, enough about what my mum and I like to do in our private time, lets move on to crumble. I made this beaut with apples from my friend’s mum’s garden (thanks Annie), it went down an absolute treat with Jamie’s mates. His friend Glen even said it was one of the nicest crumbles he’d ever had, so I suggest you listen to Jamie’s friend Glen and try it for yourself. It’s Autumn now people, we can stop sucking in and let it all hang out. Ready? On three. One… Two… Three… Aaahhhhhhhhhhhh… That’s better, so grab a spoon and join me and my mummy on the sofa with a bowl of hot, sticky, fruity goodness. Bliss.

Apple and blackberry crumble
Serves 6 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total time 1 hr 15 / V ❄
Filling
1 tsp lemon juice
100g Demerara sugar
900g cooking apples peeled, cored and chopped
150g blackberries
¼ tsp cinnamon
Topping
180g flour
50g oats
½ tsp cinnamon
30g hazelnuts, bashed or roughly chopped
50g demerara sugar
150g cold cubed butter
Pinch of sea salt flakes
Custard to serve (optional)

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6. Peel, core and chop the apples into rough chunks. Pop them in a casserole dish (I use my lasagna one that’s around 8×6″). Sprinkle with cinnamon and give it a bit of a toss.
2. Evenly distribute the blackberries on top and cover with a layer of sugar. Give it another mix being careful so as not to squash the blackberries and put to one side.
3. If using whole hazelnuts, pour into a plastic bag and give them a bash with a rolling pin to break them up (be sure not to break them up too finely, you still want a bit of texture).
4. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, oats, crushed hazelnuts and a good pinch of salt. Mix together and add the cold cubed butter. Using your hands, rub the butter into the mix until you have breadcrumbs.
5. Sprinkle the crumb evenly on top of the fruit before baking in an oven for 35-40 minutes (or until the top is golden brown and you can see the fruit bubbling up the sides). Serve with custard.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian ❄– Suitable for home freezing before baking. Wrap the dish well in a few layers of clingfilm. Top cook from frozen, add 5 minutes to cooking time. Consume within 3 months.

Meatless mushroom meatballs

September 5, 2016March 3, 2021 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

“I’m so poorly” groaned Jamie from the sofa. “Corrie? Corrie? Corrie!…”
“Yes Jamie?” I called from the kitchen.
“I’m so poorly” Jamie whimpered again into a sofa cushion.
“You’re not poorly, you’re just hungover” I answered as I expertly stabbed a cherry tomato with the tip of my knife. I wonder what it’d be like to spear a human eyeball I thought… Blimey where on earth did that come from?
“But I didn’t even drink that much” Jamie half heartedly moaned this time. I could tell he was playing a game on his phone now so I ignored him and drew my attention back to the pasta sauce I’d been making for my meatballs.
I’d never made meatballs before, they’ve always seemed more trouble than they’re worth but after my recent trip to IKEA I got severe meatball envy. So I stuffed a Quorn hot dog in my face (two actually) and headed back to the car laden with crap I’d just bought but didn’t need (standard IKEA trip) and started thinking about my balls.
Speaking of balls, Jamie was now contently watching a man kick one around on TV whilst I nervously peered into the oven at my own. I’d spent an hour and a half making these guys so they’d better be good, mainly because I was far more hungover than I was letting on and felt on the edge of death… Standing in front of a hot oven clearly wasn’t helping.
Twenty minutes later I plonked myself down on the sofa next to Jamie, two bowls of steaming hot Spaghetti and meatballs in front of us.
“Wow these look amazing! Jamie gasped and then he turned to look at me. “You alright darling? You look a bit peaky.”
Through a mouthful of spaghetti and meatballs I managed to mumble “I think I might be poorly Jamie”.

Meatless meatballs
Serves 2 (makes 16 meatballs) / Hands on time 50 mins / 1hr 30 mins / V ❄
You’ll need: A food processor
Meatballs
500g chestnut mushrooms
knob of unsalted butter
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, peeled
3 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbs rolled oats
¼ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp dried basil
¼ smoked paprika
Handful freshly chopped parsley
30g grated vegetarian Italian hard cheese or Parmesan* + extra for garnish
1 egg
2 tbs flour
Tomato Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1 can chopped tomatoes
10 cherry tomatoes
1 tbs tomato purée
½ tsp chilli flakes
100ml red wine
150g spaghetti
Fresh basil to serve (optional)

NOTE: This recipe makes twice as many meatballs than you need. Any meatballs you don’t use, can be cooled and stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To freeze, cool fully before freezing in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.

Method
1. Roughly chop the mushrooms before blitzing in a food processor for around 10 seconds in batches, being careful not to over process. Spoon into a heavy bottomed saucepan along with 1/4 tsp of salt and a knob of butter. Cook over a medium heat for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, peel and half the red onion (saving half for the sauce later) and cut into quarters. Put in the food processor for 10 seconds (no need to clean the food processor). Spoon out into a small bowl and put to one side.
2. Add the cannellini beans to the food processor and blitz for a little longer this time until you have a paste (around 30 seconds to a 1 min).
3. Once the mushrooms are cooked, spoon into a sieve over a sink and squeeze down with the back of as spoon to allow most of the juice to run out (you may need to do this in batched. Discard any remaining juice from the pan and return to the heat along with the newly squeezed mushrooms. Add the onion and cook for a further 5 mins. Take the mixture off the heat and add the crushed garlic, 4 tbs of oats and the cannelloni bean paste. Mix well and leave to cool for 10 mins.
4. Once cooled, add the Italian hard cheese, fresh parsley, flour, dried herbs, smoked paprika and season well with salt and pepper. Mix well before beating in the egg (the mixture will be quite wet). Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
5. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and take a heaped teaspoon of meatball mix. Roll quickly in your palms into a meatball shape and place on the baking tray. Making sure you leave enough space between each ball, repeat the process until you have no mixture left. Bake in the oven for 20 mins.
6. To make the sauce, finely chop the other half of the red onion and add it to a large non-stick saucepan along with a tsp of olive oil. Sweat over a medium heat for 5 mins (add a dash of water to help the onions steam). Add the chilli flakes, a good pinch of salt and stir in the tomato purée. Up the heat and start adding the wine gradually stirring continually until the wine has cooked off and reduced down. Score the cherry tomatoes with a knife and add to the sauce along with the can of tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil before turning the heat down and simmering for 10 -15 mins.
7. Once the meatballs are cooked add 8 meatballs carefully to the sauce and take off the heat (allow 4 meatballs per person). Coat them gently in sauce using a spoon before putting the lid on. Leave to sit while you make your spaghetti.
8. Cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions and drain. Add the pasta bit by bit straight into the sauce being careful not to break the meatballs. Once the pasta is incorporated, divide into bowls and serve topped with fresh basil leaves, a sprinkle of parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian ❄– Meatballs are suitable for home freezing once cooked and cooled. Consume within 3 months.
*Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiani) is always made using animal rennet, therefore it is not vegetarian. Substitute for Italian hard cheese if applicable.

Caprese Panzanella

August 15, 2016November 1, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

I love a caprese salad but I’ve eaten some pretty shocking ones in my time. Such a simple dish but surpringly easy to get wrong but you won’t, if you follow these three simple rules.
1. Don’t be stingy with the mozzarella. At least half of the caprese salad’s I’ve ever eaten, have consisted of a plate of sliced tomato and hang on… Where’s the mozzarella? Oh there it is, a few pissy slithers in between giant beef tomato slices. Not cool.
2. Seasoning, seasoning SEASONING! Nothing worse than being given a dry caprese in a restaurant that you have to season yourself with table salt. Horror.
3. Don’t try and serve it in a scooped out avocado skin. USE A PLATE YOU SAVAGE! That is what plates are for and besides, an avocado skin is too small and you can’t eat it so why is it there?! Exactly, get rid of it and double the portion. Oh and on another note, when did the avocado get involved anyway?

So forget avocado’s, why have I added bread to my recipe? Well, I went to my local Nisa this morning to buy some regular sliced brown bread but they didnt’ have any! I mean none at all, what kind of shop doesn’t have sliced brown bread?! I couldn’t buy white Kingsmill, could I? I mean I could, but I’d devour the whole loaf in one sitting, white bread is like crack, fact. So I was forced to buy a fresh crusty brown loaf that wasn’t pre-sliced #middleclassproblems. So halfway through slicing giant door stoppers I got cross and just started ripping bits off and angrily stuffing them into my mouth. I’ll just make my salad into a panzanella I thought, that will get rid of the bits I can’t fit in the toaster. So that’s what I did. Enjoy!

Caprese Panzanella
Serves 2 / Hands on time 10 mins / Total time 10 mins / V
450g mixed tomatoes
100g stale bread/sourdough
2 balls vegetarian mozzarella
Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Roughly chop the tomatoes, season well with salt and pepper and put in a large bowl.
2. Pull the basil leaves off the stalks, roughly chop and add to the tomatoes – discard the stalks. Roughly chop the bread into chunks and add to the bowl.
3. Give it all a good mix before draining the mozzarella and tearing into big bits. Season well with more salt and pepper, drizzle generously with extra virgin olive oil and give it a final mix. Serve drizzled with yet more extra virgin olive oil and a good crack of black pepper.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian

Turkish lentil soup

August 8, 2016January 18, 2021 ~ Corrie ~ 3 Comments

Just when I thought our pathetic excuse for a summer had gone, the sun comes out. After a week of drizzle, frizzy hair and wet ballet pumps, I have decided to spend the one weekend of sun in my flat playing Super Nintendo. It’s Jamie’s fault really, he managed to get the damn thing working and now I can’t stop playing it. He’s at work today though so I’m determined to beat his score on Donkey Kong… Yes, I am aware of how sad that sounds.
Anyway, lentil soup is one of my favourites but unlike my other recipe, this version is milder and creamier. It’s the addition of egg yolks that give this soup it’s velvety and luxurious texture. Where possible, I try and add a bit of protein to my soups to make them a bit more substantial. On this occasion I’ve used cottage cheese but you can serve it topped with Greek yogurt or even poured over soft boiled eggs – go wild why don’t you.

Turkish lentil soup
Serves 4 / Hands on time 30 mins / Total time 50 mins / V ❄
25g unsalted butter
1 large white onion, peeled and chopped
½ tsp salt
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbs plain white flour
2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1½ litres vegetable stock, I use 1 Knorr stock pot
275g dried red lentils
1 bay leaf
Extra virgin olive oil
Cottage cheese/plain yogurt to serve (optional)

Method
1. In a large pot, fry the onions and salt in the butter over a medium to low heat with the lid on until softened. Add the turmeric and cook for a further 2 mins
2. Add the flour and give it a good stir and cook for a minute or two stirring continuelly. Add the carrots and pour over the stock before adding the lentils and the bay leaf. Bring to the boil.
3. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 25-30 mins stirring occasional to stop the lentils from sticking to the bottom.
4. Fish out the bay leaf, take off the heat and blend with a hand blender or pour into a food processor. Blend until silky smooth. Taste and season with salt.
5. Once smooth, serve topped with cottage cheese/yogurt and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian
❄ Suitable for home freezing once cooled. Consume within 3 months.

Greek salad

August 2, 2016November 1, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

“… Well I’m not paying for something I didn’t eat, I even sent it back to the kitchen.”
“That no my problem. You ask I pick dish for you, no my fault you no like.”
“Yeah well that’s because I thought you were going to choose something Greek and delicious for me to eat.” Becky pointed to the imaginary plate in front of her. The table cloth looked like a crime scene, it was covered in deep red wine stains – evidently we’d both been missing our glasses and free pouring wine all over the table.
“I ask you want something else. You say no. I change for you but you no say, so you pay for beef.”
“But I didn’t eat any of it! I’m not paying for something I didn’t eat. Can I speak to your manage please?”
“I am manager.” (Awkward).
“Well Sir” she said in a slightly posher voice “I am not paying €15 for a dinner that wasn’t very nice and that I didn’t consume” and at that Becky crossed her arms and turned away from him. I dropped my head in my hands in an attempt to disappear.
“Well I call police!”
Shit, when did this get so serious? I can’t go to a Greek prison. Mind you, if anyone’s going to prison it’s Becky – I’m not the one with beef about my beef. I guess I could stay in sunny Greece with her until she gets bail. I’m such a good friend.
“Fine, call the police” she exclaimed with a very large swooping arm gesture.
“Err Becky… Becky” I whispered over the table… “It is kind of your fault for letting the man order for you…”
“Yes but I didn’t like it and he’s being a giant fuc…”
“Let’s just pay and go yeah? I don’t want spend our last night in a Greek jail!” Christ my sun burn was hot, very hot… I felt sick.
“Where’s he gone?” Becky said, spinning wildly in her chair.
“Probably gone to call the police”… Shit! We quickly emptied our purses, paid the full bill and scuttled off into the night.
“I should have just ordered Greek salad” Becky said in a small voice.
“Ya think?!”

Greek salad
Serves 1 / Hands on time 5 mins / Total time 5 mins / V Gf
½ cucumber, peeled and thickly chopped
2 tomatoes, cut into eighths
¼ green pepper, sliced
¼ red onion, finely sliced
Handful pitted black olives
50g vegetarian feta
1 baby gem lettuce
½ tsp dried oregano
Extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. Every Greek salad I ordered in Greece came like this, you are expected in most places to dress the salad yourself so it comes dry with just a sprinkling of oregano. Its very simply layered so lets begin with the lettuce. Line a medium sized bowl with 5 or 6 lettuce leaves.
2. Chop the tomatoes into eighths and peel the cucumber. Chop into large chunks. Season well with salt and pepper and mix the tomato and cucumber roughly together. Place on top of the leaves in the centre of your bowl. Sprinkle with dried oregano.
3. The Greeks like big chunks of green pepper but I’m not keen so I sliced my green pepper into long thin strips and positioned them around the sides. Finely chop the red onion and scatter on top of the salad.
4. Top with olives and a slab of feta. Finally sprinkle with oregano and drizzle generously with olive oil. Lusciousness.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian Gf– Gluten free

Mexican tostada salad

July 18, 2016November 18, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ 1 Comment

Six days to go until my holiday and I’ve managed to gain 2lbs so I officially give up, food simply tastes too damn good to be thin. The people of Greece are just going to have to deal with my slightly soft, plump physique. On the bright side though, now I’ve stopped caring I can look forward to shovelling platefuls of Greek salad and spanakopita into my gob, blissful.
But enough about Greece, let’s talk Mexico and this tremendous salad. It was my friend Rosie’s idea, I wanted to make some sort of salad thing but wasn’t feeling particularly inspired, that was until she suggested making my own tortilla bowl. Now that’s more like it! Armed with her mum’s recipe I hurried home and came up with this little corker. So thanks Annie (Rosie’s mum) your vegetarian cooking has inspired, intrigued and even scared me over the years (the less said about your butter bean soup the better) but you taught me a lot about vegetarian cooking and helped me become the cook I am today. Thanks Annie!

Mexican tostada salad
Serves 2 / Hands on time 40 mins / Total time 40 minutes / V
You’ll need: 6 inch oven-proof bowls X2
2 soft tortillas
Bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 corn on the cob or 1 can of sweetcorn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
½ cucumber, cut into chunks
3 spring onions, sliced
1 avocado, cut into chunks
50g vegetarian cheddar, grated
1 cos lettuce, chopped
½ red chilli, deseeded and diced
Dressing
1 lime
1 tsp honey
1 tsp Tabasco
1 tbsp olive oil

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6. To make the tortillas you will need 2 oven-proof bowls. If you don’t have any, simply use a cake tin or a small/medium metal saucepan (without a plastic handle). Spray one side of your tortilla with oil and nest it, oil side down, in your chosen vessel. If your tortilla isn’t holding a nice bowl shape then use balled up bit of foil to prop it up at the sides. If it’s caving in on itself place a large ball of foil in the centre of your tortilla. Spray with oil and bake for 15 minutes. Once cooked put to one side and leave to cool in their tins.
2. Meanwhile, boil the corn on the cob in a large saucepan for 8 mins. Once cooked, drain and leave to rest on a tea towel or plate to cool.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl and put to one side and wash the black beans in a colander. Leave to drain.
4. Once the cobs are a little cooler I like to char mine (although this is optional). Insert a fork firmly into one end of the corn and rotate it slowly over and open flame on the cooker until it is slightly charred. Alternatively you can grill if you don’t have a gas hob. Once the corn is cool enough to handle, stand it upright on a chopping board and slice down the sides with a sharp knife to remove the kernels.
5. Chop the cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, chilli, coriander and spring onions and add them to a large bowl along with the dressing, charred corn and the black beans. Season generously with salt and pepper and give it all a good stir.
6. Line your tortilla bowls with chopped lettuce and fill with your Mexican salad mix. Top with grated cheese and serve.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V – Vegetarian

Warm noodles with gochujang dressing

July 12, 2016November 1, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

Warm Noodle Salad with Sesame Soy Dressing

Why the hell am I so spotty? As if being fat wasn’t bad enough I’m now fat AND spotty! Oh good, just in time for my holiday. Okay so I might be overreacting a tad, I’m hardly obese but I had hoped this time last week to be looking more Miranda Kerr than Sonia from Eastenders by now (sorry Sonia, I love you). Fun fact, ten years ago I almost ran over Sonia from Eastenders in an M&S carpark in Southgate. I shouted ‘sorry Sonia from Eastenders’ out the car window but she seemed very cross and ignored my heartfelt apology. Not really sure what I was doing in M&S back then, I was more of an ASDA kind of gal due to being upsettingly skint all the time… No change there then.
Anyhoo forget Sonia, she’s in the past, along with the doughnuts, pizza, marshmallows, cheese board, malteezers, chips, cream crackers and pies you ate at that hen do on Saturday… Oh, my spotty face is starting to make a bit more sense.
In light of this disturbing revelation, I suggest we back away from the pies and towards my warm noodle salad. This slippery, delicious delight is super healthy, easy and will have you slurping noodles for tea in no time.

Warm noodles with gochujang dressing
Serves 2 / Hands on time 20 minutes / Total time 20 mins / V Df🌶
½ white onion, sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 egg noodle nests
50g kale, roughly 2 handfuls
2 bulbs of pak choi, sliced
Dressing
2 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tsp gochujang or Sriracha (a type of chilli sauce you can buy in most supermarkets)

Method
1. In a large cooking pot, fry the onion in 1 tsp of sesame oil, on a medium heat, for 10 minutes until soft (if they start looking a bit charred, add a dash of water to help them steam).
2. Meanwhile, boil a kettle for the noodles and make your dressing by mixing the ingredients together in a large bowl (if using gochujang, this can be quite sticky, so use the back of a teaspoon to help soften it against the bowl).
3. Fill a medium sized saucepan with boiling water, add 2 nests of noodles and cook according to packet instructions. Drain in a colander and run them under a stream of cold water to cool them down (this prevents them from cooking further). Once cooled, drain and pour straight into the dressing. Mix well and put to one side.
4. By now your onions should be cooked. Add the pak choi and kale along with a dash of water. Turn up the heat and cook down the greens until soft but still tender. Take off the heat and add the dressed noodles a bit at a time to prevent clumping together.
5. Divide into bowls and serve topped with sesame seeds.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V– Vegetarian Df– Dairy free 🌶– Spicy

Apricot & passion fruit cake

June 6, 2016January 21, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ 3 Comments

It was my Dad’s birthday last week, so thought I’d bake him a cake. I hardly ever baked for him when he was alive, probably because I was off doing twenty-something things – like drinking white wine spritzers and flying kites.
Although looking back, I don’t think I even started baking until after he died. I remember becoming quite obsessed with it actually. I even sent myself on a rather serious pudding and baking course in Dorest and applied for the second series of The Great British Bake Off (your loss Mary Berry). Baking was, and still is a nice distraction on days like his birthday. Six years on, I decided to make him a tropical twist on a classic Victoria sponge. So happy birthday dad, this one’s for you.

Apricot & passion fruit cake
Serve 8-10 / Hands on time 40 mins / Total time 1 hr + cooling and icing / V ❄
You’ll need: Electric hand whisk and a 20cm cake tin
200g butter, at room temperature
200g self-raising flour
200g golden caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Dash of milk
4 large eggs
Filling
3 passion fruit
250g mascarpone
1 tsp vanilla extract
300ml double cream, whipped
3 heaped tbs of icing sugar
2 tbs apricot jam

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6. Line the bottom of a round baking tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in an electric mixer on a medium speed, until light and fluffy (you can do this by hand if you like, I’m just lazy.) Up the speed and add one of the eggs and a tablespoon of flour – this stops the mixture from curdling. Once combined add the second egg with another tablespoon of flour and so on.
3. Add a dash of milk and continue to add the flour bit by bit until you have a thick silky batter. Spoon into a cake tin and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and continue to bake for a further 10 minutes (this prevents the cake getting too brown on top). Once the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean the cake is done. If it doesn’t, continue to bake for a few more minutes.
4. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Once cool, you can either ice the cake immediately or wrap it well in cling film and ice it later.
5. Slice the cake in half lengthways so you have two cakes, you’re essentially making a Victoria Sandwich – don’t over think it, just take a big knife and do your best, doesn’t matter if it’s a bit wonky.
6. Make the filling by pouring the double cream and vanilla extract into a large bowl and whisking it until it thickens – be careful not to over-whip the cream.
7. Cut the passion fruits in half and spoon out the seeds of 2 straight into the cream – save the other passion fruit for later. Add the mascarpone and 3 heaped tablespoons of icing sugar until you have a think glossy filling. Spread the bottom layer of your cake with half of your cream filling and the other with apricot jam, as it it were a giant scone. Scoop the last passion fruit out onto the cream and sandwich both cakes together.
8. Finally, top the cake with the rest of the cream and serve.

If you’ve had a go at making any of my recipes, I’d love to hear from you. Follow me now @corrieheale and tag your recipe pictures using #corriesrabbitfood.

V – Vegetarian
❄ – The sponges is suitable for freezing. Wrap in several layers of clingfilm and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost fully before icing.