Melitzanosalata & tzatziki with lemon chickpeas

October 24, 2016November 1, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

Not sure why I decided to make something I can’t even pronounce this week ‘mel-it-zano-salata’… Can’t I just call it baba ganoush? Err not really because it isn’t baba ganoush. Baba ganoush is made with tahini and is more houmous like in texture you big idiot. Oh… Well can I call it aubergine dip then?… Err yeah okay.
So I bought a big old aubergine last week and had no idea what to do with it, not being a fan of baked aubergine or moussaka I was a bit stuck for ideas so decided to ignore it. I couldn’t though because it was too big and taking up all the room in my fridge so what did I decide to do? Buy two more aubergines of course and make melonitozansolsalastaaahhh (still can’t say it) aubergine dip. I recently bought some freshly made melitzantosasalata (Oh I give up) from a Greek Deli in Kentish town and liked it so much I ended up eating it with a spoon like a yogurt. So I thought I’d try my hand at making it myself which I’ve never done before. But I can’t just make aubergine dip can I? Surely I need to make something to go with it? How about tzatziki? Yes I love tzatziki!… But that’s just more dip, you can’t have dip to go with your dip. Hmm, what about chickpeas? Yes houmous! No not houmous, that would make three dips! Oh I see… What about hot lemon chickpeas? Now you’re talking!

Melitzanosalata
Hands on time 15 mins / Total time 1 hr + cooling time / V Vn Gf Df
4 medium aubergines
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 tbs Pomoro extra virgin olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Small handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil for brushing
Flat breads to serve (optional)

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6. Cut the aubergines lengthways, brush each side with olive oil and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper face down.
2. Roast for 25 minutes before turning and roasting for a further 25 minutes. Once cooked leave to Cool for 10 minutes. Scrape out the flesh of each aubergine using a fork and a spoon and pop the flesh in a bowl.
3. Add the crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Season well with sat and pepper and blitz briefly with a hand blender. Mix in the chopped parsley and refrigerate for 30 mins to cool.
4. Serve topped with a sprinkle of chopped parsley, a drizzle extra virgin olive oil and a crack of salt and pepper.

Tzatziki
Hands on time 15 mins / Total time 45 mins / V Gf
½ grated cucumber
250g of Greek yogurt
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp of lemon juice
1 tbs Pomoro extra virgin olive oil
Small handful of freshly chopped mint
Salt and pepper
A few black olive to garnish (optional)

Method
1. Grate half a cucumber and put it in a colander with a sprinkle of salt. Give it a mix and leave to drain for 30 mins.
2. Meanwhile crush the garlic cloves and mix with the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl. Finely chop the mint leaves and discard the stalks.
3. Once the cucumber has drained, give it and extra squeeze with your hand to get rid of as much moisture as possible. In a separate bowl combine the cucumber with the yogurt, the garlic mixture and the fresh mint. Mix and season to taste.
4. Serve topped with an olive and good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Warm lemon chickpeas
Serves 4 / Hands on time 30 mins / V Vn Gf Df
1 tsp olive oil
2 cans of chickpeas
1 celery stick, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and cubed
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 white onion, finely chopped
Juice of 3 lemons
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper
3 Tbs Pomoro extra virgin olive oil
Small handful finely chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Cook the onion, celery and carrot on a medium to low heat in the olive oil. Add a couple of tablespoons of water to help the vegetables steam and add the garlic and the 2 cans of drained chickpeas. Season well with salt and pepper and continue to cook for about 10 minutes with the lid on a jar to aid steaming.
2. Meanwhile, zest one of your lemons and then juice it into a bowl along with the other two lemons. Finely chop your handful of parsley and put to one side.
3. Once the chickpeas are soft, take off the heat and add the lemon juice, lemon zest, three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the freshly chopped parsley. Season to taste 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.

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.

Bara brith

October 8, 2016July 10, 2022 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

“Listen Zara, I don’t care what you say, I am not a bloody large” I panted angrily as I struggled to pull what can only be described as a worm coloured dress over my head. I don’t even like the colour ‘worm’ only Kim Kardashian can pull off ‘worm’ everyone knows that. Anyway, in an attempt to dodge the humongous queue I opted to try the dress on over my clothes on the shop floor, big mistake. So here I was, in the middle of Zara’s heaving Covent Garden store trapped inside the offending worm dress.
‘This can’t possibly be a large” I spat as my face turned an alarming shade of puce. I ducked down behind a rail of jackets and gave it another tug but just couldn’t get the damn thing over my boobs.
“Excuse me, can I get to the mirror?” I wildly spun around on my knees and looked up at Gigi Hadid. Okay so it wasn’t actually Gigi Hadid but it might as well have been, the skinny blonde thing had already pushed pass me and was now holding a top up to her delicate little chest admiring herself. At least she doesn’t have any boobs I thought to myself and grinned but then realised it was my ample bosoms that had got me into this mess in the first place. I gave the dress one final big pull and whipped it off over my head.
“YEEEESS!” I roared (a little too loudly) in the mirror at Gigi Hadid but Gigi had gone, in her place was a scary old Italian lady who stared back at me with disgust. Whatever.
I hung the now disheveled dress on a hanger and glanced at the capital ‘L’ on the label, since when was being a size 12 a large? Fuck you Zara and fuck your ugly worm dress I thought as I swept out of the shop.
When I got home I was still rather cross so decided to take my frustration out on a cake. Angrily beating eggs and creaming butter together can be very therapeutic after an upsetting shopping trip.
I decided to make Bara Brith, a kind of Welsh fruit loaf infused with tea. Traditionally you soak the dried fruit in the tea over night but I’m too greedy and too impatient for this so I created a quick version. Six hours and three Bara Brith’s later (one burnt, one sunk, one too dry) I finally got the recipe right. Serve with lashings of butter and a cup of tea, mwynhau!

Bara brith
Makes one loaf / Hands on time 25 mins / Takes 1 hour 30 mins + cooling / V ❄
You’ll need: 21cm x 12cm loaf tin
125g sultanas
300ml boiling water
2 black tea bags
2 tbs orange juice or milk
1 tbs honey
2 medium eggs
140g soft brown sugar
125g unsalted butter
1 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ ground ginger
260g self raising flour
¼ tsp salt

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 170°C/150°C fan/300°F/gas mark 4 and grease a loaf tin with butter. In a large saucepan, add the sultanas, tea bags and 300ml of boiling water. Give it a stir to allow the tea to infuse and bring to the boil. Reduce and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
2. Meanwhile measure out the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and add 2 tbs of the tea liquid. Drain the sultanas, discard the rest of the liquid and the tea bags and add to the butter and sugar. Stir well until the butter has melted. Add the orange juice and the honey and mix well.
3. In a separate small bowl, beat the eggs with a fork before adding to the mixture. Stir until combined before putting to one side.
4. In a medium sized bowl, measure out the dry ingredients and mix together. Add to the wet mixture a bit at a time and stir until fully incorporated. Once combined, pour into the greased loaf tin.
5. Bake for 30 mins before carefully (and quickly), covering the cake LOOSELY with a large sheet of tin foil in the oven, by draping over the cake and securing it by crunching the sides (do this quickly to avoid the temperature dropping in the oven and to prevent the cake from colouring too much) – you want it to stay a nice golden colour. Bake for a further 25 mins before removing the foil and baking for an additional 10 mins uncovered. This gives the cake a lovely chewy crust.
6. Insert a skewer into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean, your cake is cooked. If not, return to the oven uncovered for 5 mins before checking and repeating if necessary.
7. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning out onto a cooling rack. Cool fully before slicing and serving spread with salty butter.
8. Store in tin or airtight container lined with kitchen paper for up to 5 days.

TIP: If the cake seems a little dry, wrap in clingfilm whilst still warm (not hot).

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. Wrap in a few layers of clingfilm and freeze for up to 3 months.

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.

Whole baked Camembert

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

Yes ladies, it’s officially Autumn so you know what that means? We can finally stop shaving our legs, painting our toenails and start eating cheese again, hallelujah! To mark this momentous occasion I thought I’d celebrate by eating my weight in cheese and olive oil, my two favourite things. The cheese we’ll get to later but first lets discuss olive oil, because I can’t get enough of the stuff. I drizzle it on everything, pasta, salads, soups and even my face occasionally. So it’s not really that surprising that I found myself at an olive oil tasting last week. How exciting, six little shooters of golden yellow elixir all lined up and ready to pour in my mouth, lovely jubbly. But before the swirling, smelling and drinking could begin I was stunned to learn that the majority of all Italian extra virgin olive oil on the market is actually fake!
“Err what?”

Yes! So if you’re anything like me and tend to go for the cheaper but well-known brands from your local supermarket, chances are you’ve either been drinking:
A. Low quality olive oil falsely marked as extra virgin.
B. Olive oil that not only isn’t Italian but has been blended with oils from other origins.
C. Worst of all, your olive oil may not even be olive oil but flavoured and coloured vegetable oil.

Well that will teach me for choosing cost over quality although in all seriousness, this has got me pretty miffed. I put a lot of trust in the brands I buy so to find out that I could have been drinking flavoured vegetable oil all these years makes me very cross. Just goes to show that there are some things in life worth forking out for and olive oil is one of them. So from now on, I’m only going to use Pomora Olive Oil in all of my recipes. Pomora Olive Oil is made by either the loving hand of Antonio in Campania or Carmelo in Sicily. From £29 per quarter you could adopt one of Antonio’s or Carmelo’s olive trees and have authentic Italian extra virgin olive oil delivered straight to your door. To find out more click here.

Now lets get on with our olive oil tasting. When you taste olive oil you’re looking for three key dimensions, flavour, bitterness and pungency. Pungency may sound like a funny one but it’s essentially the pepperyness of the oil. A good olive oil will score relatively highly on all three dimensions whereas a poor quality olive oil will have little fragrance and taste. Once you know what a good olive oil tastes like you can start looking for worthy things to drizzle it over, like a hot melty camembert for example. So dig out the elasticated trousers and sink into a hot cheesy melt fest, It’s Autumn now people, bikini season is officially over. Cue big sigh of relief.

Whole baked Camembert
Serves 2 / Hands on time 5 mins / Total time 20 mins / V Gf
250g vegetarian Camembert
1 garlic clove, whole
5 sprigs of thyme
1 tbs Pomora extra virgin olive oil
To serve
Crusty bread
Celery sticks
Red onion chutney
Seedless grapes

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7. Remove the Camembert from the wooden box and place the lid inside the bottom to help prevent leakage during baking (if your Camembert didn’t come in a box, simply place it on a suitably sized oven-proof dish).
2. Spear the top of the cheese carefully with a knife in 5 places, creating 5 deep slits. Insert a sprig of thyme into each slit.
3. Peel the garlic clove and insert it into the cut closest to the middle.
4. Drizzle the top of the cheese with extra virgin olive oil and place on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has started to bubbled and has melted all the way through (insert a knife in the centre to check ion you’re unsure).
5. Carefully fish out the garlic clove and discard along with the thyme sprigs. Serve with crusty bread, celery, onion chutney and grapes.

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

Japanese omelette/tamagoyaki

July 31, 2016June 4, 2019 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette)
(This isn’t as hard as it looks and it doesn’t matter if it goes a bit wrong, it will still taste great). Takes 20 minutes to and lasts up to 3 days in the fridge.
4 large eggs
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs mirin
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of salt
Vegetable or sunflower oil
Kitchen roll
Chopsticks (These are handy to fold and roll the pancake but not necessary)

Method
1. Beat the eggs in a jug and add the mirin, soy sauce, sugar and salt. Give it another good beating to make sure it’s fully combined.
2. Put a 1 tsp of oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Once hot, carefully absorb up and rub the oil around the pan with a folded piece of kitchen roll. Keep this piece of kitchen roll close to hand.
3. Pour a quarter of the mixture into the pan and spread it around. Once the egg has cooked fold in the edges creating an oblong shape and then carefully roll up the omelette. Brush the free side of the pan with your oiled kitchen roll and then push your omelette over to that side, then oil the other free side. Add another quarter of the mix and lift up your omelette to make sure it goes underneath so the two omelettes can join as one.
4. Once cooked repeat the process of folding in the edges and rolling the omelette up. Repeat this a couple more times until you’ve run out of mix. Turn your omelette out and leave to cool. Refrigerate and slice.

Naan rainbow pizza

July 28, 2016February 10, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

Sorry for the late post foodie chums, I’ve been busy drinking beer and getting very burnt in Greece. I did however learn how to drive a boat, after my friend Becky (who actually does know how to drive a boat) got so drunk she kept falling into the sea. We spent our last day whizzing around Marathonissi drinking Mythos and turning rather puce like true Brits abroad.
Alas, I’m now back in grey, cloudy London and I’m currently sitting in my pants, watching Homes Under the Hammer like nothing ever happened. The only difference being that I have a cold wet towel draped across my chest in an attempt to sooth my angry skin. Greek sun is evil! Next time, I should just stick to the shade and get a spray tan like Ross from Friends.
Anyway, back to Rainbow Pizza. As a human being, I love pizza – I mean who doesn’t right? But at the end of the day, who can be bothered to make pizza dough from scratch? I certainly can’t, so my genius friend Sam suggested making a flatbread version.
“A naan bread? Won’t it taste all currish and things?” I said perplexed.
“Not if you use a plain one but we like to cover ours in curry sauce and cheese.”
… As tempting as that sounds, I think I’ll stick to plain for now. I was really surprised at how good this pizza turned out actually, the naan base tasted just like regular pizza dough! So give it try and top with your own toppings or, if you’re feeling frisky, try Sam’s curry version.

Naan rainbow pizza
Makes 2 pizza / Hands on time 10 mins / Total time 30 mins / V
2 plain naan breads
2 tbs tomato puree
1 tsp dried oregano
1-2 balls vegetarian mozzarella, drained and thinly sliced (I use
Extra virgin olive oil to serve
Fresh basil leaves to serve (optional)
Toppings
I used sweet red peppers and black olives but you can use whatever you like

TIP: I use one ball of thinly sliced mozzarella for two pizzas but if you like your pizza extra cheesy, use two balls – I won’t tell.

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6 and line the bottom oven tray with baking paper – this is to catch any melted cheese/toppings that may fall from your pizza during baking.
2. Spread each naan generously with tomato puree, sprinkle with oregano and top with sliced mozzarella. Top with your desired toppings and season with salt and pepper.
3. Slide carefully onto the middle shelf in the oven and cook for 15-20 mins or until golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. Carefully slide each pizza onto a board, top with fresh basil and serve drizzled with 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

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

Baked Mediterranean feta

June 22, 2016January 26, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ 1 Comment

How did I end up on the last train home stuffing a cheese and onion pasty in my mouth? Oh… I appear to have missed my mouth altogether, found most of it my cleavage. Classy… Anyhoo, it was my 32nd birthday so if there was ever a time to get drunk and eat pasties this was it. But what has any of this got to do with baked feta I hear you ask? Absolutely nothing, just wanted to tell you it was my birthday. Let’s move on.
So baked feta, I’ve never made or eaten this before but apparently it’s a ‘thing’ in Greece and I have Greece on the brain. I’m just about to finish ‘My Map Of You‘ a book written by my very own housemate Isabelle Broom. I mean, I knew people wrote books, they must do but I’ve never met anyone who’s actually written one I can buy in a shop. I tried writing a book once, it was about a boy who worked in a revolting old pet shop. Pretty sure it would have been a best seller, if only I had written more than four pages. Oh well, que sera, sera’.
Anyway back to Isabelle, who successfully managed to transport me to Greece and back in a mere few pages (what a lovely cheap holiday for those of us that can’t afford to go away.) Move over Jojo Moyes, there’s a new romance novelist in town. Bravo Isabelle, I loved your book and I can’t wait to read all the other books you have locked away in your noggin. Oh and can I borrow a fiver please?
Right sorry, I keep getting sidetracked. This baked feta recipe is easy and insanely delicious. It’s a bit like eating a deconstructed pizza, you bake the topping and then scoop it up with the pitta. Do it, do it, do it!

Baked Mediterranean feta
Serves 2 / hands on time 10 mins / total time 30 mins / V Gf
You will need: Foil and a baking tray
200g vegetarian feta
1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
½ red onion, sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp dried oregano
2 handful black olives, halved
1 regular tomato, roughly chopped
Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Pita bread to serve (optional)

Method
1. Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400F/gas mark 6
2. Slice the peppers along with the onions and chop the cherry tomatoes and olives in half. Roughly chop the regular tomato and season everything well with salt and pepper.
3. Smooth out 2 large pieces of foil and lay a bed of sliced peppers in the middle of each. Slice the feta in half and pop each slice on top of the peppers. Arrange the regular chopped tomato around the sides of each and top the feta with the onions and cherry tomatoes (it doesn’t mater if a few fall off, just leave them at the side).
4. Scatter over the olives and sprinkle with dried oregano. Season with salt and pepper before fold up the sides of each parcel and scrunching the top until sealed. Place both on a baking tray.
5. Bake in the oven for 20 mins. Once cooked, carefully remove from the oven and open the parcels up just enough to drain away any excess liquid before sliding onto plates. Serve with warm pita (optional) 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. Gf – Gluten free – if you forgo the pita bread.

Me with my talented author housemate Isabelle. BUY HER BOOK!

Ramen eggs

June 13, 2016January 20, 2020 ~ Corrie ~ Leave a comment

I recently watched a documentary called ‘Miso Hungry‘ which made me a bit obsessed with Japanese food. Fat comedian, Craig Anderson, swaps his junk food-laden diet, for nothing but traditional Japanese cooking for 12 weeks, in a bid to shed a few pounds. It’s no secret that the Japanese live the longest healthiest lives in the developed world, but is it as easy as swapping a burger for a bowl of natto? Of course it’s not – that’s why it’s so funny.

Anyway, not only is Japanese food slimming and healthy, it’s lovely and cold. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s been like a hundred degrees in London this week, which has turned my little Camden flat into a fully functioning oven. So when you live in an oven, turning the actual oven on is frankly suicide, especially when you look and feel like a fat manatee. I really should lay off the crumpets.
Anyway, ramen eggs are delicious, nutritious and definitely worth trying. They’re easy to make and are a great addition to any lunch box. I personally like to eat mine drunk after a night out.

Ramen eggs
Makes 4 / Hands on time 15 mins / Total time 15 mins + cooling and marinating V Df
You’ll need: Ice and a sandwich bag
4 eggs (fresh eggs are harder to peel once boiled, so I recommend using eggs that are a little older and need using up)
10 tbs of water
6 tbs of light soy sauce
4 tbs of mirin

TIP: Keep refrigerated on the liquid and consume within 1 week.

Method
1. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Carefully immerse your eggs in the water and cook for 8 minutes. Whilst boiling, prepare a bowl of iced water.
2. Once boiled, remove the eggs carefully and place in the iced water and cool for a minimum of 30 mins (the longer you leave them, the easier they are to peel).
3. Meanwhile, put a small sandwich bag in a small bowl and fill the bag with the water, soy sauce and mirin. Put to one side.
4. Once the eggs have fully cooled, carefully peel them and pop them straight into the bag with the marinade. Make sure the eggs are well immersed in the liquid before twisting the bag and tying either in a knot or with an elastic band. Place the bag back in the bowl and leave in the fridge, preferably for 12 hours. Cut them in half and enjoy cold.

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