'No Carb' Cauliflower Pizza Base

A no carb pizza??

This is the most exciting discovery I've made in food recently.

What a cool way to get an extra vegetable into your diet and miss out on the wheat. The cauliflower is riced and mixed with an egg, then baked until browned. Then it's a simple as topping with whatever you desire and either grilling or baking again until your cheese melts. It's by no means the healthiest dinner in the world, but certainly it's healthier than the traditional pizza dough. And if you wanted to do an even healthier version, you could always miss out on the cheese... Although that does sort of defeat the point.

Other than the time taken to rotate baking the bases, this is much faster than making your own pizza dough. There's no sticky washing up, either!

I won't give a recipe for topping at the moment, just the base. My pictures show a singletons pizza (used about 1 cup riced cauliflower to each egg). I used the rest of the cauliflower as mash the next day. Such a versatile vegetable!

Makes 5/6 one person pizzas

1 small/medium cauliflower
5 eggs
150g grated cheddar
5 tsps dried oregano
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tsps sea salt


Preheat your oven to 240C/gas mark 8/450F

1, If you are hand grating the cauliflower then I would suggest that it's easier to keep it whole. So after trimming the leaves and removing the stalk, grate it over a large mixing bowl.
If you own a food processor with a grating attachment, break the cauliflower into florets and process through your machine. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2, Break your eggs into the bowl and mix thoroughly.
3, Add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl.
4, Lightly oil some greaseproof paper and place on either a pizza stone or a heavy baking sheet.
5, Use about 2 tablespoons of mixture per pizza. Spread it out evenly to a thin layer and neaten the edges with a spatula. You need to be careful not to leave any gaps in the base or your topping with fall through.
6, Bake for about 15 minutes or until it is evenly browned.
7, Repeat this process until all the bases are cooked and you are ready to top.
8, Top with any manner of wonderful, yummy things and bake again until the cheese has melted and the pizza is warmed through, less that 10 mins.

One you've tried this you would never believe it was cauliflower. I'm not sure I'll ever want to eat a 'normal' pizza again!

Rainbow bowl

The impulse to buy the exciting new season vegetables is one that I can rarely resist. Be it the abundance of mushrooms in Autumn or the new asparagus in Spring, there's something really beautiful about knowing that the food you're about to eat has been harvested freshly and locally and grown naturally.

I picked the best of the seasonal veg we had at work - all UK grown and abundant at this time of year. Round yellow courgettes, cheery cherry plum tomatoes (which are so sweet and succulent and ripe), beautiful fresh spring onions, and broad beans (need I explain the beauty of the first fresh broad beans?).

When surveying the fresh display at work, I usually create some recipe in my mind. Pulling all of the the ingredients that are in the cupboard at home and what's available to me there and then, I imagine what I can make out of these and then buy accordingly. This evening: quinoa with these beautiful, multi-coloured vegetables and feta.

This could be created using whatever is available - not everyone has the option to just pick up a round yellow courgette, for instance. Substitute where necessary but the more colours you can fit in the dish, the more appetising it will look and also the greater variety of vitamins you will receive from eating it.

2 round yellow courgettes
250g cherry plum tomatoes
250g broad beans - weight before shelling
a bunch of spring onions
100g quinoa
100g feta cheese (optional)
a handful of fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste

1, Start by cutting the courgettes into wedges - I chose to do them in sixths, but that is down to the size of the courgette itself. You need them to be thick enough that they won't turn to mush when you griddle or fry them. Drizzle the pieces in olive or rapeseed oil.
2, Place the broad beans in a small pan of slightly salted boiling water. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes, then drain.
3, Heat the griddle and lay the courgette out on it's flesh, then turn when they have browned. You may need to do more than one set, depending on the size of your griddle. If you are frying, follow the same instructions, taking care not to brown the skin.
4, Place the quinoa in a pan of boiling water with a little salt. Watch over it as it absorbs water quickly and the cooking time varies between brands. Keep the water a few centimetres over it and stir occasionally. It's ready when it has unfurled - a tail will have come out.
5, While the quinoa is cooking, slice the spring onion and the tomatoes. Place these in a large bowl and add the courgette and broad beans.
6, Break the feta cheese into cubes and sprinkle over the vegetables. Finely cut or tear the mint and add it, too.
7, Mix the drained quinoa through the vegetables and serve as a main on as a side dish.

Baked rice pie

I love a rice pie. There's something very homely about it, and it's not even something I remember strongly from childhood food. It's just comforting and warming, whilst being healthy. One great thing about it is that it's fantastic served warm from the pan or cold the next day - and I do mean the next day. Make sure you put it in the fridge as soon as possible - rice is notorious for causing food poisoning if not cooled correctly. The longer it is stored the more likely the bacteria will grow and make you sick. Please be aware, I normally ignore these notices, but I've witnessed it - thankfully not first hand. It's really not worth risking.

You can use any vegetables at hand for this main, it's a dish that suits so many flavours and textures. It's a good one for using up the odds and ends in the fridge, and still comes out tasty and fresh.

Serves 4, with salad or side dish

150g white long grain rice
1 bunch spring onions
2 carrots
1 courgette
1 small pot natural yoghurt
2 large, free-range eggs
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6/400°F
1, Start by washing your rice. Put it in a large pot and cover it generously in cold water. Swirl it with your hands and drain. Repeat this process until the water runs clear - the cloudy water contains starches that will make your rice sticky.
2, Put the rice in a large pan and cover with cold water, the traditional method is to cover with water up to the first knuckle on your pinky above the rice. Add a pinch of salt, stir, and put on a medium heat with a lid.
3, While the rice is cooking, prepare the vegetables. It's really down to personal choice how you do this, I cut the cut it into varying sizes and then either steam or saute it all together in a pan until almost cooked.
4, When the rice is al dente (tender but with bite) drain and leave to cool for about five minutes.
5, Tip the rice into a large pan and add the vegetables. Stir in the yoghurt.
6, Whisk the eggs and add these when the rice mix is no longer hot, just warm.
7, Season to taste with salt and pepper.
8, When it is all throughly mixed, transfer to a greased baking tray and cook in the oven for about 30 mins, or until the middle of the bake is no longer gooey.

Quinoa and griddled veg salad

A sweet spring day, and lots of work to do.

This salad is filling, healthy and delicious. It can also be served hot or cold, making it perfect for next days lunch. Although I've not tried it, the ingredients would make a lovely vegetarian kebab for a BBQ, served on top of the quinoa as a straight salad. And if you don't fancy the quinoa, you could substitute it for cous cous or bulgar wheat.

Serves 4
100g quinoa - I'm using Biofair tricolore for a more colourful base
1 bunch spring onions
200g feta cheese
A handful of mixed seeds, toasted
1 aubergine
3 courgettes
Artichoke hearts in oil
Sweet peppers in oil
1 lemon
Olive oil
A handful fresh mint
Salt and pepper

1, Rinse the quinoa in a sieve under running water, then add 200ml water. Cover with a lid and simmer for ten minutes, then remove from the heat and leave (lid on) until all the water is absorbed.
2, Cut the aubergine and courgettes lengthways into cm thick slices and brush with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3, Heat a griddle it until smoking and in batches cook the aubergine and courgette until coloured. You can also use a grill to do this if you don't have a griddle.
4, Colour the artichoke hearts and the peppers on the griddle as well.
5, Transfer the quinoa to a large serving bowl.
6, Slice the spring onions and add to the quinoa with the toasted seeds. Mix the griddled vegetables through and squeeze over the juice of the lemon, a good glug of olive oil and salt and pepper.
7, To serve, crumble the feta and tear the mint over the salad.

Lemon polenta cake

This cake was so good! It was such a beautiful egg colour, rich and bright. And so, so moist, too. A definite one to make again and again.


200g butter
200g caster sugar
200g ground almonds
100g fine polenta
1½ tsp baking powder
3 large eggs
2 lemons, zest and juice (keep separate)
125g caster sugar


Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4/375F
Grease and line a 20cm springform tin.


1, Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2, Mix the almonds, polenta and baking powder together.
3, Add one of the eggs to the butter mix and beat thoroughly. Add a third of the dry ingredients and mix well.
4, Continue until all the ingredients are incorporated. The mixture will be quite thick in comparison to most cake mixes.
5, Add the lemon zest and mix well.
6, Spoon into the cake tin, smooth the top and bake for 40-50 minutes. When it's done it will still look quite wobbly, but if it has shrunk from the edges of the tin it should be done.
7, When the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

8, Put the lemon juice and 125g sugar in a small saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

9, Prick holes all over the top of the cake using a cake tester (or knitting needle!) and pour the lemon syrup over.

Serve with soft fruits and a dollop of cream... enjoy!

Baked Mushrooms with Stilton

New Year's day calls for celebration, especially in Scotland. It calls for extravagant and late breakfasts. In my case I had my friend staying and my brother scrounging for food - knowing I'd have plenty. The majority of shops close for the 1st and 2nd January in Scotland, and some even for the 3rd. I'd planned my food well in advance, knowing that if I was missing anything, it was too late.

Breakfast was based in something I'd seen Nigel Slater do on one of his Christmas shows. I bought the fattest portobello mushrooms I could find and a block of stilton. Portobello is a region of Edinburgh so it felt very local, even if the mushrooms were from England!

4 Portobello mushrooms

A splash of water

4 knobs of butter

2 cloves of garlic

100g or a wee bit more of stilton cheese

A good handful of parsley, chopped roughly

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

1, Place the mushrooms in a baking dish.

2, Put the water in the bottom of the tray, this is there to cook the mushrooms tenderly.

3, Place a knob of butter, a generous sprinkling of parsley and a twist of the pepper grinder on the portobello mushrooms. Put the garlic in the water.

4, Cover with foil and bake at 180C for about 15mins.

5, Remove from the oven and crumble the stilton cheese over the mushrooms. 

6, Leaving the foil off, return to the oven and cook for a further 5 mins. 

7, Serve with a drizzle of the mushroom and garlic water on top, with crusty bread and good friends,