Fishy Friday

Holy smoked mackerel, it's my weekly rose-tinted-edible-side-of-Catholicism slot! Except this beetroot, potato and smoked mackerel salad is WAY fancier than the fish fingers of my youth, and yet deceptively simple. This nutrition-packed gem is from the latest Jamie Oliver magazine. I love the Jamie mag, it's chock-full of recipes, as well as some lovely articles and travel features. It's also groaning under the weight of his own cooking utensils, tableware, etc - but it's so very lovely, and, indeed, Jamie himself is so very lovely, that I can't find it in me to mind. In fact, I almost want to be one of his Jamie At Home sales ladies, like the greedy girl's answer to an Avon lady. Almost. But not quite.

The thing about the Jamie mags is that they're not as easy to flick through as cookbooks, so while each one contains a wealth of recipes, they tend to spend a lot of time sitting on the shelf unloved. That's why I made a concerted effort to pick a few recipes out of this one that I might make between now and when the next issue comes out. I particularly like the monthly menu part, where he lays out weeks of easy recipes to get you through the month. Each one is outlined in a snappy, succinct fashion, and they make for really appealing go-to weekday recipes. 

How snappy? This snappy. 

Baby spuds.

Beets.

Mackerel.

Green leaves.

Stir up a lil dressing - a teaspoon each of dijon and horseradish, a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and two tablespoons of olive oil.

And there you have the most convincing argument in favour of being a little organised and healthy, and against that lunchtime trip to the stodgy roll queue in your local convenience store.

When I checked back on the recipe I was relieved to see that it is written as serving two. I generally find that recipes that say they serve six will give me one dinner and maybe two lunches, i.e. I need over twice as much fuel as your average human being. Gulp, morto. According to this recipe, however, I am nice and average on the appetite front. So, after I had taken pics in the nice bowl, I packed it into two less glamorous lunchboxes, ready to grab n go. Would you believe I've had these little beauties for about four years now - they hold nice big Eimear-friendly-sized portions and they go both in the freezer and microwave, which is ideal for work purposes. And if you bring this little beauty to work for lunch I guarantee that the wonderful balance of protein and carbohydrates will have your attention and energy levels razor sharp for the afternoon.