Bulghur, broccoli and blue cheese salad, with a dream of sustainability

There is nothing quite like the feeling of eating something that you have grown yourself. Unfortunately, the only things I can say that about at the moment are my mint and rosemary, yet I milk this glorious feeling for all it's worth with Moroccan mint teas, mochitos and today, with this fresh tasting bulghur wheat salad

I have just returned from a camping trip in Cornwall with a new found vision of sustainability. Places like Henry's campsite and The Eden Project are my inspiration. And probably also my boyfriend, who is one of those green-fingered people. I have never been part of the green fingered club myself, but I'm (slowly) learning, and trust me, if I can become more green-fingered, then so can anyone. I'm starting to realize that it's more of a skill than a talent. The way I think of it is, you need to treat your plants like you do your pet: make sure they have food and water, talk to them, love them etc. This slightly mad method is working well for me, even though one of my favourite plants has just been ravaged by a snail in the few days I've been away (the said plant is recovering in a sunny spot inside the house now and I am confident it will survive)

To make this salad, cook the bulghur wheat, fluff and cool. Crush the walnuts by banging them with a rolling pin, inside a plastic bag and add to the wheat. Cover the broccoli with some boiling water and add sea salt. Leave for 3-4mi,n then drain and immediately place under cold running water, until cool. Chop into centimeter pieces and add to bowl. Chop the mint very finely and add. For the blue cheese I used a delicious, blue goat's cheese from L'eau a la Bouche. Place all the vinaigrette ingredients in a jam jar and shake vigorously for a few minutes before pouring over the salad. I used half a lemon, about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a heaped teaspoon each of the wholegrain mustard and mayo, but do just play it how you feel it

Ingredients

Bulghur wheat
Tender-stem broccoli
Walnuts
Fresh mint
Blue cheese

Vinaigrette

Olive oil
Lemon juice
Celery salt
Black pepper
Wholegrain mustard
Mayonnaise

Broccoli and cake

I haven't been cooking much recently. Partly because I still don't have a fridge, and partly because I am feeling a bit lazy. In a nice way. I am relishing the fact that it's just me and I can do, and eat, anything I want, whenever I want. I am balancing this with the fact that as a result of a recent health scare, I need to really look after myself right now. And I've have been specifically told to eat broccoli and drink green tea

Isn't this the most beautiful broccoli you have every seen?

I ate it roasted, with a red bell pepper, simply with olive oil, salt and black pepper, then dipped in spicy lime pickle. The corn on the cob was boiled and smothered in butter. I'd like to say that was my dinner, but it wasn't. I was having dinner late, so I decided that I would eat lots of vegetables then have a very light dinner later on (I didn't - I went to Portobello Ristorante Pizzeria and stuffed my face with delicious bread and spaghetti vongole)

And this is how I have been drinking copious amounts of green tea - with cake. Those two woody looking slices up there are a Polish speciality from near the Russian border. It's called "Sekacz", and this is what it looks like as a whole

Except when I got it, it was twice as big. It seems to fascinate people, I think it's because it looks so strange - kind of like a big honeycomb. It's very tempting just to nibble at the protruding bits constantly, so it's a dangerous thing to have sitting in the flat (luckily, I finished it off this morning)

This is what my Saturdays look like now - it doesn't really feel like the weekend to me unless I have a glass of wine at midday

So, I guess that my appetite is back for good. I just hope that I don't get massive now I have given up smoking

Hands of pork and purple broccoli salad

I haven't had the best luck recently and today my oven went insane when I was attempting to cook my Sunday roast. When it rains it really pours in my life it seems. I have cooked hands of pork many times before, as they are well priced, with a great potential for crackling. The trick is scoring and cooking for a long time on a very low heat. I usually cook them for about 3 hours at 120 degrees C. Today, after half an hour I noticed the skin was going black and sizzling like crazy! So I had a great time turning the oven on and off for the next 3 hours, trying to get the roast to cook and yet not burn. It turned out quite good actually. But not perfect of course, hence the little bit of black skin you see in the picture down there

I marinated the pork for about an hour before roasting, in honey, chinese 5 spice, garlic salt, pepper and olive oil, sticking ginger bits in the cuts in the skin. Then it needs about an hour of cooking time before you add the apple bits, otherwise they'll turn to complete mush. Unless of course you like that - it's just like apple sauce really

Ingredients

Hands of pork

Ginger

Honey

Chinese 5 spice

Garlic salt

Pepper

Apples (1 for each person)

Potatoes (King Edward)

Butter

Splash of milk

Olive oil

Salad:

Purple broccoli

Red onion

Tomatoes

Lemon 

Olive oil

Sea salt and pepper

Garlic clove

I wasn't sure about using this photo as I realise it may freak some people out, but hey, that's what meat is, and I thought it was important to show you what hands of pork look like, as by hands you could think I mean trotters of something. In fact, it's quite a substantial piece of meat. That fed three people today and there would have been enough for four (instead I've just been snacking on it all evening - yum!). For under a fiver, I say that's a bargain!

Now for the salad - when someone at the butchers or at a fruit and veg stall gives me a recipe, I always listen closely, because I reckon they must know what they're talking about. I am never disappointed by these little gems, and today was no exception. The lady at the veg stall on Bethnal Green road told me how she likes to eat purple broccoli - something I have never tried before - with lamb. I didn't have lamb, but the salad worked well with pork too, as it added a tart refreshing aspect to my roast

I sliced the broccoli into slightly smaller pieces to start with, then blanched it for 4 minutes in salted water. Draining purple broccoli is quite an experience - the water that comes off it is almost turquoise, reminiscent of the soup Brigitte Jones served up at her dinner party!

Let the broccoli cool, then add the chopped red onion and tomatoes, grate the garlic on top and pour over the juice of one lemon, some olive oil and a little bit more sea salt. It turned out really great, though I think next time I may also add capers to the mix, as I think they'd work well, and I'll try it with lamb too, as originally suggested