Black quinoa with kale, walnuts, marinated peppers and sweetcorn

Today's post was going to be all about patience. About how life is always asking me to be patient and how nothing goes more against my very nature. But then everything happened all at once. Now I'm finding it hard to keep up and I've just managed to squeeze in a quick post about this salad I made when I still had time to do such things. It was delicious and I wish I had some now, working through lunch in my edit suite whilst keeping up with various emails and contracts. Yes contracts. Some of you may already know my exciting news, but for those that don't, I will reveal all when I have time to linger and enjoy each word.

I cooked the corn on the cob and quinoa the night before I made this salad. I also baked the kale with olive oil and sea salt, eating some kale chips as a snack and adding the rest to the quinoa. Then the next day all I had to do was take the corn off the cob, chop the marinated peppers, chilli and walnuts, soft boil the egg, make the vinaigrette and mix it all up.

Ingredients

150g Black quinoa, cooked
50g Curly Kale, roasted
Handful walnuts, chopped
2 marinated red peppers, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper

Gwyneth Paltrow's Kale Crisps

Without actively disliking her, I've never been a massive fan of Gwyneth Paltrow. Probably completely unfairly, I found her vaguely annoying. I think she reminded me of someone at school or something, one of those competitive, over-achieving types of girls... But all is forgiven now Gwynnie, because your kale crisps are a revelation! We were munching on these last night at our girlie Christmas get-together and we must have eaten a couple of bags of kale between us at least. They are so easy to make, and almost impossible to stop eating. And in my humble opinion, they're much tastier than crisps anyway

Take some kale, don't wash it, but do add sea salt

And olive oil according to Gwinnie, or hemp oil according to us

Place on a baking tray and stick in the oven for 12-15min at 200 degrees

Or until crispy

Pour into a bowl and munch happily while chatting and drinking mango bellinis/mulled wine/baileys on ice (or a combination of all three) with your girlfriends

A horrible chocolate mess and a healthy start to the year with a pearl barley and kale "risotto"

I've been a bit out of sorts lately so no wonder my new year's chocolate mousse turned into what looked like a bowl of poo, and didn't taste much better. Sad face. I tried to simplify all the recipes I've seen to create a healthier and slicker version, you see, but it didn't work out. Ah well, you can't win them all. Note to self and to anyone else tempted to make a "healthy" chocolate mousse: some chocolate, egg whites and cream does not a chocolate mousse make

At least the little deer enjoyed his muddy pasture

On the happy face, successful front - I made a fabulous pearl barley "risotto" today! I was inspired by the rabbit pearl barley risotto I had at The Old Ship (on Mare St in Hackney) last summer. It's surprisingly easy to make. Well, I don't know about the rabbit one, I made a kale version, which was a simple, healthy and delicious start to my New Year

Ingredients

100 g pearl barley

100g kale

1 garlic clove

1 chilli

Vegetable stock 

1 tblsp butter

Splash of red or white wine (whatever you're drinking)

Salt and pepper

Handful of grated parmesan or any other strong, hard cheese

Cook the pearl barley as you would a risotto, starting off with a little bit of stock, stirring often and adding more when the stock is absorbed. At the end, add the splash of wine and season. That should take about 40min. In the meantime, fry the chopped chilli and garlic in the butter and before it changes colour, add the kale. Keep stirring. Finally, add the whole lot to the pearl barley, along with the parmesan, stir it all in, and serve while piping hot. That up there makes enough for one person. I recommend!