Spicy Beef Quesadilla with Avocado Salad

These Spicy Beef Quesadilla are a really comforting dish to have on a work/school night and the accompanying creamy little salad works perfectly with it.

I've used beef mince here but you could just as easily use turkey, lamb, pork or chicken mince - but the beef work well with the level of spicing I've used. If you don't like much heat, adjust the spices accordingly and maybe remove the red chilli.

The below serves a family of four with a couple leftover to fight over.

Spicy Beef Quesadillas with Avocado Salad

Here's how:

• Few sprays of Frylight Olive Oil or a drizzle of olive oil
• 450g beef or steak mince
• 1 large red onion
• 1 large clove of garlic
• 1 red chilli
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp hot paprika
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• Pinch of sea salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 250g mushrooms
• Juice of half a lime
• 1 can red kidney beans

• x6 tortilla wraps
• 1 ball Mozzarella
• Handful of grated Cheddar

For the salad:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 8 sweet cherry tomatoes
• 1 small tin of sweetcorn (or one corn on the cob, cooked, and with the corn extracted)
• Pinch sea salt
• Juice of half a lime

Firstly prepare the beef by adding the Frylight or olive oil to a large wok or frying pan and placing on a low heat.

Peel and finely dice the onion, mince the garlic and slice the chilli (keep the seeds in for an extra kick) and add to the warm pan.

In the meantime, slice the red pepper and the mushrooms and set aside.

Once the onion mixture has begun to soften, add the mince to the pan, season well with the salt and pepper and use a wooden spatula to break up a little and ensure it cooks evenly all over.

After a couple of minutes in the pan, add the coriander, cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper and mix well.

Allow to cook until the meat is completely browned off and then add the red peppers, red kidney beans, mushrooms and the tomato puree; mix well and then allow to cook for another 10-15 minutes.

In the meantime prepare the salad by firstly removing the flesh of the avocados and placing into a small bowl. Use the back of a fork to carefully mash the avocado - you don't want a complete puree here, so go easy. Chop the cherry tomatoes up into small pieces and add to the avocado and then add the corn too. Squeeze over the lime juice, season with sea salt and mix gently and the salad is ready.

Now take the Mozzarella ball, and very thinly slice and set aside.

To make the quesadilla, firstly place the frying pan on a medium heat and add a couple of sprays of the Frylight.

Now place one tortilla wrap into the pan, with half on the pan side - you can use a knife or a spoon to prevent the other half going into the pan. Work quickly here. Now spoon over a generous portion of the spicy beef mix and ensure the half of tortilla is well covered. Top with a little Mozzarella and grated Cheddar, fold the other half of the tortilla over and fry for 3-4 minutes until nicely golden brown.

Now carefully use a fish slice and/or spatula to turn the tortilla over and cook on the other side until golden and the cheese has just melted.

Remove from the pan carefully placing onto a wooden board or plate and pop into the oven on a low heat to keep warm.

In the meantime, be assembling the next quesadilla in the pan repeating the process until all are cooked.

Now slice each quesadilla in half or smaller pieces for any little ones, and place onto a plate, stacked up with a couple of spoonfuls of the avocado salad. Enjoy!

Easy Salmon Tacos

These are a great, quick and easy standby for a family dinner and they work for everyone - you can simply adjust the seasonings and fresh chilli accordingly.

I can have this meal on the table in a matter of twenty minutes, great for mid-week working days, and I don’t muck around making fresh salsas or guacamole for these nights. 

I add fresh chopped tomatoes, plenty of coriander, mashed avocado, some lettuce leaves and a load of sweetcorn kernels. As we are trying to reduce our ‘naughty’ treats in a bid to shift some weight pre-holiday (me and Glen not the girls) I omit from adding sour cream and instead dress with a little drizzle of 0% fat natural yoghurt. The final result is fresh, fragrant and delicious.

If you want to make them go further you can serve with some coriander rice or a bowl or tortilla chips and guacamole.

The below serves four.

Easy Salmon Tacos

Here’s how:

• Drizzle of vegetable or rapeseed oil
• X4 salmon fillets
• X4 tortilla wraps
• 2 tbsp All Purpose Seasoning (I use Dunne’s River)
• Handful lettuce leaves (I used pea shoots here but anything works)
• 3 tomoatoes
• 1 avocado 
• 2 tbsp cooked sweetcorn kernels
• Handful coriander
• 1 lime
• Few jalapeno pepper slices

Firstly coat the salmon flesh and skin side with the all purpose seasoning.

Drizzle the oil in a non-stick pan and place on a medium heat. Once it is has come up to temperature add the salmon fillets, skin-side down and cook for 6 minutes.

Now prepare the accompaniments.

Firstly place the four tortilla wraps into the microwave and cook for 20-30 seconds then place them all, with a fold on the middle hanging over some cans or bottles to try and get them in ‘taco shape’. It doesn’t matter if this doesn’t work and it doesn’t always.

Now roughly chop the tomatoes and the lettuce leaves and set aside.

Halve the avocado, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh and place into a small bowl. Mash with a fork and season with sea salt.

Prepare the sweetcorn - I use tinned so this is just a case of opening and draining.

Once the salmon has had the six minutes, you should see the colouration of the fish at the sides, it should almost be there. I then turn the fish to cook on the flesh side for 1 minute - but if you like your salmon more cooked through, increase this time accordingly.

Remove the salmon fron the pan and place on a board to rest for a minute. In the meantime, start building your tacos.

Easy Salmon Tacos

I begin by smearing on a spoonful of smashed avocado down the centre of each, then adding the lettuce, tomatoes and sweetcorn.

Now cut the salmon fillets into 3-4 pieces and place onto each taco, then finally top with as much coriander as you’d like, a squeeze of the lime juice and jalapenos for those who’d like them. Squeeze over a little low fat yoghurt 

or go nuts and have sour cream. Enjoy!

Breakfast at Caravan, Exmouth Market

There are tons of places in London where you can enjoy a completely delicious, and no doubt, bang-on-trend breakfast in London, and Caravan, Exmouth Market remains up there.

I chose this last Thursday for a working breakfast as it was close to where I needed to be later that morning and mainly for the laid back vibe, prompt yet un-stuffy service and some of the best coffee in the City.

The entire Caravan breakfast menu shouts of delicious combinations such as Coconut Bread with poached rhubarb cream cheese and lemon curd and plenty of different items on toast, but I chose for the Instagram breakfast of choice, Avocado on Toast (granary), with a side of crispy streaky bacon and roasted tomatoes. 

Avocado on Toast, Caravan

The avocado was mashed and topped with a drizzle of olive oil and some chilli and every mouthful positively sung and was only improved by the addition of bacon and the tomatoes were slow roasted, sweet and absolutely gorgeous.

I've long loved the coffee at Caravan and enjoyed a latte plus some fresh apple juice.

Latte, Caravan

My colleague had a scrambled egg dish on toast, a flat white and a juice too and the entire breakfast came in at £35 which I didn't think was bad considering the location and ambience.

Some of my other favourite breakfast spots in London:
1. The Modern Pantry’s Turmeric and Coconut Waffle with Rhubarb Compote
2. Duck & Waffle’s Full Elvis
3. Roast – The Full Borough breakfast and some of the best black pudding I've tried
4. Black Forest Pancakes at The Table
5. The Bacon Naan Roll at Dishoom – the perfect hangover fodder

Best Avocado on Toast

This is my absolute favourite version of avocado on toast. The heat from the chilli, the sharp lemon and the salty feta cheese just make every single mouthful a delight.

I could pretend to be precious about which type of bread I prefer this on – but to be honest the topping is what this is all about, so a slice of Warburton’s Toastie (as here) is absolutely fine. 

Best Avocado on Toast

Here’s how:

• 1 small avocado
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 50g feta cheese
• ½ red chilli
• Sprinkling of sea salt
• Pinch of black pepper
• 1 slice toast (I use Warbuton's Toastie) 

Firstly pop your bread in the toaster.

Now halve the avocado and place all flesh into a small bowl and squeeze over a generous amount of lemon juice. Use a fork to mush it up a bit but don’t completely pulverize, as you want this to keep some texture.

Once the bread is toasted, spoon over the avocado and press down with the back of the spoon.

Now slice the chilli, keeping the seeds in if you like extra heat – scatter over the toast.

Take the feta and very gently crumble over the avocado toast.

Season generously with salt and pepper. Coarser sea salt is a must here – it’s almost make or break. Enjoy!

Apple and Mango Mojito Smoothie

This healthy eating lark doesn't all have to be kale and garlic smoothies - although I'm getting quite into the more 'greens' based nutriblasts, variety is most certainly the spice of life and helps to keep me motivated, that's for sure. 

This juice/smoothie is a take on a mojito cocktail and frankly anything that reminds me of cocktails during diet and healthy eating regimes is a good thing. It's 308 calories and is really delicious. You can of course use fresh mango, but I like to use frozen as gives a lovely smooth and creamy texture to the juice and the chill is reminiscent of a drink in a bar!

Apple and Mango Mojito Smoothie

• 1 Granny Smith apple
• 1/2 avocado
• Whole lime (peel removed)
• 70g frozen mango 
• Handful fresh mint leaves

Add to the Nutribullet or blender the half avocado, frozen mango, mint leaves, the peeled lime and the cored apple. Top up with water (approx 100-150ml) and then blitz for 20 seconds. Enjoy.

Baby Bites Avocado On Toast

Ok so this isn't strictly a recipe, but it is a great idea for a healthy breakfast or lunch idea for your little one, and one that you can have at the same time.

Avocado is filled with nutrients and particularly high in vitamin E, potassium and iron - all important components in our diets. Also whilst they are quite 'fatty' they contain mainly all 'good' fats.

The below makes enough for two slices of Avocado on Toast, one cut up into small pieces will be more than sufficient for your baby, so enjoy the other half yourself - I add fresh chopped red chilli to mine!

1 avocado
1 slice of wholemeal or granary bread
Squeeze of lime or lemon juice

Firstly pop the bread under the grill or into the toaster and lightly toast.

In the meantime, cut the avocado in half, remove the stone (you can do this by pressing into the stone with a sharp knife, then simply lifting the stone out whilst holding onto the half of avocado).

Scoop the flesh of the avocado out into a small bowl and gently mash with a fork, leaving some small lumps so it still has some texture and isn't completely pureed.

Add a squeeze of either lime or lemon juice, which as well as helping the avocado to keep its’ trademark green colour for a while, also adds a lovely zingy freshness to it. Give another stir through to ensure it all has a citrussy zing running through.

Once the toast has cooled for a few moments, spoon on half of the avocado and spread over the toast evenly. There's no need to use butter as well.

Cut into bite-sized pieces and allow baby to feed him or herself one at a time.

Tricolore Salad

There are many glorious salads that make summer eating so wonderful and the tricolore is an absolute classic. Named so after the triple colour or three coloured elements that make up both the Italian flag and of course the salad - it's simplicity doesn't take away from it's fresh, vibrant deliciousness. 

Again, this is hardly a recipe. merely a few ingredients thrown together to make up a big bowl of loveliness that can either make up a meal or act as a side with a versatile range of dishes. 

The one thing that I will advise on here is ensuring you buy the best possible quality ingredients to prepare this - with a dish so simple, there is nothing to hide behind so you don't want brown, bruised avocados or unripe tomatoes, everything needs to be just so. 

So to prepare a salad as a side for four, you need 3-4 decent sized and perfectly ripe tomatoes. Simply wash then slice and add to your salad bowl. Halve a large, ripe avocado and remove the stone, then using a teaspoon, scoop out curls of avocado flesh and add to the bowl. Pull or slice a ball of the best quality buffalo mozzarella and scatter around the salad. The final flourish is to add a generous handful of full basil leaves around the bowl and then to dress. 

Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil, be generous as this really does aid the flavour with it's peppery tang. Finally, throw over some coarse sea salt a large pinch will do and some freshly ground black pepper and give a stir or a shake.