Could You Be Eating More Home Cooked Dinners?

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;”] S[/dropcap]ince we moved to our little house in the country, I’ve pretty much cooked dinner every night.

We’ve been here for about 18 months so that means I’ve made over 500 dinners in my little blue kitchen.

I know. That’s a lot of meals!

Given we live in the sticks, it might seem like there aren’t any other choices.

But there are plenty of non home-cooked options…

My Irishman works in town so he could easily pick something up on the way home. And our closest village is only a 10 minute drive. Or I could stock the freezer with TV dinners.

But here’s the thing…

With a 2 year old in the house and another on the way, my energy levels definitely aren’t at their highest. Yet I still love getting dinner ready.

Well, most of the time.

For me it’s a privilege to be able to create something delicious and nourishing. A chance to unwind and have something to show for it.

But I know you might not see it the same way.

It can be tough after a long day to think about chopping and stirring when all you really feel like is melting into the couch. Preferably with a glass of wine.

—-

Fast Roast Trout with Almonds

This recipe was inspired by Jamie Oliver years ago and I’d forgotten about it until only recently when I happened to pick up a lovely whole plate sized rainbow trout at the fish markets. Cranking the oven to the max is a brilliant way to cook whole fish as quickly and mess-free as possible.

enough for: 2
takes 20 minutes
2 whole fresh water trout
2 lemons, thickly sliced
1 small bunch sage, leaves picked
handful flaked almonds
1 bag salad leaves

1. Preheat your oven to its highest setting.

2. Line a baking tray with foil. Place lemon slices on the tray in two lines and then trout on top of the lemon. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

3. Pop trout in the oven. Set your timer for 5 minutes.

4. After 5 minutes scatter over the sage and almonds and pop the fish back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

5. When the second time is up, check the fish. If the flesh flakes easily when pushed with a fork and it looks cooked. You’re done. If not pop back in for another few minutes.

6. When the fish is cooked serve on 2 plates with the lemon, sage and almond and salad leaves on the side.

Variations

fish fillets – you could use fish fillets, just be prepared for them to be cooked after 5 minutes. So probably best to add the sage and almonds at the beginning.

other whole fish – feel free to use other whole fish. Anything larger than a plate sized fish will of course take longer to cook.

vegetarian – the sage and almonds would be lovely with whole roast mushrooms. I’d add some butter to the mushrooms before cooking and skip the lemon. Depending on how large your mushies are it will probably take about the same amount of time to cook.

nut-free – you can easily skip the almonds.

more substantial / carb lovers – serve with roast potatoes or crusty bread and lashings of butter.

more veg – add any of your fave chopped salad veg to the leaves such as snow peas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, grated beets.

dressed leaves – the lemon from cooking the fish does make a bit of a dressing but you could toss your leaves in a lemony dressing if you prefer (1 tablespoon lemon juice + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil should do the trick).

Big love,
Jules x