I cant speak, so I'll cook

Cumin salted chickpeas w/ sweet neon beetroot dip

Well my best contribution to a conversation seems to be 'uha!' or 'heunm?' (freaky lip cut has made most of my diction sound unrecognisable) - so might as well relocate to the kitchen. Smokey cumin, sticking to a hot pan giving off the air of a late night Moroccan carnival, fire in heaps of pomegranate seeds, that give sweet little rose water notes of freshness and then.. scoop it up with some crusty bread and creamed beetroot and you've got yourself this lovely little mezze selection that feels totally fresh and summery.

Cumin Salted Chickpeas
4 tbsp cumin
lots of salt
1 400g chickpeas (drained)
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1/2 pomegranate (the seeds)
1 lemon (juice)
100g chorizo
handful of flat leaf parsley

Sweet neon pink beetroot dip
5 beetroots (pre-cooked)
5 tblsp cream fraiche
1 clove of garlic
2 chilli's
1 tbsp tahini
splash of balsamic vinegar
drizzle of olive oil

Make the dip. Combine all the ingredients and blitz until it's a smooth mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Heat some oil in a pan,  add the cumin and salt, don't mix, after 1 min, add the chickpeas, mix a little, leave for a min or two, add the garlic and a little more cumin. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Leave it for a few mins, it will start to smoke. Add the chorizo and the pomegranate seeds. Then toss a few times and serve with the dip and come crusty bread.

Squash Mondays (eating not excerising)

Roasted Butternut squash and sweet greens Thai curry

Feeling all inspired from Micky B's sausage casserole, some nutritious hot pot had to emerge after 2 weeks of crumpets and taco chips. Basic Thai green curry recipe, but sweet and garlicky thanks to slow roasted squash, and heavy with vegetables and chilli's, so you can feel all green and superfooded at the start of the week with bikram yoga style heat from your forehead - with 'oh yeah' feelings instead of 'omg nothing is worth this'.

1 butternut squash (halved, drizzled with olive oil, lots of salt covered w / ginger & garlic and roasted on gas mark 4 for 1 hour, plus twenty Min's on gas mark 2)

Vegetables
1 packet (300g) of mixed green (runner beans/broccoli/sugar snaps)
2 handfuls of mushrooms (sliced)
Any other vegetables you feel like popping in

Curry Paste

2 onions (finely chopped)
6 hot green chilli's
3 cloves of garlic
2 inches of fresh ginger
2 spring onions
2 tsp of palm sugar (or 1 of Castor)
big big handful of fresh coriander (and 1 of basil if you have it)
1 tblsp of fish sauce

1 tbsp dark soy

2 tblsp light soy
1 stalk of lemongrass
juice of 1 lemon or lime

1 tin coconut milk
1 tin of water

Roast your butternut squash. Fly the onions in a little oil in a big pan, for a couple of mins. Then add all the curry paste ingredients except coconut milk & water. After 5mins, add the coconut milk and water. Add the sliced mushrooms. Let cook for a 10-15mins, then add the roasted butter nut squash all chopped up. Add the greens and put the lid on the pan. They will steam cook. After about 5-6mins it's ready.