Tuna, New Potato and Salsa Verde Salad

I often get emails from people asking me what kind of food I would recommend for lunch.  And by lunch I don’t mean a laid back spread for more than two, beginning at lunchtime and ending at some point in the afternoon.  I, or rather, they, mean lunch at the office, sat at your desk, or out and about, sat on a patch of grass somewhere desperately pointing towards the sun, or in the car with half an hour to spare.  Lunch can be tricky, with so few restaurants and shops catering to food sensitivities, it is often easier, and certainly safer, to make your own.  I tend to keep lunch simple, unless I’m entertaining; salads, wraps, soups are all perfect lunchtime food.  As are leftovers from the night before, revamped into an exciting new meal – though I know this is contentious, some people being averse to leftovers in any form, though I can’t think why, personally.  You can find recipes for Corn Tortilla wraps or Flatbreads in my book, perfect for combining with Carrot and Fennel Salad and hummus, or cooked chicken and homemade pesto or avocado and smoked ham with alittle onion marmalade to add punch.  The combinations are, at the least, generous and if you have such a dish, plus a bowl of warming soup, then I’d call it a lunchtime feast.  Equally, a little something baked at the beginning of the week can offer you a treat for each day.  As in all aspects of life, if you’re a little bit organised and pre-prepared, an allergy-free lunch can be a easy, nourishing and most importantly, delicious thing.

This gloriously simple salad is packed full of flavour and I think the perfect thing to take in a tub for your midday meal.  Good quality tuna – and safely caught – new potatoes and the intense, fragrant piquancy of salsa verde are a sublime combination.  Pair it with a handful of green leaves, rocket especially, and some finely sliced sundried tomatoes and I’d call it a triumph.  At this time of year I would highly recommend Jersey Royles for your choice of potato, they’re the first in season and really delicious, although a little pricey.  But as the good people at Eat the Seasons say ‘Look at it this way; Jersey Royals aren't cheap, but the potatoes you'll be eating for the other ten months of the year are, so treat yourself!’  They make a good point, I think.

TUNA, NEW POTATO AND SALSA VERDE SALAD

Serves 2 for lunch or 4 as part of a larger spread

For the salsa verde

A bunch of flat-leaf parsley

A bunch of chives

A small bunch of mint

3 tbsp capers, rinsed

The juice and zest of ½ a lemon

5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

400g new potatoes

160g good quality tuna in spring water or olive oil, drained

Place the parsley, chives and mint leaves in a food processor.   Add the capers, lemon juice and zest and olive oil.  Blitz until you have a coarse pasted and then transfer to a bowl.  Alternatively, finely chop the herbs and capers and mix together with the oil and lemon juice.  Chill the salsa verde until ready to use.

Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on their size, you want them to be in small, bite size chunks.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the new potatoes – when cooking potatoes it’s a good rule to know that if they are old potatoes you should place them in cold water and then bring to the boil before timing, whereas, when cooking new potatoes, you should add them to already boiling water and then time. 

Gently boil the potatoes until tender to a knife point – around 8-10 minutes - and then drain.  Transfer the new potatoes to a large serving bowl, flake in the tuna and then spoon over the salsa verde.  Fold together until evenly mixed and serve.

Spiced Apricot and Tahini Meatballs

With this springtime deluge we seem to be having, thoughts of light salads, juices and all those other brightening, sun-filled dishes have gone out the window.  When it’s unseasonably cold and wet, all I want to eat are heartening, fire in your belly, kind of foods.  Rich pasta sauces, roasted vegetables and warming soups will all do, as will these Spiced Apricot and Tahini Meatballs.  Don’t be misled by the ingredients, these are essentially Moroccan meatballs in all but name and just the thing to make your supper a comforting and bolstering affair.

Of course, I think meatballs are a welcome part of any weekly repertoire; whether you’re making traditional Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs, Swedish Meatballs in Mustard Sauce or these fragrant Moroccan Meatballs, they are such a simple and delicious option.  Here, the meatballs are stuffed with finely diced onion and apricots and bound together with a little tahini, the sauce delicately spiced and fragrant.  They also have the benefit of being dressed up or down; you can serve them as they are with a bowl of white basmati for a quick and easy supper, or scatter over sliced black olives and chopped parsley and serve with Taboulleh, flatbreads and hummus for a more elaborate spread.  Alternatively, the meatballs and sauce piled high on a bowl of pasta, drizzled with olive oil and a scattering of toasted pine nuts would make an equally good offering.

SPICED APRICOT AND TAHINI MEATBALLS

Serves 4 / Makes about 20 meatballs

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

500g minced lamb

1 tbsp tahini

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

½ tsp black mustard seeds

½ tsp chilli flakes

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp dried mint

50g dried apricots

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp soft brown sugar

600g chopped tomatoes – that’s 1 ½ x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

Peel and finely chop the onion.  Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion until soft but not coloured.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool down.  Finely chop the apricots and place in a large mixing bowl, add the lamb mince, tahini and cooked onion.   Season generously and mix and mash together with a fork until combined.  Using your hands, shape the mixture into evenly sized balls approximately 1 inch in diameter.

Next, place the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds in a frying pan and dry fry until lightly toasted and fragrant – a couple of minutes over a medium heat.  Remove from the heat, place in a pestle and mortar, add the cinnamon, chilli flakes, mint and ¼ tsp sea salt flakes, and grind until you have a fine powder.

Heat the remaining oil in a large heavy based pan, fry the meatballs over a medium – low heat, shaking the pan regularly, until browned all over – about 5-8 minutes.  You will probably, depending on the size of your pan, have to do this in two batches as overcrowding the pan will mean that the meatballs won’t brown.  Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat balls and set aside.

Next, add the ground spices and garlic to the pan and fry gently for a minute or two.  Pour over the chopped tomatoes, add the lemon juice and sugar then return the meatballs to the pan.  Leave to simmer for a further 8 – 10 minutes before seasoning the sauce to taste.