Sizzling Spicy Shrimp on Guacamole, Sweet Potato Curls & A Poached Egg On Top

Sometimes, when you can't decide what to have for lunch, you've just gotta go for everything. Following two hours of intense concentration and desperate attempts to keep up in Latin, my friend and I decided to treat ourselves and knocked up this vibrant little lunch. It's the perfect combination of zesty, punchy guacamole, spicy lil' shrimp, healthy curly fries and an oozing yolk. I can't concentrate writing this because all I can think about is eating it again. It's healthy brain food, it's gluten and dairy free, and above all it really is rather delicious and will set you off satisfied for a productive afternoon (of trawling facebook).

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
2. Peel the sweet potato and spiralize away!

I am obsessed with my spiralizer. Courgette spaghetti? ACTUALLY tastes like pasta. Pretty little ribbons of cucumber in my salad? Don't mind if I do. Healthy curly fries? Why not. If you are not up-to date with your culinary equipment trends why not make some wedges. Not as hip but just as tasty.

2. Lay the curls on a baking dish, drizzle over a few glugs of olive oil, throw on a sprinkle of salt and place in the oven to cook for about 20 minutes - toss them around regularly.

Mine caught and burnt around the edges but I quite enjoyed the mixture of textures!

3. Finely dice the red onion, spring onions, red chili, avocados, tomatoes and chop up the coriander.

4. You should probably put on the kettle right about now.

5. In a bowl add the juice of the lime, the diced veg and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mash it all together with a spoon or fork.

If you aren't serving straight away, place the avocado seeds in the bowl with the guacamole to stop it from browning.

SUCH PRETTY COLOURS!

6. Add the boiling water to a small pan and the white wine vinegar (once again I used red because we are too stingy to invest in the white-kind).

7. Crack an egg into a cup or a ramekin, create a whirlpool in the pan and add the egg to the eye of the swirl.

Use fresh eggs it will help you so much to look really impressive when your eggs turn out oh-so-perfect and your friends are in awe and you are a smug poaching king.

8. Check on the curly fries cause no doubt you forgot to and they're burning and need a little toss about.

9. When the poached egg is ready (about 2 mins), take it out with a slotted spoon and dry it on some kitchen towel. Get on with your next egg.

10. I used a little bowl to shape my guacamole, then added the egg on top.

11. In a pan heat some oil with some spices of your choice. I went for a dash of paprika, cumin, chili powder, a large pinch of salt and a good grind of pepper.

12. When the oil's hot - throw in the raw prawns and keep them sizzling until they're pink. They'll be ready in a flash.

PLATE UP!

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large sweet potato
• olive oil,  a drizzle
• salt and pepper, great big pinches

• 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar
• 2 eggs

• 175g raw king prawns
• olive oil, a few glugs
• a generous sprinkle of spice: paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper

Guacamole

• 1 lime, juice 
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 red chili, finely diced
• 2 avocados, finely diced
• 150g baby plum tomatoes, finely diced
• 50g coriander, chopped
• salt and pepper, a sprinkle

A happy chappy I'd say.

Creamy Goats Cheese, Fiery Chorizo and Crunchy Kale Salad

Guys. It actually crossed my mind that it would be really funny to write this blog post in Latin. I genuinely cracked up at the thought. Then I realised that I have in fact lost my mind to languages and have become a full-blown Latin translating, Diet Coke sipping, library-enduced lunatic.

I don't know about you but the weather, the exam period and the need to grow my stomach in preparation for christmas meals has led me to eat everything in sight, at all times of the day. I decided it was high time I got some greens in my diet and knocked this together for myself and my flatmates. It was made in a flash, tasted great and was also ever so slightly healthy.

Apologies for the unedited photos but Tacitus needs some translating. Eheu. 



These are your ingredients - red and green... festive!

1. Make a balsamic dressing with a couple of teaspoons of dijon mustard, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a good few glugs of olive oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper

2. Massage the dressing into the kale

3. Add some rocket, watercress & spinach to the top

4. Chop up the tomatoes and a little bit of chilli - three rings each (without seeds, unless you like to watch 'em squirm)

5. Slice up your chorizo on a diagonal and fry on a medium heat

Please ignore the hob, I swear the 'grub' is just an optical illusion from the light etc. etc. etc… 

6. Slice the goats cheese into rings, and when the chorizo is finished and out of the pan, place the goats cheese in for few seconds to melt a little. Then add them both to the salad

7. Chop up your avocado and add

8. Finally, slice some basil into strips and sprinkle them over the top

I promise this will make you feel better about life. It tastes great, it's low carb, goats cheese is one of the best cheeses around calorie and fat-wise, avocado is creamy green yumminess, CHORIZO IS MY HEAVEN and kale is crunchy.

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

Dressing

• 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• pinch of salt and pepper

(I definitely just made those measurements up… I do it by eye you see. Please taste-test before you pour onto your salad. I promise to take notes next time I make it.)

Salad

• 1 bag curly kale
• 1 bag watercress, rocket & spinach salad
• as many tomatoes as your heart desires
• 1/2 red chilli
• 150g cooking chorizo
• 2 ripened goats cheese

ps. food for though (geddit): I have very much struggled with the grammar of goats cheese… goat's cheese... goats' cheese... who knows.