Nordic Inspiration

"Eat your way to health and happiness" - er yes please! When a recipe book has this as the tagline how could I possibly resist? Trina Hahneman's The Nordic Diet was gifted to me by my good friend Sarah, and promising to cook her a recipe or two from its 144 pages, I delved in, finding myself not only inspired but also encouraged to look beyond the ingredient rut that I get myself into.The book focusses on the traditional diet of northern Europeans, consisting of a variety of grains, berries, vegetables, fish, poultry and game. There are plenty of vegetarian options and creative ideas for any meal of the day.

Zesty Coleslaw and Sardines & Tomato Breakfast Smorrebrod

Dinner for One

With Thomas away from home in Micronesia this past month, the temptation has been to forego cooking interesting meals and resort to marmite on toast; which though I love is not the cornerstone of a healthy and nutritious diet. Many meal times consisted of salads – which are super easy to put together and with a wide range of ingredients in the fridge never seemed to be dull. 

The thought of salad for my Christmas dinner was somewhat unappealing and unimaginative so I set about planning my own very special “Dinner For One”. In Germany a British slapstick skit of the same name has been awarded cult status and is religiously shown across a variety of TV networks each New Year’s Eve, so much so that family members have likened me to the lead character but unlike the lovable Miss Sophie, I don’t have my own butler to serve me and act as numerous old friends! Nonetheless I felt a feast was in order, with plenty of accompanying beverages.

Taking an idea from Good Food magazine's 2013 Christmas special that I'd been wanting to try it out, I kick started the day with a smoked salmon, cream cheese, beetroot and rocket blini, with a glass of prosecco whilst watching “Love Actually” to get me in the Christmas spirit.  You could serve this oversized blini as a dinner party starter but afterall this is Dinner for One so I ate it all myself – and enjoyed every last bit!