Last nights dinner… nailed it!
Doing groceries online this week however – didn’t exactly nail it. Somehow I ordered 5 bags of spinach and rocket mix. $14 worth. I swore I didn’t and it must have been delivered by mistake… but there it was, in all its legitimate glory on the invoice, 5 x spinach and rocket mix. So I’ve had a week of salads at work, and last night thought I’d keep the salad thing rolling. Especially considering yesterday was a thousand degrees (and the worst bushfire day in NSW in the last decade!)
A quick check of what else I actually bought and a plan starts to form… Sweet potato, choizo and bacon. Then the practical me comes to the conclusion there is no way this will fill Ben. Peas, nuts and onion were afterthoughts, and garlic ciabatta bread sealed the deal.
So let’s do this…
Ingredients for 2ppl (roughly)
- 1 chorizo sausage, cut into slices
- 3 strips rasher bacon, finely sliced
- 1/2 a large sweet potato, chopped into 2cm squares
- 2 cloves garlic finely sliced
- 1/4 red onion finely sliced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Handful of chopped walnuts
- 3 tbs EVOO
- Juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 1 tbs maple syrup
Chop your sweet potato into pieces roughly 2cm x 2cm. Don’t waste time trying to be exact… you’re cooking for your family, not the queen. Then pop them in a bowl with a tiny amount of water in the bottom, covered with cling wrap and put them in the microwave on high for 2 mins. The little water in the bottom will steam, rather than boil them, and its my preferred way to quickly heat something. (My mum always covered them with water and boiled them in the micro).
Then take them out and put them on paper towel to try.
Meanwhile, chop your chorizo, bacon and finely slice your garlic and red onion (set the onion aside for later)…
While I was chopping the chorizo I couldn’t help but be reminded of that ‘Hot Dogs or Legs‘ FB page and had to snap this photo . (It’s hilarious if you haven’t seen it yet!) I only used one sausage, this was sliced down the middle. Only 1 cat in this photo too. 
ANNNYWAYYY…
Cook your chorizo bacon, and garlic together over med-high heat, in a tbs or so of olive oil and then drain on paper towel.
Put your sweet potato in the same pan with a tad more olive oil, but turn the heat down and DON’T FORGET ABOUT IT! I can’t stress that enough. Cooked sweet potato in a fry pan, will burn super easily. Toss them in the pan for 5 mins or so until they brown up… but don’t let them burn! Watch it. Like. A hawk.
Add the chorizo and bacon back to the pan and throw in the red onion and frozen peas.
Next up is the worlds quickest dressing. In a small mix together the EVOO, lemon juice and maple syrup. Taste and add more of whatever you need. Too lemony? Add more maple syrup. The sweetness will balance out the sour. Normally I’d add salt and pepper too, but the chorizo and bacon are salty enough, and I preferred to crack the pepper over everything at the end.
Throw in the 500gm of rocket and spinach, and pour over the dressing. Give everything a quick toss so the spinach is just wilted (forgot the pics here sorry). Serve up and finally sprinkle with the chopped walnuts for an extra little crunch.
Then eat, drink and enjoy.
Dear blue cheese, goats cheese, grilled haloumi, and fetta maaaybe, … you would have been invited to the party if you were in my fridge. I’m sad about it too, but it will be OK.
… and it was :)
Eat, Drink and DIY 