Cookbooks Product Reviews

Radio 4’s Food Programme & Diana Henry’s New Book

That’s it – 2014 is done and dusted and what a year it was! Although for me it finished with some big life changes, as we step into 2015 I’m focused and ready to move forward – so bring it on! On the blog front, Gingey Bites has gone from strength to strength (thank you to all my readers!) and the biggest highlight came in November when I was invited to talk on BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme with Sheila Dillon. What an honour!

The topic was cookbooks and along with investigative food journalist Joanna Blythman and The Observer’s food editor Allan Jenkins, I spent an enjoyable hour discussing the best books of 2014.  If you missed it, you can listen again here.

Radio4 GingeyBites

One of the books we discussed was the latest from Diana Henry’s A Change of Appetite, filled with healthy but first and foremost, tasty, recipes from around the world. I’ve always liked Diana Henry but haven’t owned any of her books before. This one is just lovely – gorgeous photography and clearly explained and easy to follow recipes. The nice thing about it too is that although this isn’t a ‘diet’ cookbook, all of the recipes are light and healthy. There are lots of salads, breakfast ideas and Asian influences running through it.

Diana Henry, A Change of Appetite, Soba Noodles, Broccoli noodles, Sriracha sauce, gingey bites

The first dish I made from this book is the soba noodles with purple sprouting broccoli and a fried egg (although as you can see, I used normal broccoli).

Diana Henry, A Change of Appetite, Soba Noodles, Cooking ingredients, Cookbook Review Broccoli noodles, Sriracha sauce, gingey bites

Strangely enough, this recipe is measured for 1 person although, throughout the book, recipes appear for 1, 2, 4 plus people. It’s a quick and easy one, perfect for lunch or a light supper. This seemed like a nice healthy meal to eat in this cold period between Christmas and New Year and made a great break from the turkey, chocolate, cheese and everything else I’ve been stuffing my face with recently!


Ingredients:
  • 70g soba noodles
  • 60g purple sprouting broccoli / normal broccoli
  • 1 tbsp groundnut oil
  • 1cm ginger, peeled & finely chopped
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded & finely sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 large egg
  • black sesame seeds I didn’t have any so left this out!
Method:
  • Put the soba noodles in a saucepan of boiling water and follow packet instructions to cook. Everything else must be ready at this point.
  • Cut the broccoli into florets and steam until tender (2-4 minutes depending on thickness)
  • Heat half the oil in a frying pan and gently saute the garlic, ginger and chilli until the garlic is pale gold. Add the soy sauce and the drained noodles. Toss in the broccoli and the spring onions.
  • In a separate frying pan, fry the egg in the remaining oil. Put the noodles into a bowl and slide the egg on top. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and serve immediately.
I added cracked black pepper and a drizzle of Sriracha Chilli Sauceto finish the dish as I like the heat but these are optional gingey extras! That’s it! So simple and fast.
Broccoli, steamed vegetables, gingey bites, Diana Henry, A Change of Appetite, cookbook review, food blogger, gingey bites
Ginger, Chilli and Garlic, stirfry, gingey bites, Diana Henry, A Change of Appetite, cookbook review, food blogger, gingey bites

Grab your copy here: 

0 Comments

  1. This looks like the kind of healthy food I can get along with – I love noodles and broccoli and I can't think of many dishes that can't be improved by popping a runny-yolked egg on top!

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