01/06/2015: Summer chickpea salad – Jamie Oliver
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/summer-chickpea-salad/#tESiOcqhROz58VOf.97
I can’t fault how easy this salad was to make. Grab all the ingredients and just chuck into a massive bowl! Definitely a future lunch option. You can’t go wrong with chickpeas, olives, and feta. A yummy, quick, and healthy dinner, perfect for a Monday night.
02/06/2015: Holy Smoke, Wimbledon
https://www.facebook.com/holysmokerestaurant
Lizi: The Holy Smoke hand-chopped steak burger, smoked applewood cheddar, tomato salsa, chipotle mayo and hand-cut chips
Walking into Holy Smoke is like walking into someone’s front room! The dim lighting and small cosy setup gives this restaurant its signature homely atmosphere. We were out with friends and all of us were faced with one of the most difficult menus I’ve ever had to choose from because everything sounded delicious. I love to go for something that intrigues me and there was nothing on this menu that didn’t!! I went for the steak burger with smokey chips and it was seriously good. The meat was tender and cooked to perfection and the smokey chips were something else! They were slightly on the salty side for me but the flavour was great. I look forward to sampling more of their menu! We saw a couple of people get served smokey whiskeys so I’m going to bring my Dad here!
Mark: Oak-smoked duck leg with pan fried breast, dauphinoise potatoes, sugar snap peas, cherry and orange jus
This restaurant is brilliant. It’s small and cosy, and I could have ordered everything on the menu. As it happened, there was only one duck left and Lizi, Jay, and Crystal all let me have it. A big thank you goes out to them as it was awesome! Duck is one of my favourite meats anyway, and the way this had been cooked just took it up a notch. Served alongside dauphinoise potatoes and it was a match made in heaven. If you live near Wimbledon, go to this restaurant!
03/06/2015
Lizi: Baked eggs with cheddar, baked beans sourdough, and sausages on the side – Ozone Coffee Roasters, Leonard Street London
I was out for lunch with work today at Ozone Coffee Roasters across the road from the office. It’s a great coffee shop that is well known in London for it’s coffee, but also has some great food! I’m a huge fan of the egg’s benedict, but today I thought I’d try something different and so I went for the baked eggs. It didn’t look like a huge portion when it arrived but the pot is really deceiving and I couldn’t finish it! It was really tasty, but I think the egg’s benedict is still my favourite.
Mark: Mediterranean chicken with rice, pasta, and beetroot salad – Food Filosophy, Victoria
https://www.facebook.com/FoodFilosophy
This is a newish place I’ve discovered near work which serves custom Greek salads. You can chose a meat portion and then three additional salad portions to go with. I settled on a chicken mix alongside a rice, pasta and beetroot salad. The chicken had been cooked up with numerous vegetables and was super tasty. Overall a pretty good lunch option and filled me up a treat.
04/06/2015: Piri piri chicken with salad and rice – Frango’s Mundo, Wimbledon
This shop popped up along Haydons Road a little while back and we’ve been meaning to try it out. Today seemed as good a night as any to try something new and not just your average Nando’s. We just bought a whole chicken, some salad and some rice to keep it simple. The chicken was beautifully seasoned and we really enjoyed it!
05/06/2015: Piri piri chicken tortizza – own recipe
We had quite a bit left over from our whole chicken last night so I tried to think of something simple to do with piri piri chicken. I decided to make a simple piri piri chicken tortizza!
06/06/2015: Hi Bangkok, Wimbledon
Lizi: Pad Thai
My friend Jo arrived this evening to stay for the weekend and we decided to have Thai food. I went for a classic Pad Thai which was pretty good – perhaps it could have had a bit more flavour, but you can’t go far wrong with this dish.
Mark: Beef Kaeng Dang Phed
This was essentially Thai red curry with beef. The menu had the fancy name so that can be the official title. I’m a big fan of Thai curries, so it was all about when to have them this year. I didn’t want to use up my options too early! This was an OK red curry. It wasn’t as hot as I normally like, but the beef was good quality. I felt the vegetables were a bit lost, and it was noticeable that this was a take-away standard. Perhaps I should have waited for a nice Thai restaurant to use up this option.
07/06/2015
Lizi: Fish and Chips – Big Fish Trading Co., Brighton Seafront
https://www.zomato.com/south-east-england/big-fish-trading-co-brighton
Jo and I went down to Brighton today as she has never been before! We got an early train down for some sun, seaside and shopping and spent plenty of time mooching around the lanes. We stopped of at Bluebird Tea Co. and spent a good chunk of time smelling probably all of the teas. We each bought a cup of the rhubard and custard tea, one hot and one cold, which were both delicious! I ended up buying a whole tin of the stuff. Jo bought a tin of cherry bakewell tea which was also awesome. A lot of them are just a beautiful to look as as they are to taste!
There really was only one option for dinner by the seaside – fish and chips with mushy peas! We ate out on the beach sitting on the pebbles looking out to sea and guarding our dinner from somewhat menacing seagulls! The authentic British seaside experience!
Mark: Fish and Chips – Camaras, Wantage
I went back to the family home while Lizi and Jo were in Brighton. To match their fish and chips I went to our local chippy in Wantage for a bit of a blast from the past. I love this place and it definitely serves up the best fish and chips in my mind. As ever, portion size is never a problem here!
A Year in Dinners 
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