#tastythursday

Okay, so for my first ever post, I'm going to start with my favourite! An easy-peasy, money saving dish that will literally blow your mind! And also get those picky children to actually eat and enjoy their greens! Enter mum's super hero dish:

Kale, Bacon & Broccoli Strata.

I absolutely love strata's. They are so easy to put together and the best thing is? You can pretty much throw in any veg or meat thats close to going off and it will always taste amazing!

Your essentials that you will need for this meal are:

Some form of meat. Maybe you have some left over chicken or gammon from a sunday roast? This would be a perfect meal for that. In this instance I used 7-10 rashers of bacon

1-2 onions

4 slices of bread (try to make 2 of them crusts/the ends)

4 eggs

A pint of milk

Head of broccoli

8 cherry tomatoes

Kale/Spinach (half a bag)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

300grams of cheese (or more - because I definitely have an unhealthy obsession with cheese)

50grams butter

4 cloves of garlic

So lets get down to the basic's. This dish is super easy to throw together. And whats best is (if you wish), you can make it the night before, leave it over night in the fridge, and then wack it in the oven when you're back home!

You'll want to preheat your oven to 180'c or you can place this in your slow cooker on a low.

First thing you want to do is dice the bacon and then sauté (sautéing is when you quickly fry at a high temperature in a little bit of fat or oil) then add the diced onions and your kale or spinach. Sauté for around 2-3 minutes or until aromatic.

You then want to blanch your broccoli INCLUDING the stalk. The stalk retains all the goodness in whereas the head easily loses its vital vitamins. Blanching will also help you to retain all that goodness. Cut up your broccoli and stalk into chunks. To blanch, bring a pot of water to the boil on a high temperate. Whilst waiting for that to boil prepare a bowl of cold water with ice cubes for the cool down after. Once your water has reached boiling point toss in the broccoli and scald it for 3 minutes then immediately transfer to the cold water bowl. Leave for a few minutes then drain.

Whisk your eggs adding your milk and half of the amount of grated cheese creating a quiche mix

Thickly dice your bread into chunks and place in a bowl.

In a saucepan melt your butter add 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped and the olive oil and keep stirring till aromatic then add a crack of pepper. Pour your garlic butter over your diced bread and stir making sure you've coated the lot.

Start assembling the dish together in a baking or a casserole dish or in your slow cooker/crock-pot. Start with your bacon and kale, followed by your bread then pour over the quiche mix and then top with your remaining cheese.

Half your cherry tomatoes and assemble together accordingly with your broccoli.

Finish off with a crack of pepper, a sprinkle of oregeon and and pinch of marjoram

Place in the the oven for 30 minutes or put on a low in the slow cooker for 4-5 hours.

You can serve this dish on its own as a tasty snack or pair it with some stewed cuming carrots or some rosemary baked potatoes for a main meal. This serves around 6 people!

With Sriracha-marinated chicken and a rainbow of vegetables, this quinoa bowl is a tasty and spicy take on the classic.

Ingredients: 1 cup quinoa. 2 cups water. 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced. 2 tablespoons soy sauce. 2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce. 1 tablespoon honey. 1 tablespoon olive oil. 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced. 1 cup broccoli florets. 1 carrot, julienned. 2 cloves garlic, minced. 1 teaspoon ginger, grated. Salt and pepper to taste. Green onions and sesame seeds for garnish.

Instructions: Rinse quinoa under cold water and cook according to package instructions using 2 cups of water. In a bowl, mix diced chicken with soy sauce, Sriracha, and honey. Let it marinate for 15 minutes. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add marinated chicken and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from the skillet. In the same skillet, add more oil if needed and saut garlic, ginger, bell pepper, broccoli, and carrot until vegetables are tender-crisp. Stir in the cooked quinoa and the cooked chicken, tossing everything together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds before serving.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes