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My Food Diary
Chef and food and creative consultant Alexandra Dudley created Punch Foods after growing frustrated with the lack of healthy, tasty snacks on the market, and so her now well-known Superseeds were born (we’re hooked on the Coconut Brownie flavour). To celebrate the launch of her cookbook Land & Sea (£25, Orion ), we asked Alexandra to share her weekly food diary with us. Food envy starts here…
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Monday
Breakfast - I usually work from home on Mondays catching up on emails and easing myself into the week, but I try to get my body moving daily so today I went for a quick run around the park. Breakfast is two soft boiled eggs with spinach sautéed in a pan and some leftover peas and tarragon pesto from the night before.
Mid morning snack – I’ve got a load of black currants and redcurrants picked from my mother's garden which I’ve stewed slowly on the hob. When they’re done I have a couple of spoonfuls with a handful of my pistachio granola. I don’t usually snack between breakfast and lunch but today I fancy it.
Lunch - is a quick salad with what’s in the fridge. Roasted beetroot with a spinach and lentil salad. I’ve added a bit of feta and fresh mint.
Supper is at home with my sister. We cook salmon under the grill and enjoy it with a charred asparagus and broccoli stalk salad, with a good dose of chilli and herb salsa.
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Tuesday
Breakfast – I’m leaving home early this morning for a few meetings in Soho. I head to the gym for about 6.30, shower and make my way slowly into town. I stop to sit down somewhere along the way and enjoy a simple chia pudding with some of my stewed berries. I like to add a couple of scoops of protein to my chia pudding. I use Sunwarrior’s vegan warrior blend and I’ll usually add some spices like cinnamon or cardamom too.
Lunch is a ‘meeting lunch’ but we meet at Duck Soup on Dean Street; one of my favourite places. I go for the skate wing with garam masala and curry leaf yogurt. We share a few of their other plates including a warm cucumber salad with ricotta and capers. I am a big fan of fermented drinks and go for one of their house-made drinking vinegars too.
Supper – I’m in the mood for something warm. I pick up some mushrooms and soba noodles on the way home and make my sesame soba noodles with miso mushrooms (a recipe from the book). I always have miso paste at home; it's one of my favourite ingredients and is fantastic for adding flavour to a dish.
I enjoy the last of my salted chocolate torte that I made on the weekend.
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Wednesday
Breakfast – I’m meeting a friend for breakfast and we go to Ozone Coffee in Shoreditch. I have a delicious granola bowl with whey poached fruit, yogurt and oat milk as well as a grapefruit juice and a double esspresso.
Lunch – I tend to make packed lunch most of the time. Not only because it’s the cheaper option but because I often enjoy it more. Today is a shredded carrot and courgette salad with a mint and coriander dressing, two boiled eggs and the leftovers of last night's miso noodle bowl.
Snack –I pick up some of Kallo’s dark chocolate rice cakes - they are my weakness. I munch on a couple before walking home. I try to walk as much as I can; it’s a great stress reliever for me and always helps to get my head in order.
Supper – We have friends over for an easy supper. I make my lemon, pea and scallop risotto and make a quick spinach and tomato salad on the side.
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Thursday
Breakfast – I’m out for breakfast again and am working from Shoreditch house all day. I have scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with a pot of Earl Grey.
Lunch – There’s a delicious ginger and butternut squash soup on the menu and although it's warm I opt for that with a green bean, hazelnut, cherry tomato and feta salad on the side.
Afternoon snack – It is hot and all I am craving is something cool and fruity so when I’m home I bung a load of frozen berries into my blender with half a courgette, some water, Sunwarrior protein and ice. The result is a wonderfully thick smoothie that I eat from a bowl topped with some cinnamon spiced seeds.
Supper – It’s a warm evening so we eat outside and I cook my pan-fried miso seabass with fennel and oranges (a recipe from the book).
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Friday
Breakfast – Breakfast at home this morning after a little carpet yoga - chia pudding this time topped with oven roast rhubarb, sesame seeds and crushed almonds.
Lunch – I make my beet stem, bulb and leaf salad (a recipe from the book) and add two soft boiled burford browns. It’s a lovely recipe that makes use of every element of the beetroot and it tastes delicious the next day too.
Mid afternoon snack – I have a few bananas looking brown so make a loaf of banana bread (thinking ahead to tomorrow's breakfast). I have a piece when it is just cool enough to slice, a delicious treat.
Supper – I end up giving the kitchen a good clean when I get home and am in the mood to keep it that way… at least until tomorrow. Supper is a very easy omelette with cured black olives from my local deli, fresh chilli and lots of coriander. I have it with some broad beans that I drizzle in argan oil and a good crackle of black pepper. It’s an incredibly simple meal but one of my favourites.
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Saturday
Breakfast – On the weekends I like to make breakfast a bit of a special affair. Today I make my banana bread French toast using the banana bread I made yesterday. It’s a recipe from the book that is delicious with warmed berry compote, so we finish the last of my stewed blackcurrants and redcurrants.
Lunch – We head to the park for a long walk and stop by Ottolenghi on the way home for a takeaway (a real treat). I opt for the salmon with roasted harissa aubergine, charred broccoli and cauliflower and a cucumber-pea-bean salad.
Supper is a fresh and zingy rice noodle bowl with a sesame dressing. I've added fennel, cucumber and carrots as well as fresh peas which are just coming into season.
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Sunday
Breakfast: We’ve got guests over for a long lunch so I have a light breakfast of a poached egg on charred asparagus and a few nasturtiums from the garden.
Lunch is a big spread of rosemary roasted chicken with my Moroccan sweet potato salad (a recipe from the book), charred asparagus and smashed cucumber - tahini salad.
Pudding is a cherry and strawberry ricotta tart with a salted oat and honey base.
Supper time comes round just after everyone is left so we skip the effort to cook a big meal and just pick at the leftovers.