As I stroll the country laneways of West Cork I cannot help but notice the prevalence of the colour purple in the flora of our Irish hedgerows. I stroll in freedom.  The summer is a time when work quietens down and I chose to sit close to the sea as much as possible.  It is tranquil and peaceful.

Yet every day I am reminded of my brothers and sisters worldwide who do not have this freedom, this peace.

I think of those who are helping and I wonder what I can do.  I do not want to shout into the void.

I have gathered 7 Irish wildflowers and 7 Irish recipes. I give these to you with dochás – hope.

I hope that you will join me in supporting those who are putting their lives on the line, worldwide but particularly in Gaza. I have included a link to MSF but of course donate to whoever is your preferred aid provider.

Can you please give 7 euro or whatever your want.

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine – literally translates as people live in each others shadows, meaning that it is in the shelter of each other that we survive.

Please Note – in order that all of your money can go directly to Médecins Sans Frontieres – Doctors without Borders – I am providing ‘Seven Wildflowers’ in pdf file format, this should open on your device and you can read on any pdf reader or add to kindle (the kindle app is free).

Click here to go straight to Download ‘Seven Wildflowers’

You can donate from the link on the first page or from this link

Click here to donate to Doctors without Borders (MSF)

x Sheila

Yes, I’m being given nutritional advice by my grown up children. To be fair they are muscle bound and fit so I will gladly take it.

This beef recipe will have the protein of the lean minced beef to begin with but I do always like to stretch and ‘healthify’ fried beef by adding tinned legumes – in this case black beans and lentils. The sneaky extra protein in this recipe is to be found when serving it. I like to serve this on a toasted wholemeal flatbread spread thickly with hummus (BONUS protein points) and a good dollop of Greek yogurt (again, kerching!!)

NB – take it easy on the chilli flakes and jalepenos, let you be the judge of how much your audience can tolerate!

Spicy Beef Recipe

You will need:
A little oil
Lean beef mince (5% fat)
2 onions
3 to 4 fat cloves garlic
Tin black beans
Tin lentils
Spices – cumin, coriander, chilli flakes
Tin tomatoes
Tomato puree (i use from tube)
Jalepenos
To Serve:
Wholemeat flatbreads
Hummus (i used red pepper flavour)
Greek yogurt
Fresh Coriander (optional)
Method:
Heat the oil and fry the minced beef in a large frying pan until beginning to brown – approx 8/10 minutes.
Add chopped onions and garlic to centre of pan and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the drained black beans and lentils, mix well and heat through.
Add the spices next and mix well, allow to cook for a minute or two and then add in tin of tomatoes and a good dollop of tomato puree plus a handful of chopped jalepenos.
Add some water – depending on how saucy you like it – mix well and cook until bubbling, then reduce the heat to keep warm while you toast the flatbreads (pittas or any wraps good too).
Serve on a heated flatbread topped with thickly spread hummus then the mince topped with Greek yogurt and coriander.
Wholegrain rice would make a good alternative to the flatbread.

Please Enjoy!

x Sheila

Recipe for Cayenne spiced salmon darnes with a delicious chickpea, tomato & basil mash. Throw on some extra easy veggies for extra healthy points.

You need to buy/have:
Oil
Salmon Darnes – 1 or 2 per person
Cayenne pepper
Tinned Chickpeas (1 can for 2 or 3 people, 2 cans better!)
1 small punnet Cherry tomatoes on the vine
Fresh basil – keep this for the end
Easy veg like baby sweetcorn, tenderstem brocolli & sugarsnaps
Method:
Whack on the oven to 200C.
Pour a little pool of oil in the centre of a large baking tray.
Place each salmon darne in the oil to baste, then place the salmon darnes together at one end of the tray.
Drain the chickpeas and place these at the other end of the tray.
Pop the vine tomatoes on top of the chickpeas and drizzle this end with some oil.
Dust the darnes and chickpeas with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper and season with some salt and pepper.
Bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes.
After 10 minutes prepare your easy cook veg (I boiled all three listed above together for 5 minutes, drained and left with lid on to stay hot).
Once the cooking time is up for the salmon, use a scissors to snip the tomatoes off the vines and then snip in a good handful of fresh basil. Use a potato masher to squash the tomatoes and chickpeas together into a mash.
– it should be easy to pick out any coarse tomato skins if there’s any fussiness in the audience!
Delicious!
Please Enjoy

x Sheila