30 March - prawn noodle soup

After using up the last of the chilli on a jacket potato for lunch, I fancied something a bit lighter for supper. There was some pak choi in the fridge, so I went for a prawn version of the Asian-inspired noodle soup that I often cook.

• Bring about 500ml vegetable stock to a gentle boil, add some chopped red chilli and a smashed stick of lemongrass.
• Add some raw prawns and simmer until they turn pink, then some chopped pak choi and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.
• Season with a dash of soy sauce, fish sauce and fresh lime juice.
• Served spooned over some cooked noodles.
  
  

It came out with a great zingy flavour - really tasty, but fresh and light too. It must've been good because Tris couldn't resist slurping up the last dribbles in the pan!

29 March - couscous and a chicken pie

Lunch today was a simple couscous salad; with spring onion, cherry tomatoes, roasted red pepper, green beans and a bit of bacon. Then in the evening we were out at the Lounge for drinks with friends. I'd been a bit disappointed with their food lately, but I had a really good chicken and gammon pie with chips and creamy leeks - definitely back on form.

28 March - crispy pork and noodles

It was a lovely sunny day, so lunch with a friend was outdoors at Browns. I had a rather chewy hot chicken sandwich, but it was okay with plenty of mayo and a few chips on the side, and it was just nice to be eating outdoors.

Tris was out this evening, so I used up the remaining cooked pork belly with some noodles, loosely based on a Jamie Oliver recipe. I stir-fried some spring onion, chilli and sliced red pepper, then added the shredded pork and a sprinkling of five-spice powder and fried until it went golden and crispy. Finally, I added some sliced pak choi and a splash of soy sauce and mixed it in with some noodles. The result was really delicious - all that lovely caramelised pork fat and spices - yum!

27 March - pork belly with spicy rhubarb sauce

We had some slightly green rhubarb hanging around that didn't quite feel pink enough for crumble, so I decided to do something savoury with it instead. I googled "pork and rhubarb" and came up with a few recipes - the below is sort of a combination of several:

• Blend two large shallots, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 inch grated fresh ginger, 2tbsp honey and 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil to a paste.
• Coat c.750g piece of pork belly with the mixture and put it in a roasting dish with c.300ml dry cider and a red chilli just snapped to release its flavour. Cover with foil and cook at 180C for 90 mins (maybe a bit less or a bit cooler as it rather dried out) - check and add more cider if necessary (I ended up using a full 500ml in the end)
  
• Uncover and add c.250g chopped rhubarb and cook for another 15 mins until the rhubarb's tender.
• Remove the pork to rest and discard the chilli. Then bubble the sauce gently on the hob, adding a bit of cold chopped butter to make it smooth.

The resulting sauce was quite stunningly tasty and really had quite a chilli kick. Served on top of the lovely tender pork belly (we only ate about 2/3 of the meat, but all the sauce) along with some spring greens and beans, it was absolutely top!

26 March - lamb's lettuce and chilli

I've had some lamb's lettuce growing under fleece all winter, but with the recent burst of warmth and sun, it's really started flourishing, so I thought I'd better start picking some.

I mixed it into a hot salad of new potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, chorizo and a poached egg.

While I was away over the weekend, Tris had made up a big pot of chilli which meant that I didn't have to worry about shopping and cooking for this evening, which was really nice as I was completely wiped out after my week away and had a load of other stuff to sort out.

25 March - spicy goats cheese

With my flight not until late afternoon, I was rather at a loose end today. I'd completely run out of steam and spent the morning milling around the city, not quite sure what to do with myself. I'd decided to have a long lunch before I headed to the airport, but feeling a bit uninspired, I wandered round and round, not sure what I was in the mood for. I was just starting to get fed up when I came across Tron Bar and Kitchen - the cafe part of a theatre, tucked down a little side street. As soon as I walked past, I knew it was just the place I was looking for - light and airy, friendly but not too noisy. It was a short menu, but I had no trouble settling on Cajun goats cheese crostini with some chips on the side. It was a big slice of goats cheese in a spicy cajun coating melted in a bit of toast and served on some (non-rocket!) salad. Followed by a good pot of tea, I was able to sit for an hour plus watching the world go by until it was time to go and find the airport bus and say goodby to Glasgow.

24 March - a rubbish salad and spicy Asian beef

Conference over, I stayed on in Glasgow to spend the day with a friend who came down from Perth to meet up. The weather was glorious and we had a lovely day mooching about, chatting and exploring the city a bit. It was just about warm enough to eat lunch outside, so we grabbed a table at Cafe Rouge. It was a great spot, but sadly my butternut squash and red pepper salad turned out to be a huge plate of rocket with just a tiny sprinkling of the main ingredients on top - really disappointing! It was a good job I'd ordered some chips on the side to keep me going.

At the end of the day, we found ourselves over in the West End, so we went into Soba, a noodle bar, which I think had been mentioned earlier in the week. We arrived quite early and it looked fairly quiet, but was apparently already fully booked - a good sign! They did find room for us to eat in the bar next door though, which was a bit noisier, but still a cool spot. I had some really delicious Foshan Five Spiced Beef - strips of beef in a lovely spicy sauce with mushrooms and greens. A great end to a grand day out.