Fresh herbs and pomegranate salad
I have very little ability to control portion sizes when cooking so I have come to embrace making meals for 8 rather than just the 2 of us (good job the freezer is big). I think this is a trait I got from my wonderful mother bear. Gracey bobbles is a feeder and I learnt from the best. When we were growing up there was always a home cooked meal ready to go with extras just in case someone stopped by. Growing up we were very lucky because our house was always filled with family, friends, love and laughter.
As the weather gets warmer I’ve been looking for some lighter lunch ideas and I love the idea of using fresh herbs rather than traditional salad leaves and discovered the combination of parsley, coriander and mint when I was looking at some Moroccan recipes. The three herbs each have a very distinct and robust flavour and together they work wonderfully. 
When you mention lunch, healthy or summery who automatically thinks salad? You’re not alone, I did exactly the same thing, I poached some chicken to give it a softer texture (nothing worse than dry chicken), finely sliced my fresh herbs, whacked it in with some bulgar wheat and pomegranate for colour and then seasoned. I won’t lie, it was good. Very good. So good in fact I froze the leftover salad mixture and that was my back up lunch option. Let’s face it, we all have those days! When I pulled it out of the freezer the herbs had lost their vibrant colour so I added spinach, fresh tomatoes and had it with a grilled chicken thigh.
Then I got to thinking, it can’t all be about salad… I’m not going to spend the next lot of summery days eating the same thing, how boring! So I backed right up. Originally I was looking for Moroccan inspiration so I went back to the drawing board. Whenever I think Moroccan I think lamb, slow cooking, spices and tagines, I decided to try and combine some of those ideas and make some meatballs. Using lamb mince, chillies, my herb trio and toasted spices, I slow cooked the meatballs in the oven, low and slow, just covered with some roughly chopped tomatoes.
Obviously there was another portion control issue here, seriously though, I defy you to make meatballs for just 2 people! I have owned up to the fact I am a feeder so after doling out 2 mega portions, I now also have at least 3 more portions of meatballs in the freezer.
I served these with giant cous cous, some more herbs running through it, crème fraiche and sprinkled over some pomegranate. If you’re not a cous cous lover you could use rice or serve it in a wrap or flat bread. It was easy to prepare and cook and I now have 3 different lunch ideas born from a little bit of research.
Check out the recipes and let me know what you think : )
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