This recipe is from one of my favourite cookbooks called The Diet for Food Lovers by Jennifer Irvine – it is a beautiful book of healthy, delicious recipes (and the pictures are beautiful too!). This particular recipe looks like there is a lot to it but it is actually very simple and easy – perfect with a glass of wine or as a starter if you were having anyone for dinner. The paté takes just 5 mins to make, the carrot salad,  10 mins and the pitta ‘chips’ take 5 mins to prepare and about 15 mins to bake in the oven.  Instead of making the pitta chips you could have some toasted wholemeal or rye bread or even some melba toast with the paté. The pitta chips are worth trying though as they are surprisingly tasty (and a healthy alternative to tortilla chips) and take only minutes to make – my daughter loves them and took them in her lunchbox when I made them recently. And who would ever have thought of a carrot salad? It looks beautiful and the dressing really turns it into something special.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

Carrot Salad
4 medium carrots, peeled & cut into ½ cm slices
½ teaspoon clear honey
1 teaspoon lemon juice
40g raisins
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 handfuls mixed leaves or lamb’s lettuce
20g pine nuts

Pitta Bread tortilla chips

2 wholemeal pitta breads
Olive oil
salt & pepper

Smoked Trout Paté

3 hot smoked trout fillets, flaked or 1 x 100g tin of Goatsbridge Smoked Rainbow Trout
2 tablespoons crème fraiche
2 teaspoons lemon juice (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper

Method – Carrot Salad (10 mins)

• Steam the carrots over a pan of simmering water for 8 minutes until tender.
• Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
• While still warm, add the honey, lemon juice, raisins and olive oil.
• Stir well and leave to cool.

Method – Smoked Trout Paté (5 mins)

• Mix the flaked trout*with the crème fraiche and lemon juice in a bowl.
• Season with salt & pepper.
  *If using the Goatsbridge Smoked Trout in sunflower oil, drain the oil as much as you can and use a sheet of kitchen roll to remove any excess oil.

Method – Pitta Bread Chips ( 5 mins to prepare, 15 mins in the oven)

• Preheat the oven to 180° C/350°F/Gas 4
• Split the pitta breads in half and then cut them into triangles (about the size of a tortilla chip)
• Put the pitta breads into a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil and then toss to ensure they are coated in the oil.
• Lay them out on a baking tray and sprinkle with salt & pepper.
• Bake in the oven for 12-15 mins.