Bite Me!

As you know, I love food.  And who doesn't love getting packages through the post?  So I was massively excited to hear about Graze, who will deliver lovely little healthy(ish) snacky boxes to your door/desk/wherever your intrepid postman cares to travel.  You can choose what days to receive them, and you can also choose those foods you like (rice crackers? yes please) and veto those you don't (goji berries.  Just don't go there.  They taste of sawdust).  Fresh fruit?  Check.  Olives?  Check.  Giant dark chocolate buttons?  Check. 

I'm a convert.  And - even better - you can try your first box for free!  I have a code and will post it up here tomorrow when I've found it (a true professional, me...)

Update: Found it!  Just enter code 8CJ8M4LY at the checkout to receive your first box free.

After the boulangerie, there was just time for a little snackage before heading out for dinner - some Brittany cider fit the bill, with a bagette and some truffle-studded camembert that Abi bought from the fromagerie on Rue Cler.  The cheese was good, but very pungent, with the sort of smell that seeps into every corner of the room despite being muffled by several layers of plastic.  I actually think that the cheese might have tasted better if it hadn't been quite so ripe, as the truffles were rather too subtle to make themselves felt over the taste of the camembert, but nevertheless it made a very nice snack.

Aah, Babybel. So overpriced, so processed, so moreish. If you can buy a bag of six without eating them all at once, you’re a stronger person than I am.

Babybel, £1.25 for a pack of six, from most supermarkets.

Being in a massive hurry the other lunchtime, I nipped into a new sandwich shop called Leon which has just opened on Regent Street to get some lunch. Slightly alarmed by being the sole customer (well, it was about 3pm) and the way all six of the staff were all looking at me (albeit in a smiley, friendly way) I grabbed the nearest salad that came to hand and scarpered. What a stroke of luck – it turned out to be a Leon Superfoods Salad, containing broccoli, alfalfa, peas, feta, quinoa, cucumber and seeds, with a minty dressing. It was quite simply the best salad I have ever eaten – I was going to say, from a sandwich shop, but it occurs to me that it was probably one of the nicest salads I have ever eaten full stop. The avocado was perfectly ripe and not at all brown, the feta creamy, the broccoli of a perfect firmness. I’ll definitely be going back to try out some of their other lunches – the sweet potato falafel sound right up my street!

Leon Superfoods Salad, £3.95. For a list of all Leon restaurants (photo is of Leon Spitalfields), see www.leonrestaurants.co.uk

Mmm, Marmite. I’m most definitely in the love camp on this one – I can eat the stuff by the spoonful (and now they do squeezy tubs! How exciting!). Yes, it’s good on toast, and in jacket potatoes (trust me, just mash it all in with some butter, great stuff) but probably my favourite Marmite recipe is one that I used to love when I was little (and still eat now, if I’m feeling indulgent). It’s easy to make – lightly toast a pitta bread, slice in half and open up the pockets, spread with Marmite and fill with grated cheese (quite bland Cheddar works well here). Then put in the microwave for a minute or so (until all the cheese has melted), stand to cool for another minute, and then eat. And immediately afterwards make another one. The standing period is important as it brings the cheese to the right texture – eat it too hot and the cheese will all run out down your arms and probably give you scalding burns to boot. Similarly, don’t leave in the microwave for too long or they will go all crispy, which is just wrong. Squidginess is key here.