Recent news stories covered world-wide shortages of CUCUMBERS, in part because of the influence of food tik tokkers!

How much can tik tok influence what we eat?

And speaking of, do you want to try out Logan's (a successful food tik tok influencer) cucumber recipe? (He has many.)

SMOKED SALMON AND AVOCADO CUCUMBER SALAD

Slice one whole cucumber and set aside.

Make the dressing by mixing:

3tbs whipped cream cheese

2tbs chopped fresh dill

50g capers and their juice

1/4 red onion, finely sliced

1 whole avocado

Bagel "everything" seasoning

pinch of MSG powder

Pour the dressing over the cucumber. Then add in 200g of smoked salmon, chopped loosely. Serve. Maybe on a bagel.

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Simon’s recent love affair with miso continues…. This time with a really simple but super delicious Miso, lime and sweet potato bake. It’s super easy - there’s only about a half dozen ingredients that you need and a few that are just a little out of the ordinary (lemongrass, Thai basil, limes) but really, nothing hard to find at all. The flavours though are absolutely spot on – it’s a ‘gratin with attitude’ as Anna Jones puts it and it is absolutely fantastic with beautiful bbq chicken or Yumi’s INFAMOUS vegetarian converter chicken wings.

Start by making a sauce

Put a 400 ml tin of coconut milk in a blender with 100g cherry tomatoes and roughly chopped - 1 green chilli, a large thumb-sized piece of ginger, 3 garlic cloves, 2 lemongrass stalks and 2 tablespoons white miso paste. Blitz on high until you have a smooth, fragrant sauce.

Prep your Sweet Potatoes and BAKE

Preheat the oven to 180C. Slice 750g sweet potatoes (4 small/2 large) about ½ cm thick - by hand or MANDOLINE (!). Season with sea salt and layer into a 28cm oiled baking dish (about A4-sized). Layer them in overlapping rows. Pour over the sauce, cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes until the top is browned and the potatoes are cooked through. Take off the foil and bake for another 15 mins.

Final finish

Grate over the zest of 1 unwaxed lime. Scatter over the leaves of a small bunch of basil (Thai best but normal fine) and bake for a final 5 mins. Serve with 2 limes for squeezing over.

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