MACKEREL, RHUBARB, CUCUMBER

I'm lucky enough to eat out quite a lot. It's one of my favourite things to do and I love discovering new restaurants and discovering an area through where to eat there. This does mean that I watch what I eat when I'm not eating out though.... I have to! I try and avoid carbs altogether and eat fresh fruit and vegetables with some occasional protein. This is a go to recipe of mine during rhubarb season and one of the easiest recipes I've posted. There's no actual cooking involved, it takes about five minutes to make and is the perfect light, summer lunch. It's healthy, quite low in calories and full of good nutrients. You can bulk it out with a potato salad made with boiled new potatoes tossed in natural yoghurt but I like it just as it is.

Smoked mackerel, cucumber and pickled rhubarb

Serves 2
2 tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp golden caster sugar
4 whole peppercorns
1 stick of rhubarb
1 cucumber
Half tsp table salt
2 fillets good quality smoked mackerel (get it from the fishmongers or deli if you can - it's still really good value)

Heat the vinegar, sugar and peppercorns in a small sauce pan or frying pan. Chop the ends off the rhubarb stalk and slice into thin matchsticks. Lay the rhubarb sticks on a plate and pour over the warm vinegar mixture. Leave to pickle while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Using a spiraliser or a julienne peeler create ribbons of cucumber. Lay the ribbons on a sheet of kitchen roll and sprinkle with a little table salt.

Give the cucumber a few minutes then shake them gently to get rid of the excess salt and moisture. Put the cucumber ribbons onto the plate, top with the rhubarb sticks and mackerel fillets. The sweet, oily fish is perfect with the pickled rhubarb and juicy cucumber.