London lunch box: a recipe inspired by Typing Room restaurant in Bethnal Green

Chef Laoise Casey creates cheap, easy-to-cook lunch boxes inspired by things she has eaten in some of London's best restaurants #TypingRoomlunchbox
The London lunch box: chef Laoise Casey has created a recipe inspired by Typing Room restaurant (pic: Laoise Casey)
Laoise Casey20 July 2015

Typing Room lunch box: roasted baby potato and carrot salad with Parma ham and chervil

Going out for lunch somehow feels more decadent than dinner… especially if it’s during the week. There’s something about knowing everyone else is at work while you enjoy good food, a glass or two of wine and can relax. Lunches out should be celebrated, don’t you think? Last week I wrote about a steak sandwich, after dining out with an old friend at Hawksmoor.

But I think lunch for one can also be a special occasion. I used to worry about dining out alone. Would the front of house staff consider me odd and friendless? Should I bring a magazine or keep scrolling through my phone to look busy and popular? Now, when I have the time, it feels like a special treat.

A while ago I ate alone at Typing Room. Lee Westcott’s beautiful food meant there was no need for a magazine or phone scrolling. Sitting near the open kitchen I enjoyed it all the more because for once I was not the one cooking, yet I could see everything being created - plus there were beards a-plenty to admire (Have beards replaced chefs’ tattoos these days? Everyone has them at The Dairy where I work too). But I digress… Lee’s snack menu kept me occupied and I particularly loved his rabbit, heritage carrots, chorizo and chervil salad. I decided I'd love to put it all in a lunch box.

This week’s London lunch box, inspired by my experience at Typing Room, is a roasted baby potato and carrot salad with Parma ham and chervil, topped with a sweet honey wholegrain mustard dressing. So put your phone down, enjoy it - and don’t worry about eating it by yourself.

Cost to make per portion: £2.90

Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes

What you will need:

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 baby potatoes, sliced in half lengthways

4 baby carrots, sliced in half lengthways

3 slices parma ham

1 tsp. white wine vinegar

1 tsp. honey

1 tsp. wholegrain mustard

Handful salad leaves

Small bunch chervil

Sea salt, black pepper to season.

Equipment:

Knife

Baking tray

Bowl

Whisk

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 220C.

Roast the carrots and potatoes on a baking tray for 10 minutes with 2 tbsp. olive oil until cooked through and golden brown.

Make the dressing by whisking 1 tbsp. olive oil with the white wine vinegar and honey.

Plate up the salad with the carrots, potatoes, Parma ham, salad leaves and chervil drizzled with the dressing on top.

Follow Laoise Casey on twitter @cuisine_genie

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