Fit Fridays: Ploughman’s Lunch

Happy Friday, Everyone!  Oh, and also Happy (early) St. Patrick’s Day.  Tonight is our final weigh in with our friends for this weight loss competition.  I have a feeling we didn’t win 🙁  That’s okay!  It has been so much fun writing this series and coming up with some healthy recipes to share.

I made this for my boy’s last night – a ploughman’s platter with brown Irish soda bread and it was hearty and healthy:

When living in the UK I fell madly in love with the Ploughman’s Lunch.  When I first arrived abroad salads weren’t very popular and this was the closest to an American green salad.  I had my first one in Wales and had so many other lovely Ploughman’s dotted around the green countryside and in London, too.  Many Ploughmans consist of some type of greens, sliced hearty bread, creamy cheese, pickles and chutneys.

I found some healthy versions online from Cooking Light.  Conor and I started off by making this lovely Brown Soda Bread.  It is so delicious and the steel cut oats and buttermilk give it a luxurious flavor!  The whole-wheat flour, wheat germ and oats also make is super healthy!

Brown Irish Soda Bread

Brown Soda Bread
from Cooking Light 2010

Ingredients
– Cooking Spray
– 2 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
– 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
– 1/2 Cup steel-cut oats
– 2 Tbls. brown sugar
– 1 Tbl. wheat germ
– 1 teas. baking soda
1 teas. baking powder
– 1/2 teas. salt
– 2 cups low-fat buttermilk
-1 large egg, lightly beaten


1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Coat a 9 x 5–inch loaf pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, and coat with cooking spray.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 6 ingredients (through salt). Combine buttermilk and egg; add to flour mixture. Stir just until combined.

Conor Baking!

4. Spoon the mixture into prepared pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert bread onto a wire rack; cool completely. Remove parchment; slice bread into 12 slices.

The house smelled heavenly while the bread was baking.  Conor and I got on with making the rest of the salad.

Ploughman’s Platter
From Cooking Light 2010

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
8 cups chopped romaine lettuce 
3 (3-ounce) links chicken apple sausage, cooked and sliced diagonally 
4 ounces reduced-fat cheddar cheese (such as Kerrygold), sliced 
3 slices Brown Soda Bread, each cut into quarters
2 ounces cornichons
3/4 cup Tomato Chutney

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well. Slowly drizzle oil into vinegar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add lettuce; toss to coat. Arrange salad on a platter with sausage, cheese, Brown Soda Bread, and cornichons. Place Tomato Chutney in a bowl; add to platter.

Ploughman’s Lunch

I wish I could say my boys loved all the salad, but the cornichons and the greens weren’t their favorite.  They loved the sausage, cheese and bread.  I had hoped the tomato chutney would be ready to go with the salad, but it took longer to simmer.  We’ll be having it with some leftover bread and some freshly dressed salad today.  Here’s how the chutney looks this morning:

Tomato Chutney

This meal would be perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.  Come back from the parade and have this with a pint of Guinness (well, I’d opt for wine but I think most people love Guinness ).  I’ll share some photos from the parade here on the Irish Riviera next week!

From last year’s parade!