Dinner this evening were these delicious little olive drop scones, accompanied by crispy fried onions and a carrot and raisin salad, that has a few raisins sprinkled in and spritzed with lemon juice. I created this recipe using what is available in Meal Plan 2 and I’m very pleased with it. It’s quick and easy to make, infinitely adjustable to whatever you have in or what your family likes, and pretty cheap too!
What you need to make Olive Drop Scones, Crispy Fried Onions & Old Fashioned Carrot Salad
- Crispy Onions
- thinly sliced onions, red or white, it doesn’t matter
- vegetable oil for frying
- Carrot Salad with Raisins
- carrots, cut into ribbons with a speed peeler or something similar
- raisins, or sultanas if you have no raisins
- an optional spritz of lemon juice, but it really does make quite a big difference
- Easy Drop Scones
- self raising flour, cheapest is absolutely fine
- black olives, or green if you prefer them, or if they are what you have
- vegetable oil for frying
How to make Olive Drop Scones
- Fried Onions
- Briskly fry the onions in a hot pan. It needs to be hot as we want crispy onions here, not caramelised ones.
- Vegan Drop Scones
- Stir the flour with enough water to make a thick batter.
- Chop the olives and stir through.
- In another pan, heat half the oil and drop spoonfuls of batter in.
- When one side is brown and crisp, add the remaining oil and turn the scones over.
- Continue to cook until the 2nd side is done.
- Carrot Salad With Raisins
- Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, cut the carrots into ribbons.
- Add the raisins and spritz with lemon juice if using.
What changes can I make
- You could have these with any cooked veg you fancy
- leave out the raisins from the carrot ribbon salad
- use courgette ribbons
- use salad leaves from the garden etc.
- You could have say, carrot and swede mashed together with a knob of butter, and a sprig of broccoli.
- Or dress some fine sliced cucumber with a tiny bit of vinegar and salt and pepper.
- You could have a vinaigrette dressing which is very easy to mix up. You need 3 tblsps of oil to 1 tbslp acid.
- So it could be olive oil and lemon juice, maybe with a bit of finely grated zest,
- or my favourite, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a good dollop of grainy mustard.
- Add some salt and pepper and give it a good shake in a jam jar to emulsify it, or whisk it with a little whisk/fork.
- Other combinations include walnut oil and balsamic
- almond oil and lemon juice/orange juice.
- Please don’t use malt vinegar, the dressing will be very harsh.
- Add some soy sauce/fish sauce/sesame oil if you have any for an exotic flavour.
- If you made the Vegetable Stir Fry and still have some bean sprouts, you could use them here. You could have them raw, or fry them up on their own or with carrot and have them plain or dressed with soy/oil and lemon/orange juice/fish sauce.
- You could leave out the onions and have a big tomato and raw onion salad if you have tomatoes in the garden
- or slice runner beans really small and julienne some carrots.
- You could have some sweetcorn from a tin,
- or if you are lucky enough to have some in the garden, they would be very yummy.
- Or just plain peas,
- or peas cooked with lettuce in the French style.
See what you have
These feature in Meal Plan 2, a complete 7 day plan for 2 adults. Contains 3 meals a day, plus snacks , all recipes and a shopping list
Ingredients
Easy Drop Scones
- 150 g self raising flour value brand 1.5kg/45p, 5p
- 40 g olives black ones, or green of you prefer those
- 15 ml rapeseed oil to fry with
Carrot Salad With Raisins
- 200 g carrots
- 50 g raisins
- spritz lemon juice (optional)
Crispy Onions
- 200 g onion thinly sliced
- 15 ml rapeseed oil to fry with
Instructions
Crispy Onions
- Slice the onions into thin crescents200 g onion
- Briskly fry the onions in a hot pan. It needs to be hot as we want crispy onions here, not caramelised ones.15 ml rapeseed oil
Olive Drop Scones
- Stir the flour with enough water to make a thick batter.150 g self raising flour
- Chop the olives and stir through.40 g olives
- In another pan, heat half the oil and drop spoonfuls of batter in.15 ml rapeseed oil
- When one side is brown and crisp, add the remaining oil and turn the scones over. Continue to cook until the 2nd side is done.
Old Fashioned Carrot Salad
- Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, cut the carrots into ribbons. Add the raisins and spritz with lemon juice if using.200 g carrots, 50 g raisins, spritz lemon juice (optional)
Equipment Needed
Notes
- You could have these with any cooked veg you fancy,
- leave out the raisins from the carrot ribbon salad,
- use courgette ribbons,
- use salad leaves from the garden etc.
- You could have say, carrot and swede mashed together with a knob of butter, and a sprig of broccoli.
- Or dress some fine sliced cucumber with a tiny bit of vinegar and salt and pepper.
- You could have a vinaigrette dressing which is very easy to mix up.
- You need 3 tblsps of oil to 1 tbslp acid.
- So it could be olive oil and lemon juice, maybe with a bit of finely grated zest, or my favourite, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a good dollop of grainy mustard.
- Add some salt and pepper and give it a good shake in a jam jar to emulsify it, or whisk it with a little whisk/fork.
- Other combinations include walnut oil and balsamic
- or almond oil and lemon juice/orange juice.
- Please don’t use malt vinegar, the dressing will be very harsh.
- Add some soy sauce/fish sauce/sesame oil if you have any for an exotic flavour.
- If you made the Vegetable Stir Fry and still have some bean sprouts, you could use them here. You could have them raw, or fry them up on their own or with carrot and have them plain or dressed with soy/oil and lemon/orange juice/fish sauce.
- You need 3 tblsps of oil to 1 tbslp acid.
- You could leave out the onions and have a big tomato and raw onion salad if you have tomatoes in the garden,
- or slice runner beans really small and julienne some carrots.
- You could have some sweetcorn from a tin,
- or if you are lucky enough to have some in the garden, they would be very yummy.
- Or just plain peas, or peas cooked with lettuce in the French style.
See what you have
Nutrition
Other recipes using olives
Hi Amanda, I am just about to update the plan with the caramelised onions.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying week 1, makes all the hard work worth while 🙂
Hi Lesley please could you tell me how to do caramelised onions for the week 2 meal plan as I am going to embark on that next week, doing week 1 at the moment and loving every mouthful so far!
Thank you