love highcross food: a summer of food in leicester.

from vibrant mexican street food to delectable sushi and inspiring italian to stacked up gourmet burgers... you can travel the world flavours at the outdoor food court at highcross in leicester. but with the hustle and bustle of end of season sales, bags full of bargains and that new dress you've gone especially into the city centre for - how often do you plan an evening out to enjoy al fresco dining in that part of town?

this weekend saw the launch of #lovehighcrossfood. a calender of summer foodie events at st. peter's square in highcross leicester to get people smiling, talking and thinking about paying a visit to one of the lovely restaurants there. 

one of the most obvious changes is the colourful edible themed garden around the square. (note themed: made me chuckle at the notice saying the food isn't real - imagining someone trying to climb the tree for a plastic pineapple). i hope to see lots of people getting involved with social media on this one - tweets and instagrams galore of all the edible (not edible) trees and most importantly picture of their meals with the hashtag #lovehighcrossfood :)

so what's in store? i went along on saturday 27th and there were all sorts of things going on; including samples of patisserie valerie's sweet treats, chilacas mexican street food, nando's wings, a vintage ice cream bicycle serving leicestershire ice cream, ping pong tables and a set menu offer at carluccio's.

but don't worry you haven't missed out! here is a calender of events and offers up until 23rd august...

gousto food box review.

lately i seem to be discovering lots of foodie delivery boxes - a brilliant idea for busy families, working couples, a one off treat for a bbq and beyond. but which one to choose? the way gousto works is you firstly select the size which suits your lifestyle, then pick the recipes you like the look of from their weekly list. the box was packed with special ice packs which kept the food cool even in my back garden whilst i was at work (i would've been so sad if a leicester fox ran away with my goodies!) and i loved how some of the ingredients had a little pun on the packet... thyme to cook!

packed with local, organic and seasonal ingredients, it was impossible to decide which two of the meals to pick. i tried to go with more challenging recipes which ingredients or combinations that i'd not tried before. so i should say that there were clear time scales on each description and i probably went with the recipes with lots of prep which took around 30-45 minutes - there are quicker ones! :)

the dishes i chose were thai beef chilli and lime wraps and garlic chicken with creamy kohlrabi mash.