Tomato & red onion chutney

As we’re all spending a lot more time at home right now, I thought it would be useful to share a recipe that will help you liven up your lunches. I don’t know about you, but I feel like the kitchen has turned into a revolving door canteen providing endless meals for everyone, so at the moment I want to keep things as simple (and tasty) as possible. Simple - to cut back on time spent meal prepping and tasty - well obvs, but especially at the moment because food is the highlight of everyone’s day right now!

I’m hoping this chutney might bring a spark of joy to your life, by injecting flavour into your lunch or dinner! We’ve added it to our burgers and halloumi wraps this week (see below), but it also works really well with cheese (and ham?) toasties, hot dogs, quiche, sausages or any kind of cheese. Alternatively you could mix a little chutney with mayonnaise and add to a sandwich or try mixing a spoon into a salad dressing.

This recipe takes about 10 minutes to prep and the rest is cooking time, so it’s pretty simple to throw together.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, halved and sliced thinly

• 8 vine tomatoes, chopped into small cubes

• 60g soft brown sugar

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a medium sized pan and add the onions. Fry for 15 minutes and then add the tomatoes, sugar and red wine vinegar.

• Heat until bubbling and then reduce to a simmer for 40 minutes until you have a jammy texture.

• Add the salt and stir well. Mash any larger pieces of tomato with a fork.

• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.

Spicy Garam masala beans

I’m not sure if I’m in a minority, but I love beans: they’re really versatile as they’re a ‘blank canvas’ for different spices, hearty and a super cheap plant based protein, especially if you buy dried.

I’m certainly in a minority at home as the kids won’t have anything to do with them and even Ralph the human dustbin isn’t that keen. He’s scarred from a traumatic childhood incident of being forced to eat baked beans by TV presenter Judith Chalmers. A little known fact.

Anyway, even Ralph said these were tasty, so they must be alright! This recipe makes a big pan so you can freeze a few portions - great for a quick dinner or if I’ve made a curry I’ll defrost a portion to have another dish on the table without much effort.
Another great way to eat these would be in an Indian style wrap with my roasted cauliflower, brown basmati, coriander and coconut yoghurt.

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• I large onion, chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes

• 1 tbsp tomato purée

• 4 x 400g tins of mixed beans (any kind), drained

• 150g red lentils, rinsed well

• 1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk

• 1 x tin of tomatoes

• 1 ½ tsp sea salt

• A handful of coriander leaves, optional

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive or rapeseed oil in a large pan. Add the onions and fry gently for 15-20 minutes until softened and starting to brown.

• Add the garlic and stir in well, cook for 1 minute.

• Next add the garam masala and chilli flakes, allowing them to warm and release their flavours for about 30 seconds, then stir in the tomato purée.

• Pour in the tinned beans, red lentils, coconut milk and tomatoes. Fill one of the empty tins with water and add to the pan as well.

• Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 60 minutes.

• Add the salt and coriander if you’re using it.

  Serve with:

• brown basmati, naan bread, plain or vegan coconut yoghurt.

• roasted butternut squash or sweet potato and yoghurt.

Red pepper, tomato & lentil soup

This was lunch today; it was so quick and easy that I thought I’d share straightaway to help you with Lockdown lunches. My daughter initially refused to have anything to do with the soup, but after I suggested she just try a bit by dipping her toastie in, she decided she really liked the flavour. She ended up dipping before every bite! So she liked the taste but wasn’t prepared to eat red peppers - I’m saying that’s a partial win. It’s good to introduce kids to new flavours and diverse food groups as early as possible, even if they’re not quite ready for some of the textures though. Hopefully that will come…. after all she’s only 10, I’m going to let her off for another 6 months ;-)

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped finely

• 2 red peppers, chopped in small pieces

• 1 large garlic glove, grated

• 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika

• 2 tbsp rose harissa

• 2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes

• 200g red lentils, rinsed well

• 1L water

• 1 ½ tsp sea salt

• A handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Method

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large pan, add the onions and fry on low for 8 minutes.

• Next add the peppers, turn the heat up a little to get them sizzling, then reduce the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes.

• Add the garlic, stir well and cook for 1 minute, then the paprika, mix and allow to warm for 30 seconds.

• Then add the rose harissa, tomatoes, lentils and 1L of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes. Take the lid off and allow to bubble for 5 minutes.

• Chop the coriander leaves roughly and the stalks finely, then add to the soup just before serving.

Tip

• Rose harissa might not be an ingredient you use much, but I made a lovely Roasted butternut squash & spelt salad and used it in the dressing last week, so you might want to give it a try. In any case the harissa will last at least 4 weeks in the fridge, if not longer. Plenty of time to try it in other dishes! I’ll keep linking them all on my website too.

Mushroom risotto

Apologies to the person who asked for non-mushroom recipes recently, I promise there will be more fungi-less dishes coming up over the next few days! I wanted to share this as I love mushroom risotto and it’s a pretty straightforward recipe that you can knock together on any day of the week.

Also it’s surprisingly a dish that I can get my kids to eat without too much complaint. Admittedly they carefully pick out every mushroom, but even if they don’t eat them they’re used to the look and taste which I think is still quite important. They haven’t got used to the texture yet, but hopefully that will come.

I added some carrots and broccoli to their plates so at least they ate some veggies and we had a green salad. A good tip for getting your kids to eat things they don’t like much is to serve with (garlic or buttered fresh) bread. I find that mine will then revoltingly pile the thing they don’t love onto the bread and eat it that way!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 300g chestnut mushrooms, sliced roughly

• Approx 1-2 tbsp olive oil

• 10g porcini mushrooms

• 40g unsalted butter

• 1 onion, chopped finely

• 1 stick celery, chopped finely

• 1 clove garlic, grated

• 150ml white wine or 100ml sherry or vermouth

• 300g risotto rice

• 700ml vegetable stock

• 50g parmesan, finely grated

• 3/4 tsp sea salt

• Squeeze of 1/4 lemon

• Handful of chopped parsley, optional

Method

• Warm ½ tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and cook the mushrooms on a medium heat in batches. Set aside each batch in a bowl once browned.

• While the mushrooms are cooking, boil a cup of water in the kettle, pour 50ml on to the porcini in a small bowl leaving them to soak while you get the risotto started.

• Warm the stock on the hob or microwave.

• Heat 30g of butter and a decent glug of olive oil in a wide low-sided pan, add the onions and celery, cooking gently for 15 minutes until soft, but not browned.

• Next add the rice, stirring well, after about a minute it should look slightly translucent at the edges.

• Then turn up the heat and pour in the wine or Sherry. Allow the harsh alcohol taste to bubble off and once the rice has absorbed the rest of the wine start adding the warm stock. I usually pour in about a ladle or 100ml at a time.

• After the first ladle, roughly chop the porcini mushrooms with a pair of scissors in the bowl and pour into the rice.

• Deglaze the mushroom frying pan with a little stock and add it to the rice, so you don’t waste that extra flavour. Then keep adding the stock slowly, each time it absorbed pour another ladle into the pan, stirring regularly.

• After 10 minutes add the cooked mushrooms and continue pouring in the stock for another 8 minutes.

• Check the rice is cooked (it should still have a little bite to it) and then stir in 10g of butter, 30g parmesan, salt, a squeeze of lemon and parsley if you’re using it.

• Serve with the rest of the parmesan, warm ciabatta and a green salad.

  Tip

• A note about stock - if I’m using a cube then I will double the amount of water recommended on the pack, so for this recipe I just used one cube for one litre of water. Otherwise you’ll end up tasting the stock cube rather than it being a savoury back note.

• I don’t always want to open a bottle of wine just for cooking, so I keep a bottle of sherry or Vermouth in the cupboard to use for risotto. It doesn’t go off like wine, so you can just use a glass as and when you need it.

• To make the risotto vegan, you could use non-dairy ‘butter’ and add a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and or a little oat cream instead of cheese. Top with pine nuts or pumpkin seeds.

• I use a Microplane or fine grater for the cheese and garlic.

Spiced roast cauliflower

Cauliflower became a whole new vegetable once I discovered roasting it a few years ago. It takes on a completely different taste - none of the farty flavour you might remember from soggy school dinners - especially as you can add different spice combinations. This time I went for spices that work best with Indian style dishes, but if you leave out the turmeric and switch for dried chilli or cayenne then the cauliflower is lovely with Middle Eastern and Mexican food.

Ingredients

• 1 whole cauliflower, chopped into small florets

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp coriander

• ½ tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

• A few spoons of natural yoghurt

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc.

• Tip the cauliflower on to a large tray and gather it up at one end.

• Mix the oil, spices and salt in a small bowl and drizzle over the cauliflower, mixing well. Now spread out the florets evenly with small gaps in between them.

• Place in the oven for 15 minutes and then check and turn. One side should be browned before you turn. Put back in the oven for 8 minutes.

• Serve with a squeeze of lemon and natural yoghurt. Vegan coconut yoghurt works really well too.

Butternut squash & spelt salad with rose harissa dressing

I made this lovely salad at the weekend so I had some tasty lunches ready for me to grab in between home schooling. It’s been really nice to have something interesting ready eat without having to do any prep - especially as food is the highlight of my day more than ever right now! If you’re going to do the same then just keep the salad and dressing separate and that way it will last 4-5 days without going soggy.

To give you an idea of how much this recipe makes, I managed to trough my way through it in 5 ‘main meal’ sized bowls with a little added cheese and salad.

I know a couple of the ingredients (spelt and rose harissa) aren’t necessarily what you might have in your store cupboard, but they’re easily available online. Or alternatively you could switch the spelt for bulgur / cous cous / brown rice and use ordinary harissa paste or even leave out and just have a tahini dressing (you might need to add a little extra water) - it will still be super tasty!

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 230g pearled spelt

• 1 large red onion (yellow is fine too)

• 1 sweet pepper (any colour except. green)

• ½ butternut squash, chopped in 1 ½ cm cubes

• Handful of chopped parsley

• Handful chopped coriander

• Sprinkle of sea salt

• Handful of toasted sunflower seeds, optional

Dressing

• 3 tbsp tahini

• 3 tbsp lemon juice

• 50 ml water

• 2 tsp rose harissa

• ½ tsp sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc

• Spread the squash out on a large tray and drizzle with about ½ tbsp of olive oil. Do the same with the onions and peppers, mixing well. I used separate trays as the squash will take a little longer to cook. Sprinkle with salt and place both trays in the oven for 20 minutes.

• Check and turn the vegetables with a spatula and place back in the oven. Roast the onions and peppers for a further 10 minutes and the squash for about 20 or until soft right the way through and browned on the outside.

• While the vegetables are roasting, cook the spelt - add to a large pan of cold water and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until softened. Drain well and allow to cool.

• Now make the dressing by adding all the ingredients to a bowl or jar and whisking well. The tahini will make the mixture stiffen as as you first start to mix, but keep going it will gradually loosen up.

• Mix the spelt, vegetables and herbs with a good sprinkle of sea salt and serve with a generous drizzle of dressing. Top with sunflower seeds if you’re using them.

Tip

• This salad can be eaten warm or cold. With any salad the flavour will always be better if you serve at room temperature. If it has been stored in the fridge, just serve a portion in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute to take the chill off without over-cooking any of the ingredients.

• Add crumbled feta, halloumi, creamy blue cheese and a green salad as a main meal or you could eat it as a side with veggie sausages, griddled meat or fish.

Raspberry, mango & oat smoothie

Ingredients

Protein: ~27–29 g
Fibre: ~7–8 g

Serves 1

• 60g frozen mango

• 20g frozen raspberry

• 20g frozen banana

• 1 tbsp chia seeds

• ½ tbsp flax seed

• 2 tbsp organic whey or pea protein (to provide ~20 g protein)

• 200ml nut milk or organic whole

Method

• Blitz!!

Tip

• Buy bags of frozen fruit to save on the cost, plus they naturally chill your drink down so you dont need to use ice.

• If you’re wondering why there is more mango than raspberry, it’s because the raspberry is a much stronger flavour and it takes over if you don’t balance it out.

Easy sausage & tomato pasta

This is a very simple pasta dish that won’t take you long to prepare. It’s one of those dinners that is just an easy crowd pleaser on any night of the week and is super flexible as it can be vegetarian, vegan or meaty!

I’ve kept the ingredient list short and the method straightforward, so it can become one of your back pocket recipes that you can just throw together without referring back here.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 6 vegetarian or pork sausages

• 1 large onion, chopped finely

• 1 garlic clove, grated or chopped finely

• 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes

• 1 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar

• ½ tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

• A small handful of basil leaves, torn

• A handful grated parmesan

• Your choice of pasta

Method

• First cut the sausages into 2cm thick slices. Defrost thoroughly first if you’re using frozen, if you’re using pork I would squeeze the meat out of the casing and roughly roll into small balls.

• Whatever kind of sausage you’re using, preheat ½ tbsp of olive oil in a large pan and fry the pieces until browned on all sides. This will take about 5-6 minutes for vegetarian sausages and a little longer for meat (check the inside middle temperature is at least 63ºc with a meat thermometer).

• Remove the sausage pieces from the pan and put in a covered bowl. Set aside.

• Add ½ tbsp olive oil to the pan, heat and then put in the onions. Fry on low for about 15 minutes until softened and beginning to brown.

• Then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring well.

• Next pour in the tomatoes and simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.

• Break up the tomatoes if they not already chopped, add 1 tsp balsamic vinegar and the sausage pieces. Allow the sauce to bubble for a further 5 minutes (making sure the sausage has heated through properly) and then add the basil leaves, salt and pepper.

• Serve with any kind of pasta you like!

Tip

• I actually didn’t have any basil in when I made this, so don’t worry if it’s missing, the sauce still tastes great!

• Add a blob of mascarpone cheese or crème fraîche to make it creamy, chilli flakes for heat, slices of jarred (so no extra cook time) red pepper for sweetness, spinach leaves for greenery! All these additions would go in for the final 5 minutes with the sausage.

• Make the sauce vegan by leaving out the parmesan and use plant based sausages.

• Meat-eaters could switch sausage for small pieces of crispy bacon.

Sweet potato hummus with homemade tortilla chips

Having a tub of homemade hummus in the fridge is really handy for making lots of different tasty lunches or dinners through the week. It’s simple to make and a great source of plant-based protein. My daughter is vegetarian and up until now as refused to eat hummus, but I added some to her wrap yesterday with fried red onion, sweetcorn and halloumi (pictured below) - she loved it! Major break-through as I want to expand her range of veggie protein sources. I had some with a baked potato, feta and a quickly thrown together salad, which was also lovely; but there are so many ways you can use hummus to make dishes more interesting. I’ve listed a few in the Tips section below.

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato (500g raw unpeeled)

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained & liquid reserved

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp pimentón (or paprika)

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 4 tbsp aquafaba (chick pea water)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc, put the potato on a tray and bake for about 50 minutes. Test with a knife to make sure it is soft all the way through before cutting in half, mashing and allowing to fully cool (I put mine in the freezer to speed it up).

• Put all the other ingredients in a food processor and blitz until really smooth.

• Next add in the cooled sweet potato and blitz thoroughly.

Tip

• Bake the sweet potato a day or two before you make the hummus, so it takes you even less time to prep. If you’re making dinner and have the oven on, then put the potato in as well. Save time and electricity! Just store the cooked potato (unpeeled) in the fridge over night and bring up to room temp, if possible, before adding to the hummus mix.

• Serve with homemade tortilla chips, wraps, baked potato, crudités, grain or rice salad, roasted veggies… the list is endless if you’re a hummus fan!

New Year tabbouleh salad

Happy New year everyone! Not the start we all wanted for 2021, but at least there is light at the end of a very long tunnel with the vaccine roll out.

Anyway, here’s the first salad I made this year as I really needed a break from winter comfort food. I made a big bowl to last us for a few days and I’ve been enjoying my lunches so much. I’ve used pomegranate molasses in the dressing because I happened to have a big bottle and I’m trying to use my store cupboard up, but you can replace with red or white wine vinegar and a squirt of runny honey. I know it’s not easy getting quirky ingredients at the moment, but everything else is pretty straight forward.

The salad is vegan if you just top with a sprinkle of toasted sunflower seeds, but veggie with the addition of crumbled feta. It’s up to you!

Ingredients

Serves 6-8 as a side dish

• 150g Puy or small green lentils

• 150g bulgur wheat

• 1/2 red onion, chopped finely

• 1 handful cherry tomatoes, quartered

• 3 sticks celery, thinly sliced

• 1 red pepper, chopped

• 1/2 cucumber, seeded centre removed & chopped

• 1 handful chopped parsley

• 1 handful chopped coriander

• Generous pinch sea salt

• Approx 50g sunflower seeds

• 150g feta, crumbled

  Dressing

• 50ml olive oil

• Juice 1/2 lemon

• 20ml pomegranate molasses

Method

• Cook the lentils as per the packet instructions, usually simmer for 20 minutes, but add a spoon of vegetable bouillon to the water.

• Cook the bulgur according to th packet instructions (about 12 minutes). Drain both well and allow to cool completely.

• Toast the sunflower seeds in a frying pan (no oil) on a medium heat, but watch them like a hawk as they’ll suddenly burn. Set aside to cool on a plate.

• Next put all the chopped vegetables and herbs in a large bowl. Stir in the cooled lentils and bulgur.

• Mix the dressing ingredients together and give them a good shake.

• Pour over the dressing, and top with seeds and feta

Tip

• If, like me, you’re making this salad to eat for lunch or dinner over a few days then keep all the elements separate and mix a portion at a time as you eat it. This way the salad should last about 4 days.

• The main thing to keep separate is the dressing as adding liquid will make the veggies go soggy.

Veggie gravy

This is a rich hearty vegan gravy that goes really well with just about any traditional British comfort food. It’s perfect for my chestnut, mushroom and pecan roast; veggies sausages and mash; Yorkshire puddings; roasted vegetables; anything you would normally have gravy with basically!

It’s simple to make and can be frozen for up to 3 months; I like to make a big pan and keep a stock in the freezer so I don’t have to make a meaty version for the boys and a veggie one for my daughter when we have a Sunday roast. I do the same thing with nut roasts as they divide into about 6-8 slices and as only 3 of us eat it at a time, I can freeze the rest and use it next time.

Ingredients

Makes 1.3 L

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 onions, chopped

• 2 sticks of celery, chopped finely

• 2 carrots, chopped

• 8 g dried porcini mushrooms

• 2 fresh bay leaves

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 2 tbsp Marsala wine

• 2 tsp dijon mustard

• 1 tbsp tomato purée

• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1.5 L vegetable stock

• 4 tbsp cornflour

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 tsp sea salt

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large deep pan. Fry the onion, celery, carrot, porcini, bay and thyme gently for 20 minutes.

• Then add the Marsala and cook for 2 minutes, before adding the tomato purée, stock, Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and simmer for a further 45 minutes or until the carrots are really soft.

• At this point I used a hand blender to blitz the veggies before passing through a sieve, but you could just mash them through with a fork. Obviously you’ll have quite a bit of left over veggie matter, but you’ve squeezed out most of the good stuff!

• Mix the cornflour with a little water so it is all dissolved into a thick paste.

• Pour the gravy back into the pan and heat to a gentle simmer.

• Add half the cornflour mix, but make sure you whisk it in quickly with a fork or you’ll get lumps. Allow the gravy to thicken and add the rest of the cornflour gradually until you get the right consistency. It will take about 3-5 minutes for the cornflour to work. You may not need to use all of it, or you might want to add more depending on how thick you like your gravy!

• Add red wine vinegar, salt and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Tip

• If you don’t have Marsala, you could switch for sherry, vermouth, madeira or port.

Chestnut, mushroom & pecan roast

I know nut roasts are a bit retro, the original vegetarian alternative, but believe it or not they’ve come on a bit since those dense, claggy 80s originals. They’ve become a bit more imaginative since those days with less nuts and more veggies, sourdough crumbs instead of plain and added spices and herbs to make them a bit more interesting. I think the other thing that puts people off is the perception that nuts roasts are quite labour intensive, well, in this recipe I’ve tried to keep the chopping and ingredients to a minimum so it’s not too much work. You can also freeze a few slices so next time all you have to do is defrost!

The fact is this much maligned veggie alternative works really well in place of meat with a roast dinner. After mostly giving up meat last January, I’ve struggled to find a better stand in where roasts are concerned, yes you can buy a Quorn ‘joint’, but it’s never going to be as interesting as a slice full of veggies, spices and nuts; or be as nutritionally diverse.

I’ve tried a few recipes (Felicity Cloake, Jamie Oliver and BBC Good Food) over the last few months and taken inspiration from all of them to create this one. The mushrooms, chestnuts and pecans make a good rich base with a few veggies for freshness crunch and flavour, plus paprika and oregano for depth. I have used plain, rather than smoked paprika (which is used in a lot of nut roast recipes) as I think it works better with traditional British roast flavours.

If you’re making this for Christmas I definitely recommend you make my gravy too as they work perfectly together even if I do say so myself!!). Both can be made ahead and frozen, which is exactly what I’m doing as I’ll be cooking turkey and making a meaty gravy so I don’t want too much work to do on the day!

Ingredients

Serves 8

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 300g chestnut mushrooms, blitzed

• 180g cooked chestnuts, blitzed

• 1 tsp oregano

• 1 ½ tsp paprika

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 2 carrots, grated

• 100g fresh breadcrumbs

• 150g pecans, roughly chopped

• 150g mature cheddar, grated

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc. Line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment, or I like to use a liner as they just slot in.

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the onions and celery, frying gently for 20 minutes.

• While they’re cooking blitz the chestnuts in a food processor and then put in a bowl, do the same with the mushrooms - both should be a rough bread crumb like texture, so not pulverised! If you don’t have a processor, just chop finely.

• Turn up the heat a little and add the mushrooms to the pan for 10 minutes until all their water has evaporated and the mix is fairly dry.

• Then put in the garlic and cook for another minute, before adding the chestnuts, oregano and paprika. Allow the paprika to warm for a minute to release it’s flavour, then add the tomato purée mixing well before adding the carrots, breadcrumbs, pecans, cheese, salt and finally the beaten eggs.

• Spoon the mix into the tin, press it down reasonably firmly so it sticks together and cover with tin foil. Place in the oven for 30 minutes then remove the tin foil and put back in for another 15 minutes.

• Serve with my vegan gravy, roasties and lots of greens.

Vegan bolognese

I’ve been working on a good vegan bolognese sauce for a while now as it’s harder to really get a rich flavour into a soya mince sauce. I tried again last night, thinking carefully about which ingredients would bring the right depth of flavour and it turned out really well. My veggie daughter loved it and my carnivore son begrudgingly admitted it was ‘decent’, although this was partly due to the fact that it didn’t have any lentils in it! He is a very reluctant ‘flexitarian’ ie. forced to eat more veggie food than he’d like because that’s what I cook all the time! So if he likes something then it’s a big win for the veggies ;-)

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 onions, chopped

• 1 red pepper, chopped

• 2 large garlic cloves, grated or minced

• 1 kg soya mince (I used a mix of Plant Pioneers / Vivera)

• 350ml red wine

• 100g sun dried tomatoes, chopped

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tsp celery salt

• ½ tbsp red wine vinegar

• 1 ½ tsp sea salt

• A good grind of black pepper

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onions and cook for 10 minutes on low. Then add the red pepper for a further 10 minutes.

• Next add the garlic and cook for 1 minute before putting the soya mince into the pan. Mix well and then turn up the heat and pour in the wine. Allow to bubble and cook off any harsh alcohol flavours and then add the sun-dried, puréed and tinned tomatoes, crumbled stock cube, Worcestershire sauce and celery salt.

• Fill both empty tomato tins with water and pour into the pan. Mix well and cook with the lid off for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Add the red wine vinegar and seasoning and cook for 5 minutes.

'Chicken' supreme with rice

You can’t get a much more family-friendly veggie recipe than this - it’s classic comfort food which works really well in the colder months and should satisfy even the most committed meat eaters. My carnivore sons who are not especially enamoured with Quorn will eat this without complaint!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 50g butter

• 50g tbsp flour

• 900ml semi skimmed milk

• 1 ½ tsp vegetable bouillon

• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• 6 Quorn chicken fillets, sliced or cubed

• 200g frozen peas or sweetcorn

• 220g brown rice or 280g white rice

Method

• First make the bechamel sauce. Add the butter to the pan, melt and then tip in the flour, mix thoroughly and allow to warm through for a minute.

• Start pouring the milk in slowly, 50ml at a time at first, so you don’t get lots of splashing as you whisk it in. Quickly add the next 50ml and repeat until you’ve got to about 300ml and then you can start adding 100ml at a time.

• Once you’ve poured in all the milk leave on a low heat for 15 minutes to cook through and get rid of the floury taste, but whisk or stir regularly so the bottom doesn’t stick and cause lumps.

• Cook the rice as per the instructions on the packet.

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and add the Quorn pieces, cooking for for 6-8 minutes until browned on at least a couple of sides.

• Add the Quorn and peas to the white sauce for 5 minutes, or until the peas have warmed through.

Mince pies

I don’t often make mince pies, but this year there’s no stopping me! I’ve already made two batches of 18 - and eaten most of them myself I think! This recipe gives you double the amount of mince that you’ll need for one batch as it’s a good way to save time and effort if you want to make them again. If not just halve the mincemeat ingredients. I’ve reduced the candied peel content in this recipe and added some almonds instead as this is how I prefer the mix, but you could tweak to suit your tastes.

I based the mincemeat recipe on Mary Berry’s as she switches suet for butter, which I think works really well, and I always go back to Jamie Oliver’s sweet short crust pastry as it’s very reliable and I never have any problems with it.

Ingredients

Makes approx 18

Pastry

• 250 g organic plain flour , plus extra for dusting

• 50 g icing sugar , sifted

• 125 g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

• 1 large free-range eggs , beaten

• 1 tbsp milk

Mincemeat

• 50g raisins

• 50g dates

• 50g sultanas

• 50g dried cranberries

• 50g mixed peel

• ½ apple, peeled & chopped into small cubes

• 50g butter

• 30g whole almonds, toasted & roughly chopped

• 120g light brown soft sugar

• ½ orange - juice and zest

• 1 lemon - juice & zest

• 2 tbsp brandy

Method

Pastry

• I use a food processor to make pastry as it’s quick and easy, but you can do it by hand if you prefer.

• First add the flour and icing sugar to the processor and pulse to break up any lumps.

• Then add the butter (take out of the fridge at the last minute) and pulse a few times so the mix turns into a rough bread crumb like texture with the butter evenly distributed through the flour.

• At this point I take out the blades and use a fork to gradually mix in the eggs. Add ½ tbsp of milk and see if the pastry will come together, if it is still a bit crumbly then add the other ½.

• Gently bring the mix together with your hands and tip out onto a clean side. Push the pastry together with your hands to make a round disc ensuring that the mix has properly stuck together, but don’t knead or ‘work’ the pastry at all.

• Wrap tightly in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Mincemeat

• First measure out all the ingredients then put in a large pan and heat gently.

• Simmer for 10 minutes and leave to cool.

• The mix will keep up to 3 months in sterilised jars.

Mince pies

• Preheat the oven to 180ºc.

• Roll out the pastry, making sure the rolling pin and side are lightly floured to avoid sticking. Turn the pastry ¼ clockwise each time you roll. And be gentle so you don’t over work and make it tough; keep the rolling to a minimum, but obviously you can’t avoid a certain amount!

• Cut the first 12 x 8-9cm circles and then cut the stars to go on top. You should have enough pastry for a further 6 pies.

• Put the pastry circles into a bun tray and add a small teaspoon of mincemeat (approx 12g) so they are about ¾ full. Don’t overfill as they’ll bubble up too much.

• Then put the stars on top, pressing down lightly on the edges and brushing with milk.

• Place in the oven for 18-20 minutes, checking at 15 minutes.

Homemade granola

Making your own granola is really quick, easy and way cheaper than buying it off the shelf. You can also add the exact mix of ingredients that you like, so no more disappointing bits of dried pineapple to come across. I’m quite particular about the types of dried fruit I like in granola or muesli, I only really like sultanas, raisins and dates, I’ll tolerate a bit of apricot, but that’s about it! So it’s better to make my own, plus I can also add loads of nuts as they’re always a bit scarce in shop-bought packets.

With this recipe you can pick and choose the ingredients that you like to make your own ‘perfect granola’. Switch the nuts, seeds and fruit if there are others that you prefer; if you stick to these proportions you’ll still get a good balance. Same with the spices and vanilla extract, you don’t have to add them if they’re not your thing, the granola will still taste great.

Ingredients

Makes approx 1kg, or 20 servings

• 400g oats

• 200g raisins, or any dried fruit you prefer

• 100g almonds, hazelnuts, cashews or pecans

• 50g pumpkin seeds

• 50g sunflower seeds

• 40g flax seeds

• ½ tsp cinnamon, optional

• 1 tsp ground ginger, optional

• 2 tsp vanilla essence

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

• 170g runny honey or maple syrup

• 50g desiccated coconut

Method

• Preheat the oven to 160ºc

• Weigh out all the dry ingredients and put all of them, except the desiccated coconut, into a large bowl.

• Put the coconut oil and honey into a pan and gently warm until melted then pour onto the dry ingredients, mix well.

• Tip the granola onto one, or two baking trays so it is a max of about 2 cm deep and place in the oven for 10 minutes.

• Check and turn the mix and put back in the oven for a further 10 minutes, keeping a careful eye on it as you don’t want it to turn too brown. You might need to put it back in for another 5 minutes or so, but watch like a hawk it will suddenly turn! The mix should turn a pale golden colour.

• Serve with Greek yoghurt and homemade fruit compote. Or it work well sprinkled on top of overnight oats or muesli.

superseedy overnight oats

I always think that overnight oats are a nice alternative to porridge as I don’t always fancy a hot breakfast, and they have the bonus of being ready straight away in the morning. You just need to do a little prep the night before. Today I topped with blueberry compote, peanut butter and banana, but there are lots of other options you could try: any kind of fruit compote, chopped nuts or seeds, fresh or dried fruit, desiccated coconut, nut butter or yoghurt.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 200g oats

• 680ml nut milk or organic whole

• 25g flax seeds

• 25g chia seeds

• 25g sunflower seeds

• 25g pumpkin seeds

Blueberry compote

• 200g frozen blueberries

• 1 tsp honey or maple syrup (optional)

Method

• Mix all the ingredients in a lidded tub and leave in the fridge overnight.

• Gently warm the frozen fruit in a saucepan for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly so the heat is distributed evenly, then add the honey if using. Allow to cool.

• Top with compote, peanut butter, banana and a sprinkle of extra sunflower seeds.

Cauliflower, chickpea & feta fritters

Introducing my new favourite fritter; I first made this recipe ages ago and never returned to it. Not sure why as it’s a good un! Anyway, here it is making up for lost time as it’s back with a bang of flavour! Serve with roasted new potatoes, homemade slaw or a green salad. This recipe includes two dips as they’re both very quick to make, but you can choose one or the other. You could also just serve with Sriracha sauce, instead of making it into a mayo.

Ingredients

Makes 10-12 fritters

• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained

• 1 small cauliflower, weighing about 850g leaves removed

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp coriander

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tin 400g chickpeas

• Handful of parsley, chopped

• 140g feta, crumbled

• 4 tbsp plain flour

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 egg

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil approx

  Lemon yoghurt

• 8 tbsp yoghurt

• Juice & zest of 1 lemon

• Pinch of salt

Sriracha mayo

• 1 ½ tbsp sriracha sauce

• 6 tbsp mayonnaise

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc. Place the cauliflower florets on a large baking tray and spread so they have a little room between each one, use two trays if any are touching. If you don’t leave enough space around vegetables when you’re roasting them then they will steam and go soggy rather than browned and caramelised.

• Drizzle 1 tbsp of oil over the cauliflower and then sprinkle over the spices and a sprinkle of sea salt, mix well. Roast for 15 minutes and then turn and put back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

• Set aside to cool and turn the oven down to about 80ºc - you’ll need it to keep the batches of fritters warm later.

• Next drain the chickpeas and dry well with kitchen roll. Blitz in a food processor for a few seconds, so they resemble breadcrumbs.

• Chop the cooled cauliflower into small pieces; you don’t want big chunks as the fritters won’t stick together.

• Put the chickpeas, parsley, crumbled feta, flour and salt into a large bowl and mix well. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and then add to the mix.

• I use a large ice cream scoop to measure and shape each fritter, but you could do it with a big spoon or with scales - aim for about 70-80g each.

• Line a baking tray with parchment and put the raw fritters on it as you make them.

• Make the dressings before you cook the fritters.

• Heat 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and spread around before adding the first fritters. You’ll need to cook them in batches so the pan doesn’t get over crowded; I do 4-5 each time and I usually need to add about ½ tbsp of oil for each new batch so they don’t stick. Cook for 5 minutes each side on a medium heat until golden brown.

• Put each batch on to another large tray and place in the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest.

TIP

• Once you’ve shaped the raw mix, you can freeze the fritters at this stage. Find a tray or plate that will fit in your freezer and line it with baking parchment, space out the fritters on it and put in the freezer. Allow to harden for about 1 hour and then bing them off with a knife and transfer to a bag. This way they won’t stick together in a big lump. Defrost thoroughly before cooking.

Leek & sweet potato soup

My original plan to was to make classic leek and potato soup, but seeing some sweet potatoes in the veg rack I ended up taking a left turn and I’m really glad I did as I love this recipe! It makes a hearty nutritious soup with lots of flavour that’s quick and easy to make. I think I’ve decided I’m more of a chunky soup person in general as I really like my food to have different textures and this soup definitely ticks that box. I’ve been eating it for lunch all week and I haven’t even needed any bread as it’s really filling. I’ve used spicy paprika for flavour and to give a kick with some additional chilli to bring the heat level up a notch. But if you prefer it milder, just leave out the chill flakes.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 large sweet potatoes

• 2 large leeks, slices

• 1 large knob of butter

• 1 garlic clove, grated

• 1 ½ tsp hot paprika

• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes

• 120g red lentils

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 1.1L water

• 50g kale, chopped

• ¾ tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

• Fresh parsley to serve, optional

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc.

• Put the sweet potatoes on a tray and bake for approx 45 minutes. Check that they are completely cooked through before removing from the oven. Set aside to cool a little so you can peel off the skin and mash.

• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks, cooking on low with the lid on for 20 minutes until softened.

• Next add the garlic and stir in well before mixing in the paprika and chilli. Allow the spices to warm for a minute so they release their flavour and then add the lentils, sweet potato, crumbled stock cube and water.

• Simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on stirring occasionally.

• Stir in the kale and cook for a further 5 minutes.

• Squeeze in the lemon juice and add the salt.

• Serve with a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

Tip

• The spiced paprika I used is blended with cayenne pepper.

Berry power smoothie

If you’re a regular on my blog, you’ll know that I love a smoothie for breakfast. Today I threw together berries and nuts with creamy oat milk and added protein powder to keep me going until lunch. I always use frozen fruit as it’s so much cheaper and works better in a smoothie as it naturally chills the drink without the need for ice.

Ingredients

Protein: ~27–29 g
Fibre: ~8–9 g

Serves 1

• 30g strawberries

• 30g blueberries

• 30g raspberries

• 1 tbsp chia seeds

• 1 tbsp almond butter

• 2 tbsp organic whey or pea protein (to provide ~20 g protein)

• 200 ml nut milk (I like Plenish drinks)

Method

• Blitz!