Grandma's root vegetable mash, cabbage and broccoli

Revenge of the veg box... 1 swede, 3 carrots, loads of cabbage and broccoli... Well, it was wholesome! Grandma's root veg mash is the best bit... And it's not mash at all. My grandma actually wasn't much of a cook, though she was quite a decent baker, and baked every Monday for years... Her fairy cakes were always great. She did 2 other noteworthy dishes... Hotpot every Saturday, which we used to look forward to with relish every visit, and carrots.... Turned out with every roast dinner... Not mashed but slashed through with a sharp knife with plenty of butter, until they were in tiny tiny pieces. Always delicious. So I boiled the swede and carrots, and did an homage to grandma with a sharp knife, butter and loads of black pepper.... And just steamed the cabbage and broccoli. If I ate this for 2 weeks I'm sure it would prompt some weight loss, even with the butter!

Lobster macaroni and cheese

Get me!  Lobster!  Well, frozen lobster - so thought I would give it a go, but not in a grilled delicious fresh kind of a way...  and had heard of this comfort and luxury combination, so thought I'd give it my own twist.  It was very easy (after initial shell hammering bit), and very tasty.

1 lobster, frozen (in this case)
Macaroni (or other short pasta)
green beens
Handful spinach
1/2 red chili
1 clove garlic, crushed
about an inch cubed each of ... cheddar, cheshire and parmesan, grated
5 tbsp natural yogurt

Heat oven to 180

1.  Thaw lobster (which may, or may not have been left by previous owners of new house!  who left it here by accident, but told me about it after I had found it... no, they didn't want it back they said I should keep it as a gift :) )
2.  Extract meat from tails and claws of the lobster.  Remove "vein" from tail meat and chop into bit sized pieces, carefully picking out bits of shattered shell (you could do something clever with the shells and oil and stuff, but I didn't today).
3.  Bring pan of water to the boil, when boiling chuck in pasta.
4.  After 2-3 minutes chuck in chopped beans.
5.  When pasta is nearly cooked (10 mins boiling, when it says 11)  drain.
6.  Chick spinach into pasta and beans stir and leave to wilt.
7.  Meanwhile grate all cheeses, add crushed garlic and finely chopped chili - stir together with yogurt - season with black pepper (and a scrape of nutmeg if you fancy).
8.  Mix cheese sauce, pasta and veg and lobster bits together - put into oven proof dish, bake in oven for 30 mins (ish)

You could have topped the dish with more cheese;  breadcrumbs and cheese; herby garlicky breadcrumbs etc .. delish whatever.

The resulting dish was lovely.  Creamy, despite ridiculously easy method of making "cheese sauce", a little bit tangy through using yogurt instead of cream/ wine to make a white sauce from a bechamel.

Incredibly easy, but felt like a proper treat.

Tuna pasta salad

Had a lovely visit with some mates today, who were looking for easy, quick but tasty dinners - we found a few - and I chucked this together when I got home, so I thought I'd add it here too.  Took about 13 minutes, start to finish.

Pasta - I used shells
green beans
celery
olives
tomato gherkins
1 tbsp Mayonnaise
1 tbsp natural yogurt
1 tin tuna in spring water

1.  Chuck pasta into plenty of boiling water, after a couple of minutes add chopped green beans.
2.  Chop celery, tomato, black olives and gherkins (could also add any/all cucumber, spring onions, peppers, bean sprouts, shredded lettuce, radish...)
3.  Add tuna (drained), drain cooked pasta a beans, stir in with mayonnaise and yogurt (squeeze of lemon juice if you have any)

Scoff.  Simples.

fruity juice

Alright, lots of juices, give me a name for this one...

1 tangerine
1 lemon
1 orange
1 grapefruit
1 pear
1 apple

Juiced, ... cleaned juicer,  drank ... delish - just enough sharpness from the lemon and grapefruit to give a lovely tang.

Chickpea and vegetable curry with brown rice

Cook rice in your normal way.  I put it in a pot, cover it with water to an inch above the level of than the rice, and bring it to the boil ... then put it in a medium oven (150ish) to soak up the water.

Curry:-

olive oil
1 leek
1 courgette
Big handful of mushrooms
2 potatoes
garlic
curry spices (I used a gosht mix)
4 tomatoes
water, cup or so
tin of chickpeas
big handful of spinach
3 tbsp natural yoghurt

1.  Sweat chopped leek (or onion) in olive (or other light falvoured) oil until a little soft.
2.  Add chopped courgette, mushroom, potatoes and tomatoes, stir, add crushed garlic and spice mix, stir again.
3.  When everything is mixed add a cup or so of water, so that the veg are boiling, rather than frying.
4.  After 10 minutes add tin of chickpeas and stir in, cover and simmer.
5.  Simmer for about 15 minutes, chuck spinach on the top, put the lid back on and allow to wilt for a minute or so, then stir in.
6.  Turn the heat off for about 5 minutes, spinach will be wilted in, and stir in natural yogurt. **
7.  Rice should be done, serve, scoff.

** I didn't leave mine quite long enough, it was a bit hot, that's why it's just about to curdle, you can help prevent this by adding a spoonful of double cream at the same time.