Fried chicken, macaroni cheese, collared greens and bean casserole: aka Walk the Line

 We have added a development to many of our Saturday nights.  We are having "movie nights", and as an added bonus will theme the dinner to the film.

Today was "Walk the Line" - the Johnny Cash biopic.  Johnny Cash lived in Nashville, so it was food of the American south.

Spicy fried chicken, macaroni cheese, collared greens and bean casserole.  I struggled to find many traditional vegetarian recipes which might also appeal to the veg dodger - how has a particular dislike of sweetcorn.

This dinner was declared a success, and we all enjoyed the film.

Spicy fried chicken

Chicken thighs

Flour

Barbeque spice

Soya milk

Olive oil for frying

Macaroni cheese

Soya milk

Cornflour

Macaroni

Cheddar cheese - grated

Mozzarella - grated

Collared greens

Red onion

Garlic

Cavolo nero

Vegetable stock

Spinach

Olive oil

Bean casserole

Olive oil

Onion

Garlic

Red pepper

oregano

Chopped tomatoes

Tin of mixed beans

1.  Place chicken thighs in soya milk and allow to soak for a few minutes.

2.  Mix barbeque seasoning, salt and pepper into flour.

3.  Start cheese sauce by heating soya milk.  Add slaked cornflour to soya milk and heating through, keep stirring.

4.  Add grated cheese to thickened sauce, reserving some for the top.

5.  Boil the pasta according to packet instruction, then drain when done.

6.  Start the collared greens and bean casserole by sweating chopped onion and garlic in olive oil in two separate pans.

7.  Dredge the chicken thighs in flour and set aside to dry a little.

8.  Add shredded cavolo nero to softened onions, with a cup of vegetable stock, and steam for about 12 minutes, then add spinach and wilt down.  

9.  Add chopped red pepper to the other onions, fry for 5 minutes, and then add beans and tomatoes, oregano and season and heat through.

10.  Drain the pasta, add the sauce, top with reserved cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

11.  Dip the chicken thighs in soya milk again, and then coat with seasoned flour.

12.  Finish the chicken by shallow frying in olive oil, bake for 10 minutes to ensure they are fully cooked through.

13.  serve, scoff … 

Potato and gruyere bake with stir fried cavolo nero and red pepper

The humble spud can be elevated to something really quite delicious with a little bit of chopping and the application of heat.  The cheese in the bake provides the protein, and a little goes quite a long way making this quite a budget tea.  Cavolo nero is still bang in season and full of iron (and flavour).

Olive oil
Potato
Onion
Gruyere
Tomato
Bouillon (or veg stock cube)
Cavolo nero
Spring onions
red pepper
Garlic
Sesame seeds

1.  Thinly slice potatoes, onions and tomatoes as finely as you can.  Cut gruyere into small cubes or thin slices.
2.  Drizzle olive oil in an oven dish.
3.  Layer potato, onion, cheese, tomato, potato, onion, cheese, tomato, potato.
4.  Drizzle the top with a little more olive oil, pour in a mug full of vegetable stock.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
5.  Chop spring onions into rounds and red peppers into small batons.  Shred cavolo nero.  Crush garlic.
6.  Remove the foil from the bake, to allow the top to brown.
7.  In a wok, heat olive oil.  When hot stir fry the chopped veg and garlic.  Add a small cup of water to allow it to steam, fry.  Keep it moving for 5 minutes or so - until the water has evaporated and the veg is cooked enough for you.  I like it still a bit crunchy.
8.  Sprinkle sesame seeds onto the veg.
9.  Serve, scoff … tasty!

Spaghetti with cauliflower, kale and hazelnut "pesto"

Make the most of our lovely autumnal vegetables by chucking together this fabulous "pesto" and pasta.  I'm calling it "pesto" because it's a hand cut chunky sauce, not a finely blended herby sauce.  this means that you can really taste the chunks of roasted cauliflower and hazelnuts in their separate loveliness as well as the mixture.

Cauliflower
Olive oil
Garlic - quite a lot
cavolo nero
parmesan
hazelnuts
lemon zest
spaghetti (gluten free in our case - but could be standard, or some other long pasta)

1.  Break the cauliflower into smallish florets, and roast in olive oil for about 30 minutes.
2.  Meanwhile mix together finely sliced garlic, shredded cavolo nero, grated parmesan and roughly chopped hazelnuts with a good splosh of olive oil.
3.  Boil the water for the pasta.
4.  Sprinkle the cavo nero, hazelnut and parmesan mixture over the cauliflower and return to the oven to roast for a further 10 minutes.
5.  Cook the pasta, drain, reserve a ladleful of the cooking water.
6.  Mix the vegetable sauce with the pasta and the spoonful of water and toss.  Grate over a little lemon zest and a good grind of black pepper.
7. Serve, scoff, be amazed at how well it all goes together.

Halloumi, with roast potatoes and autumnal veg

This time of year gives us delicious sweet parsnips and delightfully earthy savoury cavolo nero.  I combined them with some delicious grilled halloumi and roast potatoes for this easy, satisfying vegetarian autumnal feast.

Potatoes
olive oil
carrots
parsnip
onion
garlic
cavolo nero
butter
halloumi
za'atar

1.  Cut potatoes, skin on, into cubes.  Roast in olive oil for about 50 minutes.
2.  Peel, chop and boil the parsnips and carrots until just soft.  Drain, and "mash" by cutting with a sharp knife in all directions, add a good knob of butter and plenty of black pepper after a couple of minutes of slashing, then carry on slashing until the vegetables are in tiny pieces.  Keep warm in the oven until you are ready.
3.  Sautee chopped onion and crushed garlic, then add shredded cavolo nero.  Add a splsh of water and fry/steam until the water has evaporated.  The cavolo nero should now be done.
4.  Fry halloumi for a minute or so on each side, in a hot pan.  You might want to add a little oil to help it stop sticking.
5.  Serve, sprinkle cavolo nero with za'atar, and scoff.

The za'atar (sesame seeds, sumac and herbs) give the cavolo nero some extra zing and a protein boost.  A real winner.

Tofu bibimbap

We are spoilt at Todmorden market - we can venture way beyond our Yorkshire borders for some tasty dinners.  Today, I had a scout around t'interweb, and after reading a number of recipes thought I would create my version of a bibimbap ... big bowl of rice, topped with a protein source with assorted raw, pickled and cooked vegetables with a chili sauce ...ingredients are mostly available from the market - Oriental foods, The Mediterranean Pantry, a couple of vegetable stalls ... but I had to go to a local supermarket for the beansprouts!

Tofu
Jasmine rice
Peanut oil
Korean red chili pasta - gochujang
Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
Sesame oil
Sugar
Agave syrup
Sesame seeds
Garlic
Ginger
Radish
Carrots
Cucumber
Green beans
Cavolo nero
Mushrooms
Bean sprouts
Spring onions

Basically you cook all the ingredients separately, give each person a bowl of rice topped with pan fried tofu and a fried egg, and they choose which of the other bits they want, add some sauce, and stir it all together.  I started with putting the tofu in salted water, then pickled the radish and carrot, then chopped the rest of the veg ... put the rice on, steamed the cavolo nero and green beans, fried the tofu, made the sauce, and stir fried the veg - one at a time - keeping them hot in the oven while I finished the tofu.  Finally fry the eggs .. and begin the assembly.

The tofu:-

Soak in salted water for 15 minutes to tighten up the edges.  Slice into fork sized slices - return to the salted water to firm up further.  Fry in hot peanut oil, in batches, do not over crowd the pan, until crispy on both sides.  Keep warm in the oven.

The sauce:-

Mix 3 tbsp gochujang with 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp water, 1 tsp (to taste) agave syrup and 1 tsp sesame oil.

The pickled veg:-

Prepare carrot and radish batons.  Heat together 2 tsp sugar, 1/2 cup rice vinegar and 1 cup water.  Put veg into pickling liquid, swish about and take off the heat.  After 10 minutes drain and chill.

The stir fried veg, one at a time, keep warm in the oven:-

Mushrooms, sesame seeds, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil
Cavolo nero, sesame seeds, garlic, ginger, soy sauce
Green beans, garlic, tiny splash soy sauce
Beansprouts, soy sauce, tiny splash sesame oil

The raw bits, chop finely:-

Cucumber
Spring onions
Sesame seeds

On your marks - go ....

Smoked haddock and cavolo nero risotto

Well, it makes a change from fish and chips, but still fish on a Friday.  Again, all sourced from Todmorden Market - olive oil, herbs and rice from me at The Mediterranean Pantry, fish from Paul, vegetables from Garry or Traynors and eggs from one of the butchers .... jobs a good'un. Also - basket to bowl in 25 minutes.

Onion
Olive oil
risotto rice
White wine (optional)
italian seasoning
Stock/water
cavolo nero
mushrooms
smoked haddock
eggs
frozen peas

1.  Soften chopped onion in olive oil.
2.  After a couple of minutes add risotto rice, stir into the oil until every grain is lightly coated.  Pour in a glass of white wine, add a sprinkle of herbs, and stir.  Add a cup of water/stock and simmer.
3.  After about 6 minutes add shredded cavolo nero and chopped mushrooms, stir again.  Add more liquid as it absorbed by the rice.
4.  Put eggs on to boil.
5.  After another 5 minutes put the fish on top of the rice to steam.
6.  Keep an eye on the risotto, making sure it doesn't get too dry, add a little stock if necessary, but be gentle with the fish - after 10 minutes it will be nearly cooked so fold it gently through the rest of the mixture, with a handful of frozen peas.
7.  Leave the risotto to stand for a few minutes off the heat so that it can suck up the remaining liquid.
8.  Take the eggs out of the hot water, run under a cold tap, peel off the shells - and, there you go ...
9.  Serve, scoff

Hake with fennel and cavolo nero

Gorgeous silver hake from Paul the fish - some baby roasties and seasonal veg made a very delicious Friday dinner. The aniseediness of the fennel and the celery go very well with the fish, tied in together with a spritz of lemon.

Potatoes
olive oil
Onion
Celery
Garlic
fennel
white wine
cavolo nero
hake
lemon

1.  Chop potatoes into bite sized cubes and roast in olive oil.
2.  Sautee chopped onion and celery, then add crushed garlic and chopped fennel, spritz with lemon juice.  Add half a cup of wine, and the same of water, and simmer gently.
3.  Pan fry the fish, skin side down first - at the same time add shredded cavolo nero to the veg.
4.  Serve, scoff, watch veg dodger have seconds of green veg ... chuckle ...

Red onion and mushroom tarte tatin

It's funny when you take a snap of your tea that you don't notice the flake of pastry taking the central position!  I think I may need to look at a course on food staging, as my pics are not getting any better.

The high point of the day, though, was getting a distinction in a Diploma in Nutrition.  Excellent news.

But, back to the recipe - it's near the end of the week for the veg box, and supplies are quite limited, so I scrabbled together what was left and made a tarte tatin, with garlic cavolo nero, anya potatoes - and left over steamed veg.  It went down very well.

Olive oil
Red onions
Mushrooms
Pattypan squash
Red wine
Puff pastry
Mustard

Garlic
Cavolo nero

1.  Chop onions, mushrooms and squash and gently fry in olive oil.  After about 10 minutes add a little red wine and a little stock it it's looking dry.
2.  Roll out pastry, brush with a little mustard.
3.  Cover the vegetables with the pastry, tucking the edges into the pan.  Bake for about 20 minutes.
4.  Meanwhile, boil the potatoes and steam the veg.
5.  Finally quickly fry the cavolo nero and finely chopped garlic in olive oil.
6.  Serve, scoff.

Again, an entirely veggie dinner (vegan apart from the pastry), and the meat freaks did not complain, but had seconds.

Roast lamb dinner

Beautiful leg of lamb from Bracewell's in Todmorden market hall - really good garlic and olive oil from The Mediterranean Pantry - and this is an exceptional Sunday roast dinner.

Home grown broad beans were the star of the vegetable medley, matching the cavolo nero in vegetably gorgeousness.  I LOVE cavolo nero.

Lamb
Garlic
Olive oil
Potatoes
Polenta
Cornflour
Stock
Carrots
Broad beans
Cavolo nero
White cabbage

Cooking takes under 2 hours, start to finish, but much of that time it's quietly getting on with it by itself.

1.  Stab the lamb all over, inserted sliced garlic into each of the holes.  You can go really quite bonkers with the garlic, I keep the slices quite chunky, so that you can see them when you carve the lamb.
2.  Roast the lamb on quite a high heat for the first 20 minutes, then turn it down a bit, or move it to the lower shelf of the oven.
3.  Put olive oil in a roasting tray for the potatoes, put it in the oven to heat up.
4.  Peel the potatoes, and par boil.  Drain well, add a couple of tablespoons of dry polenta and toss about a bit - put into the hot oil, and roast for an hour or so.
5.  Now make a cup of tea and read the paper or do the crossword :)  you are not needed for 40 minutes.
6.  Peel and chop carrot, pod broad beans, slice cabbage.  Steam the lot together (carrots on the bottom, then beans, then cabbage)
7.  Have a look at the roast, it may need basting, or turning.  Drain pan juices to start the gravy.
8.  Make a simple gravy using meat juices and stock, or wine, thickened with cornflour (slaked in water).
9.  Bring the lamb out of the oven to rest for at least 10 minutes.
10.  Serve, scoff, smile.

Sea bass with wilted greens

Sea bass from Paul today.  Delicious delicate sweet flavour.

Potatoes
Olive oil
Red onion
Garlic
Celery
Mixed herbs
Courgette
Green beans
Veg stock
Cavolo nero
Spinach
Sea bass

1.  Par- boil the potatoes, and then roast in olive oil for about 45 minutes.
2.  Sautee chopped onion and celery in olive oil until softened, add crushed garlic and a good pinch of mixed herbs..
3.  Add chopped green beans, soften a bit, then chopped courgette.  Stir around and then add a cup of veg stock.  Simmer for 10 minutes or so, then add roughly shredded cavolo nero.  5 minutes before serving add the spinach and let it wilt down.
4.  Pan fry the fish in olive oil - skin side first in a hot pan - 3 mins on the skin side and 2 minutes on the other side should be enough.
5.  Serve, scoff.

Fish and chips ... Moroccan twist this time

 I am going to have to improve both my presentation and photography skills, because neither of them do this food justice!  Also, I am really beginning to understand the benefits of working in the market - today the spice mix  Ras El-Hanout (top of the house), and the olive oil came from my stall, the hake came from Paul the fish, and the potatoes came from Gary the veg!  It's a good life :)  The cavolo nero came from the organic veg box - because we still enjoy the benefits of seasonal and organic to the door ...

So ....

New potatoes
olive oil
onion
cavolo nero
white wine
hake
ras el-hanout spice mix
seasoning

1.  Wash and parboil new potatoes, relax - nibble olives, drink wine etc etc ... for about 10 minutes
2.  Chop potatoes into bite sized pieces, ready for sautee-ing.
3.  Chop onion, and start to fry gently in olive oil.
4.  Coat fish in spice mix.
5.  Chop cavolo nero, add to onions, on a low heat.
6.  Start to sautee drained potatoes in olive oil, sprinkle with rock salt.
7.  Heat olive oil to fry fish - fry skin side first - for 2-3 minutes each side.
8.  Splash wine into cavolo nero mix and allow to evaporate.

Scoff.  I did half of the hake in spice, and half on its own.  I was really pleased with the result.  The spice gives a lovely aromatic floral interest (it's not hot at all), but the hake was so delicious that I wanted to savour the flavour of that too.

Tarka dahl and kholrabi and okra curry, with rice

Eeking out the veg box after the festivities - today onions, 1 yellow pepper, 1 kholrabi, 1 red chili, some cavolo nero ... from the freezer some okra, and from the cupboard a tin of tomatoes ... some spices, some lentils and rice and tah dah....

So, in chronological order of preparation:-

Rice

Mix 1/3 red rice to 2/3 white basmati rice.  Put into cast iron casserole dish.
Cover with water - up to and inch above the rice.
Cover and heat on hob, until it boils.
When water boils, transfer to medium oven, and sit for at least 20 minutes.

Dahl

Lentils
Water

Tarka

Olive oil
mustard seeds
cumin seed
fennel seeds
garam masala
curry leaves

1.  Boil red lentils in plenty of water, for about 30+ minutes.  Stir now and again.  Add more water if you need to.
2.  Make curry....
3.  Just before serving, heat olive oil - when hot add seeds, toss, add leaves and garam masala.  Turn off heat.
4.  Pour spiced oil onto dahl.

Kholrabi and okra curry

olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 kholrabi, peeled and diced
Curry spice mix (I used a Bombay masala mix)
Crushed garlic
water
Shredded cavolo nero
Frozen okra
Tinned crushed tomatoes.

1.  Sweat onion in olive oil.
2.  Add other diced vegetables, stir round until a little soft.
3.  Add spice mix, garlic and water.  Simmer for 5 minutes or so.
4.  Add shredded cavolo nero and frozen okra, turn over a couple of times, then tip in tomatoes.
5.  Simmer until all coooked - adding water if it looks a bit dry.

... about now - return to tarka, and findish that off ...

serve, scoff, gloat

Autumnal "spanish" omelette, with roasted vine tomatoes

Start with the tomatoes ... put them in the oven in an oven dish with a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Omelette

1 leek, chopped and washed
Mushrooms, chopped
8 medium potatoes
cavolo nero, shredded
broccoli, florets separated and stalk peeled and chopped
8-10 eggs, whisked

1.  Soften leek in olive oil, then add mushroom pieces, fry gently in a big frying pan, which you can put in the oven.
2.  At the same time boil chopped potatoes, and steam cavolo nero and broccoli.
3.  When the potatoes are done, and the greens are soft - add them all to the frying pan, and mix together.
4.  Add the eggs, shake the pan to even out and cook in a medium oven for about 20-30 minutes.

This was a fabulous use of the end of the veg box.  Filling, delicious and quite easy. "First class is too trite" was my provided quote.

Mustard mash, cavolo nero and kale with pine nuts - and a bit of a vegtable ragu

Quite (!) a busy week, and  need to chill at the weekend - but also some teenage student fetching and carrying (not that I mind, actually) - so by Sunday teatime, some comfort food was in order.  BUT, this isn't just comfort food - this is comfort food with bells on - it is incredibly nutritious and delicious.  There is some butter in the mustard mash - but otherwise - gluten free and without anything processed.

Start with the potatoes, then chop the onion, then the greens.  If you get the onions softening before the potatoes have boiled, you are really on it.  Keep working on the ragu, put the shredded greens on top of the boiling potatoes when they have been boiling for a couple of minutes.

Keep the ragu cooking, adding stock if it gets too dry.

When potatoes are boiled and mashed, stick them under a hot grill to crisp up the top for 5 minutes.  Keep the greens warm and roast the pine nuts at the last minute.

Mustard mash

potatoes, peeled
butter
whole grain mustard

1.  Boil potatoes - chopped into even chunks - in salted water,
2.  When done, drain, and mash with a good knob of butter (olive oil or soya spread for vegans).
3.  Beat in a splodge of wholegrain mustard.

Cavolo nero, kale and pine nuts

1.  Shred cavolo nero and kale, steam on top of boiling potatoes.
2.  Roast pine nuts in dry frying pan.
3.  Toss pine nuts onto steamed leaves

Vegetable ragu

onion
garlic
olive oil
mixed herbs
yellow pepper
mushrooms
courgette
vegetable stock

1.  Sweat chopped onion in olive oil until a bit soft.
2. Add chopped pepper, mushrooms, courgette and herbs and continue to soften.
3. Add a cup of stock and simmer until vegetables are all soft and tasty.

delicious.  Really!  Try it!

Leek, cavolo nero, pea and blue cheese risotto

Fresh, tasty and very easy.

olive oil
1 leek, chopped and rinsed
2 stalks celery, chopped
garlic
risotto/paella rice
white wine
vegetable stock
cavolo nero
frozen peas
blue cheese (rocquefort in this case)
lemon juice & black pepper

All the measurements are vague - because it's done by eye - but enough for 4 I would say - 2 small handfuls of rice and about 3/4 litre of stock.

1. Saute leeks and celery in olive oil, gently - let them go a bit soft.
2. Add rice and stir until every grain is coated in oil.
3.  Add a glass of white wine and let it simmer in.
4.  Add vegetable stock - a bit at a time, until rice is al dente - each time simmer and stir until it gets soaked in - then add some more (.
5.  When nearly ready, add shredded cavolo nero and frozen peas, turn into risotto and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes.
6.  Turn off heat, add in blobs of cheese and let them melt in.  Lid on, rest.... and for another 2 minutes after that, so that it's oozy and comforting, and not watery.
7.  Squeeze on lemon juice (optional), grind on black pepper (NOT optional, in my opinion).

Scoff :)

Minestrone

Surprise lunch out - and stuffed full of cheese 'n onion pie, so only wanted soup for dinner.  Lovely organic veg left from the box though, so a big steaming bowl of minestrone.

olive oil
onion
garlic
carrots
turnip
tomato puree
vegetable bouillon
water
few chili flakes

1.  Sweat finely chopped onion in olive oil.
2. Add finely diced root veg and garlic.
3.  After turning in the oil for a couple of minutes add a big squirt of tomato puree and stock.
4.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.
5.  Add a few chili flakes and the chopped cavolo nero.
6.  Taste, adjust seasoning if necessary, take a few ladles out and whizz, return to the soup.
7. Scoff

Bonfire night casserole with roasted bulgar groats

I have had some criticism about my presentation so I tried a bit harder.  I don't think it's achieved much!  The roasted bulgar groats were in a ring in the middle of the dish, with the lentil casserole as a moat, and the cavolo nero as a free form bonfire on the top.   Whatever! It tasted great.  I have never had roasted bulgar groats and they work really well.

I love cavolo nero, but wanted it to stand as a dish so stirred in a sauce of yogurt and mustard ... it was LOVELY.

So ....

Start with the lentil casserole

olive oil
leek
garlic
squash, peeled etc , in bite sized pieces
puy lentils
mushrooms
(other veg...)
tsp marmite
mixed herbs
black pepper

1. Sautee chopped leek in olive oil for a few mins, on middling heat.  Add other veg, lentils and water... season.  Simmer for about 20 minutes - add water if it's going dry.
2.  Adjust seasoning., make sure there is enough water ... simmer a bit more.
3.  After about 30 minutes lentils should be soft and all other veg cooked.

Meanwhile...

Boil the bulgar groats according to packet instructions (15 mins in boiling water)... draind and serve

Cavolo nero with yogurt mustartd sauce

Cavolo nero (or other green cabbage) - chopped, and steamed
Natural yogurt
Lemon juice (tiny squeeze)
Salt and pepper
Mustard (to taste)

Steam:- on top of the bulgar boiling water- shredded cavolo nero (I LOVE this vegetable) - when it is steamed stir it into the mustard/yogurt mixture.

Chicken and mushroom stroganoff with cavolo nero

Day 3 of "training" for swimming the "channel" and I did my 40 lengths.  I am swimming the 22 miles of the channel - in a pool - between September and December to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society - see link to the right - and feel free to sponsor me.  (But more of that another time).  The victim, swimming with me, kept banging on about pie for dinner.  No, no, no ... there is no point swimming up and down just to reinsert the calories when you get out.  So, after the usual, spag bog, ricey stuff, pie requests we managed to land on stroganoff - which was good because a number of the ingredients were sitting in the fridge really needing to be used up.  Cavolo nero is just ready for harvesting in poly the tunnel, so I added that to mine.  Victim refuses anything quite so blatently green, so had some beetroot and radishes as a starter... go figure!  Anyway, there is too much cream to be really "diet", "low fat" etc, but I'm sure it's better than pie!

Chicken and mushroom stroganoff

Serves: 4.  Time: approx 30 minutes:  Calories:  approx 450 per portion  Cost:  approx £1.30 per portion

1/2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Onion
1 Leek
1 Celery stick
Garlic clove
2 skinless chicken breasts
Chicken stock (cube is fine)
About 12 Green beans
About 4 Runner beans
Some Mushrooms
Paprika & black pepper
100ml Half fat creme fraiche
100ml double cream
Chopped parsley

Tagliatelli - about 70g per portion

Method:

1. Chop and sautee in olive oil - leek, onion and celery.
2. Add bite sized pieces of chicken breast, turn over until edges are a bit coloured.
3. Add crushed garlic, and a cup of stock (add more if it looks like it's a bit dry).
4. Cook tagliatelli in salted boiling water.
5. Add chopped beans and mushrooms, and simmer until beg is soft and chicken is cooked, season with salt, pepper and paprika.
6. Just before pasta is al dente add creme fraiche and cream to chicken and vegetables.
7. Drain pasta and  mix into sauce.
8. Chuck in chopped parsley and sprinkling of paprika.
9. Scoff (with or without steamed cavolo nero (about 7 minutes steaming) or crunchy salad.

Vegetable crumble

Sauteed onion, added cauliflower (well, romanesco actually, but any old cauli would be fine) and brocolli in small pieces.  Added glass of water and put the lid on for 5 minutes to let them soften a bit.  Then stir in tablespoon of flour and enough soya milk to make a white sauce.  The add unfeasibly large handful of grated cheese - cheddar and parmesan today - but some mozarella would add amusing stringiness, season.  Transfer mixture to baking dish and add topping.  Topping - crush crackers left over from Christmas/ dinner parties, and handful of oats, small handful of pine nuts and some chopped basil.  Stir in a few glugs of olive oil and season.  Bake for 20mins or so.  Meanwhile fry onions with green beans for 5 minutes, add crushed garlic (actually, don't this made it a bit bitter) and cherry tomatoes.  Season well.  Steam some cavolo nero (yum yum - victim doesn't like this - go figure! - but I do, so it makes another appearance).  Serve - observe appearnace is somewhat uninspiring - scoff - tastes significantly better than it looks.  Victim said - where's me dinner?  there's no meat! - but having eaten the lot requested that we have it again soon.

Cajun chicken, roasted root veg and greens in creme fraiche

It's been quite an odd week - in that victim has done most of the dinners.  This is a very pleasant change, but I'm not used to it!  We had - quorn chili, hot vegetable soup, corned beef hash and beef biryani of earlier post.  Chopped potato, swede and turnip - roasted in olive oil, mustard and thyme for an hour or so.  Chopped leek and softenned in white wine, when nearly soft added chopped green beans, simmered for about 10 minutes, added chopped cavolo nero and simmered until wilted (5 minutes).  Meanwhile, tossed chicken strips in blackenned cajun seasoning and olive oil, then fried them for about 2 minutes on each side - till cooked through.  Took greens off the heat, seasonned and stirred in dollop of creme fraiche.  I loved the veg - victim loved the chicken... not sure it all went completely together, but there you go!