Roast chicken with mediteranean roast vegetables

This is a great, chuck it in (in 2 stages) and ignore it dinner.  I had it on Sunday whilst also performing an enormous admin, brain bending, multiple spreadsheet, document, juggling act.

It is really tasty, and fresh.  You could have roast potatoes or rice - but I just had a chapati which was left over from previous dishes.

1 chicken (free range/organic if you can afford it)
1 lemon
1 bulb garlic
water
olive oil
1 aubergine
1 pepper
Handful mushrooms
1 courgette
6 shallots (or 1 onion, red would be good)
vine tomatoes

1.  Preheat oven to 180C
2.  Cut garlic and lemon in half and stuff all halves into cavity in chicken.  Rub chicken with olive oil (not much) and season.
3.  Put chicken on baking tray, breast side down (cover with foil).  This allows the fat to start melting and spread through the chicken as it starts cooking, keeping it moist.
4.  Stick in over for 30 minutes - get on with jobs, phone calls, silly internet games .. whatever.
5.  Take chicken out of oven, take off foil, turn chicken breast side up, chuck 1 big glass of water into the roasting tray.  Chuck back into oven.  Bake for about another hour.
6.  In another over proof dish - put in 1 tbsp olive oil - chop into bite sized pieces veg (aubergine, courgette, mushroom, onion), season, toss around, lay vine tomatoes over the top.  Chuck into oven with chicken.
7. Faff about for around an hour.  Should be ready.  Check that the chicken is cooked by inserting knife into fattest part of thigh and making sure that juice is clear not pink.
8. Scoff.

(If you have gathered victims - receive copious praise - do not let on how easy it was).

Chapati sausage roll

I can't believe I haven't thought of this before!  I'm sure you have... but translate hotdog into something a bit lighter and homemade (but also quick).  3 ish portions...

2 onions
1 tbsp olive oil
6 sausages
1 tin of tomatoes
American mustard
Pea shoots - or shredded lettuce etc
4(ish) chapatis

1.  Fry sausages in olive oil, add sliced onion.
2.  Soften onions and cook sausages a bit, then add tin of chopped tomatoes and half a tin of water.
3.  Simmer until onions are soft, sausages are cooked through.
4.  Microwave chipatis for 45 seconds (ish)
5.  Well - obviously - put chapati on plate, put sausage and good spoonful of onion and tomato mixture on top, season, add mustard and green stuff.  Roll up.
6. Scoff

Curry... innit - with steak mince and veg

Longish day at work, got home about 7:30... hungry, but wanted something tasty.  Steak mince from my butcher mate needed using - could have done spag bol, chili or no end of other classics - but fancied more complex flavours.  Hunted in spice cupboard, and found a curry mix I liked the smell of, cumin, cardomon and hot stuff.  Probably a "waste" of steak mince, but it was yummy.

1 leek, chopped
1 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400g steak mince (doesn't have to be steak, obv)
1 tbsp spice mix (or mix your own)
1 pepper (orange this time)
Mushrooms
Fresh tomatoes
Green beans
Tin chopped tomatoes
Spinach

Chapatis - out of packet - microwave

1.  Gently sweat leeks in oil, turn up heat add mince, keep stirring around.
2.  When a bit browned (doesn't need a lot) make sure it's separated into mincy bits, not lumps.
3.  Add chopped veg, garlic and spices.
4.  Keep stirring, add water and simmer for a bit, chuck in tomatoes.
5.  Simmer, when veg is ready stir in spinach til wilted.
6. Scoff - I did, with chapatis.

Bacon hash

Lovely busy weekend - lots of hours on the road - but also time with Mum, good mate and my sister... Mate is also a butcher so delish steaks for dinner last night.  So nice, in fact, that I bought some today. Called in a IKEA on the way home ... oops ... so nice new shiny wok to try out.


Home latish, bacon to use up, and loads of veg box veg.  This was easy, tasty and delicious.

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, chopped and thoroughly washed.
Potatoes, diced
Bacon, in bite sized pieces
Garlic - crushed
Water
Green beans
Mushrooms
Spinach
Seasoning

1.  Heat oil in wok, chuck in leeks and fry for a couple of minutes.
2.  Add potatoes, and mushrooms, stir around again.
3.  Add pieces of bacon, and garlic, keep moving.
4.  Chuck in about a pint of water, bring to the boil, quickly.
5.  Add in green beans, and simmer for about 12 minutes, until water is boiled off, and veggies are soft.
6.  Turn heat down, chuck in spinach, turn over a couple of times until they are wilted.
7. Season, scoff.

Enough left for tomorrow's lunch - yums.

Veggie curry, tarka dhal and brown rice

My Mum is here for a visit.  She very generously took me out for Tapas last night.  So the veggies were stocking up in the fridge, so I thought I'd rustle us up a veggie curry.  Halfway through making the curry I thought ... d'ya know I quite fancy some dhal.. so I made some of that too.  Dinner for 2 - tick - kitchen fairies lunches for 6 - tick.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek
1 red pepper
Mushrooms
1 cauliflower
6 medium potatoes, diced
curry spices (I used a ready mixed masala mix, could have been paste etc etc)
garlic - about 3 cloves, crushed
water/ stock
1 tin tomatoes
Big handful of spinach

Brown rice

red lentils
water
3 tbsp oil (neutral flavoured, I used mild olive oil)
1 tbsp urad dhal
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 clove garlic (crushed)
1 tsp fennel seeds (and/or cumin seeds)
1 tsp garam masala
2 (dried) red chilies

1.  Sautee leek in olive oil - when a little softenned add other vegetables, except spinach.
2.  Add garlic and spices, stir.  Add water/stock and tin of tomatoes ... simmer until veg are soft enough, sauce will have thickenned a bit.
3.  Boil lentils in water (about 20 minutes) for dhal.
4.  Cook rice (follow packet instructions)
5.  Heat 3 tbsp oil (neutral) and when hot add urad dhal, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, chilies, garlic and whatever other spices you want to add.  Heat for a couple of minutes, until the seeds start to pop.  Chuck into the cooked lentils.

Scoff.  Say yum.  Think - this is lots of my 5 a day, it must be good for me - scoff seconds :).

Asparagus and spinach "risotto"

I will admit, right up front, that I was disappointed in this dinner.  Which is a shame.  It was fresh tasting, and perfectly acceptable - but I had hoped that it would have a greater depth of flavour.  Maybe I had put too much store in too little cheese... anyway it was OK... when I use the leftovers I will serve it with fresh and tangy salads.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek
Celery (about the same volume as leek, chopped)
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 bunch asparagus
1 tsp marmite
rice (I used basmati, but I think risotto/short grain would be better)
1 tbsp dried mixed herbs (or better still, chopped fresh herbs)
water (better with stock and wine)
1 handful frozen peas
1 big handful spinach

1.  Soften leek and celery in olive oil.
2.  Add rice, garlic and herbs .. and chopped asparagus stems, stir about a bit, then chuck in rice and stir until every grain is coated in oil.
3.  Add some water and simmer (stock would actually help add depth of flavour, should have added stock ... ! sigh)
4.  Stir, check, stir etc ... when nearly done add asparagus speary bits, frozen peas and spinach.
5.  Stir in, add cheese, turn off heat.  Let rest while cheese melts, spinach wilts and everything else goe all gooey and delish.

Haloumi hash

A day of marking - comfort food is required!  Open fridge - red pepper and 3 mushrooms (and some carrots, and some cabbage, left them there for now).  However had some onions, new potatoes and frozen peas, and some haloumi in the back of the fridge, so I came up with this - and it was really tasty.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced into half moons
1 red pepper
about 10 new potatoes
3 mushrooms
water
Haloumi (half a pack, diced)
Frozen peas
seasoning

1.  Sautee onion in olive oil.
2.  After a couple of minutes add in other diced veg including diced potatoes, sizzle until slightly "caught", then add about a pint of water.  Stir, scrape up bit from the bottom of the pan.  Cover and allow to simmer for 10 ish minutes.  Check on it - you want the veg to be cooked, and most of the water absorbed, but nothing burnt.
3.  When veg is about done, and most of the water absorbed - chuck in about another 1 tbsp oil, so that you get a bit of frying, and crisping up of the edges going on.
4.  After a couple of minutes add diced haloumi and frozen peas - stir/toss, cover - after 2 minutes, taste, season. turn off heat and let cook through in residual heat

Scoff. You could "big up" the flavours by using stock instead of water - adding garlic/chili/curry etc - but the haloumi adds savouriness and the veg are all fresh, so I don't think it needs much.

Veggie pasta with humous

How easy was this?  very very very easy - easrier than opening a jar... also cheaper and tastier... don't buy jars of sauce - just don't!  Enough for four-five.

So...

1 leek, sliced and washed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
pinch mixed herbs
pinch chili flakes
Some button mushrooms
1 carton passata
2 tbsp humous (yes, alright, shop bought on this occasion)
Pasta
plenty of black pepper

1.  Prep veg, put water on for pasta.
2.  Sautee veg in olive oil, after a few minutes add herbs, gralic and chili flakes.
3.  Chuck pasta into boiling water, cook according to packet instructions (12 minutes in my case)
4.  Add about a mug of water and the passata to the veg, simmer.
5.  When veg is done, add humous, drain pasta, stir it in with spinach, until spinach is wilted.

Veg box chowmein

This was delicious.  It is also vegan, gluten free and easy.  Oh, and cheap.

Recipe:  open fridge, take out whatever vegetables are there - chop them up, stir fry/simmer with tasty stuff from cupboard. Scoff.

Oh, OK, this is what I did:-


Vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic crushed
small knob ginger, grated
2 leeks, sliced and washed
1 kholrabi
2 carrots
1 red pepper
Biggish pinch of chili flakes
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp Soy sauce (check GF if GF)
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
splash rice wine vinegar
water
2 tbsp peanut sauce
Handful baby spinach
Rice noodles
Sesame seeds

1.  Prep veg - cut into smallish pieces.
2.  Soften leeks in oil, after a minute or so chuck in other veg, garlic, ginger and chili flakes.  Stir round.
3.  Add about a pint of water and tomato puree, soy sauce, rice wine and rice wine vinegar.
4.  Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, let the sauce thicken up, but don't let it go completely dry - just add more water as you need it until the vegetables are just done.  Add peanut sauce when the vegetables are nearly cooked.
5.  Meanwhile boil the rice noodles.
6.  Drain noodles, add to vegetables with baby spinach.  Take of the heat and stir together until spinach leaves wilt.
7.  Sprinkle on sesame seeds.

Pepper and kidney bean "risotto"

Not a very good picture - but a nice, comforting dinner.  Spicy rice mixture, creamy kidney beans and sharp pecorino.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 leek
2 celery stalks
1 large pepper (yellow today)
1 courgette
2 cloves garlic crushed
1 tsp mixed herbs
pinch chili flakes
small mug of rice
1 tin kidney beans
1 pint water
1 tin tomatoes
50g pecorino

1. Sweat chopped leeks and celery in olive oil, add other chopped vegetables.
2.  After a couple of minutes add garlic, herbs and chili.
3.  Add rice, turn over in pan until each grain is separated, and all ingredients have a film of oil.
4.  Add about half a pint of water, simmer until it starts to be soaked in.
5.  Add tin of kidney beans (rinsed), simmer for 5 minutes, add more water if it looks as if its going to dry out.
6.  After about 5-10 minutes add tinned tomatoes (chop on back of wooden spoon in the pan, if they are not already chopped).
7. Keep simmering, stirring occasionally.  Should be ready after about 10 minutes.
8.  Turn heat off, allow to sit for 5 minutes.  Serve, sprinkled with cheese.

This has made about 5 portions.