Warm Butternut Squash Salad

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of salads. They are so easy to make, and you can create all sorts of flavour and texture combinations. And to top it all, they are healthy and good for you too. So here is one that I made recently, as a comforting treat after a busy week. 

Serves 2

½ butternut squash

4 carrots

a small bunch of fresh lemon thyme

4 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

125g baby button mushrooms

¼ iceberg lettuce

¼ red pointed pepper

½ courgette

100g umbrian lentils

100ml dry white wine

rapeseed oil

freshly ground black pepper

freshly ground sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180^oC. 

While the oven gets warm, peel the butternut squash, slice and chop it into small squares. Wash the carrots and slice them into 2cm pieces. Place both butternut squash and carrots in a baking tray, drizzle with oil and use scissors to chop a bit of lemon thyme over them. Turn to make sure the oil is evenly covered, and place in the oven for 1 hour or so until the pieces are soft. 

Place the lentils in a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Boil for 25 minutes or until soft. Drain.

Peel and finely chop the shallots and garlic, and sauté in a pan with oil. Add freshly ground pepper and salt to taste. Chop some lemon thyme over it to taste. When the onions are soft, add the white wine, and leave to reduce. Any wine is ok, but I find a dry or at least medium works better as they add more of an edge to the taste. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer, and add the lentils.  

Chop the lettuce and spread out on two plates. Finely slice the red pepper lengthways and spread over the lettuce. Use a julienne slicer and make the courgette into fine strips (if you don’t have a julienne slicer just finely slice it lengthways). Add the courgette to the plates.

Spoon the baked vegetables over the salad, and add the onion and mushroom mix to the top. Sprinkle a few drops of oil over the salad, and serve while it’s warm. 

Green Quiche

Fast food anyone? This quiche only took me about 15 minutes to make, and then it stayed in the oven for 40 minutes while I sat outside reading my book. Not much more effort than calling for a take-away.

You can make two individual quiches like I've done here, or you can make one larger one, it depends on what oven-proof dishes you have handy.

I was lazy today and used ready made (shop-bought) gluten free pastry, but you can make your own instead if you prefer.

This quiche is lovely served with a small side salad.

Serves 2

100g petit pois peas (frozen)
100g broadbeans (frozen)
50g samphire
400g shortcrust pastry
1 tablespoon oil for greasing the dish
1 egg
100ml double cream
250g mozzarella cheese
a large pinch of dried mixed herbs
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Turn the oven on to 180^oC and let it pre-heat while you make the quiche.

Bring water to the boil and add the peas and broadbeans. Let them simmer for 5 minutes before adding the samphire, then simmer for another 4 minutes. Drain.

Grease your oven-proof dish(es) and place the pastry in it. I'm lazy and tend to just press it out into the dish, but you could do it properly and use a rolling pin to roll it flat then add it. Up to you. Make sure the corners don't get too thick and clumpy.

Tear the mozzarella cheese into small pieces and scatter on the base. Grate some black pepper over it, and then add the boiled greens.

Mix the egg and the double cream in a bowl, and add a large pinch of dried mixed herbs. Pour this mixture over the quiches.

Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes until the egg and cream mixture has set.

Asparagus & Samphire Salad

A warming salad can be just the thing to round off a warm summers day. It's light and delicate, easy and quick to make, and gently warms you while the temperature drops and the evening draws in. There are unlimited possibilities for ideas, but here's one which contains samphire, a salty march vegetable that's both tasty and nutritious. And being quite salty, it's perfect for a warm day when you need to replenish some of the salt you lost during the day.

Serves 2

20 cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
200g broadbeans (frozen)
2 bunches asparagus
80g samphire
a few salad leaves
4 stalks of spring onion

Turn your oven on to 180^oC  and slice the tomatoes in half. Place them on a baking tray and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes then remove from the oven.

While the tomatoes are roasting, boil the egg to your preference. I like them hard-boiled but not green, so I boil them for 6 to 7 minutes. Shell your egg and leave it in hand-warm water until you need it.

At the same time as you start boiling the eggs, also bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the broadbeans and cook for 10 minutes. Then add the asparagus, leave to boil for 4 minutes, and finally add the samphire and cook for a further 4 minutes. (If you are using tinned broadbeans, drain them, and add them last when the sampire has only got one more minute to cook.)

Tear the salad leaves into pieces, and place on plates. Finely chop the spring onion and scatter then over the salad leaves. Drain the greens and add to your plates. Then divide the tomatoes evenly, and finally slice the eggs lengthways and place round the edge of the plates.

If you want you could add a little drizzle of olive oil, or even a vinaigrette. The Lemon and Maple syrup vinaigrette goes quite well.

Eat & Drink for £1 a day - 28 Day Challenge - Day 25

Only three more days to go after today, and I'm already fantasising about what I'm going to indulge in once this challenge is over. I think it will probably be pasta. And olives. And probably more too. But that's not yet. Today was another day on the challenge, and it started with a mug of hot bouillon, followed by an apple. Then there was lunch, which consisted of two baked potatoes.

Dinner was a warming stew made from 2 onions, 2 carrots (last ones), the remaining cabbage, half the remaining swede, a small handful of red split lentils, a tin of chopped tomatoes, half the remaining sweetcorn, and a generous helping of green peas. I added enough water to almost cover it all, a teaspoon of bouillon powder and some dried mixed herbs, and let it simmer for about half an hour. Then I added half a tin of pinto beans, and a tin of sliced mushrooms, left it all to simmer for another 15 minutes, and served it up with a squish of fresh lemon juice. It may not have been very exciting, but it was very nice and filling. And there should be enough for another couple of meals.

If you would like to help by sponsoring the clean water project in Meru, Kenya, please go to  http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=stopcocks

Warm green and feta salad

The wonderful thing about a warm salad is that it is so quick and easy to make, and after a long day at work, when you really just want to get a takeaway and dive into bed, it is just the thing. There’s no need for accurate measuring, just measure out an amount that you think is suitable for how hungry you are. The amounts below are a suggestion only; really you can use whatever lurks in your fridge.

Serves 1

5 or 6 small potatoes (new baby potatoes are brilliant for this)

3 or 4 asparagus spears

6 or 7 sugar snap peas

6 or 7 mange touts

4 large cherry tomatoes

50g feta cheese

4 olives

2 half artichoke hearts (ready cooked, jarred and stored in oil, you can get them from most supermarkets)

1 egg

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

herbal salt

Wash the potatoes, and boil them in a little water. When they are nearly done, throw in the asparagus, mange touts and sugar snap peas, and simmer until these are tender.

Use a slotted spoon to fish out the vegetables. Keep the water boiling, and crack open the egg into it; to poach it. The poaching time depends on how well cooked you like your egg. You can use the flat side of a spoon to gently press the yolk to check the softness and thus the readiness.

While the egg poaches, arrange the vegetables on a plate. Slice the artichokes, feta cheese, tomatoes and olives, and sprinkle them over the vegetables.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the food.

Use the slotted spoon to fish out the egg, and place it on top of the food.

Sprinkle a little bit of herbal salt over the top, serve and enjoy. 

Golden Root Stew

Fancying something sweet yet savoury for my dinner, I rummaged round my fridge to see what I could find. On offer were, amongst other things, several different types of roots. So it was an easy decision to make a warming stew. Not only is a stew easy to make, but with the right ingredients it can be a very cheap and nutritious meal. Roots generally contain a surprising amount of delicious vitamins, so they’re an easy way to fill up on good stuff after a long winter. Adding some lentils adds protein, which not only is good for you, but also fills you up and makes you feel fuller for longer (really useful for those of us trying to shed some pounds).

Serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

3 small parsnips

¼ sweede

½ bitternut squash

500ml water

1 teaspoon herbal salt

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

1 handful of red split lentils

1 tablespoon tomato puree

Finely chop the onion while the oil warms up in a saucepan. Sweat the onions, and leave them to get soft for about 5 minutes. I the meantime; peel and chop the parsnips, sweede and butternut squash. Add these to the onions, and stir for a few minutes until all the vegetables are warm.

Boil the water in a kettle (or separate pan) and add to the vegetables. Boiling the water before adding it prevents the vegetables from cooling down, and so reduces the cooking time.

Add the herbs (use any type of dried mixed herbs if you haven’t got any Herbes de Provence), the salt and the lentils, and slowly boil for about 30 minutes. Add the tomato puree, and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes. Test to see if the vegetables are soft. If they’re not, then leave to simmer until they are.

Serve in a bowl, tastes great with a toasted slice of bread. 

Balsamic Stir-fry

Stir-fry and balsamic vinegar may not have the same ethnic background,  but they do make a good combination. And adding a bit of honey brings out the sweetness of the vegetables. You could experiment with all sorts of flavours, until you find your very own favourite. I often use what comes to hand, it could be that new bottle of raspberry & mint vinegar, or it might be a lemon infused olive oil. But today I opted for an old classic of mine; the balsamic vinegar with honey.

Serves 2

150g rice noodles
250g vegetables
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons runny honey

Boil your noodles according to the instructions on the packet.

Slice your vegetables lengthways - long strips are easier to get hold of with your chopsticks. You can use any combination of vegetables, stir-fries are a brilliant way to use up those little scraps that you have left over in the fridge and don't quite know what to do with. I usually try to include vegetables of different colours; some green, some yellow and some red, as they all bring with them different vitamins. Good examples are: leek, sugar snap peas, mangetous, baby sweetcorn, red peppers, orange peppers, courgette, onions, carrots, broccoli. Or any other vegetables that take your fancy.

Heat the oil in your wok, and add the vegetables. Some might take a bit longer than the rest, like broccoli, so add them first and give them a minute before adding the rest. Turn down the heat, and keep stirring for a few minutes until the veg are cooked. Add the balsamic vinegar and honey, stir until you have an even coating, and serve with the noodles.

Risotto-filled Squash

I’ve been thinking about making filled squash for a while now, early winter is a good time to do this as there is usually quite a variety on offer this time of year. They are not only packed full of vitamins, but also delicious and filling. A whole squash filled with something exciting is quite a fun food to serve – it works really well when you’ve got friends over for dinner. I made this with one medium sized squash, because that’s what the shops had to offer this week, but you can get smaller ones to use as individual serving dishes.

Serves 2

1 medium size onion squash (or any other round squash)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon herbal salt

4 cloves of garlic

1 large onion

1 teaspoon dried thyme

150g Carnaroli rice

approx. 10g dried porcini mushrooms

100ml boiling water

500ml vegetable stock

a small chunk of parmesan or any other hard cheese

Pre-heat your oven to 170^OC.

Slice the top off the squash, and put this to one side. Dig out the seeds and stringy pulp and discard these. Pour ½ a tablespoon of olive oil into the squash, sprinkle the herbal salt in, and add 2 whole cloves of garlic. These will infuse the flesh of the squash with their lovely flavours.

Place the squash and its top in the middle of the oven, and bake for 30 minutes. If you are using two smaller squash they will need shorter cooking time.

Tear the porcini into small pieces, place in a mug, and add boiling water. Let this rest while you start making the risotto, to soften the mushroom and bring out the flavour. This will give you a beautiful mushroom stock that you will use in the risotto a bit later on.

Warm 1 ½ tablespoons of oil in a large sautéing pan, chop the onion, and add this to the oil when hot. Sweat for a few minutes until the onions are soft and golden. Finely chop 2 cloves of garlic and add to the onion. Also now add the dried thyme.

Check on the squash in the oven to make sure it is getting cooked but not burned.

Add the rice to the onion and stir well. Give it a minute under constant stirring to soak up the flavour that’s already in the pan, before adding a ladle-full of stock. Keep stirring, as risotto will very easily stick to the bottom of the pan. Gradually add more and more stock, but let the rice soak up one portion before adding more. Add the porcini and its stock about half-way through the adding of the vegetable stock.

Keep stirring and adding stock until the rice is cooked. It should be slightly al-dente, but moist and soft at the same time. You’ll know when you’re there.

Take the squash out of the oven if it’s soft and ready cooked. It shouldn’t get so soft that it’s mushy, but should keep its structure even when it’s ready to eat. Remove the whole garlic, and use a spoon to carefully carve out a little bit of flesh from the inside. Add this to the risotto and stir in before spooning the risotto into the squash.  Grate some cheese on top and serve. (If using 1 squash; slice it in two vertically so that you both get both flesh and filling.)

Broccoli and Red Pepper Pâté

This pâté is brilliantly easy to make, and also rather delicious. I found the recipe in a magazine I read many many years ago, and it’s been on my list of things to make ever since. I finally got round to making it this weekend, and really enjoyed it, served with steamed vegetables and a sour cream dip.

Serves 4

300g broccoli

4 small red peppers (about 300 to 350g)

4 medium sized eggs

100ml sour cream

2 tablespoons fresh thyme

1 tablespoon fresh chives

freshly ground salt and pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 175^OC. Place

Divide the broccoli into small florets and stream until soft.

Place the peppers under a hot grill until they are black, and skin them.

Grease 6 portion size ramekins.

Place the broccoli, 2 eggs, 50ml sour cream, 1 tablespoon fresh thyme and ½ tablespoon chives and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a food processor. Whizz until you have a smooth mixture, and pour into the ramekins.  

Place the peppers, 2 eggs, 50ml sour cream, 1 tablespoon fresh thyme and ½ tablespoon chives and a pinch each of salt and pepper in a food processor. Whizz until you have a smooth mixture, and pour into the ramekins, on top of the broccoli mixture.

Place the ramekins in a bain-marie and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, until firm. 

Galia Melon Curry with Beans and Cheese

This dish met with mixed reviews when I served it the other day. I rather liked it, but my friend was not quite convinced. It was inspired by a recipe I found in ‘the modern vegetarian’ by Maria Elia. Unfortunately I didn’t have the majority of the ingredients she suggested, so I made my own variation instead. While being a bit spicy, it is at the same time made milder by the fruitiness of the melon. The curry was very quick and easy to make, and was a bit different from most other curries that I've made before.

Serves 2

1 medium shallot

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves

½ red chilli, deseeded

50g asparagus

50g sugar snap peas

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

a pinch of cayenne pepper

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

500g galia melon

150g broadbeans

125g mozzarella cheese

freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Serve with 150g long grain rice, cooked according to the instructions on the packet

Warm the olive oil in a wide pan, and finely chop the shallot. Add the shallot to the oil and sweat it until it is soft and golden. Finely chop the garlic and add to the shallot. Deseed and finally chop the chilli, or keep the seeds if you fancy something a bit hotter. Add it to the onions, and then slice the asparagus plus sugar snap peas into 1.5cm long bits. Add them to the pan. Measure out the spices and add to the pan. Stir well and leave on medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.

Whizz half of the melon in an electric mixer until smooth, and add to the pan. Chop the other half of the melon into 1.5cm cubes and also add to the pan. Add the broad beans and leave until all ingredients are warmed through.

Finally tear or chop the mozzarella into chunks and add to the curry. You want to do this immediately before serving, so that it doesn’t melt too much. 

Butternut Squash Tagine with Buttered Chilli Amaranth

This dish is based on a recipe taken from ‘the modern vegetarian’ by Maria Elia. As usual I didn’t manage to stay within the confines of someone else’s directions, but it still seemed to work. I used amaranth instead of couscous, to make it gluten free. The texture is a bit different, but the taste is just as good, I think. 

Just like me, you can experiment with different vegetables that take your fancy, or you can follow my guidelines – it’s up to you. I added some greens because I felt I could do with the extra vitamins that day, and also I had some of them hanging about in the fridge, and they could do with using up. You can use any type of honey, but heather honey gives a rich indulgent taste.

Serves 2

300g butternut squash

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves

a pinch of sea salt

a pinch of saffron strands

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tin of tomatoes (400g)

1 green chilli

½ cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons heather honey

250ml water

80g sugar-snap peas

70g green beans

a pinch of freshly ground black pepper

100g amaranth

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons fresh chopped coriander

1 teaspoon chopped red chilli

zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons chopped almonds

chopped fresh coriander for garnish

Peel the butternut squash using a potato peeler. You do not want to use the seeds, so make sure your 300g are flesh only. Chop it into 1.5 cm cubes, and put to one side. Finely chop the onion and garlic.

Warm the olive oil in a pan, and add the onion and garlic. Sweat these until the onion is soft, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add all the spices and cook for 2 – 3 minutes to let the tastes mix with the onion. Add the tinned tomatoes. If they were whole, chop them before adding to the pan.

Finely chop the chilli. I took the seeds out, but leave them in if you like it hot. Add the chilli to the pan, and also add the cinnamon stick and honey. Add the squash and water, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Chop the sugar-snap peas and green beans, and taste to with black pepper. Simmer for a further 10 minutes until the greens are soft but not overcooked.

To make the Buttered Chilli Amaranth, bring some water to the boil (at the same time as you start preparing the tagine above), and place the amaranth in the boiling water. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes and drain well. Add the butter, coriander and chilli and stir well. Grate the zest of a lemon into the amaranth, taking care not to grate any of the white pith as this is very bitter.

Serve tagine and amaranth and scatter some chopped almonds and fresh coriander over. 

Yorkshire Puddings

Making these is easier than you would think, and they're very impressive to look at. And also more tasty than those pre-made ones you can buy in the shops. The recipe was given to me by a chef many years ago, and has served me well ever since. It works with the same quantities whether the flour is made from wheat or if it's gluten free. And the brilliant thing is that it is very easy to adjust depending on how many you are cooking for, as the quantities are measured by volume, and it is the same for all 3 main ingredients. If you should have some spare batter after you've finished, then it's brilliant for breakfast pancakes the following morning. Just add some cardamom or cinnamon, and off you go.

Makes 16

200ml eggs (approx 4 large eggs)
200ml whole milk
200ml flour (I used Dove's Farm gluten free white bread flour)
a pinch of salt


Add all ingredients to a large bowl (sift the flour), and use an electric mixer to whisk well. This is to add air to the batter and make the puddings rise when they are baked. Pour the batter into a jug, and leave it in the fridge to rest for half an hour or so.


In the meantime, heat your oven to the highest temperature possible. On the top shelf, place a tray of yorkshire pudding trays. If you haven't got this, you can use a metal muffin tray, or even a large baking dish to make one giant pudding for people to share. Pour a little vegetable oil into the base of each pudding hole before placing the tray in the oven.


When the oil is steaming hot, fetch your batter mix from the fridge, and prepare for the baking. The trick is to be quick, you don't want to let the heat escape from the oven, so make sure you are ready before opening the oven door. What you need to have ready is the batter and some oven gloves. Open the oven door, quickly pour a little bit of batter in each pudding hole, and then quickly but carefully move the tray down to the middle of the oven. Close the door, and turn the heat down to 190°C. Bake for 35 minutes. 

Asparagus & Artichoke Risotto

Risotto is one of those things that is very easy and quick to make, and yet deliciously yummy.  It’s a perfect comfort food for rainy days, and even works well in warm weather, served with a glass of chilled wine. 

Serves 2

1 tablespoon butter

2 small shallots

1 clove of garlic

150g Arborio rice

160g asparagus

200ml white wine

120g artichoke hearts

900ml vegetable stock

100g parmesan

a few sprigs of fresh parsley

Melt the butter in a sauté pan or wide saucepan. Finely chop the shallots and garlic, and add to the butter. Sweat the shallots until they are soft and golden. Add the rice, and stir well until the rice has a slightly glossy look. Chop the asparagus into 1cm long pieces, and add to the shallots. Add a little bit of vegetable stock, and stir. As the rice soaks in the liquid, gradually add more, little by little.

Once you have added about half the vegetable stock, add the wine, and then continue to add stock. It will take about 30 minutes or so before the rice is cooked. When the rice is almost done (test the softness, it should be soft but not mushy), add the artichoke hearts. You can get jars ready cooked ones in olive oil in most supermarkets.  

When the risotto is ready to be served, add about half the parmesan, and stir it in. Serve the rest of the parmesan and the parsley with the risotto.

Quick Dill-Coated Polenta

I was very lazy last night; I came home late from work, and couldn’t really be bothered cooking anything. The only problem was that I was starving hungry, so something had to be done. As I was rummaging through my food-cupboard I discovered a packet of ready made polenta, and it turned out that I also had some frozen vegetables in the freezer. After some further investigation I decided on dill and parmesan to go with the polenta. The result was surprisingly tasty, and I ended up with a very enjoyable meal.

Serves 2 or 3 as a main course

1 packet ready made polenta (500g) or a similar amount if you make your own from scratch

2 tablespoons fresh dill

½ teaspoon ground sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried chilli

3 tablespoons parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil

Slice the polenta into 1cm thick slices. Place these in a bowl, and cover with chopped dill, salt, pepper and chilli. Grate the parmesan, and sprinkle it over the polenta. Distribute the herbs, spices and cheese evenly around the polenta, and drizzle the oil over it all. Make sure all the polenta is covered, and leave it to marinade for 30 minutes or so (the longer you leave it the better the flavour, you could even leave it overnight if possible).

Place the polenta in a warn frying pan, pour the remaining marinade over it, and fry on medium heat for approximately 3 minutes on each side.

This can be served with any number of side dishes.

Cauliflower Cheese

Cauliflower cheese is one of those dishes that ‘everyone’ in England makes, and every family has its own take on it. This particular one is how my boyfriend’s mum always used to make it, simple yet delicious. It can be served as a main course on its own or with a salad, or as a side dish. I find it’s a perfect comfort food on a rainy day.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish

1 small cauliflower

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons cornflower

500ml whole milk

salt and pepper to taste

150g cheddar cheese (grated)

Cut the cauliflower into florets, and steam it until it’s soft.

While the cauliflower is steaming, make a béchamel sauce from the butter, corn flour and milk. Start by melting the butter and then adding the flour. Once you have whisked these two to a smooth mixture you add the milk a little at a time, stirring continuously. Add salt and pepper to taste, and finally 50g of the cheese. Leave this to simmer for a couple of minutes.

When the cauliflower is soft, place the florets in an ovenproof dish, pour over the sauce, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over it. Place under a warm grill for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly coloured.