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Super easy vegetable curry

Ugly super easy vegetable curry

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I am currently poorly. I’m trying not to bang on about it, but I think this is possibly the most rotten I’ve felt in a while. On the upside, it means I’m confined to bed and have had to cancel absolutely every engagement, which is strangely freeing. I’ve had a couple of days where I haven’t been able to eat anything, but as my appetite’s come back, I’ve been craving something really simple and nourishing and it made me think of this curry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made it, and every time I make it I think that I really must write up the recipe. Trouble is, it never looks good. Food photography and dark evenings never really mix and - well, it’s just not photogenic. BUT it tastes delicious and a couple of people have asked me for the recipe, and I guess it’s bad to always strive for perfection, so it’s going up anyway. As the name suggests, this super easy vegetable curry is super easy to make. It’s naturally vegan, and basically just a case of chopping loads of stuff and whacking it all in a big pan. It’s such a lovely thing for those times when you’re craving something really soothing and easy to eat, perfect if you’re under the weather or need something warming on a cold night. It’s also fab for using up any leftover veg you have hanging about - the bonus being it’s never quite the same any time you make it. Anyway, enjoy, and sorry for the hideous photos. I promise when I’ve got my energy back I’ll take more pics and make it look a bit prettier.

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On test: new Mindful Chef healthy frozen meals

On test: new Mindful Chef healthy frozen meals and smoothies

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What’s in your freezer? Ours is full of things like breadcrumbs made from leftover bread, frozen veg (leeks and onions are SO handy), fish (bake it straight from frozen wrapped in foil with a little butter and a slice of lemon) and those baby prawns that you can just bung in a curry or risotto without even defrosting. I don’t really buy frozen meals, so I wasn’t sure what we were going to think of the new Mindful Chef healthy frozen meals. Having said that, I think the Mindful Chef boxes are brilliant, so I was happy to give them a go. They also offered to send us some of their new healthy frozen smoothies. Here’s our verdict.

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Healthy (ish) maple pecan granola slice

Healthy (ish) maple pecan granola slice

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I’ve been fiddling around with this recipe for aaaages: I’ve made it into cookies, I’ve added dried fruit (and then taken it away again because Charlie moaned), twiddled with all the quantities, twiddled a bit more, and now finally I think I’m ready to share. I’ve called it healthy (ish) maple pecan granola slice because while it’s not in the least a ‘healthy’ recipe (is there even a healthy flapjack or granola slice that doesn’t taste like sawdust?) the butter and sugar have been kept to the absolute minimum that it takes to actually hold the thing together (I mean, 10g butter per person is pretty good - whizzing the oats helps with this too).

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Creamy vegetable bake with a cheesy topping

Creamy vegetable bake

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This is such a good recipe if you’ve got leftovers. In fact, we like it so much that I’ve started deliberately cooking too much roasted veg on Sunday so we can use the leftovers for this one on the Monday. I’m not a vegetarian or a vegan (but did you know that next week, 13th - 19th May is National Vegetarian Week?), but I always try to do a couple of meat free meals a week. If you are, I’m sure you have all your favourite brands/substitutes for things like stock, cheese and cream. I would imagine coconut milk would work okay, but a dairy-free friend of mine has told me that Oatly do an actual crème fraîche substitute. There’s a bit of prep to this recipe, but once you’ve got it down I promise you’ll make it again and again, and probably personalise it too. If you like more sauce, add more stock, or maybe you’d prefer it without the topping. I think it would make a delicious filling for a pie too. The thing I love about this dish is that it’s always slightly different, depending on what you have in the fridge.
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Lentil and vegetable hotpot 3

Lentil and vegetable hotpot

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Although we’re not vegetarians, I try to make several meals a week that don’t include meat, so when Hello Fresh asked me if I’d like to try one of their recipes, I went for the veggie option and chose this lentil and vegetable hotpot. I would imagine this would be really easy to make into a vegan dish by changing the cheese too, so it’s a really good staple supper recipe to have under your belt if you’ve got a houseful of people who all have different dietary requirements. I’ve changed the recipe a tiny bit (we love a bit of spice), but feel free to leave it out or add your own tweaks too. I guarantee this will end up being one of your favourite veggie dinners. These amounts are supposed to serve two but we had a ton of leftovers - just double up if you need to.

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Grain free coconut and almond bread

Coconut and almond bread

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So recently, we’ve been thinking about what we eat quite a bit. Mr E has a very stressy job and also a very sweet tooth. Combine the two and you get someone who spends the whole day snacking on sweet stuff and not eating properly. At a recent check-up, his doctor mentioned that some of the cause of the tiredness he’s been experiencing recently could be down to the amount of sugar he eats. As far as I understand it (disclaimer: not a doctor and repeating this third hand!) when he’s busy and stressed, he reaches for a sweet treat as a quick ‘pick me up’, but then the body releases insulin, which helps to use up the sugar, making the blood sugar levels crash again. It’s a flippin’ sugar rollercoaster than can cause problems with your hormones, your sleep and your energy levels. It turns out that a diet high in carbs can also play havoc with your blood sugar, so we decided to try and cut down our sugar, and go a bit easier on the carbs, concentrating on eating more vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats. I’m not a diet person. I want to eat lovely food and not feel like I’m missing out, but I’m also very keen to be supportive and help Mr E live healthily, so the first thing that on my list was to try and create a good, lower carb bread. This coconut and almond bread is wheat and gluten free, much lower on the carbs, and our current favourite.

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Lime and lemongrass noodle soup

Lime and lemongrass noodle soup

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Last week I mentioned that I’ve been working with Belvoir to create some deliciously warming autumnal recipes. One of the things I really enjoy about recipe development is playing with flavours. I put something in, cook the recipe, taste it, then maybe I’ll cook it again without it, just to see if it really does enhance the finished dish. This lime and lemongrass noodle soup is a classic example. The Lime and Lemongrass Cordial is a summer favourite in this house - it’s fresh and aromatic and we love it splashed into fizzy water with a load of ice cubes. We thought the flavour would work well in something Asian-inspired, but I wasn’t prepared for the difference the relatively small amount of cordial made to the end result. I find now that whenever I’m cooking anything that needs a citrussy, herbal lift, I reach for this cordial, which pleases me as it turns a summer favourite into an all-year-rounder. This gorgeous, flavoursome noodle soup is just perfect for autumnal days and as it’s really quick to make, it’s great for a warming, after work supper.

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Vanilla, coconut and cashew overnight oats with frozen berries

Vanilla, coconut and cashew overnight oats with frozen berries

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I’ve been trying SO hard to be healthy recently. I’m trying to cut down on the booze, eating healthily and I’m still running three times a week - I’ve completed the NHS Couch to 5k app now, but I now just replay one of the later weeks (anything from around week 6 really) every time I run. I find it much more motivating to be told how I’m doing and I genuinely just like having Jo Whiley in my ear. I whack on a bit of The Greatest showman, pop my headphones in and plod along for half an hour or so. I’m not the fastest runner, and I don’t really enjoy it that much, but I like the feeling of achievement when Jo finally says ‘and that’s it, you’ve done it!’ and I know it’s keeping me healthy. I tend to run before breakfast, so I like to make something healthy to come back to, and these vanilla, coconut and cashew overnight oats with frozen berries are my current favourite.

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Coconut chilli prawn noodles

Coconut chilli prawn noodles

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I think finding something delicious to cook for dinner midweek is one of my biggest challenges. I love these coconut chilli prawn noodles because the basic recipe can be adapted to suit so many different tastes. If you’re a meat eater, you can swap the prawns for chicken, and if you’re a veggie you can leave them out and add things like mushrooms, sliced peppers and sliced green beans (of course, you can still do that anyway). That’s the beauty of this dish. It’s also fab for using up leftovers as you can basically bung any old thing in and it will still taste delicious. It’s also one of those recipes where most of the ingredients can be kept in the cupboard and/or freezer for when you’ve got nothing in. When I buy red chillis, I’ll often freeze any that I think I won’t use and you can basically grate them straight into the dish. The same goes for ginger too. Here’s the basic recipe:

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Breaded baked barbecue cauliflower

Breaded baked barbecue cauliflower

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So, this week I told you about all the thoughts swirling around in my head about eating meat and why I’m pondering becoming a pescatarian (I haven’t eaten any meat since then, but I still feel that I could forget and go into a restaurant and say ‘I’ll have the steak please’ without even thinking twice). The upside of all this angst is that I’ve been searching around for delicious meat-free recipes to share with the family and I have to say, this one is delicious. In fact, Charlie made my day by saying ‘wow, this is the first time in my whole life I’ve wanted to ask for more cauliflower’! All I did was dip cauliflower in egg and roll in flavoured breadcrumbs, exactly as I would chicken, and then served it with our favourite barbecue sauce (if you can’t be bothered to make the sauce, you could just serve it with bottled sweet chilli) but honestly, whichever way you serve it, it’s a life changer.

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Slow cooked chicken leg soup

Slow cooked chicken leg soup

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As the parents of two young lads, one of the charities very close to our hearts is Centre Point, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity. Centre Point has recently launched a new fundraising initiative, The Big Broth. It’s a competition to find a new and exciting soup recipe. The winning recipe will be put into production by Yorkshire Provender this autumn with 20p from every pot sold going straight back into funding Centre Point’s work with the young homeless in London and other major UK cities. The competition closes very soon (end of this month) and they’re keen to get as many entries in as possible, so if you have a favourite soup recipe, please please take five minutes to enter the competition. It’s such a worthy cause. I’ve entered our new favourite, a slow cooked chicken leg soup which is deliciously warm and tasty, perfect for chilly days or to perk up anyone feeling under the weather.

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Spiced vegetable, coconut and mackerel stew

Spiced vegetable, coconut and mackerel stew

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One of my biggest challenges is finding things to cook on those days where I’m just rushed off my feet. Often, especially if I’m working on something I’m really enjoying, the boys or Mr E will walk through the door and I’ll realise that I haven’t even had any lunch, let alone worked out what’s for tea. I think it’s really important to have a stock of a few store cupboard essentials that will enable you to quickly whip up a couple of simple, nutritious meals without thinking too hard about it. When Princes sent me the video (see below) for the Moroccan mackerel rice, I couldn’t wait to give it a go - it literally is ready in minutes, and it’s delicious too. I’ve found myself making it quite often for a quick and easy lunch, and we’ve experimented with several of the varieties (my favourite is still the mackerel fillets in a Moroccan style sauce with apricot purée though). The mackerel is skinless and boneless and available in some delicious sauces, so all you have to do is find some quick carbs and veggies to go with it, et voila. Princes also challenged me to come up with my own quick and easy dish using Princes Mackerel. This spiced vegetable, coconut and mackerel stew is warm and comforting and as it’s all made in one saucepan there’s minimal washing up too. I often make this when I’ve got leftover veggies to use up: it’s great with potato, broccoli and carrots too.

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New Cook Well from Waitrose

New Cook Well from Waitrose, and a 50% discount off your first order

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I never know how I feel about recipe boxes. I’ve had some good, and I’ve had some very, very bad (think teeny portions and an absolute ton of unnecessary packaging to get rid of). Recently Waitrose have joined the (dinner) party by launching their own recipe box delivery service. Cook Well from Waitrose delivers fresh, portioned ingredients straight to the door. All the meals are approved by a Waitrose nutritionist and most have at least two of your five fruit and veg a day. There’s quite a decent range of dishes, including a range of vegetarian and pescatarian recipes as well as meat options. Waitrose very kindly asked me if I’d like to give Cook Well a go, so I chose three dishes to try out. Here’s how I got on.

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Moroccan spiced hummus with roasted chickpeas made with the Breville Blend Active Pro

Moroccan spiced hummus with roasted chickpeas

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You may remember a little while ago, I told you about my favourite little gadget, the Breville Blend Active Pro. It’s perfect for smoothies, purées and sauces because it’s small and neat, but I’ve often thought how nice it would be to have a bit of a bigger receptacle (is that the right word?) so I could use it for soups and stuff like that without having to haul out my enormous blender/liquidiser. Well, happy days are here, because there’s now a fab new Blend Active accessory pack which includes a whole bunch of attachments that allow it to do loads more stuff: whip cream, process larger amounts of food, grind herbs, and even juice fruit! Breville set me a little challenge to come up with a delicious hummus recipe using the Blend Active Pro and new accessory pack, and I had great fun playing with flavours. I think you’ll like this Moroccan spiced hummus with spiced roasted chickpeas - and I’m still thinking about ways to make it even more delicious (see notes at the end).

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Easy veggie lentil chilli

Student staples: easy veggie lentil chilli

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One of the challenges that many students seem to face when they first move away from home is finding inspiration for decent, cheap meals. It’s not just inspiration that’s the problem either: obviously they’ve got a limited budget and they’re probably not used to supermarket shopping either (let alone on a budget), so they’re overwhelmed with the price and choice of food and end up sticking to the same two or three things that they know how to cook (or blowing a week’s budget on Domino’s then eating beans on toast at the end of the month). I promised Charlie I’d start to write up a few simple, quick and - most importantly - healthy recipes that he can refer to, so I came up this easy veggie lentil chilli for him, but honestly, we liked this one so much I’ve been making it about once a week. I serve it with brown rice and top with a handful of salad, sour cream or avocado. It’s also delicious served with sausages (veggie or otherwise). Read more

Three ingredient brownies with 83% less sugar

Three ingredient brownies (with 83% less sugar)

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If you’ve ever looked at recipes on Pinterest, you’re bound to have seen those ‘three ingredient brownies’ recipes that use just chocolate spread, eggs and flour, right? I keep meaning to have a go at cooking them, I mean they look like they work, don’t they? And then a lovely friend of mine gave me the heads up about Jim Jams - a chocolate spread with 83% less sugar than Nutella, and I thought - wait, then that would be three ingredient brownies with a fraction of the sugar, and well, being January and all about the healthier choices, I gave them a go.

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