Lunch

I spent years hating Brussel sprouts until I discovered that roasting gave them a whole new flavour. Roasting cabbage removes some of the bitterness and the vegetable takes on a whole new favour. This works particularly well with brussels and kalettes as the outer leaves quickly crisp.
If like me you are not a fan then I would urge you to give this simple recipe a try.

It’s getting cold outside, it’s just passed Halloween and most of the UK is either celebrating school half term or about to return to school. So here is a perfect recipe to use up the spare pumpkin from all that lantern carving.
​I love Autumn. Not so much the darker mornings, but definitely the crisp, bright days and the changing colour of the leaves. And the food. Local apples, pears and stone fruit just begging to be baked into a crumble. Tons of root veggies for soups, stews and curries. But especially the reappearance of squash. There are so many varieties of squash available now and they are such a versatile vegetable.
This baked rice dish is one of my favourites. Mushroom and roasted squash warmed up with sweet paprika and baked to give a crunchy topping.
This warming, Autumn comfort food dish is actually the perfect store cupboard dinner. You could use dried mushrooms and frozen squash and get a pretty decent result. But at this time of year, with so many varieties of squash available it seems a shame not to buy fresh.

​If I was to write a recipe book then I think I could fill it with aubergine recipes. Aubergine is such a versatile vegetable. There are so many ways to marinate and cook it to produce different flavour combinations. If I had to choose just one aubergine dish to nominate as my favourite it would be a fight between caponata and parmigiana. You can find the parmigiana in the recipe archives but today it’s the turn of caponata.

OK, the first time I heard about massaging cabbage even I thought that was a step too far. Who has time to massage vegetables??? The thing is, kale is extremely good for you but it is also quite tough. This method of preparing kale softens the vegetable but provides texture to salad.

TUNA MEATBALLS
16/5/20180 Comments

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​This week I have made the discovery that The Boy will try most things if they come shaped like a meatball. So, it will come as no surprise to learn that this week most of our meals have been accompanied by meatball like creations. Unfortunately trying and liking are two very different beasts. Vietnamese prawn and rice balls got a definite thumbs-down and he wasn’t too bothered about the lentil and mushroom balls. Tuna meatballs, however, were a completely different story. So, this recipe is a winner in our house….
​These meatballs are gluten and dairy free, quick to put together and rely mainly on store-cupboard ingredients. The predominant taste is tuna. So if you have children that like tuna you are probably on safe ground. It’s a good way of getting children to eat walnuts. I’m a huge fan of this often overlooked nut. Walnuts are packed full of vitamins and minerals and a good source of omega 3. They have also been shown to help lower cholesterol.