Pizza Express-esque Bruschetta

I am addicted to this. Every time I go to Pizza Express I order it. I worry it will get boring, or taste different but every time it hits the spot... This version is not the same. I swear they must add crack or heroin to their pesto, but it's a good substitute all the same.

For 2 greedy portions you need:
1 garlic flat bread (either one each or 1 large one to cut in half)
1/2 tub good quality fresh pesto either home made or premium brand
2 ripe tomatoes
1 small red onion
pine kernels

Heat the garlic bread. Meanwhile chop the tomato and onion. Place in a mixing bowl and add the 1/2 of the pesto. Mix gently. When the garlic bread is done, place on a plate and top with the tomato/onion/pesto mixture, dropping teaspoons of the extra pesto on to the bread. Scatter over some pine kernels and scoff.

Curried Eggs

You can use any tomato based curry sauce for this. Basically what you want is something spicy, slightly sour and sloppy to contrast with the eggs. It's nice with just naan or some rice too. It's also good cold the next day for breakfast (honest).

For 4 portions you need:

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 inch piece of ginger, grated
2 tsp tumeric
1 whole chilli
2 dried whole chillies, rubbed together to loosen the seeds
6 eggs, semi hard boiled (7 mins)
2 tbsp oil
4 cardamon pods, crushed
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
350 ml water
300g peeled potatoes, cut into small dice (or any other veg you fancy tbh, peas are nice too)
chopped corriander

Begin by frying the onion in the oil then add the spices, potatoes, chillies, garlic and ginger. Cook for 5 mins or so. Then add the toms and the sliced onion and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins till the sauce is thicken and the potatoes are cooked. Add a little more water if you need to. Peel the eggs and cut in half. After the potato is cooked, add the halved eggs and heat through gently. Serve topped with the chopped corriander.

Meal Plans for Next Week

I've fallen out of the habit of doing this recently as I've been ill. But I am finally feeling better so have resumed enthusiasm for this. Next week we will mostly be eating (in no particular order...):

Lentil and vegetable soup
Pizza (shop brought, shhh!)
Garlic bread bruschetta
Pasta and sauce
Spicy potato cakes served with chickpea and onion bhajis and cocount dhal
Lentil croquettes with tomato sauce, veggies and sweet potato wedges
Tofu laksa
Curried eggs and naan

And the sweet things are:
Sticky toffee pudding
Tropical fruit salad with coconut rice pudding
Carrot cake
Easter biscuits

Lentil and vegetable Soup

A variation on Grandad's Soup, this one, but still yummy, dead easy to make and good for you too...

For 4-6 portions you need

1 large onion, chopped
2-3 leeks, sliced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1.5 litres veggie stock
1 cup red lentils

Sweat the veggies in oil for about 5 mins then add the lentils and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins till everything is tender. Serve chunky or blend. Serve with bread and top with nutritional yeast. Yum

Sweetcorn Fritters with Avcado Salsa

I had avocados to use up today and didn't really fancy eating them au natural so googled and came across this recipe for sweetcorn cakes on the BBC Good Food site. I've tweaked it slightly, and if you wanted a vegan version you could omit the egg/milk and just use water for the batter.

For 2 portions you need:
1 200g can of sweetcorn, drained
1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
50g self raising flour
1 egg
2 tbsp milk
1 chilli, finely chopped
1 avocado, roughly chopped
1 handful corriander, shredded

Mix the flour, egg, sweetcorn, half of the onions and milk together to make a batter. Season. Heat a pan and fry spoonfuls of the batter in some oil for about 10 mins, turning halfway.

Mix the remaining onions, avocado and corrainder together and serve with the fritters. It's nice with some salsa too as it's a bit dry otherwise.

Red Onion and Goats Cheese Tarts

I was at a conference last night where the veggie option was shallot tart tatin with goats cheese. Only by the time they got to our table they had (i) substituted the shallots for red onions and (ii) run out of the actual dish by the time it came to my dinner and a colleagues! The chef made us a tasty (but teeny tiny) butternut squash risotto as compesnation. But frankly I wanted goats cheese and onions. So I made it for myself tonight instead. And it was lovely, even if I do say so myself. (On another note I have seen lots of these being served recently on Come Dine With Me, it's clearly the middle England dinner party course of choice for the token veggie at the table...).

Anyway the recipe...

For 4 portions you need:
1 packet puff pastry, defrosted if frozen
red onions - I used 8 small ones so probably about 450g in total
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
2 capricorn goats cheese, ends sliced off and cut into two
2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp red wine or balsamic vinegar
Pine nuts - about 2 tbsp
Salad leaves to serve
Balsamic vinegar syrup

Begin by slicing the onions. I went rustic and chunky but you can go for posh and elegant thin slices if you can be bothered... Toss into a pan with the oil and heat on a moderate heat for about 15 mins, stirring often to prevent burning. Add the sugar and balsamic and reduce the heat. Season. Continue to cook gently for about another 30 mins till the onions are caramelised. You could of course cheat and use a jar of onion marmalade but I think it's nicer with real onions.

Meanwhile roll out the puff pastry to about a 5mm thickness. Cut into 4 pieces (you can be posh and go for a circle if you want but I did rectangles) and trim to make the sides straight. Score a border about 1cm from the edge taking care not to cut all the way through. Place a quarter of the onions onto each piece of pastry and spread out to cover up to the border. Lay the goats cheese on top, sprinkle over some pine nuts and some chilli oil if you want. Bake in a moderate (180 degree) oven for 25 mins. Check the bottom to make sure that it's cooked properly. If not, reduce the heat to about 150 and cook for another 10 mins or so.

Serve with salad dressed with balsamic syrup. Feel well posh with that nosh inside yer.

Cheats Gnocchi with Cheese Sauce

This is as close to a ready meal as I tend to get, and it's a cinch to throw together after a hectic day at work.

For 2 portions you need:
1 packet gnocchi
1 tub 4 cheese sauce
grated cheese to top the bake with e.g. cheddar, emmental and/or parmesan
Fresh toms or semi dried toms

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. Cook the gnocchi in boiling water till it rises (about 3 mins) then drain and mix with the tub of cheese sauce. Top with grated cheese and the toms and bake for about 20 mins till bubbling and browned. Serve with a salad or steamed green veggies. Lob the washing up in the dishwasher and go and play lego with child.

Quick Coconut and Tofu Laksa

Another easy after work recipe and one which N declared was waaaaaaaay better than the sweet potato and chard stew from Saturday!

For 3-4 portions you need:
2 large tbsp curry paste (I used pataks tikka masala)
1 can coconut milk
about 750ml stock
2 large carrots, sliced
1 head broccoli
about 200g thick rice noodles
beansprouts
chopped corriander and mint
half a lemon, squeezed
soya sauce to serve
1/2 pack marinated tofu chunks
2 leeks, shredded

Begin by frying the curry paste for a few mins, then add the coconut milk, stock, leeks, broccoli, carrots and noodles. Cook for about 5 mins till the veggies are tender and the noodles are cooked. Add the tofu and cook for 1 further minute. Serve garnished with beansprouts, corriander, mint and soya sauce. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top. Scoff.

Peanut, Sweet Potato and Chard Stew

Another recipe from April's BBC Good Food magazine. Riverford had ever so kindly given us an extra 'present' of some chard. One of my most hated vegetables. But I saw this recipe and thought I'd give it a go to use up the interloper in a new way. It worked, sort of. N didn't like it at all, but L ate the sweet potatoes and stew juice. I liked it all, but like so many Good Food recipes it was rather bland. If I make it again I'll add some more flavours to it, and less water.

For 4 generous portions you need:
400g sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into bite sized chunks
1 400g tin chopped toms
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp whole cumin
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp oil
175g roasted, salted peanuts
300ml water (the recipe states 750ml but this was waaaaaay too much imho, you need enough to help the potatoes cook but not enough to drown the flavours...)
250g chard, washed and chopped into 2cms chunks.

Begin by frying the onion over a high heat in the oil for about 10 mins until golden. Add the cumin seeds and chilli and fry for another couple of minutes to release the flavours. Then add the toms and water and sweet potatoes. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 mins. Blitz the peanuts till finely chopped, and add to the pan. After another 10 mins or so add the chard and heat for 5 mins till tender. Keep an eye on the water level to stop the stew from sticking and top up if you need some more liquid. Season to taste and serve with rice. Feel beyond virtuous for eating so healthily.

Pear and Vanilla Microwave Pudding

I was inspired for this by a recipe in BBC Good Food Magazine for a banana and cinnamon microwave cake pudding. I've had a tin of pears lurking at the back of the cupboard since forever and this seemed like a good time to use them us. Also the bananas I had got from the supermarket yesterday were far too green to work properly. The result was a lovely smelling, incredibly quick and easy pudding to make. Yumsome indeed.

For 4 portions you need:
1 tin pears, drained. Leave 4 halves whole and roughly chop the remaining pears into chunks.
100g each of soft brown sugar, butter and self raising flour
2 tbsp pear juice (make sure the pears are tinned in juice and not syrup!)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

Begin by melting the butter in the microwave. Once melted add everything else, apart from the reserved whole halves. Mix well and put into a souffle dish. Sit the remaining halves in the batter and then microwave on high for 8 minutes. Serve with custard or ice cream or cream or whatever you fancy. These type of microwave cakes tend to go a bit hard the next day, but it is edible if this happens. Just smother in lots of custard before re-heating.

Pasta with Pesto, Mushrooms, Peas and Broccoli

A friend made something like this for me last week and it was delicious. I hardly ever use pesto as a pasta sauce, wrongly thinking it's not something I like. But I really did like this! The original version used filled tortellini, baby corn and mange tout. But the version below was just as good.

For 2-3 portions you need:
200g pasta (I used spirlli)
1 tub pesto (I used fresh as I think it tastes nicer than a jar)
4-5 mushrooms, stalks chopped in to 2 and the cups cut into 4-6 pieces depending on how big they are
small head broccili, cut into small florets
1 cup frozen peas
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
watercress salad to serve.

Begin by cooking the pasta. Meanwhile sautee the mushrooms in a lidded pan with the oil for about 5 mins. Then add the broccoli and continue to cook over a fairly high heat, using the lid to retain the steam. Add a little water if you need to create more steam and cook the broccoli. Then add the frozen peas and pesto. Check the pasta is cooked and drain when done. Check the vegetables and pesto for seasoning and then combine the pasta with the sauce. Serve with salad. Yummy. The leftovers are nice cold for a salad lunch the next day.