Fresh and fruity muesli

You can prepare this in advance and leave it in the fridge overnight, or make it in the morning and eat it straight away - either way works!

Makes: 1 serving
Takes: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 apple
3 dried apricots
3oz (75g) porridge oats
5fl oz (150ml) milk

Method

1. Grate the apple and chop the apricots then mix with the oats and milk.
2. Er - that's it! Eat it!

You can add other fruit and/or chopped nuts if you wish.

Seafood and couscous

Pretty quick and easy and absolutely delicious! You can use mixed seafood, prawns, white fish or a mixture.

Makes: 4 servings
Takes: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot
2 sticks of celery
2 leeks
2 cloves of garlic
pinch of chilli flakes
1 bay leaf
150ml dry white wine
400g tin of tomatoes
400g of seafood
375ml hot vegetable stock
1 lemon
200g couscous
fresh parsley

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the carrot, thinly slice the celery, thinly slice the leeks and chop the garlic. Cook the carrot, celery, leeks, garlic, chilli and bay leaf in the oil for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2. Add the wine and tinned tomatoes to the pan (if using whole plum tomatoes, first blitz them briefly in a blender or chop them by sticking a large knife repeatedly into the open tin). Boil rapidly for 5 minutes to reduce.
3. Finely grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze the juice of half of it. Put into a small pan with the stock and bring to the boil.
4. If using fish, cut into small pieces. Turn down the heat under the pan and add the seafood, simmering gently for 5 minutes till piping hot and the fish (if using) is cooked through.
5. Meanwhile, add the couscous to the boiling stock and lemon juice, stir, remove from the heat and cover. Leave for 5 minutes. Season, add some finely chopped fresh parsley and fluff with a fork. Serve when the couscous and seafood are both ready.

The seafood will freeze well so you can make this to serve 2 by halving the amount of couscous, stock and lemon then saving half the seafood for another occasion.

Goulash

Great for a cold winter evening - real comfort food! And yet, it's low in fat - bonus :-)

Makes: 3-4 servings
Takes: 10 minutes + 1 1/2 hours cooking time

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
400g lean stewing steak, cubed
1 large onion
1 clove of garlic
1 1/2 tbsp paprika
1 green or red pepper
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 beef stock cube
1 tbsp cornflour
salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large, non-stick saucepan and add the meat. Cook until the meat has all sealed and browned.
2. Thinly slice the onion and crush the garlic then add to the pan and fry for 3 minutes, until softened. Add the paprika and stir well.
3. Remove the seeds and pith from the pepper and chop, then add to the pan with the tomatoes and tomato puree. Mix the stock cube with 425ml (15 fl oz) very hot water and pour into the pan.
4. Bring the goulash to the boil then reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, till the meat is very tender. Add a little extra hot water if the mixture looks too dry towards the end of the cooking time.
5. Blend the cornflour with 3 tbsp cold water then add to the goulash with salt and pepper. Stir until the sauce thickens then cook for a further 2 minutes.

This is lovely served with boiled or mashed potatoes, or plain boiled rice. You could also top each serving with a spoonful of low fat plain yogurt if you wish. Spare portions freeze well, too.

Bacon and leek risotto

Very easy - after the initial cooking, just pop it in the oven! It's very tasty, and low in fat too.

Makes: 2 servings
Takes: 15 minutes + 1 hour cooking time

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
1 large leek
1 clove garlic
4 rashers bacon
2 or 3 mushrooms
7 oz (uncooked weight) risotto rice
1 tsp dried thyme
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150oC.
2. Trim and finely slice the leek. Peel and chop the garlic. Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan and fry the leek and garlic for a few minutes till softened, then transfer to a plate.
3. Trim all the fat from the bacon and cut into small pieces. Slice the mushrooms. Cook bacon and mushrooms in the saucepan till browned (you shouldn't need any extra oil).
4. Return the leek and garlic to the pan and add the rice, stirring well. Make 1 1/2 pints of stock using the stock cube and boiling water, and add to the pan with the thyme.
5. Bring to the boil, stirring well, then transfer to a large ovenproof dish and cover with foil. Bake for an hour. Check towards the end of this time and remove the foil if the risotto looks too wet, or add a little extra boiling water if necessary.

Great as it is, or as an accompaniment to a main meal. I often cook a chicken breast while the risotto is cooking then shred the chicken and add to the risotto before serving (the photo above shows the risotto with chicken added). You can also make this a vegetarian dish by using Quorn rashers and ensuring that the stock cube is vegetable rather than chicken.

Chicken parcels

The basic idea behind this recipe is that the chicken cooks in its own steam so is very tender and juicy, and the flavourings both infuse the chicken itself and mix with the juices to make a small amount of sauce. The photo shows Thai green curry chicken but the flavour combinations are endless - see the notes below. Great for serving up everyone's favourites while catering to different tastes!

Makes: As many servings as you wish, just use a chicken breast per person
Takes: 5 minutes + 30 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

1 chicken breast
Any flavourings you wish, see below

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200oC/fan oven 180oC.
2. Cut a piece of foil about 12" square and lightly oil or butter the centre of it. Place the chicken breast onto the foil and add the other ingredients.
3. Bring the edges of the foil together and scrunch to seal, trapping air inside the parcel to allow the chicken to steam. Place the parcel into a roasting tin and cook for 30 minutes.
4. Transfer the parcel to a plate, add potatoes or rice and vegetables, and allow each diner to open his or her own parcel - being careful of the steam! The juices that collect can be poured over the chicken and rice or potatoes as a sauce.

There are so many variations on this theme. A really simple flavour would be lemon juice and fresh herbs - sprinkle a tablespoon or so of lemon juice over the chicken then add some chopped parsley, for example. The photo above shows Thai green curry chicken, which I made by spreading the chicken breast with Thai green curry paste then adding 2 tablespoons of coconut milk and some chopped coriander. You can use a little tomato puree and some grated cheese for 'pizza' chicken, or try butter, finely chopped garlic and sliced mushrooms. Or keep it very simple by adding a little chicken stock to each parcel.

Just one word of warning - you may need to allow longer if cooking several of these at once. Check by carefully opening one of the parcels and sticking a sharp knife into the thickest part of the breast to check that the inside is no longer pink and the juices are clear.

You can also cook fillets of fish this way, though they would only need about 20 minutes in the oven.

Yorkshire puddings

Great with a Sunday roast - a big favourite in our house!

Makes: 12 puddings
Takes: 5 minutes + 20 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

2 1/2 oz plain flour
pinch of salt
1 egg
3 fl oz milk
2 fl oz water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220oC.
2. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and make a 'well' in the centre.
3. Break the egg into the well and start mixing it with a whisk, gradually incorporating some of the flour.
4. As the mixture gets thick, pour in a little milk and water and continue to mix, bringing in more of the flour and adding more liquid alternately till all the ingredients are combined.
5. Lightly oil a 12-cup cake tin (I use spray oil) and put into the oven to get it hot. Ladle batter into each cup and cook for 20-25 minutes, till well-risen and golden brown.

If you prefer, you can cook one large Yorkshire pudding - allow at least half an hour to cook. Or you can make toad-in-the-hole by frying or grilling some sausages to brown them, placing them in the bottom of the hot tin and pouring the batter over before cooking. Or cut the sausages into small pieces, place a piece in each cup of the cake tin and add batter for mini toads!

Cheat's carbonara

Very easy, and much lower in fat than the traditional creamy version. Use turkey rashers if you want to reduce the fat further, or Quorn to make it vegetarian - or add extra vegetables if you wish. I add mushrooms but you can skip them if you prefer. Tastes good with or without the works!

Makes: as many portions as you want, just increase the quantities accordingly
Takes: 15 minutes

Ingredients (per person)

1 serving of spaghetti
spray oil
2 rashers bacon
a few button or closed cup mushrooms (optional)
50g extra low-fat cream cheese (such as Philadelphia)
freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet. Drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid.
2. Spritz a non-stick pan with spray oil and heat. Trim the fat from the bacon and cut it into small pieces, then trim and slice the mushrooms. Fry both over a medium heat till golden brown.
3. Stir in the cream cheese and add a little of the cooking liquid to thin the sauce - you want a coating consistency.
4. Add the spaghetti to the pan and toss to coat with the sauce. Season to taste.

If you want to add any other vegetables, cut them into bite-sized pieces and fry gently in spray oil till softened, then add to the pan at the end of step 2.

Baked Alaska

Disclaimer: The method described below has not been fully tested, but is our improvement of the recipe we were originally given, as some steps didn't quite work for us - we're confident this way WILL work, but if you'd rather wait till we've tried it properly - at which point I'll remove this disclaimer - go ahead :-) The photo shows what we made by following the original recipe.

Makes: 4-6 servings

Takes: 10 minutes + 5 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

a Madeira cake

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jam

4-6 slices of vanilla ice cream from a block (not soft scoop)

4 large egg whites

8 oz (225g) caster sugar

Method

1. Turn the Madeira cake onto its side then slice in half horizontally. Drizzle a tbsp orange juice over each piece and spread one of them with the jam.
2. Arrange the slices of ice cream to cover one half of the cake and top with the other piece. Place onto an ovenproof plate and freeze until ready to cook.
3. Preheat the oven to 200oC/Gas Mark 6.
4. Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Whisk in the caster sugar then remove the cake from the freezer and spread the meringue over.
5. Bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue topping turns golden brown. Serve at once.

You can use rum or brandy instead of orange juice for a grown-up version! You can also omit the jam and use raspberry ripple ice cream.

Rocky road

Very like tiffin but with the classic rocky road combination of chocolate, biscuit and marshmallow.

Makes: 18-24 pieces

Takes: 20 minutes + at least 2 hours chilling time

Ingredients

4 1/2 oz (125g) unsalted butter

10 1/2 oz (300g) good quality dark chocolate

3 tbsp golden syrup

7 1/4 oz (200g) rich tea biscuits

4 oz (100g) mini marshmallows

Method

1. Grease and line an 8x10 inch oblong tin.
2. Put the butter into a large, heavy-based saucepan. Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the pan with the syrup. Melt over a gentle heat and stir well.
3. Scoop out about 4 1/2 fl oz (125ml) of the chocolate mixture and set aside in a bowl. Leave the rest to cool slightly in the pan.
4. Meanwhile, put the biscuits into a plastic freezer bag and crush them roughly with a rolling pin - some should be crushed into crumbs, but make sure you leave some as larger pieces too.
5. Fold the biscuits into the chocolate in the pan then add the marshmallows. Tip into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a wet spatula.
6. Pour over the reserved chocolate and smooth again with a wet spatula. Refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.
7. Cut into 24 pieces. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

You can add dried fruit, glace cherries, chopped nuts etc to vary the recipe if you wish!

Yogurt cake

This makes a lovely, moist, light sponge with a fairly subtle but delicious flavour which is easy to vary by choosing a different flavour of yogurt.

Makes: 12 slices

Takes: 15 minutes + 50-60 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

8 oz (225g) self-raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

6 oz (175g) caster sugar

3 1/2 oz (100g) butter or margarine

2 medium eggs

a 200g pot of Mullerlite yogurt in your chosen flavour

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC/160oC (fan oven)/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line an 8x10 inch oblong baking tin.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and add all the other ingredients. Use an electric hand mixer on a slow speed to combine then turn it up to high to beat to a smooth batter.
3. Pour into the tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, until it feels firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack then slice into 12 fingers.

A particular favourite in our household is to use toffee yogurt, as the flavour seems to come through more strongly. Raspberry and cranberry gives a nice subtle hint of fruit; or try lemon and lime with the grated zest of a lemon and/or lime added. Chocolate gives a very subtle flavour so enhance it with some vanilla essence and 1 tbsp cocoa, sifted with the flour at step 2. Vanilla makes a nice, simple sponge! Any of the above (and probably other flavours I haven't tried) are very good served with custard as a dessert.

Vegetable curry

It's difficult to post a recipe for this one, as it's very much a 'throw what you've got into the pan' type thing with no fixed quantities! It's lovely, though - the vegetables pretty much cook down into mush, but they all add their own bit of flavour and it's much nicer than the baby food it resembles... (If you really want some quantities to get started then see the notes at the end.)

Makes: Depends how much of each ingredient you use

Takes: 10 minutes + 30-40 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

Sweet potato(es)

Potato(es)

Cauliflower

Carrots

Tinned tomatoes

Tinned coconut milk

Vegetable stock cube

Salt and pepper

Curry powder to taste

Fresh spinach

Method

1. Peel the sweet potato(es) and potato(es) and cut them into approximate 2-inch chunks. Cut the cauliflower into florets of a similar size. Peel and top and tail the carrots, cut in half lengthways then chop into thick slices.
2. Put all the vegetables in a large saucepan with the tinned tomatoes and coconut milk. Make up a pint of stock with the stock cube and boiling water and add to the pan, then season and add the curry powder.
3. Stir well and bring the curry to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the vegetables are cooked and starting to break up to form a thick sauce. Stir every now and then during this time and add a bit more boiling water if the curry looks too dry.
4. Rinse the spinach leaves then stir them into the curry till they start to wilt. Serve with rice.

As a very rough guide, you can use 1 large sweet potato, a couple of medium potatoes, 1 small cauliflower, 3 carrots and 1 tin each of tomatoes and coconut milk with 1 pint of stock and a couple of handfuls of spinach. I'd use about 2 tbsp curry powder with that lot. But as you can see, it's a very flexible recipe!

Linguine with prawns and lemon

Lovely fresh flavours, ideal for summer. The chilli isn't at all strong but adds a little interest.

Makes: 2 generous servings
Takes: 15 minutes

Ingredients

200g linguine
about 12 cherry tomatoes
salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 red chilli
1 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
175g king prawns (cooked)

Method

1. Cook the linguine in boiling water according to the instructions on the packet.
2. Halve the tomatoes and place into a small bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt.
3. Peel and chop the garlic. Remove the seeds of the chilli and chop it finely. Crush the garlic and chilli with a pestle and mortar then add to the tomatoes.
4. Finely grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze the juice, then add zest and juice to the tomatoes with the olive oil. Add the prawns and stir well.
5. Drain the pasta then return to the pan with the prawn mixture. Warm through gently over a low heat.

Bran loaf

It looks fairly revolting in its uncooked form and I don't recommend eating any raw mixture, but it turns out well once cooked and is extremely easy to make. Very good buttered.

Makes: 1 loaf (approximately 12 servings)
Takes: 5 minutes + 1 1/2 hours cooking time

Ingredients

1 mug self-raising flour
1 mug bran cereal (All Bran or equivalent)
1 mug dried fruit (currants, sultanas or mixed fruit)
1/2 mug soft brown sugar
1 mug milk

Method

1. Sift the flour into a small bowl and set aside. Place all the other ingredients into a large bowl, stir then leave to stand for about an hour.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 160oC and grease and line a loaf tin.
3. Add the flour to the large bowl and stir well to combine. Pour into the tin and bake for about an hour and a half, until a skewer comes out clean.
4. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Watermelon, ginger and lime juice

Very refreshing, and the ginger gives it a bit of a kick. A bit fiddly though, so ideally multiply up the quantities and make a batch to share. (In that case I'd only use 1 lime for every 2 servings, you should still get enough of the lime flavour.) Alternatively, add vodka to help it to go further!

Makes: 1 serving
Takes: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 wedge of watermelon (about 1/8 of a watermelon)
1 lime
1 piece of stem ginger from a jar of ginger in syrup
1 tsp syrup from the jar of ginger
Vodka (optional)

Method

1. Remove the rind and seeds of the melon and cut into chunks. Grate the zest and squeeze the juice of the lime. Cut the stem ginger into two or three pieces.
2. Place the melon, lime zest and juice, ginger and syrup into a blender, blend until liquid, then press through a sieve. Add vodka if you wish.

Lemonade

Proper, traditional, still lemonade. You might want to adjust the proportions to suit your taste - this makes quite a 'zingy' drink, so I'd add extra water if making it for children. It does need to be drunk while fresh as the pith will make it taste bitter if you keep it too long.

Makes: 1 generous glass
Takes: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 lemon
1/2 pint water
1 tbsp caster sugar (or more to taste)

Method

1. Cut the lemon into quarters (no need to peel it or remove the pips!) and put into a blender with the water and sugar. Blitz for about 10 seconds.
2. Set a sieve over a large bowl or jug and pour the lemonade through the sieve. Press down on the pulp with the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Taste and add more sugar if necessary.

Obviously it's easy to increase the quantities to make more servings!

Lamb Provencal

A lovely fresh tomato and courgette sauce that works well with lamb but would also go with chicken or beef if you prefer! Ingredients here are for one portion but it's easy to increase quantities to make more servings. Allow a bit more preparation time if making more than one portion though.

Makes: 1 portion

Takes: 10 minutes plus 20 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

2 fresh tomatoes

1 clove of garlic

2 spring onions or 1/2 a small leek

1 courgette

3 tbsp dry white wine

a few basil leaves

4 1/2 oz/125g lean lamb steak

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Use a sharp knife to score small crosses in the base of the tomatoes. Place in a bowl and pour boiling water over. Remove after 30 seconds and slip off the skins, then quarter, remove the cores, and chop the flesh.
2. Crush the garlic and chop the spring onions or leek and the courgette. Place all these in a pan with the tomatoes and add the wine and seasoning. Cook until it starts sizzling then reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently until the vegetables have softened.
3. Season the lamb and grill or griddle for about 5 minutes each side until cooked to your taste. Tear the basil into pieces and stir into the sauce then serve the lamb with the sauce spooned over.

Good with a few chips or a jacket potato. It does make plenty of sauce so you may not need a vegetable to go with it, but green beans go well.

Summer berry muffins

Use any fresh berries - stick to one variety or mix several together. (The photo shows a blueberry muffin.)

Makes: 12 muffins, 24 cupcakes, or a number of mini muffins!

Takes: 10 minutes plus 20 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

6 oz/175g berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, redcurrants, cherries...

10 oz/300g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

5 oz/150g caster sugar

3 1/2 fl oz/100 ml plain yogurt

4 fl oz/125 ml milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 1/2 oz/125g butter or margarine

Method

1. 
   
   Preheat the oven to 200oC/180oC (fan oven)/Gas Mark 6. Line the muffin or cupcake tin of your choice with paper cases.
2. 
   
   Sift together the flour, baking powder and caster sugar into a large bowl. If using cherries, halve them and remove the stones; if using larger berries (eg strawberries), cut them into pieces the size of blueberries. Fold the fruit into the flour mixture.
3. 
   
   In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, milk, egg (beaten) and vanilla. Melt the butter and stir into the other wet ingredients.
4. 
   
   Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and quickly mix until just combined. Spoon into the paper cases then bake for about 20 minutes, until risen and golden.
5. 
   
   Cool in the tin for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

You can if you like reserve some of the fruit and add a berry or two to the top of each muffin before baking. Another option is to make a simple cream cheese frosting - swirl this on top of each muffin and add a berry or two to decorate.

Variation:

For Black Forest muffins, use 9 oz self-raising flour and add 1 oz cocoa powder. The fruit should of course be cherries! You could add some chocolate chunks to the mixture too. Chocolate frosting and a cherry to decorate each muffin would finish these off beautifully!

Mini cinnamon rolls

A lovely treat, best eaten while still warm and very fresh.

Makes: 8

Takes: 15 minutes plus 15 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

4 oz (110g) self-raising flour plus a little extra for rolling

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp butter or margarine

zest of 1/2 lemon

4 tbsp milk

1/2 oz (15g) soft brown sugar

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp golden syrup

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220oC/200oC (fan oven)/Gas Mark 7 and line a baking sheet with non-stick baking parchment.
2. Sieve the flour and baking pwder into a large mixing bowl. Rub in 1 tablespoon of the butter with your fingertips.
3. Finely grate the lemon zest and stir into the flour. Gradually mix in the milk to form a soft dough - you may not need all of the milk. Gently knead the dough until smooth.
4. Flour your work surface and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough to a rectangle 18 x 14 cm (7 x 5 1/2 inches).
5. Spread the dough with butter, leaving a 1 cm (1/2 inch) border clear along one long side. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the buttered dough.
6. Brush the border with water and roll the dough from the opposite long side up to the moistened border, pressing it gently to seal. Cut into 8 slices with a very sharp knife.
7. Arrange the slices onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each one. Bake for 12-15 minutes until light golden brown.
8. As soon as the rolls have come out of the oven, warm the syrup until thin and runny (this only takes a few seconds in the microwave). Spoon a little syrup over each bun.

These are a bit fiddly to make, but worth the effort. The rolls can be frozen without the syrup so one option is to increase the quantities and freeze for a future occasion.

Rice pudding

Real comfort food :-) This recipe gives a lovely nutmeggy caramelised skin on top (which you can always remove if you must...)

Makes: 4 servings

Takes: 5 minutes plus 2 hours cooking time

Ingredients

4 oz pudding rice

1 pint milk

1 3/4 oz caster sugar

1 oz butter

ground nutmeg

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160oC/150oC (fan oven)/Gas Mark 3 and grease a 2-pint pie dish.
2. Put the rice, milk and sugar into the pie dish and stir well. Dot the top with butter and bake for 1 hour.
3. Stir with a fork, sprinkle with nutmeg and return to the oven for a further hour.

Banana bread

Very easy and absolutely delicious - ideal for lunchboxes, picnics, afternoon tea, evening snacks, breakfast, midnight feasts...

Makes: 12 slices

Takes: 10 minutes plus 1 hour cooking time

Ingredients

4 very ripe bananas

2 3/4 oz butter or margarine

7 oz brown sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla essence

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

8 oz plain flour

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180oC (fan oven) and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin.
2. Mash the bananas to a pulp with the butter (softened if necessary). Mix in the sugar, the egg (beaten), and the vanilla essence.
3. Sift in the bicarbonate of soda, salt and flour and mix everything together thoroughly. Pour into the prepared tin.
4. Bake for about an hour, until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. If the top starts to look too brown before the centre is cooked, cover loosely with some foil.
5. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire cooling rack. It's easier to remove the lining paper after the loaf has cooled down. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Freezes well, either as a complete loaf or as individual slices. Pop a frozen slice into a packed lunch and it will have defrosted by lunchtime!