Carrot cake muffins

One word - YUM! With or without the cream cheese frosting, these are so delicious :-)

Makes: 12 muffins or 24 cupcakes

Takes: 10 minutes + 20-25 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

9oz (250g) plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 egg

3 1/2 fl oz (100 ml) water

1 tbsp runny honey

3 1/2 oz (100g) soft brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

10 1/2 oz (300g) peeled, topped and tailed carrots

4 tbsp corn oil (I use light olive oil)

For the icing (optional)

1 3/4 oz (50g) light cream cheese

3 1/2 oz (100g) icing sugar

1/2 tsp orange or lemon juice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC (fan oven)/190oC/Gas Mark 5 and line muffin tins or cupcake tins with paper cases.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon into a bowl.
3. In a separate, large, bowl, beat the egg then mix in the water, honey, sugar and vanilla. Grate the carrot and stir into the mixture.
4. Add the oil to the carrot mixture and stir well. Tip the dry ingredients into the bowl and quickly mix to just combine. (The mixture should still be lumpy and don't worry about occasional streaks of flour.)
5. Spoon into the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm and springy. Cool in a wire rack.
6. If icing, allow the cakes to cool completely first. Mix the cheese, icing sugar and juice together thoroughly and spread a little over the top of each muffin.

They will keep well in a tin for a few days, or can be frozen without the icing.

Pesto chicken

I use my nut-free pesto for this but you can of course use the usual kind, bought or homemade.

Makes: 2 servings

Takes: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 boneless chicken breasts, skin on

2 tbsp pesto

salt and pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp milk

Method

1. 
   
   Loosen the skin of the chicken with your fingers, making sure it stays attached along one side. Spread 1/2 tablespoon pesto over each chicken breast, pull the skin back over to cover, then season.
2. 
   
   Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat then place the chicken into the pan skin side down. Fry for about 3 minutes until the skin is crisp.
3. 
   
   Turn the chicken over, reduce the heat, then cover the pan and cook for about 10 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the pan and keep warm.
4. 
   
   Add the other tablespoon of pesto to the pan with the milk, mix with the juices and heat till bubbling. Season to taste. Serve the chicken with the pesto sauce poured over.

Notes: Great served with new potatoes roasted with sprigs of rosemary, and with a green vegetable such as spinach, green beans or broccoli.

You could get away with using a bit less oil if you have a good non-stick pan, but you do need to use a little to get the skin to crisp.

Nut-free Pesto

My nut allergy counts out pesto, so I was thrilled to find a recipe that doesn't use nuts! And without the nuts and with no added cheese, it's lower in fat than the standard version, too :-)

Makes: A jar full

Takes: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 can white beans (eg cannellini or haricot) - about 200g

1 clove garlic or 1 tsp garlic puree

60g fresh basil leaves (see notes below)

1/2 tsp salt

100 ml olive oil

black pepper

Method

1. Drain and rinse the beans and put into a food processor with all the other ingredients.
2. Process until smooth, decant into a jar and store in the fridge.

Notes: I have no idea how much basil weighs 60g. I buy a pot of 'growing basil' from the supermarket and use all the leaves from that (and a bit of stalk usually goes in too!) and that seems to work fine.

This keeps in the fridge for a few days. Try not to push it to the back of the fridge and forget about it though as it goes a strange colour after a couple of weeks or so...

Two meals in one: Salmon fried rice

Use the leftovers from the Mediterranean-style roasted salmon and add a few more ingredients to make this dish.

Ingredients

1/2 red pepper
100g baby sweetcorn
100g sugar snap peas
1 tsp olive oil
1 sachet Thai basil and lemon stir-fry sauce
basmati and wild rice (left over from previous day)
50g pak choi or mixed stir-fry leaves
1 salmon fillet (left over from previous day)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp coriander
juice of 1 lime

Method

1. Cut the pepper, baby sweetcorn and sugar snap peas into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil and fry the vegetables for 2 minutes.
2. Add the stir-fry sauce and rice and mix thoroughly then heat for 4 minutes. Stir through the pak choi or stir-fry leaves, flaked salmon and soy sauce, and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the coriander and squeeze over the lime juice just before serving.

You can also add a sliced spring onion and/or a few unsalted peanuts at step 3.

Two meals in one: Mediterranean-style roasted salmon

Make this one night and use the leftovers with a few added ingredients to make the next day's meal!

Makes: 2 servings
Takes: 5 minutes plus 15 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

few sprigs each of basil, mint and parsley
zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 salmon fillets
250g cherry tomatoes on the vine
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
225g basmati and wild rice

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 220oC. Mix the chopped herbs with the lemon zest and 1 tbsp of the olive oil then toss the salmon fillets in the mixture. Place into a roasting tin.
2. Put the tomatoes into the tin and drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and the remaining 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Roast the salmon and tomatoes for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cook the rice. When rice and salmon are ready, serve two-thirds of the rice with the tomatoes and two of the salmon fillets, drizzling with the juices from the pan.
4. Cool the remaining rice under cold running water. Refrigerate with the cooled salmon fillet.

Very nice as it is, but I'd recommend adding some green vegetables on the side too.

Banana, honey and oat smoothie

Smooth, creamy and filling :-)

Makes: 1 serving
Takes: 1 minute

Ingredients

1 ripe banana
1 heaped tbsp oats
1 tsp honey
some milk

Method

1. Peel the banana and break it into 3 or 4 pieces. Put it into a blender with the oats and honey and add some milk. Blend until smooth.
2. Er.... That's it!

Sorry I can't be more specific about the quantity of milk, I basically just pour it in till it looks about right, but it must be about a cupful. You can use any kind of milk (full-fat or lower-fat cow's milk, soya milk, rice milk, almond milk, etc) - my own preference is for skimmed. A bit more milk will make a slightly thinner smoothie; the way I make it, it turns out the thickness of a McDonald's milkshake!

Aromatic Chicken Curry

This is a full-flavoured curry with a rich sauce, delicious with rice and naan bread :-) (Chipped plate optional!)

Makes: 2 servings
Takes: 15 minutes preparation + 30 minutes cooking time

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
3cm piece of fresh ginger root
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
2 ripe tomatoes
2 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts
150ml (1/4 pint) chicken stock
2 tbsp half-fat creme fraiche
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Finely chop the onion and crush the garlic, add to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until softened.
2. Finely grate the ginger and add to the pan with the spices, cooking for a further minute.
3. Chop the tomatoes and cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add tomatoes and chicken to the pan with the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
4. Turn the heat down to medium and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the sauce is thick and rich.
5. Turn off the heat and stir in the creme fraiche, adding salt and pepper to taste.

The sauce can be frozen at the end of step 4. Reheat then add the creme fraiche to serve.
It's easy to increase the quantities (especially if wanting to freeze part of the sauce) but allow extra cooking time.
You can use garlic puree, ginger puree and a couple of tinned tomatoes if preferred.