Mujaddara, Middle Eastern Rice & Lentils

Needed as a break from lentil curry, so recalled this Middle Eastern recipe I'd seen in a library e-book over the summer.  

Serves 4

200g dry green or brown lentils, or a can

2 onions, peeled and finely sliced

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground turmeric

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 mug basmati rice

For the garlic yogurt

250ml Greek yoghurt (or vegan yoghurt)

3 spring onions, finely sliced, or wilted spinach

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

The original recipe calls for deep fried flour dusted onions to be cooked first.  I halved the number of onions (to two), forwent the flour, and just caramelised the onions first, then added the rice and lentils to the onions in the pan to cook like a biryani.

Cook the lentils for 2 minutes less than the instructions on their packet so they stay firm.  Drain the tinned lentils if using.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan.  Peel and half the onions, then thinly slice,  Fry gently for about 20 minutes over a medium high heat, stirring from time to time, until brown.  

Add the garlic and dry spices. Stir the rice and drained lentils into the oil and spices, then add a mug and a half of recently boiled water

Cover and bring to the boil, then turn down the lowest heat to simmer gently for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender. 

Whilst the rice is cooking, mix all the garlic yoghurt ingredients in a bowl and leave to one side. 

After the rice has been cooking for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and leave to rest for 10 minutes without taking the lid off.  After 10 minutes fluff the rice up with a fork and stir in half the fried onions, and sprinkle the rest on the top

Serve with the garlic yoghurt on the side.

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One Pan Chicken & Rice

An Iraqi recipe for T'Beet on my Instagram reels reminded me of a simple one pan chicken & rice I used to make, as well as Egyptian Rice & Lentils (Mujaddara).  As I didn't have the requisite Iraqi spices for T'Beet I freestyled sit, based on my earlier recipe.

Serves 4

4 large or 8 small chicken thighs 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced in half moons

4 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed

1 large mug basmati rice

200g cooked puy lentils, drained, or bag of baby spinach 

1 tbsp ras el hanout (optional)

1 lemon ( I used a homemade preserved lemon)

In a lidded pan, large enough for the chicken to be in a single layer, brown the chicken thighs skin side down in the olive oil over a medium high heat.  Remove to a plate when brown.

Turn the heat down to medium and caramelise the onion the same pan
after you have removed the chicken.

When the onion is as brown as you dare, stir in the garlic and ras el hanout, and fry for a minute or so before adding the rice and drained lentils.  Measure out a mug and a half of boiling water and pour into the pan.  The water needs to be 1 cm above the level of rice and lentils, so top up with boiling water if required.

If using spinach rather than lentils, stir it into the hot water and rice until it is wilted and mixed through well.

Halve the lemon and juice, then cut the halves in half again.  Pour the lemon juice over the rice.  Arrange the browned chicken, skin side up now, on top of the rice and nestle the juiced lemon quarters between them.

Cover and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, turn the heat down to it's lowest heat and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.

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High Fibre Brown Rice

Everyone's talking about the benefits of eating more fibre.  It's good for your digestive health, heart health (lowering cholesterol and blood pressure), blood sugar control, weight management (increased fullness), reduces the risk of certain cancers, promotes a healthy gut microbiome, and reduces inflammation. 

Brown rice has more fibre than white rice, and I've added to this with lentils and quinoa.  The quantities below make about 8 150g servings.  This week I've been eating with vegetable curry, oily fish, and in soup.

1 cup brown rice

1/2 cup puy lentils

1/4 cup quinoa

Simmer everything for 25-30 minutes in a pan with at least double the volume of boiling water in a pan that seals well.  

Season after cooking otherwise the lentils don't go tender.

Divide into portions and freeze until needed.

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Vegan Dhal Makhani

Maunika Gowardhan's Punjabi Dal Makhani popped up on my Instagram feed last night, so I thought I'd try to make a vegan version with cashew nut cream, and minus the butter. I also made it with a combination of green and red lentils, as I didn't have urad dal, and green & red lentils don't require remembering to soak overnight.

Serves 4

100g green lentils
150g red lentils
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 medium onion, finely sliced
4 large garlic cloves, crushed
2cm ginger, finely chopped
1 heaped tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chilli powder
500ml passata
40g cashew nuts
1 tsp salt

Weigh out the lentils into a saucepan with a lid.  Pour over 600ml water, cover and bring to the boil.  Simmer with the lid on for 30 minutes whilst you prepare the sauce.

Pour 100ml boiling water over the cashew nuts in a jug you can use a stick blender in, and leave to soften.

Fry the onion in the oil until starting to brown (about 5-7 minutes), stirring from time to time.  Add the cumin seeds, garlic, and ginger and stir around until you can smell the spices.  Add the rest of the ingredients with 250ml/half a passata carton of recently boiled water, and the cooked lentils.  Liquidise the cashew nuts and water and add to the pan.  Stir and leave to simmer gently with the lid on for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Serve with basmati rice.

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Lamb Dhansak or Lamb, Lentil, & Butternut Squash Curry

Last Friday was supposed to be my first Curry Night of 2013, selling a choice of two chilled curries at my local school at afternoon pick-up. But the snow put pay to that.

I did, however, work on a recipe during the week that I was quite pleased with. So I will post it so I can find it next time!

Serves 4-6 (generous)
630 Calories per serving (excluding rice)

450g diced lamb
450g butternut squash
100g red lentils
1 400g tin tomatoes
1 large onion
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
6 black peppercorns
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 green cardamons, seeds only
4 cloves of garlic
2.5cm root ginger
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp hot chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
Handful of chopped fresh coriander or 2 tbsp dried mint

Peel and cut the butternut squash to the same size as the diced lamb.  Peel and roughly chop the onion.  Put the onion, butternut squash, lentils and tomatoes into a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to the boil, add the turmeric, cover with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes until the vegetables are quite soft.

Whilst the vegetables are simmering, finely chop the garlic and ginger.  In a dry frying pan, dry roast the coriander, cumin, peppercorns, and fenugreek seeds for a couple of minutes until the spices smell quite hot.  Grind or pound the spices together with the cardamon seeds into a powdered spice mix.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the sunflower oil and fry the garlic and ginger over a medium high heat until they just start to brown.  Add the ground spices and stir round for a minute or so then add the diced lamb.  Fry the lamb until just browned.

Whilst the lamb is browning roughly mash or puree the vegetables and lentils and stir in the lemon juice, chilli flakes, and salt.  When the lamb is browned stir in the mashed/pureed vegetables and the coriander or mint.  Simmer with the lid on for another 20 minutes until the meat is tender.  Stir from time to time to prevent the curry sticking on the bottom of the pan, and add a little water if it does.

The flavour of curries develop the longer they are left.  I try to make curries mid afternoon and leave them standing on the hob for an hour or so to mature.  Reheat gently, particulary if using fresh coriander.

At home we serve this with basmati rice which has been cooked with a large pinch of cumin seeds and a handful of frozen peas.

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Jamie Oliver's Chilli con Veggie

We possibly had our last BBQ of the year yesterday, with 13 family members to celebrate Sprout's 10th birthday.  So today, with the arrival of rain, we are having a big veggie chilli to compensate for all the meat we consumed yesterday.

The recipe is courtesy of Jamie Oliver's website, and Kerryann's Chilli con Veggie.  Do note, the recipe is for 10!  I made halved the ingredients and still have a massive chilli for our family of five.  I also only added 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika and even this might have to much of a poke to it for my generally foodie kids.

Serves 5 (Halved from the original recipe which serves 10)
1 large onion
1 large carrot
1 large stick of celery
1 large clove of garlic

1 small leek

Half a fresh red chilli

1 tbsp olive oil 

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp smoked paprika (I only used 1 level tsp)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp dried oregano

Nutmeg

2 tbsp tomato purée

125g dried green lentils

125g dried red lentils

1 tin red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tin tin of black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 tin chopped tomatoes

500ml vegetable stock 

I chopped all my vegetables in a mini food processor, frying the chopped onion and garlic first in the olive oil, and then adding the chopped carrot, celery and chilli.  Fry this for about 5 minutes or until the onion starts to look translucent.  Stir in the spices and herbs and then the tomato paste and fry for another minute or so.  Add the beans, tomatoes, stock and lentils.  Bring to the boil then leave to simmer gently for about 30-45 minutes, stirring from time to time, and adding more liquid if it starts to get too thick.  It is ready when the lentils are tender.  Season and serve over rice or baked potato with a dollop of soured cream or greek yoghurt.

7pm - Kids have had their tea and wolfed it down.  A success.

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Vegetable Biryani (Vegan)

Discovering we had a whole swede still untouched, and were expecting another in our vegbox this week, I searched 'swede' in Riverford's recipes to see if I could find a tantalising recipe for our vegan Monday.

I started off making Riverford's Indian Spiced Swede but then decided to make it into a one pot Biryani to try to hide the vegetables a little better.

Apparently it's "okay" which means they like it but would prefer meat in it. I think it's delightfully (and naturally) sweet.

Serves a greedy 4

2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp hot curry powder
1 onion, finely sliced
3-4cm piece ginger, grated or finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
2 chillies, deseeded & finely chopped
1/2 a medium swede, grated (or cauliflower, grated parsnip, grated carrot...)
100g puy lentils (optional - added for texture)
400ml tinned coconut milk
1 can recently boiled water
100g kale, shredded (peas or beans could be used instead)
1 mug of basmati rice
Salt & pepper

Fry the cumin and mustard seeds over a medium heat in a casserole dish (with a lid) until they start to pop.  Add the onion and fry until it starts to brown.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients apart from the rice, cover, and bring to the boil.  Turn down to a simmer and leave for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes stir in the rice, cover again and bring back to a boil.  Turn down to the lowest heat and leave to cook untouched for 10 minutes.  Then turn the heat off and without taking the lid off, leave for another 10 minutes for the rice to finish steaming.

Fluff the biryani up with a fork or spoon and season to taste.

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Sweet Potato & Lentil Mulligatawny Soup

Mulligatawny is a curried vegetable soup from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, taking it's name from the Tamil words for 'pepper' and 'water'.  The traditional Indian version is vegan, but the British of the Raj liked to add chicken or mutton - Mulligatawny with Lamb.

This vegan Mulligatawny is from diabetes.org.uk's recipes, with a few tweaks of mine.

Serves 4 (original recipe suggests 8 servings)

2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced
1 carrot, diced
1 sweet potato, diced (250g)
400g tin tomatoes
75g red lentils
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed

1cm root ginger, roughly chopped (optional)
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tbsp medium curry paste (or powder)
1 litre boiling water
75g brown rice

Soften the onion in the olive oil in a soup pan for about 5 minutes until it starts to brown.

Stir in the carrot and sweet potato (I did not peel either, as the soup is liquidised), and cook for a further 5 minutes stirring regularly.

Add tomatoes, lentils, garlic, stock cube, curry paste/powder and 1 litre of boiling water. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  I added cooked rice at this stage, not realising the recipe said to add it after the soup had been liquidised, for texture.

Blend the soup with a stick blender or food processor until smooth.

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Tarka Dal or Lentil Curry

The best tarka dal (or dhal) I ever had was in a tiny Tibetan cafe in the backstreets of Kathmandu in Nepal. I have googled various recipes but nothing seems to conjure up the flavours I have in my mouth of this gorgeously fresh soupy lentil dish.

Today, however, as Dad is cooking tandoori chicken on the bbq, I have been challenged to turn out a tarka dal to go with. So, based on the recipe from the BBC series Indian Food Made Easy with Anjum Anand, this is what I have just prepared to eat later tonight.

Serves 4

250g red lentils
600ml water
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 large onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves
5cm root ginger, finely chopped or grated
1  can tinned tomatoes or 4 large fresh tomatoes
1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes
1 heaped tsp turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp ground coriander
Small bunch chopped coriander (optional)

Rinse the lentils throughly, drain and bring to the boil with the water. Skim off the scum and simmer with a lid for 20 minutes until soft and mushy. Turn off the heat and leave covered to cool and thicken.

Fry the cumin seeds in a saucepan in the oil for a couple of minutes until they start to sizzle and pop. Add the onion, ginger, & chilli and fry for about 5 minutes until starting to brown. Puree the tomatoes and garlic, or finely chop if you don't have a processor and add to the frying onion. Add the other dried spices and simmer for about 20 minutes until the oil rises to a simmering film on the top. Stir in the cooled lentils and heat carefully, stirring so it doesn't catch on the bottom. Stir through chopped coriander and serve with plain boiled rice or naan breads.

Vegan Aubergine & Lentil Curry

The aubergine I bought what seems like weeks ago was beginning to go mouldy at one end, so I decided to lose it in a curry.  I googled aubergine curry and came up with yet another Maunika Gowardhan recipe which I added a few more of my favourite ingredients.

This is a mildly spiced curry.  Aubergine lovers like me can still taste the aubergine, whilst the aubergine phobics in this family had no idea until I told them and yet would happily eat it again.

Serves 4

2 large onions
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 large aubergine
2 tbsp cooking oil
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
5cm cinnamon stick
5 green cardamon pods
1 500g carton passata
1 heaped tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp mild chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp tamarind paste
100g green lentils
1 carton recently boiled water
1 tsp salt

Peel and slice the onions.  Fry in 2 tbsp oil over a medium heat for about 20-30 minutes until brown and caramelised but not burnt.  Scrape into a stick blender jug.

Whilst the onions are cooking cut the aubergine into 1cm cubes and fry in the remainder of the oil until browned or it starts to stick.  Add the whole spices, liquidise the cooked onions with about 250ml of water to make a paste the consistency of double cream.  Add the remaining spices to the aubergine and stir around for a few minutes then add the rest of the ingredients.  Add as much water to make a slightly watery stew, as the lentils will absorb some of this liquid.

Bring to the boil and simmer briskly for 10 minutes then turn the lid down and leave to simmer gently for another 30 minutes.  Stir from time to time to check it is not sticking.  Add more water if you think it is, or remove the lid for the final 10 minutes if the curry is too liquid for your tastes.

Season to taste and serve with basmati rice.

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Vegan Moroccan Sweet Potato & Lentil Stew (Harira)

My children do not look forward to #veganmonday, but this stew went down well.

Serves a hearty 6

2 large sweet potatoes (or a small butternut squash or pumpkin)
100g red lentils
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 stick celery
1 small carrot
1 onion
1 large clove of garlic
1tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/8th tsp hot chilli flakes
1 tsp red wine vinegar
2 vegetable stock cube
1 litre just boiled water

Grate the sweet potato, and finely dice all the vegetables.

Fry the onion, celery, carrot, and pumpkin gently until the onion begins to soften slightly.  Add the tomato paste, garlic, and cumin seeds and fry for a minute more before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Bring to the boil then cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time making sure nothing is catching on the bottom of the pan.  The stew is ready when the vegetables and lentils are soft.

Serve with bulgur wheat, couscous, or brown rice.

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Vegetarian & Vegan Squash & Lentil Dhansak Curry

Made this dhansak for #meatlessmonday, which I have turned into veganmonday in our house. The kids like curry, providing I can make the vegetables unrecognisable.

Serves 4-6

500g cubed or grated butternut squash, pumpkin, or other squash 
100g red lentils
1 400g tin tomatoes
1 large onion
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
6 black peppercorns
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 green cardamons, seeds only
4 cloves of garlic
2.5cm root ginger
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp hot chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp dried mint

Peel and finely slice the onion.  Fry in the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat until it begins to caramelise.  Add the finely chopped garlic, ginger, and ground spices and stir round for a minute or so.

Pour in the chopped tomatoes, 2 cans of just boiled water, lentils, and the rest of the ingredients.

Simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on, stirring from time to time.  If, at the end of the cooking time, the curry is too runny for your tastes simmer it for 10 minutes with the lid off to reduce it a little.

At home we serve this with basmati rice which has been cooked with a large pinch of cumin seeds and a handful of frozen peas.

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Adding Calories or Making Every Mouthful Matter

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I am told every parent worries at some point whether their child is eating enough.

We did.  Our eldest daughter was born a very healthy 8.5lbs, but after being left blind with severe cerebral palsy within hours of birth by Group B Strep, she would scream minutes into feeds with reflux.  Her weight dropped from 75th in the Red Book at birth to 2nd around 18 weeks, and then round about 2 years old it went off the bottom of the scale.

We were advised by a Dietician at the Children's Hospital to wean her at 3 months, and get to protein as quick as we could as quite frankly fruit and vegetable purees would not give her the calories she needed. At 2 1/2 years, her consultant matter of factly said that she'd hadn't been unduly worried by her weight until now as it had at least been following it's albeit low line, but now we had to consider a gastrostomy or feeding tube - a tiny plug fitted into her stomach for us to to drip high calorie milk feeds into her overnight.

We stalled the feeding tube and redoubled our feeding efforts.  Thankfully, I enjoy cooking (although it is soul destroying to have a child reject a meal you've made 5 helpings of) and together with a photocopied sheet 'Tips for Adding Calories for Poor Feeders' I racked my brains and the supermarket shelves for high calorie ingredients for child friendly meals.

It's been slow process.  At 3 1/2 she appear back on the bottom of the chart in the pink zone, and two weeks away from the date for fitting the gastrostomy that consultant had finally insisted we make, we learnt she had put on enough weight not to need the tube.  At 5, by another cruel twist of fate she was diagnosed with Type 1 insulin dependent diabetes, so the need to keep her food intake up even when she is sick is doubly important.  But at 10 she is now 25th weight and average height for her age, and I would even dare to say my best eater.

So, three kids later, here is how I think you can add calories to even the fussiest of feeders:-

1.  Kids need Calories
If you remember one thing, remember this.  Children under 5 need calories.  Whilst 5-a-Day is a lifesaving habit to get into them as young as you can, children need fatty/high calorie food NOT 'diet' or 'low fat' meals.  But beware false friends - needing calories is not a license to let your darlings gorge themselves on sugary cakes, puddings & sweets.

2. Kids have small tummies, small appetites
Somewhere in all the reading I did on fussy eaters I remember reading that a portion size is the size of your (both child and adult) fisted hand.  Clench your fist and look at it.  It's not big is it?  Now look at your child's hand.  So, realistically a toddler only needs a heaped tablespoon of say macaroni cheese.  Not a bowl full.   I would cook a batch and freeze kiddy sized portions in shallow cream cheese tubs, yoghurt pots.

Aim to give three meals a day with small snacks (biscuits, cheese, raisins, yoghurt, crackers & butter) in between.  Spread the meals and snacks throughout the day, and don't let them fill up on juice or water 1/2-1 hour before a meal if you expect them to eat everything up.  And by all means give a snack in the evening such as a bowl or cereal or slice of toast, but if they aren't eating well in the day you will probably want to make this a really dull but filling option (Later post planned - Don't Feed the Fussiness!)

3. Make Every Mouthful Matter
So if kids need calories but can't eat that much we need to make every mouthful matter and load every spoonful with calories.

Here are some ideas to add calories:-

• Learn to read nutritional labels on food!  Looking at the per 100g column, supermarket greek style yoghurt has 9.2g of fat per 100g meaning each spoonful is 9.2% fat.  Petit Filous is only 2.3% fat!
• Starchy foods/Carbohydrate - For a balanced diet you should give at least one starchy food eg chapatti, pitta bread, potatoes, chips, cereals, rice or pasta at each meal.  Try also to give some starchy foods as in between meal snacks; sandwiches, crackers and breakfast cereals are useful snack foods.
• Dairy - Try to give at least 1 pint of full fat milk, or even better Jersey or Gold Top, every day (give breast or formula milk until your child is at least 1 year old).  This can be given as a drink, on cereals, or in puddings and sauces.  Make cheese sauces or add grated cheese to savoury dishes eg omelettes, scrambled eggs, mashed potato, jacket potatoes, vegetables, beef burgers, baked beans, spaghetti etc.  Add cream or cheese to sauces, soups, cottage pie, fish pie, puddings.  And you can just add it it their portion, not yours!
• Think fat! All fatty foods are high in calories.  Do not remove fat from meat.  Fry or roast meat, fish, fish fingers, chicken nuggets in oil to add extra fat.  Buy tinned fish eg sardines or tuna in oil rather than brine.  Avoid low fat spread.  Add butter or margarine to vegetables, potatoes or pasta.  Spread thickly on bread, toast, crackers
• Add nuts and pulses, which are high in fats & protein, such as baked beans, lentils or tinned red kidney beans to soups and casseroles.  Puree them if needs be to hide them.  I used to add a teaspoon of ground almond to almost anything my daughter was eating - porridge, bolognaise, yoghurt, curry, fromage frais, puddings
• Fruit & Vegetables - these are not high in calories, but are an important source of minerals and vitamins.  Give at least two portions a day.  Fruit can be served with custard, yoghurt, double cream, ice cream etc to add calories
• Sugar - biscuits and cakes etc are high calorie because of the flour and fats used but they are also high in sugar. These are best saved as a reward or snack.  And don't forget you should be brushing your child's teeth twice a day.  The dentist reminded me last week that children shouldn't be doing it themselves until around 7 or 8 years old!

I began this blog to record what my children eat, and record 'good' food for kids.  Here is a list of meal/recipe ideas.  Some are on my blog, some aren't.  And you might want to take a look at the following labels; baby/toddler, beans & pulses, cheese, family, fussy eaters, pasta, stews & casseroles.  I post recipes my blog every week, and have a 'Fussy Eater' series of posts to do!

High Calorie Recipe Ideas

Breakfast
- Porridge
- Mashed Banana or peanut butter on Toast
- Egg & Toast Soldiers
- Banana Smoothie.  Use this recipe as a base and play around with their favourite fruits
- Homemade Pain au Chocolat
- Pancakes

Lunch
- Cheese, sardines or beans on toast
- Sandwiches; egg mayonnaise, cheese & mayonnaise 
- Baked Camembert
- Homemade Sausage Rolls
- Homemade Focaccia
- Baby & Toddler Minestrone Soup

Dinner
- Savoury Pies; Cottage Pie, Shepherd's Pie, Fish Pie, Turkey & Leek
- Cheesy Risotto
- Homemade chips with extra cheese
- Creamy Curries; Toddler Curry
- Sausages with Onion Gravy.  Serve with buttery, creamy mash
- Toad in the Hole
- Beans & Meat Stews. Try Cassoulet, Boston Baked Beans, Chilli con Carne with extra cheese (doesn't have to have chilli in)
- Cheesy creamy pasta dishes; Tortellini/Capeletti in Brodo, Creamy Tomato Sauce,  Carbonara Sauce (bacon or smoked salmon), Macaroni Cheese, Bolognaise Sauce with extra cheese, Pesto, Tuna Pasta, Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Pasta Sauce (or spread it on toast).  Try it with smoked mackerel, kippers, or sardines instead of smoked salmon. Or just plain pasta with grated cheese.
- Pizza with creme fraiche and extra cheese
- Jacket Potatoes with butter, baked beans, cheese, mayonnaise, tuna,
- Noodles & Sweetcorn

Pudding
- Rice Pudding
- Bread & Butter Pudding
- Banana with Custard
- Apple & Almond Pudding Cake 
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
- Hot Cross Buns
- Nutella Muffins
- Soft Muesli Bars

Spicy Aubergine & Bean Soup

I was gifted several large aubergines that needed eating.  The one that didn't find it's way into an Aubergine Parmigiana or Babaganoush has been made into a warming hearty soup on this frosty day.

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and diced

1 large aubergine, cut into 2 cm cubes

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

400g tin of borlotti beans, pinto beans, or chickpeas

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

100g roasted red peppers, chopped into bite sized pieces

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp hot chilli flakes

1 tsp red wine vinegar

500ml recently boiled water

2 vegetable stock cubes, crumbled

Chopped flat leaf parsley or coriander to garnish (optional)

In a soup pan, fry the onion in the olive oil over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until it starts to soften.

Add in the aubergine and fry for another 10 minutes until lightly browned.  The aubergine will absorb the olive oil.  You can add more olive oil if you wish, or keep moving it around the pan to brown.

When the aubergine is browned, stir in the garlic and cumin seeds, and then the rest of the ingredients apart from the parsley/coriander if using.

Simmer the soup for 20 minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped herbs if you have any.  The herbs not only add a nice contrast of colour, but another layer of Middle Eastern flavour.

This soup can be thickened into a stew by adding 100g red lentils or 50g soup pasta with the wet ingredients, or simply reducing the water by half.  Serve over couscous or rice if serving as a stew.

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