In terms of a first course I rarely make prawn cocktail at home. That’s because I’m very greedy and would rather have a whole plateful of what I think is one of the most delicious dishes ever invented. Having said that, there’s nothing quite like tucking into a really luxurious prawn cocktail at a restaurant,…
Tag: Easy recipes
Authentic ragu recipe with tagliatelle
This recipe is a world away from the kind of ‘spag bol’ I used to make in my student days – a quickly cooked sauce using just minced beef as the meat base which always seem to end up very watery. A good ragu on the other hand is a rich sauce, full of flavour…
Creamy chicken and mushroom pappardelle
The inspiration for this recipe was the ingredients I just happened to have in my fridge. It’s a bit like the TV show ‘Ready, Steady Cook’ where contestants have to create a dish from four or five random ingredients. I used to love watching ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’ when I was in between work contracts (a…
Sun-dried tomato houmous
Here’s another Miguel Barclay recipe from his ‘Vegan One Pound Meals’ cookery book. I love the fact that he keeps his list of ingredients short and the method easy – his book is full of recipes that have just a handful of steps to create a tasty dish. These are simple and affordable vegan recipes…
Courgette omelette
Sometimes I think I veer away a bit from the ‘easy’ part of the ‘cheap, fresh and easy’ philosophy of this blog. So here’s a quick and simple recipe that only takes about 10 minutes. My tips for a successful omelette are: use a non stick frying pan pour the beaten eggs into the hot…
Mushroom frittata
I made this frittata two weeks ago over the Easter (and Passover) weekend because I was observing Passover, so not eating any bread or flour based products otherwise I might have made a quiche. I was out and about a lot over the long weekend and wanted to grab something ready prepared for quick snacks,…
Chicken and sweetcorn soup
Just under a year ago I blogged about my recipe for chicken soup, made with home made stock from a roasted anchovy spatchcock chicken. This soup, which I made yesterday, is very similar – using my own chicken stock from a roast, but using sweetcorn kernels scraped off four little corn cobs (bought over a…
Chickpea curry
I’ve been stocking up my freezer with home made ready meals. This is partly to reduce my food costs (and batch cooking is one of the easiest ways to do that) and partly to have a big selection of quick meals to choose from in January when I know I’m going to be busy. I…
Chicken pizzaiola
The last time I went to Jamie’s Italian I had the chicken pizzaiola and it was so tender, spicy and delicious I wanted to try making it myself. It’s served with a puttanesca-type sauce (minus the anchovies) which I love, not just because of the flavour but because it’s so easy and quick to make….
Beetroot burgers
Here’s a recipe inspired by a four day cookery and meditation retreat at Sharpham House I went on recently. This was the recipe I made as soon as I got home from the trip. It was for supper that same evening – I couldn’t wait to start trying out what I had learnt, even after…
Spanish hunter’s chicken
This started out as a chicken cacciatore (Italian hunter’s chicken) – minus the mushrooms, which I think are traditional in hunter’s chicken (of any nationality). But I had lots of red peppers to use up, and pitted black olives, so I was in two minds – Spanish chicken, or chicken cacciatore? So this is a…
Cod and prawns baked in a wine, tomato and basil sauce
On Friday evening I had a craving for some cod – a pice of chunky fish baked in a rich tomatoey sauce with garlic and basil. I’d had a very challenging day of work (working at home but dealing with lots of frustrating calls and a feeling I was getting nowhere on a project) so…
Lime chicken
Two weeks ago I spent a lovely long weekend in Lyme Regis to celebrate a milestone birthday of one of my friends. Her husband had rented a house for close family (and me – I’ve known my friend since we were five) as a surprise for her. The weather was fantastic most of the time,…
Tuscan chicken
This recipe is from one of my favourite cookery books ‘Pan cooked chicken dishes around the world’. It’s a bit of an old fashioned cookery book – by which I mean it’s not authored by any celebrity chef – which I bought it years ago from a charity shop. The other week I was amazed…
Pork chop and pak choi
I went to Croydon’s Surrey Street market yesterday. I tend to go to the market after a meditation session at Croydon’s Buddhist Centre (they do lunchtime sessions on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays open to everyone). I always come out of the meditation session feeling very relaxed and usually pop in to a charity to shop…
Pasta puttanesca
Pasta puttanesca, or prostitutes’ pasta (so named perhaps because it is so quick to make it left ladies of the night more time to earn their living) is one of my store cupboard standby recipes. I nearly always have the ingredients in stock and it’s also really handy to make on holiday. If I know…
Chicken soup
I made this chicken soup for yesterday’s lunch. I’m not working at the moment so can stay cosy and warm indoors if I like and only need to venture out in the cold if I need supplies or to go to the woods. I live five minutes’ walk from Selsdon Woods in Croydon and I…
Chicken pilaf
Pilaf is a a kind of Middle Eastern risotto. I make pilaf with chicken leftovers after a roast, in this case after the weekend’s spatchcock chicken. You only need a handful or two of chicken, and the scrappy bits of chicken at that, as the key ingredient is rice. So it’s a great way to…
Roasted beetroot, orange and feta salad
Beetroot is one of those vegetables people either love or hate. Roasting beetroot in olive oil and sea salt is completely different to eating tiny balls of vacuum packed beetroot soaked in vinegar. So if you have negative experiences of beetroot please give this roasted recipe a go. Beetroot provides a big flash of colour…
Minestrone
I’ve been working away for a few weeks recently, just coming home for long weekends. Before I started working away I tried to use up as much food as possible from the fridge, to avoid waste and save money on shopping. Like most people I know I often find myself throwing fresh food away and,…
Kedgeree
This is my version of kedgeree which uses a mix of cayenne pepper, curry powder and fresh chilli to give it heat and spice. I use brown rice for a healthier option (I love brown rice anyway) and often include different vegetables. I like using peppers and often use more than just one (a combination…
Cheap and cheesy vegetable bake
I popped into Sainsbury’s on my way back from a trip to Somerset on Sunday and found a packet of Brussels sprouts in the bargain section – 300g reduced from 80p to 19p – so I decided to use them in a vegetable bake. Added to a few florets of cauliflower (taken from a cauliflower…
Puy lentils with anchovies and toasted pine nuts
I always keep Puy lentils in the cupboard and much prefer them for salads than green or brown lentils which I use for cooked lentil recipes like vegetarian shepherd’s pie. Puy lentils go very well with anchovies and toasted pine nuts and I’ve just added some hard boiled eggs in this recipe for a more…
Super green lasagne
I had a similar lasagne last week at The Magic Garden pub in Battersea – it was delicious – and as usual when I find something particularly good I want to see if I can make my own. The Magic Garden used asparagus and I did too because I found a packet at a reduced…
Chicken with fennel and orange
This is a slightly different version of a Nigella recipe (from Simply Nigella) which I used when I was on the look out for fennel recipes this summer. Fennel is really expensive in the supermarket – about £3.50 per bulb – but at Surrey Street market in Croydon I could buy three bulbs for £2. Bargain!…
Cheap, fresh and easy 