Sweet potato, chickpea & red lentil curry



Make curry paste: To 1 tbsp white vinegar and rapeseed oil add 3 whole cloves, 3 cardamon pods, 3 curry leaves, 3 clove curshed garlic; half tsp turmeric, cumin and paprika; 1tsp garam masala, white pepper, mustard seeds, fennel seeds and chilli flakes. Mix well.

Brush a fry pan with oil and fry 1 diced onion for 1 min. Add the curry paste and cook 1 min.

Add 100g red lentils, 400g chopped tomatoes, 400g canned chickpeas (drained), 400g diced sweet potato, 2 tbsp frozen peas and 400ml vegatable stock.

Bring to boil with a lid on. Reduce to med heat and cook until potatoes are soft (30-45 mins) adding 1tsp fenugreek for the last 5 mins of cooking time. Add a handful of raisins just before serving with boiled white or brown rice. Serves 4.

Baked Meat Slice (meatzza)



Mix together 500g mince, 2 eggs, 3 tbsp breadcrumbs (made from 2 slices bread if home made), 2 crushed garlic cloves, 3tbsp chopped parsley, 1tbp english mustard. Bind but don't overmix. Press gently into a greased bake tin. Sprinkle over 2 handfuls of grated cheese. Drain a can of chopped tomatoes using the tomatoes add 1tsp garlic oil and oregano, pinch salt. Spread evenly over the meat. There is 4 oblong portions, in each portion evely place 2 green olives and thin sliced chorizo.

Long slice 125g mozarello, arrange on each portion. Bake 20 - 25 mins, 200 fan, sprinkle with basil to serve 4.

For a main meal, whislt meat slice is cooking steam together portions of broccoli, large carrot batons and whole leaf pointed cabbage for 15 minutes to serve alongside.



Cooking well for less - 5 ways to serve fish:

 Tinned fish is often fresher than 'fresh' fish as it is frozen, cooked and canned within 2 days whereas 'fresh' fish can be up to 14 days old when sold. Tuna is the only tinned fish which loses it's omega-3 on the canning process.

5 ways to serve fish:
Stir-fry thin strips of carrots, red pepper and brocolli with noodles, topped with grilled or baked trout fillet.

Use leftover mash potato to make fishcakes with cooked or tinned salmon and egg to bind.

Flake cooked mackerel into a potato and green bean salad with an orange vinaigrette dressing (oil, orange juice, white vinegar 3-1 parts).

Make tinned sardines into pate by blitzing in a blender with fromage frais, lemon zest and a little horseradish sauce. Serve with crusty bread or hot toast.

Tinned pilchards or mackerel on toast topped with slices of tomato.

Cooking well for less (Beef & Salmon)

Lesser known beef cuts like flat iron (shoulder) and pope's eye (rear) obtainable from local butchers are just as tender fried as the more popular and more expensive sirloin and ribeye. Shin cuts make a fantastic slow cooked stew (4hrs, 180c, 160 fan with simple vegetables like carrot, onion and potatoes).


For a cheaper version of minced dishes like shepherd's pie, substitute half the mince for red lentils which bulks up the meal and makes it a cheaper, tastier and healthier alternative.

Salmon is packed full of healthy EFA (essential fatty acids - omega 3, essential for a healthy heart and brain). Salmon cuts can be expensive but cheaper salmon trimmings are just as nutritious. An easily prepared meal is salmon frittata with potato wedges, serves 4:

Cut 4 sweet potatoes into wedges, place in an oiled baking dish, 200 c, 180fan for 45 mins.

Brush a frying pan with oil, add thinly sliced broccoli florets (1 brocolli), 2 sliced garlic cloves, cook 3 minutes. Whisk 6 eggs, add salt/pepper/1tsp cayenne pepper. Pour into frypan along with salmon trimmings, cook 2 minutes then place in the oven for the last 10 minutes with the wedges cooking.

Cheesy potato scone with mustard baked beans & spinach



Use left over mash or boil 2 medium diced potatoes for 15 mins (200g). Drain and mash with a knob of butter. Stir in a handful of grated cheese and 60g plain flour to bind into a dough ball scone. Fridge whilst rinsing a handful of fresh spinach leaves and put them onto a microwavable serving dish. Drain 1 can of baked beans from it's juice and mix in 1 tsp english mustard into the beans. Put the beans on top of the spinach leaves.

Using high heat and 9" frying pan lightly brush with oil. Lightly dust the dough ball and flatten it into the frying pan pressing from the middle outwards to fill the pan. Use a fork to prick all over. After 4 minutes cooking, turn the heat off and flip the scone onto the other side. Leave the scone there whilst heating the beans mixture for 5 minutes in a microwave or cook on the hob. Serve.



Polenta Mock Pizza



Polenta can seem like a boring ingredient but you can jazz it up by making this mock gluten-free pizza meal. Easier to make than pizza dough.

Serve 4

Bring to boil one and a half pints veg stock. Reduce to a fast simmer. Add 1tbsp dried rosemary and sage. Gradually stir in 200g quick cook polenta (cornmeal) whisking the whole time or using a spatula. After three minutes there should be large bubbles and a really thick volumed mixture with no lumps which is why you should never stop stirring until it is ready.

Pour into a lightly oiled baking tray spreading the mixture out evenly about half inch thick using a spatula. Leave for at least 20 minutes until set. Can be left in fridge overnight for next day usage.

　

Prepare topping for each polenta mock pizza:

2 tsp red pesto, 8 olives (halved), half a sliced tomato with seeds removed, a handful of thinly sliced chorizo, a handful of sliced mozerella.

Brush oil into a large frypan. Cut the polenta into 4 servings. Using high heat fry one side for around 3 minutes until golden (carefully turn over with 2 flat frying spoons). Continue frying and place topping ingredients evenly on top in order above. Preheat the grill to high.

After three minutes remove from hob heat and place under the hot grill to melt the cheese. Sprinkle with dried basil to serve. This is filling and by the way, don't expect it to taste like dough pizza!

Experiment with your own desired toppings eg:

garlic and parsley instead of rosemary and sage with fried leeks, mushroom, feta cheese and chopped tomatos topping;

fried mushroom and onion topping.

For an alternative - make the polenta, omitting rosemary and sage;

when polenta is cooked stir in 80g grated parmesan cheese;

spread onto a baking dish,

top with a layer of chipolata sausages;

fried onion; sliced green frozen peppers, 4 crushed garlic cloves;

lastly top with 500g of your chosen pasta sauce and bake for 10 mins at 160fan.

Found a bag of cornmeal needing used up, new recipe on my Just Microwave blog:
Polenta Mock Bean Lasagne



 

Hot smoked haddock cous cous



Add to a saucepan half a finely diced carrot, half an onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves along with 1tbsp fish sauce and 300ml boiling water. Lid on & bring to boil. Remove from heat.

Add to the saucepan:

1 cup cous cous, 1 diced red pepper from a jar of roasted red peppers, 1tbsp sweetcorn, sliced green beans & peas, 1 sliced pointed cabbage leaf, 1tbsp diced kale, 1 tsp lemon juice.

Cut a portion of skinned smoked haddock about the size of the palm of your hand into bite sized pieces & place on top.

Lid on & bring to the boil again. Turn off heat and leave 15 minutes. Serve.