Wholesome food always makes you feel good; it’s made from humble ingredients and is full of good things like beans, vegetables and whole grains. I normally eat slow cooked, what I would describe as wholesome, meals in the autumn and winter but this easy white bean stew with purple sprouting broccoli is the perfect dish for this time of year. It’s quick and easy to make, is full of seasonal vegetables and is absolutely delicious. Using seasonal veg not only makes the best of what’s around but means it’s super cheap to cook up too, feeding four people for around £4.50 (most of what I used was organic too!).
Topped Chocolate
I wasn’t quite sure what to call this when I first made it but it’s become known as Topped Chocolate in my kitchen. There have been a few different flavours and so far this one, with honeycomb and pumpkin seeds, has been my favourite. It’s not a complicated recipe by any means and you can add almost anything you like; pecan and coconut or raisin and walnut are some that I have tried. One big chocolate bar makes enough for two for a week, if you take a small piece that is!
You will need (for one big slab):
Three Ingredient Date and Coconut Bites
There are an awful lot of new ‘healthy’ or ‘superfoods’ around at the moment and they are everywhere you look. Avocados, coconut oil, seeds and berries, cacao nibs; the list goes on. Now, I’ll try anything once and I have had a flirtation with all of the aforementioned foods but what happens when the Vogue moment is over, everyone’s moved on to something new and you’re left with a cupboard of half opened ingredients. Well if you’re me and throwing it away is not an option (although the compost bin might actually be the best place for the cacao nibs) you get creative. Welcome to my Three Ingredient Date and Coconut Bites; ready in a flash, use up some ingredients and made with all the good stuff.
Beer, Mustard and Onion Macaroni Cheese
It’s always interesting to try something different with a classic. Not content with, although always very welcome, standard macaroni cheese I wanted to add a few bits here and there to make it extra special. I dreamt up my beer, mustard and onion macaroni cheese and set about making it. I wasn’t sure how best to incorporate the beer so I settled on trying out a beer béchamel.
Ingredients
You will need (for 2):
- 150g macaroni
- 25g butter
- 25g plain flour
- 100ml milk
- 200ml beer – preferably a bitter (if you’re not sure what’s what, this guide can help!)
- 50g strong cheddar, grated
- 100g emmental, grated
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 2-3 tsp caramelised onions
- Salt and pepper
Method
Cook the macaroni according to packet instructions. Preheat and oven to 180C.
To make the beer béchamel melt the butter over a medium heat then add the flour. Cook the flour for at least one minute. Mix together the milk and beer then slowly add this to the butter and flour, stirring all the time so you don’t get any lumps. Cook the béchamel for a few minutes until thickened then remove from the heat.
Bergamot Lemon Drizzle Cake
Lemon drizzle has got to be up there with my most loved cakes. If there was a line up of carrot, lemon and chocolate caramel cake I’d be hard pushed to decide which to have, and, let’s be honest probably try to find a way to get a slice of each. You may have been following my bergamot adventures and it would have been silly not to bake a bergamot lemon drizzle cake as it combines two of my favourite things in one: tea (bergamot from Earl Grey) and, well, cake.
You will need:
- 250g butter, softened
- 250g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 250g self raising flour
- Zest from one bergamot lemon
- Juice from two bergamot lemons
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180C. I always use an independent thermometer in my oven, it’s such a liar.
Beetroot, Lentil and Bergamot Lemon Salad
I’ll be honest, salads don’t tend to excite me very much. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the freshness a few leaves bring on the side of something else but as a standalone dish, it’s not really for me. However, things have changed and I’ve started to make, what I would call, more ‘bulky’ salads. This particular combination of beetroot, lentil and bergamot lemon is so colourful and combined with a bit of goat’s cheese is equally good warm or cold.
You will need (for two large salads):
Bergamot Gin and Tonic
I am very familiar with the flavour of bergamot, being an avid Earl Grey fan, but I had never seen or tasted the bergamot lemon itself. A mystical fruit that I thought was confined to tea makers and lucky Mediterranean gardens. Then I found I could order some beautiful organic ones along with my veg box; it would be rude not to. My first thought when I got them was to add a slice to some hot water, just to smell and taste them. But then I remembered I had some gin, and, you know, why not? Hello bergamot gin and tonic.
Smoky Cowboy Beans
I knew what I wanted these smoky cowboy beans to taste like before I made them. The thing I had to do was to work out which ingredients it was that I needed to mix together to make something that tasted like I wanted it to. After a few attempts, a bit of this, less of that and more of the other I have cracked it. Wonderfully smoky, sweet and sticky with a few spices and plenty of beans to make something substantial from ingredients you probably already have in your cupboards and fridge. Weeknight cooking at its best.
Sticky Chilli Pork and Noodles
I’m not sure quite what’s happened but all of a sudden I find myself spending over £50 a week on food shopping. I know, it’s not a shocking amount and it’s certainly less than I know other people spend but it’s twice as much as I used to spend. I didn’t really notice it creeping up over time and I haven’t really changed what I eat (less meat if anything) but it irritates me nonetheless. There’s only so many beans and lentils one person can eat in a week so thrifty meals are essential to give plenty of variation. My sticky chilli pork is quick, tasty and feeds four people for less than £6.
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
Some people bake bread when it rains. I bake whatever contains as much butter and sugar as possible to cheer myself up. I’m not a big fan of rain. I made cookies once before when I was much younger and they didn’t exactly work out like they were supposed to; I made one very large, thin cookie. With the recent bout of cold and rain I felt it was time I attempted cookies again; why not. Mint chocolate chip cookies are much more welcome than precipitation.This recipe makes around 16 cookies:
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