Quick and Easy Oven Roast Cherry Tomatoes

A delicious taste of sunshine all year round!

I'd say this is almost more of a method than a recipe, but either way they're so quick and easy to prepare it's hard to go wrong and you can adapt the 'recipe' to your own tastes.

I prefer to bake mine on Pyrex as the bottoms don't burn, and they don't stick. I've recently fallen in love with Pyrex baking trays, which I only discovered quite recently - especially as they fit really easily standing up in the plate rack of the dishwashers, and don't take up so much room as the good old Pyrex dishes which are always a bit awkward to fit in!

Dandelion Honey (which just so happens to be vegan!)

This tastes just like the real thing and is vegan friendly too!

So if you love honey, making things from what you've foraged, and maybe gifting some to friends and family, this is for you! Now that the dandelion season is almost over, and other flowers (and trees) have started blooming, the bees have had their initial food from waking up and we can share what's left over.

And what's more, if you pour the hot, finished product into hot, sterilized jars, it will last for a year or more in the fridge!

Easy (Cheat's!) Black Bean Sauce

Easy, tasty black bean sauce recipe - save yourself an absolute fortune on those tiny packets of stir fry sauces you get from the supermarket!

No need to buy those over-priced sachets from the chiller cabinet every again - all you need to do is slice up two chillies and grate some ginger, add a few more ingredients and you've got yourself over a litre of sauce that you can freeze which will make around twenty portions or so!

Not only that, if you buy yourself a six pack of Lee Kum Kee black bean garlic sauce (see here for where I get mine, affiliate link which won't cost you any extra), that's twelve lots of the below recipe, which is...erm...  around 240 portions, and it currently costs £12.60 for a six pack. So, if you do the maths, supermarket sachets or jars cost around £1 for a two portion serving (so that would be £120 for 240 portions), so for the price of a few chillies and some ginger root, and a few store cupboard ingredients, you are genuinely saving over £100 overall by making your own - I've even shocked myself working that out!!!

Anyway, without further ado, here's the recipe - oh, and I tried to take a photo of just the black bean sauce, but it just looked like a pan of black stuff (!), so I've used one of my photos of beef in black bean sauce that I've taken previously. I hope you enjoy it!

Potato Masala filling for Masala Dosas

If you love a masala dosa, then here is how to make the delicious potato masala filling!

One of my absolute favourite Southern Indian foods is a masala dosa: A crispy pancake made from a fermented rice and lentil batter, with a delicious spiced potato filling, traditionally served with sambar (a light soupy dal made with lentils, spices, tomato and vegetables) and a creamy coconut chutney. There are many regional variations, and I've made my potato filling from traditional ingredients based on the flavours of the dosas from Southern Indian restaurants along the 'Golden Mile' in my home town of Leicester where some of the best authentic Indian food in the UK can be found.

It really is the kind of dish which has so many flavours and textures, and is so tasty that it wouldn't even enter your head that you were eating vegan food, or missing your meat and dairy! Making the potato filling and the sambar isn't at all difficult or time consuming, so if you love a dosa it's well worth having a go, and you can buy ready made dosa batter from Asian grocers if you find the idea of making that yourself daunting, and just fry the pancakes at home.

Makes enough potato masala for approximately 16 medium-sized dosas, or 8 large dosas if you have a large dosa pan! (i.e. serves 8 people one portion each - or in my case serves 4 and freeze the rest for another time!)

Easy Sri Lankan Cauliflower Curry

This curry is so easy and quick to make, and it tastes that good you can eat it all by itself, or with the simplest of accompaniments!

I've been going a bit mad for Sri Lankan food at the moment (yes, it probably shows in my blog posts!), and I love to share the things that I love the most!

*** Post in progress, awaiting photos! ***

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Chilli

This is a really delicious meat-free alternative to a chilli con carne, absolutely packed with flavour and texture, and really versatile too!

With a fortnightly (wonky) veg box having become a regular occurence in our lives, I'm finding myself coming up with lots of new things to cook to use up the vegetables that we're sent (which are pretty much a surprise on the day we receive them), which is a great way to stop yourself from falling into a culinary rut!

I'd really got into roasting sweet potatoes with cumin seeds for a bit of crunch, and had sweet potato and butternut squash to use up, and thought it would be nice to stick them in the oven to roast while prepping the rest of dinner, and thought they would be really nice to add into a bean chilli, along with some peppers (which I quite like to add into my ordinary chilli con carne from time to time, to give it a bit of a twist).

So this was the end result, cooked with my usual blend of spices for a chilli, and one that's definitely going onto the meat free regulars - it's so tasty and filling!

Served with my spicy cornbread, rice, grated cheese, sour cream and coriander

You can decide whether to use squash or sweet potato or a mixture, depending on what you've got in, and also use your favourite beans - you'll get a tasty result at the end whatever you use!

Served in tortillas with sour cream, fresh tomato, avocado, lightly pickled onions
and some sour cream mixed with lime juice, topped with coriander and chillies

Serves 10-12 portions (recipe easily halved) from 155-187 calories a portion using butternut squash (depending on whether a tenth or a twelfth) to 190-229 calories a portion using sweet potato. Why not have a wedge of homemade spicy cornbread on the side - it's quite easy to make, and also very filling! My recipe is here, from 116 calories for a wedge.

Squash, Sweet Potato and Spinach Dhansak

A delicious and healthy way to get your authentic curry fix using vegetables which just happen to be packed full of nutrients!

I always think there's nothing better than when you can eat a really tasty dinner, that you really enjoy, and BONUS - it's actually full of wonderfully healthy ingredients and good for you!

Even better if your children love it too and it's getting loads of healthy fresh vegetables down them and there are no complaints!

Well, what more can you ask? Well, I suppose you could want it to be vegetarian or vegan, gluten, dairy and nut free... well, it just so happens to be those things too - and good for a fast day as well, if you're looking for something low calorie...

,,,so what are you waiting for? Get in!!!

Serves four at 259 calories a portion. You could split into six more modest portions (e.g. as a side dish, or a lighter lunch, for 173 calories a portion). For a delicious fresh twist, why not serve with a helping of cachumber (Indian tomato, cucumber and onion salad with lime, spices and fresh coriander) for only 43 calories a portion - see here for my recipe. Serve with your choice of rice and/or flatbreads, or for a low calorie, low carb alternative, cauliflower 'rice'.

South Indian Red Lentil Dhal with Spinach - Parippu with Spinach

Parippu is a favourite lentil dish of mine, that I've been cooking for years, and I love to add fresh spinach to it for a healthy twist.

This dish is so versatile - it's excellent as a meal in itself, if you just want a bowlful with or without flatbreads on the side; and also makes the perfect accompaniment to other Indian dishes if you fancy a good old 'curry night'. 

Not only that, I think it's a pretty simple dish to make - you just throw the majority of the ingredients into a large pot and leave it to simmer away, and then just make a quick 'tarka' to add near the end, along with some wilted spinach.

This serves ten portions (of approximately 250g, depending on evaporation), so if you want to serve it as part of a selection of dishes, you can double that (or more!).

Calories: 273 calories per portion (if divided into ten) 2,729 calories for the whole batch (so if you're only having a ladleful in a ramekin sized dish with a selection of other things it would be nearer 150 calories).

Creamy Parsnip and Leek Soup with Lemon, Turmeric and Coriander

This unusual combination gives a surprisingly delicious and creamy soup with subtle Thai flavours.

This soup was created as a result of what was in the fridge that needed using up - at this time of year, after the weekend has passed (think roast dinners), things like parsnips tend to get sold off cheap and can be just too much of a bargain to resist at times! (I might just happen to have a bit of a 'yellow sticker' habit!). 

So I thought I'd do something a bit different with them for a change, and it turned out delicious! If you're not the biggest fan of parsnips, don't worry, the flavour is very delicate - they mostly just add a velvety, creamy texture to the soup. Or feel free to substitute with something like sweet potatoes, butternut squash or similar (remembering to adjust the calories if you're counting).

Serves six to eight, 135 to180 calories per portion (a smaller portion is around 275g if dividing into eight, a larger portion is around 370g if dividing into six). Chicken is extra.

Comforting Creamy Tomato Soup (Includes Thermomix and Instant Pot instructions)

A deliciously comforting tomato soup to take you back to your childhood...

There's nothing like a bowl of tasty tomato soup to comfort you on a cold day. It floods the house with delicious smells too, as it cooks. If you want to be really indulgent, you can't beat having a toasted cheese sandwich on the side!

I made this so my daughter could enjoy it too, as she is on a gluten free, lactose free diet (you could make it dairy free too, by using appropriate 'milk', e.g. rice, oat or nut milk, or and extra 500ml of stock - although we are avoiding oats for her as well - if you do this and cut out or substitute the honey, you can make it vegan too) - but if you're not restricted in your diet, there's nothing stopping you from adding a splash of cream at the end to make it ultra-indulgent!

If you'd rather avoid potatoes, you could substitute sweet potato or squash instead (although maybe don't add any kind of additional sweetener until after you've tasted it for seasoning). As we're a family of four, I do tend to cook in large quantities so we'll enjoy this two days on the trot then freeze the rest in portions - but you don't need to make this much if you don't want to - it's very easy to just make half the quantity.

Yields: approximately 4.5 to 5 litres; 16 servings (approximately two ladlefuls for a serving) - easily halved!

Calories: 101 calories per serving.

Marinated Mushrooms with Garlic, Lemon and Herbs, and other Summer Grilled / Marinated Vegetables

Delicious appetiser / antipasti, side dishes, or even starters. Makes for great vegetarian mezze / tapas dishes to share.

I really love mushrooms, and remember making Mushrooms a la Grecque many, many years ago. I thought I'd add my own spin to it, by charring the mushrooms a little first, as a nod to the char-grilled marinated artichokes we enjoy, and a few of my favourite flavours.

             

Scroll down for a couple of other recipes / suggestions for side dishes to go alongside the mushrooms (as pictured). 

These dishes will collectively serve 4-6 people as sides for lunch, and keep well in the fridge for a few days (see notes).

Calories per serving for those counting: Mushrooms - 70, Asparagus - 50, Peppers and Tomatoes - 61. Total calories for all three dishes as sides - 181.

If you're not counting calories, feel free to slug in extra oil and serve with Parmesan shavings, torn mozzarella, goats' cheese, feta cheese, pine nuts, and / or whatever else you fancy scattered on top or along side!

Hearty Root Vegetable and Mushroom Casserole with Herby Cheese and Mustard Dumplings

This really is a cracking dish when you're craving comfort food, and makes a smashing Sunday dinner for vegetarians!

I wanted to make something for my meat-loving family (incuding me!) which wouldn't leave us feeling like something was 'missing' for a Sunday dinner, and I didn't want to do a nut roast! In the end, I decided upon some kind of 'stew and dumplings', and it was that tasty and filling it didn't even need anything on the side - although you could of course serve it with some steamed green vegetables, and maybe even a couple of roasted potatoes on the side, and you'd probably be able to feed a couple more people with it!

If you want a healthier option for a weekday meal (or fast day), you could skip the dumplings, and just serve with plenty of green vegetables, and a few new potatoes or some cauliflower mash on the side. I can't tell you how happy I am with the gravy, it's so tasty and rich, it's the best vegetarian gravy I've ever made - it's amazing, the power of umami (no offence to vegetarians, but I never thought a vegetarian/vegan gravy could actually taste this good)!

Turnips would also work well in this, if you wanted to substitute one of the root vegetables. Without the dumplings, this is a low calorie, vegan, gluten free and dairy free dish. To make the dumplings vegan, use vegan cheese (or omit), and leave out the egg and just bring together the dough with water.

Serves four, 167 calories per portion just for the vegetable casserole, plus 194 calories per dumpling (388 calories for a serving of two dumplings), so 555 calories for a quarter portion of casserole with two dumplings.

Tofu, Mushrooms and Courgette in a Miso Broth with Noodles

So an April Fool's Day prank kind of backfired, and now we're aiming to eat vegan and vegetarian meals for the next month (as well as go sugar free!)...

Fortunately, I had a pack of firm tofu in the fridge on the day it happened (April 1st, of course...) so we were able to dive straight in with a tasty vegan dinner that everyone enjoyed! However, I am since discovering that planning and cooking meals for four people who all love their meat, fish and sugar is no easy feat - especially when you take out dairy and eggs for some of the meals too!

As it was so simple and tasty (and healthy!), I thought it would be nice to share it. It's based on the kind of thing I often throw together, but I wrote down the ingredients and quantities as I went for future reference (after all, we might be needing this meal again in the next month!). You can of course substitute any vegetables you fancy, just cook them to your tastes - you could even buy a pack of nice stir fry vegetables (you know, like the ones with tender stem broccoli and squash in) for total convenience!

Serves four, 185 calories per portion for the tofu and vegetable broth. Add 228 calories per serving for a nest of wholewheat noodles (making a total of 412 calories a portion) - or if you're on a fast day you could have zero / magic noodles for only a handful of calories, or make courgette noodles (and maybe substitute the sliced courgette for a different vegetable!).

Chocolate, Banana and Walnut Porridge with No Added Sugar

OK, so as you can see, I'm adding to the 'oats arsenal' with healthy breakfasts - I figure most people like chocolate, right?

Seeing as I've been quite inventive with oats the last few days, I decided to start keeping a record of what I've been making. Especially as it's what I consider to be pretty healthy breakfasts (especially in comparison to a lot of cereals 'out of the box' marketed at children).

Now, chocolate porridge is never going to be the most attractive-looking food, but this really does taste good! Plus, you can always try and pretty it up by scattering on a few toppings.

Serves two, 363 calories per serving - to reduce the calories, leave out the walnuts and dates, and it will go down to 244 calories per serving.

Pear and Orange Porridge with Sunflower and Poppy Seeds

Here's a little quickie which was thrown together whilst waiting for my children to get up - but it tasted so good (even with no added sugar!) that I had to write it down so that I can make it again!

Also, it's rather healthy stuff because as well as having no added refined sugar, is made from wholegrain cereal with a nutrient boost from the seeds, and if you use almond milk it's dairy free!

Sorry, no photo of the finished article as it got scoffed down before I had a chance, so here's a quick one of the ingredients - but it does look quite pretty for porridge with the little flecks of orange zest in it, and smells absolutely divine!

Serves two, 280 calories per serving using almond milk. (If you want to reduce the calories further, skip the seeds and dates and this will reduce it to 216 calories per serving). N.B. If you use 350ml semi-skimmed milk, this raises the calories to 343 per serving.

Roasted Aubergine and Spinach Curry

A delicious vegetarian curry that's easy to make and tasty!

'Roasting' the aubergines until soft, and then scooping out the flesh means that you don't need to cook them in lots of oil, and that they take on a rich, toasty flavour from the slight char on the skin which permeates through to the flesh.

If made with two de-seeded large red chillies, this is a very mild curry, which makes a lovely vegetarian main on its own (you may want to add a tin of chickpeas to add more texture and protein to the curry, if you want to serve it as a main on its own), or a beautiful side dish to other curries, or part of a selection (e.g. a thali).

Makes seven portions (main sized) of approximately 250g, at 134 calories each; or eight servings if including chick peas (see 'variations'), at 157 calories a portion. Serves more as a side dish, and freezes well.

Courgette and Aubergine Curry (Zucchini and Eggplant)

Delicious on its own, or as an accompaniment to other curries.

This is a simple but tasty curry, delicately spiced and lovely as a main, or an accompaniment to other curries. You can play around and substitute whatever vegetables you have available ( it’s very versatile – peppers, cauliflower, squash, okra, sliced carrots, green beans are all good – or you could make it with just aubergine, or a mixture of vegetables.

I usually like to serve this as part of a selection of Indian dishes to cater for all palates, but it is excellent as a low calorie vegetarian main dish.

Serves 4-8 depending on whether served as a main dish, or a side dish.

Calories per serving: 120 calories if served between four people as a main, 60 calories if served between eight as a side.

Moroccan Spiced Roast Vegetable and Lentil Soup

Warning: This soup will fill the house with gorgeous smells whilst cooking!

This delicious (and healthy!) soup came about for two reasons: Firstly, I wanted to create a vegetarian soup with Moroccan flavours which didn't contain chickpeas, and secondly, there's a jar of ras el hanout in my spice cupboard which was crying out to be used in something!

So here it is, I'm very pleased with it, and everyone else really loved it too! Feel free to shake up the flavours by substituting a different spice mix, or adding cooked pulses after blending it to make a heartier soup.

Yields 10 portions (recipe easily halved) of approximately 250g each, at only 99 calories per serving!

Rich Red Lentil Ragu - A Tasty, Skinny, Lentil Bolognese Sauce

Make a change from meat with a truly tasty alternative to the traditional ragu sauce for spaghetti bolognese!

Dare I say it, this one is a dish to keep both the veggies and the meat-eaters happy! It's packed full of vegetables, with lentils for protein, and makes a great winter warmer. You can serve with pasta, or with vegetable 'spaghetti' for a lower calorie / carb meal, or even make it into a lasagne.

If you're not vegetarian, and not serving it to vegetarians there are a couple of optional ingredients in there to pack in the flavour you'd get from a traditional meat-based ragu (a little pancetta/bacon, because it goes so well with lentils, and some beef stock), and if you are vegetarian, skip the pancetta and use vegetable stock and an extra pinch of salt at the end if you think it needs it! I've added a couple of non-traditional ingredients to give it plenty of umami flavour, as well. For vegans, just check your vegetable stock cube doesn't contain dairy.

Cream of Celeriac Soup with Fresh Thyme and Truffle Oil (includes Thermomix method)

The delicious, earthy flavours of celeriac, thyme and truffles compliment each other perfectly in this beautifully smooth and sophisticated soup

There's just something about the flavour of certain root vegetables. They have a real, rich, earthy depth to them which is complimented by so many other flavours and celeriac is possibly my favourite of them all.

      

I chose to use fresh, young thyme leaves in this - adding most at the beginning to meld in with the other flavours during cooking, and then a few more leaves at the end to add that beautiful fresh-picked taste, together with just a little scattering on top, and a luxurious drizzle of extra truffle oil on the top (well, I do have a big bottle bought for me last Christmas by my children which I realised needs using up!). It would have been amazing to have shaved some fresh truffle over the top, and maybe a little blended into the soup right at the end, but one must save these luxuries for special occasions (or find an amenable pig and an appropriate area in the woods to find one's own truffles...still, there's nothing stopping you doing this if you want to impress your guests!).

I think crispy pancetta, would make a delightful topping too, sprinkled on right at the end. To be honest, I was *this* close to doing so, but I thought it might not look quite so pretty and refined in the photo - but go on... do it to yours, it will taste delicious! (Unless you're a vegetarian, of course!).

Makes around 2 litres of soup, hence 8-10 servings. From 63 calories per skinny portion (for a tenth using 300ml extra stock at the end instead of cream and milk), to 152 calories for an eighth of the full fat version. [Calories in square brackets].