Recipes

Leek and potato soup (serves 4)

• 2lb leeks
• 1lb potatoes
• 1 onion
• stock of your choice
• 275ml milk
• Crusty bread

Chop the onion and leeks and sweat gently for 5 - 10 minutes in butter or butter and olive oil mixed. Meanwhile chop your potatoes into cubes or slices depending on preference. Once the onions and leeks are soft and transparent add the stock and the milk. The exact amounts of liquid are really up to you and how thick or thin you prefer the soup. You can also leave adding the milk to right at the end if you prefer. Cook until the potatoes are done, then you can either liquidise or leave it chunky as you wish.

Variations: leave out the milk and just use stock on its own/ replace milk with some cream, only maybe not quite so much/ add a dab of curry paste, or some chilli or paprika to give a little bite/ try a little ginger or nutmeg/ experiment with different types of potato/ add a clove or two of chopped garlic with the onions and leeks

Lentil Dhal (serves 4)

• As many cloves of garlic as you prefer
• Onion
• Ground ginger
• Turmeric
• Garam Masala
• Ground Coriander
• Tin of chopped tomatoes or 6 - 8 fresh tomatoes
• Some red lentils (about 80g per person)
• 1/4 mug of rice per person

Chop garlic and onion and saute over a low heat (using olive oil) in a saucepan until soft and tender. Add the lentils and stir for 2 or 3 minutes then add enough water to cover them 2 or 3 times. Add the tin of chopped tomatoes and spices to taste. Set the rice to boil following instructions on packet. You can add naan bread if desired.

Variations: you can cook this and not add any spices or garlic if you prefer it plain, or just use garlic to flavour it/ you can replace the individual spices with a dab of your favourite curry paste/ add chopped courgettes and-or sliced mushrooms if you prefer more of a vegetable impact

Vegetarian Chilli (serves 3 - 4)

• Onion
• 1 red pepper
• garlic
• chilli powder or chopped chilli
• ground coriander
• 1 can lentils
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• Rice

This is recipe is from Rose Elliot's Fast Fresh and Fabulous which is a great cookbook for vegetarians with lots of variety.

Chop the onion, red pepper and garlic (adding as much or as little chilli as you prefer - if in doubt add a very small amount, you can always adjust this at the end if its too tame for your liking!) and saute them for 10 - 15 minutes until really soft. Then add the ground coriander, again to taste along with the three cans. Cook for another 20 minutes or so until all is soft and delicious. Serve with rice or massive hunks of crusty bread.

Variations: you can replace the lentils with one of the soya pretend mince substitutes if you prefer.

Frittata (serves 3)

• 6 eggs
• 1 large potato
• 1 onion
• 4 tomatoes (5 or 6 if using smaller sweeter ones)
• a small tin of sweetcorn

Chop the potato into small cubes and boil for 5 - 7 minutes. Meanwhile chop the onion finely and saute gently in a large omelette pan. Once the onions have turned transparent add the potato cubes and cook until as brown as you prefer. Chop the tomatoes and add along with the sweetcorn. Beat the 6 eggs, adding a little milk if you prefer. Add the eggs to the pan and cook for 5 - 10 minutes over a low heat (you want to avoid burning the bottom). After a while place under a hot grill to cook and fluff the top. You can return to the cooker top at the end if required.

Variations: as many as you prefer! Omit any one single ingredient, except of course for the eggs, and eat like that or add something else in its stead(finely diced courgettes, finely diced red pepper, finely chopped leeks etc)/ Before you pop it under the grill you can add grated cheese such as Leerdammer or Edam to the top.

Pizza (depends on number and sizes of bases and appetites)

• Pizza bases or make your own dough
• Onion
• Tomatoes and or can of chopped tomatoes
• Cheese(s) of your choice
• Mushrooms

The cheapest way to make pizzas is to make your own bases although that can be a bit time consuming. Anyway, once you have your dough or base you are ready to go. Again the most cost effective way is to make your own tomato topping sauce, but you can buy these if you prefer. Spread some chopped tomatoes or sauce or even tomato puree over the bases. Then the topping is up to you. Some that I like are:

• Very finely chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, sliced tomatoes and cheese of choice 
• Saute some leeks and either use as they are or mix with griddle charred aubergine slices
• Mix of red peppers and sweetcorn
• Use three different cheeses of your choice
• Mix of garlic and mushrooms pre-cooked in butter to make a garlic mushroom pizza

Stir fry (adjust the amounts of noodles and vegetables to suit)

• Noodles of your choice
• Either ready bought stir fry sauce, or your choice of mix of chinese spices
• Spring onions
• Mushrooms
• Cabbage
• Red pepper

Follow instructions for cooking noodles. Chop all the vegetables very finely so they will cook quickly. Heat oil in a wok and add the chopped cabbage first, then after a couple of minutes add the other ingredients. Then add sauce or spices to taste. Serve on bed of noodles or add noodles to wok at end and cook for a couple of minutes. Once cooked you can add a dash of sesame oil if you like the flavour, but it is best not to use it to cook with.

Variations: again the variations come down to your choice of vegetable - some others to consider are courgettes, leeks, sweetcorn, sugar snap peas, green beans, pak choi. Also there are many different chinese stir fry sauce flavours.

Baked potatoes and roasted vegetables (one large potato per person)

• Large baking potatoes (one each)
• Peppers
• Aubergines
• Courgettes
• Onions
• Garlic

or

• Carrots
• Parsnips
• Onions
• Butternut squash

Bake potatoes in the oven for about an hour to an hour and a half. Allow 3/4 hour to 1 hour for other vegetables to cook. The exact times will depend on your oven and how small you chop the vegetables. For the first version (the Mediterranean version) and for the squash I chop everything into 1 to 1.5  inch cubes. For the second (the British version) I generally slice small carrots or parsnips into four lengthways pieces (for large ones cut in half and treat like two small carrots). You can chop the onion into similar sized chunks or try just removing the skin and topping and tailing and then wrapping in tin foil and placing them next to the potatoes when the other veggies go in - makes them deliciously sweet and soft. Put all the vegetables into a flattish baking tray and add a little olive oil and rub the veggie chunks around until all are covered in a layer of oil. Place in the oven - check from time to time and stir arond to ensure even cooking.

Variations: obviously you can vary the vegetables to your choice/ add a herb such as rosemary or thyme to the oil to add flavour while the vegetables cook/ swap the herbs for some chilli or paprika