Crispy kale with lemon maple tahini dressing

This is so simple it’s hardly even a recipe. I’m almost embarrassed to post it. But it’s delicious. This seriously takes ten minutes from start to ready to eat, and it’s warming and nutritious.

Heat your oven to hot, and in a baking tin pile in handfuls of kale, a shake of olive oil, salt and sumac. Add a handful of pine nuts and currants for extra crunch and little pops of sweetness. Roast for about ten minutes until crisp.

In a jar mix a large spoonful of tahini, the juice of a lemon, some salt and maple syrup to taste. I sometimes add a little hot water to thin if it’s not of drizzling consistency.

Serve over rice, drizzled generously with the tahini maple dressing. Munch happily.

Hazy hazelnut heaven

A hazelnut martini sipped before a festive dinner at the wonderful London restaurant, The Laughing Gravy, on a cold December night.

Frangelico, (a gorgeous Italian liqueur), kahlua and vodka. The rim dusted with powdered hazelnuts and sugar. One of those cocktails that was so well balanced and delicious that I could have happily drunk a second, and a third… until I was in hazy, hazelnut heaven… 🍸

Fabulous leftover frittata

So, when what we have in the fridge is a solitary potato, a box of eggs, half a red and green pepper and a rather sad looking courgette, do we head for the Indian takeaway? We do not! We make fabulous frittata.

It sounds exotically complicated and Italian, doesn’t it. But it’s really just a big veggie omelette that you don’t have to have kittens about trying to flip. What’s not to love.

Great with salad, fresh greens, or if in need of something from your childhood, baked beans….

The cheese & mustard scones of winter

A hot, savoury, cheesy mouthful of scone, with chunks of cold butter melting into the crumb and dripping onto the plate. What could be better to warm chilled fingers and soothe the soul on a cold, wet London evening?

Mine were dunked into a steaming leek, butternut and bean soup, but these beauties could be eaten with anything. Or on their own, as you please.

Nut and seed roast with cheese and tomato layer

This adaptation from an old Cranks recipe is one that I’ve been pleasurably cooking for years. The addition of the layer of cheddar, feta or Vegan cheese and sliced tomato adds a piquancy to the savoury nuttiness of the loaf that’s a lovely surprise to those that haven’t eaten it before.

I chop 250g of nuts by hand. My food processor tends to grind them too finely – a bit of crunch is best. An onion, chopped and sautéed in butter, Vegan spread or oil. Add 100g of breadcrumbs, some chopped parsley if you have it, and a handful of seeds. Enough Vegan bouillon with a teaspoon of marmite or a sloosh of soy sauce to make a fairly loose mix, then dollop half the mix into a baking tin, add a layer of cheese, a layer of sliced tomato, then the rest of the nut mix. Press down and transfer to a hot oven to bake for about 35 minutes.

As delicious cold the next day as it is hot. Gorgeous served with a fresh tomato salsa, fresh tomato sauce or chimichurri sauce on the side.

Slow roast lamb with mint, garlic and sumac

Lamb shoulder is a relatively cheap but delicious cut, and it benefits from a good long, slow roast to allow the sinews to render down into meaty succulence.

Four hours in a low oven on a bed of rosemary, seasoned with garlic, sumac and fresh mint and you have a kitchen filled with wonderful, savoury smells that are enough to have both the dog and your husband salivating!

Stir a glass of red wine into the cooking juices and bubble on the hob until just thickened in place of a gravy . Serve with a creamy mashed potatoes and fresh greens and a hearty appetite. Perfect Sunday food for a lazy day.

Leek and potato soup

It’s dark, cold and wet out there in London, so I’m breaking out the leek and potato soup with crusty bread for supper.

This was the very first soup that I learned to make, back in my twenties. In those days I’d liquidise and sieve it for perfect creamy smoothness, but now I feel that life is too short, and just leave it chunky.

This soup couldn’t get any simpler – four ingredients, and that’s it – potatoes, leeks, stock and creme fraiche. You could replace the creme fraiche with almond or soya milk to make this totally vegan.

Despite its simplicity, this is delicious, comforting and economical. The pot I made has fed two of us for two meals.

Let the wintery rain fall – as long as I have a bowl of homemade soup, I’m happy.

The healthy sweet hit

I get sweet cravings often –it’s just the way I’m wired. But rather than reaching for a bar of chocolate or a wedge of cake (which I confess I’m prone to do way too often) I’ve been trying to find a more healthy way of satisfying those sweet urges.

So…a few spoonfuls of thick Greek yoghurt with fresh blueberries, a handful of mixed seeds for crunch, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Quick to assemble, one of your five a day, full of calcium and vitamins, and it comes with a creamy unctuousness from the yoghurt and a sweet, dark caramel hit from the maple syrup, of which there’s really only a drizzle.

Perfect for when the sweet cravings hit and I’m sure it’s way better for me than a snickers bar. You could make this Vegan by using soya or coconut yoghurt instead.

Baked vanilla honey pears

Pears are in season right now, and I’m making the most of them. I love them fresh and sliced for eating alongside a piece of salty sheeps milk cheese, the aromatic sweetness melding perfectly with the tang of the cheese. 

I also bake them. Peeled, cored, and split in half, baked with vanilla seeds, honey and sweet Marsala wine. Thirty minutes in the oven until they’re meltingly soft, slightly charred and stickily delicious.

So simple, but so delectable. Serve with a scoop of cream, creme fraiche or ice cream for a decadent treat. 

Gorgeous ceramics from the Isle of Skye

There is something deeply satisfying about drinking or eating out of a well crafted piece of pottery. And something very much of “place” about a piece, made from the earth and fired locally, which takes me back  to its origin every time I use it.

A recent, glorious visit to Skye had me track down a potter whose work I’d recently discovered online – Katharina Lenz. Her studio is on the south of the island. She was warm, welcoming and her small studio was filled with wonderful things.

Flight baggage restrictions were the only thing that stopped me bankrupting us both, as I fell in love with her work. It’s full of tiny, exquisite details, like this aemonite impressed into the clay. 

Drinking breakfast tea out of this mug, which sits so comfortably in the hands,and which pleases the eye so much, adds great pleasure to a slow breakfast. 

Small, wonderful things. Life is good.