recipes

A Tian is a classic dish from my beloved childhood southern France. It is perfect served alongside grilled meat or fish, or just aside salad for a light lunch. It is perfect to use up all of your summer vegetables. I like to use mixed provencal herbs and garlic for the seasoning but dried oregano works brilliantly too. A super easy one to make vegan by simply skipping the cheese. It’s a bit like a structured ratatouille!

Apr 16

Apr 16 Portobello no bun vegetarian burger

With BBQ season kicking off soon and 2 teens looking forward to make up for lost social time, weekend gathering around food will hopefully be regular occurrence. There seem to be more and more vegetarians amongst my teens’ friends so I am busy creating, planning and testing some new recipes to suit all dietary requirements. This is so so tasty with a nod to my home country with French goats cheese and caramelised red onions! And no processed fake meat in sight!

Mar 28

Mar 28 Spicy turkey and harissa meatballs

When trying to get clever and time efficient with meal planning and food prep, we often go for the simple crowd pleasing classics that you can batch cook and freeze. And what better than a batch of meatballs. Turkey mince is very affordable too. The beauty of meatballs is that they are so so versatile: added to a lunchbox, to comforting pasta bowl, served with simple mediterranean roasted veggies, one pan meal. Leftovers are perfect sliced in a wrap with salad and avocado for lunch!

Feb 19

Feb 19 Harissa, chickpea and apricot lamb koftas

When it’s all about meal planning, food prep and making sure you have good nutritious home cooked food ready when you need it, these are perfect to make all year round. Very quick and easy to assemble with no blender or processor, those lamb koftas can be served with a side salad or some quinoa and steamed greens. I like to serve them with a side of cumin and parsley yoghurt.

Dec 1

Dec 1 Immune boosting chicken soup

Roast chicken on a Sunday is my ultimate comfort food. What’s even better is knowing that nothing will go to waste. First make a stock/broth with the leftovers and then make the ultimate comforting and immune boosting chicken soup. Full of the warming goodness of ginger and turmeric, packed with vegetables, this soup is a winner every time. I have also added pearl barley to make it go further , but you could ommit or swap for brown rice, giant couscous or quinoa.

May 27

May 27 Easy French moules marinieres

Mussels are usually something I don’t prepare at home. I tend to have them as a foodie treat when I go back home to France. But as I write, we are in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic and the restaurant trade has collapsed. So local fishmongers normally selling to pubs and restaurant are selling direct and have an amazing selection of seafood, including mussels. Please don’t be scared by them as they are the easiest to prepare. I hope you have a go!

Jan 12

Jan 12 Butternut and black bean spicy one-pot

This recipe is for all of you out there who like a simple tasty one pot that keeps on giving! We all need those one-pot recipes in our busy lives. Simple, yet delicious heart warming, ideal to prep in advance and…packed full of vegetables, plant based protein, fibres and all round goodness. Leave the chorizo out for a vegetarian option. Delicious served with a warm corn tortilla wrap, mashed avocado and soured cream.

Oct 20

Oct 20 Slow cooked venison winter stew

Nothing beats a stew when the shorter darker cooler days arrive. It is not only delicious, warming and comforting, it is also so simple and a real time saver. I chose venison from our local farm and butcher for this recipe. Being wild and grass fed, venison is much leaner than beef, and contains less saturated fat. Diced venison from your local butcher is also very affordable. We have used a slow cooker to cook this dish, which means that you can prepare it all in the morning and then get on with the day coming home to a perfectly cooked meal. For a conventional oven place in a low oven for 4 hours until the meat is tender.

Sep 8

Sep 8 Savoury tomato & herbs crumble

If you have never tried a savoury crumble, now is the time with this recipe! This is a fun, really quick and easy vegetarian meal you can put together in the evening for kids. It can be used as a side or as a main dish. Add Oregano as you herb of choice and it will taste like a pizza! Add olives and Herbes de Provence and you’ll find yourself in sunny South of France. I’ve had massive thumbs up and great success with kids with this recipe and you could turn it into a pick and mix where kids make their own veggie choices and share the crumble topping in individual dishes!

Aug 31

Aug 31 Olive, feta and red pepper bake- "cake aux olives"

This is hand on heart the easiest most delicious bake you could ever make ahead and keep for a healthy and balanced lunch.
Growing up, in France, I probably had something like this once a week! The flavour combinations are endless, vegetarian or not, you can go with the flow of seasonal veggies, add spices and even play around with flours. What’s not to like? My favourite is olive with anything.

Jul 28

Jul 28 Easy summer tomato gazpacho

This very easy gazpacho is all about enjoying and embracing summer ingredients. Full of gorgeous mediterranean vegetables and flavours, totally refreshing and perfect to make in advance. No cooking is involved and pretty much any blender will do the job. Just make sure you allow a couple of hours to refrigerate it. An absolute keeper to make again and again as a starter on a summer’s evening.

May 19

May 19 spicy aubergine pasta

Enjoying and embracing a balanced healthy diet means there is a place for everything and that’s exactly why a good pasta recipe or two is essential for those weekends when comfort food and family crowd pleasers are required. The base for this is vegetarian and full of gorgeous mediterranean vegetables and flavours and so a little chopped chorizo works wonders added to it.

Feb 17

Feb 17 chicken and spinach tikka masala

We all love a curry in our house and Saturday nights have become a curry night ritual. Pleasing different palates is not always easy - some like a hot curry and others not so much. However this tikka masala seems to please everyone! I know it’s not traditional to add spinach to a tikka masala, but i like to add another vegetable whenever I can! I use 6 chicken breasts to feed my brood of 5 as my two teenagers are permanently hungry. However, unless you too have growing teenagers then adjust portions by using 1 chicken breast per person.

Feb 3

Feb 3 Rose harissa chicken and spinach curry

I almost didn’t write this up as a recipe - after all it’s nothing complicated and fancy. Just 6 ingredients thrown together. However it’s been a winner in my house with all the family and so I thought I would share with you - after all we all need those quick and simple recipes to keep us going day in day out! To serve 4 or even 6 then just alter the amount of chicken breasts. My two teenagers seem to be going through a growth spurt at the moment so I often cook 6 chicken breasts for the 5 of us!

Jan 6

Jan 6 stuffed vegetarian butternut squash

This is a perfect dish when you want a vegetarian meal that looks a bit special. Can easily be doubled to provide a meal for four if needed. It’s very easy to make, but still looks impressive. I am always looking for ways to include more mushrooms in my diet as they are so highly nutritious for us. See the tip below for all the benefits.

Dec 10

Dec 10 cauliflower, lentil & turmeric soup

You can never have enough soup recipes and this one hits the spot. Protein from the lentils, lots of cruciferous vegetable goodness from the cauliflower with the warming undercurrent of anti-inflammatory turmeric.

Nov 23

Nov 23 Smokey winter one-pot

This recipe is for all of you out there with foodie families and those who enjoy entertaining! We all need those One-Pot recipes in our repertoire. Simple, yet delicious heart warming, ideal to prep in advance and…packed full of vegetables and all round goodness. Leave the chorizo out for a vegetarian option, serve with roast chicken or slow roast lamb for a winter’s cosy Sunday lunch.

Nov 17

Nov 17 sweet potato & lentil soup

This chunky soup is really hearty and could probably fall into the stew category! If you need warming up then this will work. Despite the spices it’s kid-friendly too - my daughter enjoys it although as she prefers a smooth soup I blitz all of hers up rather than leaving half chunky. The cooking of this soup is very hands off and easy to rustle up for a quick lunch. I sometimes like to add a dark green leafy veg such as chard, kale or spinach to the soup and I just stir this in at the end to wilt.

Nov 14

Nov 14 carrot, parsnip & ginger soup