Afghan Chicken Kebabs with Indian Style Salsa

We were back from Provence and the sun in the UK - it was a May-time miracle (UK readers will understand that up until very recently it seemed that summer had largely bypassed dear old Blighty) - was shining so we decided to have a BBQ. I didn’t really fancy red meat: there had been quite a lot of that it felt like over the previous week so we opted for chicken and I decided to put a Southern...

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Wild Mushroom Spaghetti

I cooked this ages ago I think and for some reason can’t find my recipe notes: either I failed to make any (which seems unlikely as I obviously took photos) or I didn’t save the document properly when I wrote it up (or have accidentally deleted it). Although I do remember pretty much making it up as I went along: purely based on the fact that chanterelles had been on offer in Tesco. My reasoning...

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Tomato & Pea Curry with Lemon Coconut Rice

This is a very simple meal - based on recipes featured in Nigella’s Kitchen but with various amendments and additions - which packs a punch in terms of flavours, aromas and textures: tartness of tomato, sweetness of peas, bitterness from the methi leaves, and the creaminess of the rice.Visually it also helps that it is vividly, prettily pleasing.I used Piccolo cherry tomatoes which have an...

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Provençal Braised Chicken & Fennel

This is actually a “5:2” recipe that I first saw at Lavender & Lovage, a blog focussed on French & English  seasonal cooking. As it happens I didn’t have this on one of my fast days anyway, although I probably could with a little adaptation (as I tend to have lunch on fast days rather than one “big” evening meal so look for slightly less calories in my dinners). The flavours...

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Tomato Soup

A few months ago I decided to give the 5:2 "diet" a bit of a whirl - for a couple of weeks at any rate to see how I went (and in fact I’m still doing it, apart from when on holidays or work trips). Although the 5 days of eating what you want (well within reason, as a woman you’re still supposed to limit your calorie intake to 2000 calories on the “feast” days), was of course plenty appealing,...

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