Chicken Soup, with Paprika and Cardamon

 Really simple soup made with diced chicken breast, tomato puree, paprika and cardamon. Plus chicken stock. 

Beef Chilli with Butternut Squash and Leek

A hot beef chilli, simmered for two hours on the hob. Completely delicious! But I have to say that the amount of effort involved in preparing the butternut squash was out of all proportion to its contribution to the flavour of the dish. It may be a nutritious vegetable, but it has no particular taste of its own. I will be giving it a miss in future.
 

Wheat Free Chorizo!

Unbelievable find in the local Co-op. Gluten and Lactose free Chorizo! Tastes just the same. Excellent! So this is a wheat-free and lactose free tapas snack, lurking on a bottom shelf. Served with some diced leek and chopped green beans. Delicious!
 

Serrano Ham Salad

 Another easy salad, with thinly sliced Serrano ham, a baby leaf lettuce salad, and fresh coriander. Plus sliced white onion and garlic, boiled potato and sweet potato. Dressed in some freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil on the greens. 

Mixed Olives and Feta Cheese

 The local co-op supplies lots of varieties of cheese, but not Feta. But they do supply olive and feta salads, which is the basis of this delicious meal. Added to a baby leaf salad mix of four different colours of lettuce, button mushrooms, and halved baby plum tomatoes. Dressed in freshly ground black pepper.

Chorizo Regio Sausage, with Potatoes

Chorizo Regio with boiled potatoes and fried mixed vegetables. Dressed in some freshly ground black pepper.  

Lamb Meatloaf in Chilli Sauce

A meatloaf made with minced lamb with 20% fat, so no oil was added to the bread tin in which I cooked the meatloaf. The vegetables were diced (Polish red pepper, Purple Onion) and added to a pyrex bowl along with half a cup of oats, and a third of a cup of Khorasan wheat. Mixed together by hand (about ten minutes work), and then forked into the bread tin, and levelled. Cooked for about half an hour at a medium to high heat (watch carefully by eye).

Served with chopped spinach and spring onions, and lightly fried button mushrooms. The chilli sauce for the meatloaf was cooked with chilli, garlic and tomato puree.
 

Pamplona Sausage, Spring Onion, Red Pepper

An interesting selection of Spanish sausage from Aldi yesterday. An easy to prepare salad with Basmati rice, spring onion and diced red pepper. All done in five minutes (apart from the rice of course. That was pre-prepared). Served with a little horseradish sauce.

[Chorizo de Pamplona is a sausage that is typical in the cuisine of the Navarre region of Spain It is prepared with equal parts of finely-chopped beef and pork and significant amounts of a strong smoked paprika, and pork fat.]

 
 

Chicken with Ras El Hanout spices

A simple dish of chicken and vegetables, enlivened by the addition of ras el hanout spices. Served with basmati rice. 

Chicken, Egg Noodles and Beansprouts

 Fresh egg noodles bought from Aldi, along with a large bag of beansprouts. 

The chicken was cooked first at a medium heat in some rapeseed oil, along with the spring onions and diced chestnut mushrooms. Then a large handful of beansprouts was added to the pan at a high heat. Once they looked done I added  the egg noodles (which I'd soaked in a pasta bowl with boiling water while the beansprouts were cooking), and turned the heat down to medium again. Constantly stir, otherwise the noodles will stick.

Add chilli and garlic and soy sauce according to taste.

Chicken and Green Bean Minestrone

 The contents of the fridge needed to be reorganised. I rescued what could still be used to construct a dish, and I ended up with a minestrone. The onion and the chicken were cooked first in some olive oil, The rest of the vegetables were prepared and added to the flat pot at a medium heat, along with about half a pint of water. Cooked for ninety minutes under glass, stirring frequently. Delicious!

Cajun Chicken

Chopped chicken breast, onion, garlic and chilli. The chilli, onion and garlic were cooked first in some rape seed oil. Then I added the chopped chicken breast after about 12 minutes. Cooked at a medium heat until the chicken began to brown. Stirred frequently. The cajun seasoning was added to the basmati rice (cooked in a separate pan) along with a shake of paprika. 
 

Shoulder Pork Strips in Black Bean Sauce

 Shoulder pork steak from the fridge, cut into strips and marinaded in a black bean sauce. Use a Chinese one rather than something from a supermarket, which will be pretty bland. Cooked for at least half an hour. 

The rice was basmati, and cooked with some turmeric and Chinese five spice in a separate pan. Served with raw spinach leaves.