Feta Cheese salad, with Pasta

A simple salad with feta cheese and two varieties of olives, dressed in olive oil. Diced tomatoes, dressed in some chives and black pepper, diced spring onions, grated carrot, plus cooked wheat-free pasta (ten minutes cooking time, with some turmeric). Drain, and allow to cool.  Then dusted with some smoked paprika. Quick to make. 

Salmon Fillet, and Black Bean Rice

 Delicious meal. An oven roasted salmon fillet (19 minutes, drizzled in olive oil), served on a bed of chopped spinach leaves (raw). I boiled some rice with a little turmeric and then drained the rice thoroughly. Mixed with black bean sauce. 

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. 

Basa Fish, Rice, and Pak Choi

Deskinned Basa Fish fillet, cooked in a preheated oven at 190 deg C on the middle shelf for twelve minutes (not turned), dressed in sunflower oil, and a little black pepper.

Served with diced and steamed Pak Choi leaves, and turmericed basmati rice.
 

Beef Chilli with baby leeks

Basmati rice cooked slowly in a flat pan with a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric.

The Ground beef was cooked for forty five minutes along with the vegetables, and then water, the vegetable stock, and the paprika was added, and cooked for another hour slowly under glass. Fabulously tender.
 

Carrot Soup with a Garlic and Coriander Naan Bread

 A couple of medium sized carrots grated in a rotary grater I bought from Aldi many moons ago, and diced one small onion. Cooked together in a small pan with some water for about two hours at a low heat under glass. I added some arrowroot mixed with water (cornflour will do as well). Plus two bay leaves. Then I added a pinch of paprika, a pinch of turmeric, black pepper, and some dried coriander leaf. Allowed to cook for a further ten minutes. 

Served with a piece of garlic and coriander naan bread, toasted for a couple of minutes in a standard kitchen toaster. 

Haddock Risotto

 A delicious haddock risotto with turmeric basmati rice. Also includes half a red onion, a diced carrot, and a third of a courgette, cut into cubes, plus half a tin of garden peas, drained before serving. The rice was cooked for fifteen minutes, and the heat was turned off, and the peas added. The other vegetables were cooked in the base of a steamer for twenty minutes. The fish was the last thing to be cooked in a dish in the steamer (no more than fifteen minutes). Dressed in black pepper. No herbs, no stock. 

Chorizo Risotto with Turmeric

A simple dish - essentially diced chorizo with julienned white onion, cooked in the oil which comes from the sausage. That is part one of the dish. The second part is basmati rice in salted water, cooked with turmeric. Cooked for fifteen minutes and then left for twenty minutes to absorb water. 

After an hour the rice was drained and washed in cold water. The rice and the chorizo were mixed together, and cooked slowly for an hour until the base of the rice had become crispy. Served with a dusting of black pepper, and a little lettuce side salad (Bistro salad), . 

 

Chcken Paella, with Chorizo Sausage

Chicken pieces with diced chorizo sausage, tomato puree, chicken stock, chilli, mushrooms, carrots, courgette, potato, red pepper, plus the herbs basil, coriander leaf and tarragon. Plus basmati rice cooked in a little salt and turmeric.

The trick is to do it in clearly defined stages (preparation of the vegetables and chorizo, stir-fried in olive oil or butter; preparation of the salsa; adding the pre-roasted chicken; and finally adding the pre-cooked rice).

The vegetables and chorizo, and the salsa, were allowed to simmer for an hour under glass before I added the chicken.

For presentation purposes in future I might just steam the chicken pieces, and add them on top before serving. But it was a delicious meal nonetheless, and well worth the effort.

Ground Beef with Spring Onion and Curried Rice

5% fat ground beef, browned for twenty-five minutes in some sunflower oil. Eight chopped spring onions (cybes) plus two diced carrots were caramelised in a separate small pan at the same time.

Added together, along with some Sainsbury's gravy granules, and with some boiling water, and beef stock. Actually inferior to the traditional way of thickening beef mince, which is to use cornflour. Sainsbury's granules contain wheat flour, which I try to avoid. Always read the label before buying.

Simmered for at least an hour under glass at a low heat. Longer is better, if you like your beef tender.

The rice was cooked for ten minutes with curry powder, salt, turmeric and a green chilli. Drained, and the whole green chilli was removed before serving. 

Madras Bean Curry, with Flat Cut Turmeric Potatoes

A simple vegetarian Madras bean curry, made with kidney beans, black chickpeas, white and red onion, diced orange pepper, Green peas, powdered ginger, carrot, salt, tomato puree, and diced green finger chillies (3).

The black chickpeas were soaked overnight, but the kidney beans and the peas came from tins. The curry was based on those, plus carrots, white onion, Madras curry powder, ginger powder, tomato puree, and diced finger chilli. Cooked for at least an hour and a half under glass.

The dish was served with flat cut potato pieces, cooked in turmeric and salted water for twenty five minutes under glass. Plus a side-serving of finely sliced red onion, strips of orange pepper, and garden peas, steamed for half an hour.

The dish was dressed in a large pinch of coriander leaf. Delicious!

Chickpea Curry with Pilau Rice

Black chickpeas were soaked in water for six hours, until they became soft. Then they were boiled, and I added diced carrot, diced leek, diced green chillies (3), tomato puree, a dessert spoonful of Madras curry powder, half a teaspoonful of powdered ginger, and three crushed garlic cloves. Plus the vegetable stock, and a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric. Cooked slowly under glass for two hours.

The basmati rice was cooked slowly with pilau rice spices, and a pinch of turmeric, for fifteen minutes, in a partially lidded pan.

Served with a garnish of coriander leaf.

Chickpea and Brocolli Risotto

A simple risotto, made with chickpeas, turmeric rice (Basmati), a quarter of a head of brocolli (diced), and one julienned red onion.

The rice was boiled for 12 minutes in water, a pinch of salt, a little olive oil, and two pinches of turmeric powder. Drained, and set aside.

The chickpeas were soaked overnight, and then boiled for twenty minutes or so until tender. Then they were fried in a little butter along with the red onion, for fifteen minutes.

After that, the diced brocolli was added to the pan, and cooked for about another ten minutes.

The rice and the chickpeas, brocolli and red onion were decanted to a bowl, and stirred together. Served with a little sweet chilli sauce. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Fried Lamb Leg Steak

One of the best meals I ever had was in Warsaw Airport in 2003. Fried lamb leg steaks served with basmati rice.

I was about to return home, and was looking to park somewhere for about 45 minutes, and to have something to eat. I found a small restaurant some distance from the departure lounge. I did not expect the glory that was put down in front of me.

The lamb was tender, and had delicious flavour. I complemented the manager on the quality of the food.

This is my take on that fabulous meal. Two lamb leg steaks, cooked slowly in olive oil for at least half an hour. Mostly under glass. Served with slightly caramelised batonned carrots, cooked in a little butter, and some turmeric rice (with some coriander leaf mixed through it), cooked for about twelve minutes.

The Warsaw dish was slightly better - I suspect the lamb was cooked by their chef for a little longer. But this is a great way to serve lamb steak!

Beef Chilli Egg Noodle

Egg noodles from the local Co-op. Stir fried in olive oil for ten minutes, along with some turmeric rice from the fridge, at an intitial high heat, and then lowered.

The beef chilli was pre-made with corned beef, chillli powder (half a dessert spoonful) two varieties of chickpeas, plus red kidney beans,
and onions.

All the chickpeas and beans were dried, and soaked overnight until soft. Sweetcorn from the cob can be added.

I added beef stock to the chilli, and diced garlic.

Delicious and filling!

Kala Chana Curry

A chickpea curry, made with diced leek, lentils, and standard chickpeas and black chickpeas. I used madras curry powder, cumin seeds (one pinch), dried coriander, turmeric and tomato puree.

The standard chickpeas were dried, so were soaked overnight. Cooked with the leek and the lentils for an hour. Then the contents of the pot were mashed.

After that I added the black chickpeas (200g from a tin), and all of the other ingredients. Simmer for around half an hour, and serve the curry with basmati rice, or with a toasted garlic and coriander naan bread. Delicious!

Smoked Haddock Risotto

The black rice was cooked for fifteen minutes, and then drained. Fresh boiling water was added to the pot, and then the basmati. Half a teaspoonful of turmeric was added.

Half a red pepper, diced, and one julienned white onion, were fried in a skillet with sunflower oil for fifteen minutes, and then the drained rice was added.

The fish was cooked in a skillet for 12 minutes, turned once. Added to the rice, and broken up with a plastic fork.

Served on a bed of black pepper. Delicious!

Spicy Mushroom, Chickpea and Sweetcorn Stew

Made with chickpeas, sweetcorn, red pepper, chestnut mushrooms and spring onion. Thickened with half a teaspoonful of arrowroot, flavoured with herbes de Provence and vegetable stock. The sweetcorn came straight from the cob, though tinned sweetcorn will do just as well.

Dried chickpeas were soaked overnight, and then cooked with powdered red chilli and crushed garlic. Rinsed, and then simmered with the sweetcorn, diced red pepper, mushrooms, and chopped spring onion. The vegetable stock and the herbs were added last.

Served with a mixture of Thai black rice, and basmati rice. The black rice was cooked for fifteen minutes, and then drained. Fresh boiling water was added to the pot, and then the basmati. Half a teaspoonful of turmeric was added.  I used an ice-cream scoop to create the rice balls, as they do in Korean restaurants. Wonderful vegetarian dish!

Cajun Maque Choux

This is a variation on a well known Cajun dish from Louisiana, which is essentially a stew made with sweetcorn.

I browned some diced leek in sunflower oil (normally diced onion). I added some pre-soaked chickpeas (not a standard ingredient), cooked earlier in some turmeric and Cajun spices (I used a commercially available Cajun spice powder, which contained garlic, chilli powder, paprika and cumin. But you could easily make this up from your spice cupboard). Stir-fried together for a little time. Then I added boiling water, some powdered ginger, a pinch of cumin seeds, and vegetable stock. and the sweetcorn.

Diced green pepper is usually also an ingredient, but I used diced green beans instead. I also skipped the addition of tomatoes. Finally I added a large pinch of dried coriander, plus another dash of Cajun spices, and stirred them through. Allowed to simmer for about twenty minutes under glass, at a low heat.

Served with basmati rice (or American long grain). The dish was served with a dusting of coriander. Delicious! Can be served with diced chicken.

Cabbage, Beansprouts and Green Bean StirFry

Made with julienned red onion, two colours of cabbage, sliced carrot, diced green beans, beansprouts, curried rice boiled with turmeric (drained), and a whole red red chilli.

Stir-fried for ten minutes altogether in some sunflower oil, first at a high heat, and then turned down to a low to medium heat.

Served on a spiral of dark soy sauce.