Breakfast
Porridge, cereal or toast and jam

Lunch
Sweet potato and chorizo Soup

Dinner
Vegetable biryani

Snacks and desserts
Frozen fruit or peanut butter smoothies
Bread pudding

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Vegetable biryani

Serves 4

Ingredients for the curry paste:
200g onions
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon tomato purée
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
Spices for toasting: 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Ingredients for the vegetable biryani:
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
300g defrosted cauliflower florets
300g diced defrosted sweet potato
300g defrosted slice onion
1 litre hot vegetable stock
4 tablespoons medium curry paste (see above)
1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed (black or white)
500g basmati rice
150g frozen peas
1 lemon, juice only
Handful of cashews or peanuts
chopped coriander to serve if you have it

Method

If you’re feeling lazy you can buy a jar of curry paste, or alternatively you can make your own by toasting the spices in a dry pan, shaking them until they are going golden and start to smell delicious. Crush these until powdered.

Then peel the garlic and ginger and add all the rest of the ingredients, including the toasted spices, in a blender and whizz together. This is your curry paste.

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Pour the oil into a large roasting tin and put in the oven for a couple of minutes to heat through.

Add all the vegetables, except the peas, to the tin, stirring to coat them in the hot oil. Season with salt and pepper and bake for about 10 minutes until just beginning to brown.

While the vegetables are roasting, stir together the stock, curry paste, chilli, turmeric and mustard seeds.

Scatter the rice and frozen peas with the cooked vegetables in the tin, stir, then pour over the stock mixture.

Lower the oven to 190°C. Then cover the dish tightly with foil and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice and season with a little salt, then scatter over the coriander and nuts. Serve with a bowl of plain yogurt or raita.

To see the cooking video of this visit my FoodologistGirl youtube channel

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Sweet potato and chorizo Soup

Makes 4 servings

100g defrosted diced carrots
200g defrosted diced onion
2 garlic cloves, sliced
300g defrosted diced sweet potato
100g chorizo sliced
Small bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 fresh chilli (optional)
1 stock cube

Method

Heat up a large saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add all your chopped and sliced ingredients with the chopped stalks of parsley, the paprika and curry powder, then mix together.

Cook for around 10 minutes, until the carrots have softened and the onion is lightly golden.

Meanwhile boil the kettle and add 750ml of hot water to a stock cube. Add the hot stock and give the soup a good stir, then bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sweet potato is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

With a hand blender or liquidizer, pulse the soup until smooth. Scatter on the top a little chopped chilli and parsley.

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Frozen fruit or peanut butter smoothies

Serves 2 each

Ingredients for a peanut butter shake:
300ml milk
1 heaped tablespoon of peanut butter
1 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup

Ingredients for a summer berry shake:
300ml milk
Large handful of frozen berries
1 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup

Method

In a blender, blitz all ingredients for 30 seconds or until smooth.

Stir if necessary.

Pour into chilled glasses; serve immediately.

The reason I have included a recipe for these milkshakes is that they are a cheap way of getting dark berries or nuts in to your diet. Especially if you don’t eat meat peanut butter is a great source of protein, and dark purple and red berries are especially good for you. Again not too often as they both contain some sugars.

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Bread pudding

Makes about 12 slices

Ingredients for the bread pudding:
500g white or wholemeal bread (or gluten free bread)
500g mixed dried fruit
85g mixed peel
1 1/2 tablespoons mixed spice
600ml milk
2 large eggs, beaten
140g dark brown sugar
Zest 1 lemon (optional)
100g butter, melted
2 tablespoons white sugar

To serve
Hot with custard
or cold for lunches

Method

Tear the bread into a large mixing bowl and add the fruit, peel and spice.

Then pour in the milk, give it a stir and scrunch through your fingers to mix everything together and break up
the bread.

Now add eggs, dark brown sugar and lemon zest and stir well, then set aside for 15 minutes to soak.

Heat oven to 180°C.

Butter and line a 20cm square cake tin (not one with a loose base).

Stir the melted butter into the pudding mixture, and tip into the tin, then scatter with white sugar.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hrs until firm and golden, covering with foil if it starts to brown too much.

Turn out of the tin, take off the paper, and cut into squares.

Serve with dusting of icing sugar or hot custard.