Breakfast
Porridge, cereal or toast and jam

Lunch
Pea and mint soup

Dinner
Frozen mix vegetables and couscous

Snacks and desserts
fruit cobbler

…

Frozen mix vegetables and couscous

Serves 4

Ingredients for the Caribbean marinade:
50g diced onions
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 fresh bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon runny honey
1-2 chillies
3 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons rum (optional)
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Ingredients for the vegetable traybake:
300g defrosted cauliflower florets
300g defrosted diced sweet potato
100g defrosted sliced mixed peppers
1 red onion, roughly sliced
100g sliced carrots
Pinch of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons oil
(diced squash would alot work)

Ingredients for the couscous salad:
50g diced onions, finely chopped
1 tomato, de-seeded and finely chopped
100g couscous
Pinch of salt

Method

First make your Caribbean marinade by popping the ingredients in a blender and whizzing together. This can be made a few days before and kept in a clean jam jar
in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 190ºC.

In a medium roasting tray, mix the vegetables together with the salt, pepper and oil. Then spoon over 3 tablespoons of the marinade and with clean hands rub this into the vegetables. Roast for about 30-40 minutes, or until everything is golden and cooked through. Turn the vegetables halfway through and add the peppers, making sure they get covered in the marinade too.

While this is cooking put the leftover marinade into a small saucepan and simmer until it thickens a little. This can be poured over when you serve.

Next make the couscous salad by tipping into a large bowl the dried coucous with a pinch of salt, then fill with boiling water to 1cm above the dried couscous. Put a lid over and wait about 5-7 minutes until all the water has been sucked up.

Finely chop the salad ingredients while the couscous is cooking and tip them on top, then use a fork to break up the grains and mix them through. Season to taste.

To serve, spread the couscous over the bottom of a serving dish and spoon over of the cooked Caribbean vegetables. Pour over the marinade and scatter a little parsley if you have it.

…

Pea soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:
100g diced carrot
100g diced onion
5oog of frozen peas
Handful of fresh mint leaves
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 vegetable stock cube and 1 litre of water
or 1 litre homemade vegetable stock
Tablespoon of olive oil

Method

Heat the oil and add the vegetables, cooking on a medium heat for 15 minutes until just starting to turn golden.

Add the heated stock and the peas and simmer until soft for about 10 minutes

When the peas are cooked add the mint and whizz with a hand blender until smooth.

Season to taste.

…

fruit cobbler

Serves 4

Ingredients for the fruit filling:
400g frozen fruit (winter mix)
2 tablespoons sugar
Splash of water

Ingredients for the cobbler pastry:
180g self-raising flour
45g butter
6-7 tablespoons milk

Ingredients for the cobbler sugar:
2 tablespoons brown sugar, plus another teaspoon
40g soft butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Method

Firstly stew your fruit by putting it in a saucepan with the sugar and water on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the fruit softens.

Pour in to a small oven proof dish.

Next make the pastry by using your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles bread crumbs. Then using a fork, stir in just enough of the milk to bind the dough together into a ball.

Roll out the pastry to about 4mm and spread over the softened butter. Next sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar and cinnamon if using..

Slice the pasty into 2 cm strips and roll into wheels.

Place each wheel over the stewed fruit.

Sprinkle over the teaspoon of brown sugar and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked.

Serve warm with tinned cream or custard.