Food & Drink

This is my take on a banana curry I had in the Isle of Wight after the literary festival. It’s not a traditional Kashmir curry, as I used what I had in the cupboard, but it is utterly delicious. The tea is the twist, but trust me, it works, lending a slightly smoky, sweet flavour.…

Ingredients 25g butter 4tbsp peanut butter 4tbsp honey 300g oats Method Melt; coat oats; spread. Bake: 180°C/15 minutes. Cool 15 minutes.

Think you can’t make bread? Or that you need a fancy pants bread maker to do so? RUBBISH. You have a natural, free bread maker in your palms and your knuckles – and this easy recipe with no proving or rising time is a great place to start. A lot of soda bread recipes use…

Black beans are combined with carrot, tomatoes, red wine and dark chocolate. The soup can be left chunky or blended after cooking. Serves 2 Ingredients 100g dried black beans 1 onion 1 garlic clove 1 small red chilli or a pinch of chilli flakes A shake of paprika A generous shake of ground cumin A…

Well this is the first of my tinkering with 32p jars of fish paste – and I have to say I am seriously impressed! This speedy fish supper takes just minutes to put together, and tastes absolutely divine. The sharpness of the lemon brings out the salmon flavour in the paste, and the yoghurt lends…

Kidney beans and rinsed baked beans are heated in a paprika and tomato sauce. A small amount of yeast extract adds savoury flavour. Serves 4–6 Ingredients 1 × 400g tin red kidney beans 1 × 400g tin baked beans, or plain borlotti or cannellini beans 1 onion 1 large garlic clove 4 tbsp oil 3…

Tomato & White Bean Soup, 15p per portion. Always challenging myself to ‘cook it cheaper’ without compromising on taste or nutrition, I’ve had a fidget with my tomato and white bean soup recipe today, and come up with this one at less than 15p per portion… Allow to cool before freezing in portions, and this…

Aubergine, breadcrumbs and herbs form these meat-free balls. Lemon and optional black olives season the mixture before it is shaped and fried. Serves 2 Ingredients 1 aubergine 1 onion, red or white 1 large garlic clove 1 red chilli or a pinch of dried chilli 1 tbsp finely chopped black olives, optional 3 tbsp oil…

     As part of my ‘health binge’ that I’m currently embarking on after the carbtastic Live Below The Line challenge followed by scarcely and sleep and a lot of crap sandwiches to power through a General Election, I decided to experiment and see if I could make gluten free pasta. I’m not a fan of…

These savoury muffins use plain flour and mashed sweetcorn, with onion, herbs and a little chilli. The same mixture can be baked as a loaf. Makes 8 muffins or 1 loaf Ingredients 250g plain flour ½ tsp salt 10g baking powder, approximately 2 tsp 50g sugar ¼ tsp chilli flakes or 2 pinches cayenne pepper…