Fish Pie

Time to clear out a couple of things from the freezer ... a pack of "fish pie mix" (haddock, smoked haddock and salmon) and half a bag of cooked prawns. Cooked in the oven in a little milk and tarragon, I also added a few peas and a couple of hard-boiled eggs, then thickened the sauce with a little cornflour. I topped it with creamy mashed potatoes (and a few shavings of cheese) and served with steamed carrots and curly kale. Very tasty and satisfying indeed!

The New Cooking Pot!

V  This delicious Vegetable Pasta Bake was the first meal to be cooked in our lovely new "La Cuisine" sauté pan; it worked very well, as you can see!

I had, some time ago, frozen a portion of Mediterranean-style roasted vegetables (chopped quite small), so I only had to defrost that, sauté a few extra mushrooms in olive oil, par-boil some wholewheat pasta twists and combine it all together in the new pot, with a box of passata and some Italian seasoning. I then popped it in the oven for maybe 20 minutes, with the lid on, then topped it with grated Cheddar and Parmesan and put it back for another 10 minutes without its lid. Absolutely scrumptious ... and we're having the remaining half of it tonight!

A Trio of Loveliness!

V  I had a bit of a cook-off last night, culminating in this delicious threesome (clockwise from the top): vegetable lasagne; spinach, tomato and blue cheese quiche; feta, basil and caramelised shallot tart. All three were delicious (yes, I did taste them all!) and all freezable, so nothing will go to waste if it's not eaten today.

I had pack of Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry in the freezer, so I thawed that and made it go to two quiche/baking tins. The first, I filled with crumbled feta cheese and a few shreds of fresh basil, caramelised sliced shallots (fried in a little butter/oil, then simmered with a spoonful of balsamic jelly) and five beaten eggs, with just a little seasoning. A very light grating of cheddar on the top gave it the nice browned finish. The second was a mixture of four beaten eggs, Greek yogurt, grated blue cheese, frozen chopped spinach (thawed and pressed into a sieve to extract excess water) and black pepper; this was poured into the pastry case on top of a few chopped tomatoes. In both cases I blind-baked the pastry cases first.

The lasagne was simply some leftover roast vegetables, with plenty of sauteed chestnut mushrooms and some herbs/seasoning, layered with lasagne sheets and a béchamel/cheese sauce, topped with a little grated cheddar again. Lovely!

Chunky Vegetable Bake

V  Ok, I admit that from the photo this dish could be pretty much anything topped with a cheese sauce ... but what it actually was, was a "chunky vegetable bake" from a recipe on the back of a packet of Morrison's Pasta & Vegetable Mix. This is a combination of dried split peas, beans, lentils, pasta and (from the look of it) various floor sweepings! It's incredibly easy to cook; just put it in a large saucepan of water, boil for ten minutes, simmer for about forty minutes (until tender), then drain. (You may want to rinse it, too ... I did!)

Make your favourite cheese sauce (or any other flavour you fancy, I suppose) and set aside. Lightly fry some chunky chopped veg (I used onion, courgette, broccoli, red pepper and mushrooms) in a little oil, then add the cooked pasta mix, plenty of chopped fresh parsley and basil, then put it all in an ovenproof dish. Top with the sauce and a little grated Parmesan, if you like, and grill until it looks like this!

I used half a pack of dried mix and half of the end product was enough for two of us, so it's a cheap meal as well as being wholesome, easy, tasty and filling. I can't think of any negatives!

King prawn salad

Trying to eat as healthily as possible, at the moment ... so it's fruit (and more fruit!) for breakfast, then a big fresh salad for lunch. This is not a problem for me, as I love pretty much all fruit and salad veg. Yesterday's treat (and it was so nice that I might have it again today!) was a totally scrumptious king prawn salad.

A huge bowlful of fresh salad veg, drizzled with balsamic glaze, then topped with beetroot salad, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, king prawns and a dollop of coleslaw ... the latter is the "naughtiest" thing on the plate, as I don't have any bread with it, so it's still fairly virtuous! And absolutely gorgeous!