Green club sandwich

Ingredients

• 3 slices wholegrain or rye toast
• 3 tbsp ready-made houmous
• 1 small avocado (100g), stoned and sliced
• 1 handful rocket leaves
• 8-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced
•   Prep: 10 mins

  Skill level

  Easy

  Servings

  Makes 1, easily doubled

  Method

  1. Toast the bread and spread houmous evenly over one side of each slice. On one slice of bread, lay half the avocado, rocket and tomato. Season with pepper, then cover with another slice.
  2. Pile on the rest of the avocado, rocket and tomato, season again and top with the third slice

   

Really simple cranberry sauce

Ingredients

• 100g light muscovado sugar
• 100ml orange juice, fresh or from a carton
• 250g pack fresh or frozen cranberries
•  

  Cooking time

  Prep: 5 mins Cook: 10 mins

  Skill level

  Easy
  

  Servings

  Serves 8
  Making your own sauce is really easy, and you can do it a few days ahead. Plus, this one uses only three ingredients
  

  Method

  Tip the sugar and orange juice into a pan, then bring to the boil. Stir in the cranberries, then simmer until tender but still holding their shape – this will take about 5 mins if using frozen cranberries or 8-10 mins if using fresh. The sauce will thicken as it cools. Will keep in the fridge for 1 week. On the day, bring to room temperature before serving.
  
  

Honeyed winter salad

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash, cut into thin wedges
• 2 red onions, halved and cut into wedges
• 4 parsnips, cut into wedges
• 3 tbsp olive oil (try garlic or basil infused)
• 1-2 tbsp clear honey
• 1 small ciabatta, roughly torn into pieces (tomato and olive ciabatta works well)
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds, optional
• 225g bag leaf spinach
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
•   Prep: 15 mins Cook: 25 mins

  Skill level

  Easy

  Servings

  Serves 4 
   

  Method

  1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Put the vegetables into a large roasting tin, drizzle with half the oil and season to taste. Roast for 20 mins, turning once in a while until softened. Drizzle with the honey. Scatter the torn ciabatta and sunfl ower seeds over the top and return to the oven for a further 5 mins or until toasted.
  2. Put the spinach into a large bowl and tip in the vegetables and ciabatta. Whisk the vinegar, mustard and remaining oil together, season to taste and toss into the salad until the spinach wilts slightly. Serve immediately.

Chilli con carne

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 red pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or 1 level tbsp if you only have mild)
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 500g lean minced beef
• 1 beef stock cube
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• ½ tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 410g can red kidney beans
• plain boiled long grain rice, to serve
• soured cream, to serve
•  

  Cooking time

  Prep: 50 mins - 1 hr, 10 mins

  Skill level

  Easy

  Servings

  Serves 4 
   

  Method

  1. Prepare your vegetables. Chop 1 large onion into small dice, about 5mm square. The easiest way to do this is to cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it and slice each half into thick matchsticks lengthways, not quite cutting all the way to the root end so they are still held together. Slice across the matchsticks into neat dice. Cut 1 red pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.
  2. Start cooking. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add the oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot (a little longer for an electric hob). Add the onions and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft, squidgy and slightly translucent. Tip in the garlic, red pepper, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin. Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Brown the 500g lean minced beef. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince. Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.
  4. Making the sauce. Crumble 1 beef stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture. Open 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g can) and add these as well. Tip in ½ tsp dried marjoram and 1 tsp sugar, if using (see tip at the bottom), and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in about 2 tbsp tomato purée and stir the sauce well.
  5. Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes. You should check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan or isn’t drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy.
  6. Bring on the beans. Drain and rinse 1 can of red kidney beans (410g can) in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry. Taste a bit of the chilli and season. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think. Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax. Leaving your chilli to stand is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle and the meat.
  7. Serve with soured cream and plain boiled long grain rice.

    

"Chinese Chicken Salad" Chinese Chicken Salad With Chow Mein Noodles#

.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken meat breasts, boneless, skinless
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, or as needed
• .
• Dressing:
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons Asian sesame seed oil
• .
• Other:
• 1 head lettuce
• 1 – 2 red peppers as desired
• 1 10-fluid ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
• 1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts (or fresh water chestnuts, peeled and sliced)
• 3/4 cup chow mein noodles

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Rinse the chicken breasts and pat dry. Lightly rub the 1 teaspoon of soy sauce over the breasts (use more soy sauce if needed). Place the breasts on a roasting and cook for 45 minutes, turning over halfway through cooking. Remove the chicken and cool.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the dressing and vegetables. In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, orange juice, light soy sauce, sugar and sesame seed oil. Refrigerate until needed.
Wash the lettuce, remove the core and shred the leaves. Remove the seeds from the red pepper and cut into thin strips.
Remove the cooked chicken and cool. Shred the chicken meat with your hands.
Pour the dressing into the bottom of a large salad bowl.
Add the lettuce and chicken, tossing with the dressing. Add the red peppers, water chestnuts and mandarin orange slices. Garnish with the chow mein noodles.
Sprinkle the sliced almonds or toasted sesame seeds on top if using.

Broccoli Fried Rice #

                                                                           

Ingredients

Serves: 8 

• 275g uncooked long-grain rice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 500g broccoli florets
• 3 spring onions, diced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•  

  Method

  Prep:5min  ›  Cook:25min  ›  Ready in:30min 

  1. Cook rice according to package instructions. Set aside.
  2. Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. Sauté broccoli until tender but still crisp, and add spring onions. Remove from frying pan. Scramble eggs; return broccoli mixture to pan. Stir in cooked rice, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

  Note:

  Allow the rice to sit a moment to cool after it's finished cooking. This will prevent it from getting mushy when you fry it. This dish is best, however, using leftover rice.