Cook Bake Teach

  It has to be said that spring rolls are my downfall! I love Asian food anyway, but getting a delicious crispy, tasty spring roll full of veggie goodness is my absolute favourite. That being said, they're not particularly good for the waistline - as with all things deep fried! So I set out to create a guilt-free version that I could make at home, that would please the kids. Now this recipe makes large spring rolls, but you could always cut the pastry into four and, using the same method outlined in the recipe, make smaller spring rolls. You can also use whatever veggies you like, but just make sure they're really thinly sliced. You could also add vermicelli rice noodles - just soak them in boiling water until cooked, then drain and allow to cool before adding to the mix. Also, we just use a soy sauce dressing, but why not experiment? Lime, ginger and honey with soy sauce would make a good dressing, as would sweet chilli sauce mixed with soy. You don't want the vegetable ...

Today for lunch Miss L decided to make herself a mushroom omelette. I was surprised because she's not a huge fan of egg, but I thought...great! Less work for me! As it's the first thing a chef learns at cookery school though, I thought I'd put it on the blog. It's a great start to a culinary career, and as Miss L wants to be a chef, I guess it's a given that she knows how to make at omelette. I kid you not though, it was the best omelette I'd had in a long time!! I don't know what she did....but it tasted so much better than mine! :D I love an omelette, and I always consider it as a bit of comfort food for lunch. It's so much more homely than a sandwich! During lockdown we've been keeping a lot of eggs in the house too, for baking and whatnot, so it's always a good way to use them up. The way I taught her, is probably the cheating way to do it, because I shove it under the grill to do the top, instead of it being on the stove for too long and goi...

  This is my go-to for a tasty and easy dinner. The kids love it too, and the spices in the dish make it comforting and moreish. A spoonful of tasty Moroccan goodness! I came up with this recipe myself, after wanting a tagine one evening. We don't have a tagine pot though, so I took the elements and cooked it on the hob. It's much quicker, and as it's a veggie recipe, you really don't need it to be in a casserole dish/tagine in the oven for ages. It's not like you're trying to tenderise meat by a slow cook. So I came up with this. It's comforting, and rich with tomato and Moroccan spices. It's also adaptable. Traditionally though, I used butternut squash as the bulk of the stew, so that's what I've included in the recipe. If I don't have a squash I use sweet potato instead. As you can tell by the recipe, it's not exact and I tend to chuck whatever I've got in the fridge into it, and it always tastes good. Serve with couscous or pitta...

  I looooooovve an easy dinner. Normally on a Sunday, we would cook a veggie roast dinner. Normally with some epic yorkshire puddings. Today though, we decided on something a bit lighter, so I turned to the trusty puff pastry I had in the fridge and created a vegetarian tart. Did I make the pastry...no of course not! That's the joy of ready made puff pastry. Just unroll it, whack something on top, and then you've got a quick, easy, and satisfying dinner. For my pastry tart I chose to cover it first in some wild garlic pesto (recipe coming soon), then topped with griddled aubergine, tomato, mozzarella and fresh basil. It was delicious! Enjoy!