Roasted red pepper & butternut sqaush soup

I'm quite a newbie to making my own soup, but thanks to a good friend who gave me a few good pointers I think it's safe to say I can add it to my list of things i genuinely love to make from scratch.

Today's offering is a favourite of mine as well as the husband and kids.. We love it with my Simple bloomer loaf

To easily serve 4-6 people you will need:

1 butternut squash peeled and chopped
1 large red bell pepper
2 medium onions roughly chopped
1 veg stock cube
1/2 -1 tsp  cayenne pepper
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp garlic granules
2 tsp onion salt

• Preheat your oven to 200c fan
• Place all the chopped veg onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and roast for 25-30 minutes or until the veg just begins to soften and char all over
• Place the roasted veg into a pan, with a drizzle of olive oil, cook for a couple of minutes so the veg softens further.
• Add in all the spices and stock cube, stir together, then pour in enough freshly boiled water to cover the veg and leave to simmer till all the veg begins to mush
• Use a hand blender to blend everything together till it's nice and smooth 
• Leave to simmer on a low heat unti, its at your preffered consistency 

Masar daal

I have always from being little, absolutely loved daal -lentil curry. I was the child in the family that would eat all her veg & wouldn't complain if there wasn't any chicken or meat for dinner.

Thankfully I still love it just as much now as an adult, although my husband and I always debate what is a better accompaniment..  Are you team rice or chappati ? I love my rice with daal but to be fair whenever I do cook daal i will alternate between rice and chappatis. This time round it was the turn for rice.

I made my husband's favourite daal which is masar daal - brown lentils. 

So for my masar daal to serve 4-6 people you will need 

500g brown lentils
Knob of butter - leave this out if you're wanting it for a vegan diet
1 medium onion chopped
2 frozen cubes garlic/ 5 fresh cloves crushed
2 frozen cubes of ginger/ thumb size peice crushed
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 green chillies chopped
1 tsp hot curry powder
2 tsp cumin seeds 
1 bay leaf
Fresh coriander chopped to garnish. 

• Start by giving the lentils a quick rinse and leave them to soak whilst you cook the masala.
• On a hight heat add a little olive oil to your pan with the knob of butter. Add in the chopped onion. You want the onion to brown and crisp up but watch they don't burn as the heat is high
• Once they have turned a nice dark brown, add a splash of water to soften them. Lower the heat to medium, add in the salt , garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook through for a couple of minutes so the ginger and garlic brown and the chillies soften.
• Add in the bay leaf, cumin seeds and curry powder, stir through and add in all the lentills
• Pour enough water over the lentils to cover them. And leave to simmer on a medium heat for 45 minutes. Stir them intermittently to stop them catching or burning,  and top up the water if need be.
• After 45 minutes the lentils should be fully cooked and the daal should be the perfect consistency 
• If you prefer a drier consistency, leave it to simmer a little further - I make my daal slightly drier if im serving it with chappatis .. Garnish with coriander just before serving

chick pea & potato curry

A delicious vegetarian & vegan curry that is so simple to make but is still full of flavour.

You can serve this with naan, chappatis or even simple boiled rice 

2 tsp mustard seeds

2 tsp cumin seeds

3-4 curry leaves

3 medium onions chopped

2tbsp garlic puree/4 cloves crushed

2tbsp ginger puree/3 inch peice crushed

1 1/2 tsp salt 

3 green chillies 

1 tsp hot curry powder 

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 x tin chopped tomatoes 

3 x tin chickpeas -water drained

3-4 medium potatoes chopped into chunks par boiled
Fresh coriander chopped for garnishing

• Start by heating a little oil in a large pan on a meduim heat. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds & curry leaves. Cook the spices together until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
• Add in the ginger, garlic and chopped onions. Cook the onions until they are completley soft, and lightly golden. If the mixture begins to catch, add a splash of water.
• Add in the green chillies and salt, continue to cook on a 9medium heat until the chillies begin to soften 
• Stir in the tomato puree, curry powder and chopped tomatoes. Lower the heat, stirring occasionally until the oil begins to separate from the curry masala and the tomatoes begin to mush a little. You can speed this up slightly by mashing evverthing together with a potato masher.
• Turn the heat up a little, add in the chickpeas stirring intermittently.
•  Cook until the chick peas slightly darken in colour & the masala sticks to the chickpeas. The oil should start to separate and appear more visble, any moisture in the pan should have completely evaporated and you should be left with quite a dry mixture.
• Carefully add in the par boiled potaotes and again stir intermittently until the potatoes are completely cooked through.
• Pour in 150-200ml of water and leave to simmer on a low heat for a couple of minutes until the curry has thicked up a little. If you prefer it to be the consistency of a bhuna & slighty hotter, add just a splash of water to loosen and do not simmer
• Garnish with coriander just before serving

Chicken tonight

For a quick but taste bud satisfying mid week meal, this chow mein is a winner. It's slighty sweet, with a hint of spice and a delicious crunch of the mixed vegetables and a hit of protein with the chicken.


The best thing about this is you can swap the veg elements around, for example I've often added in some sugar snap peas, sliced tenderstem broccoli or even baby corn on the cob. If your a vegetarian or vegan, just bulk up on the veg


This will serve 4-6 people easily, you'll need the following

1kg chicken thighs - off the bone sliced up
4 tbsp runny honey
4 tbsp wholegrain mustard
4 cloves garlic crushed
2cm peice ginger crushed
4 tbsps soy sauce
3 tbsp siracha sauce
2 meduim onions sliced
800g cooked egg noodles
600g mixed stir fry vegetables
50g salted peanuts roughly chopped
Lime wedges to serve

• Put the chicken in a bowl along with the honey, mustard, soy sauce, siracha sauce, garlic, ginger and salt. Set aside to marinate.
• Place a non stick pan on to a high heat, add a little oil, and when its fairly hot add in the onions.
• When they are golden brown and crisp, add in the chicken with all the marinade and cook through fully through
• When the chicken is fully cooked, add in all your veg, lower the heat slightly and cook for about 5-8 minutes - the vegetables should still have a slight bite. 
• Add in the noodles, stir through ensuring everything is incorporated  evenly, and the noodles have heated through.
• Take off the heat, sprinkle the peanuts and serve - serve with prawn crackers and sweet chilli sauce along with the lime wedges

Aubergine Guvec

This recipe was a bit of a 'throw together and hope it tastes alright' kind of dish, since i had some aubergines chopped and frozen and didn't want to do a traditional Asian vegetable curry.

So i thought of some Turkish dishes that I've tried in a couple of restaurants and came up with aubergine guvec which is basically roasted aubergines and bell peppers in a harrisa based sauce, with chickpeas for texture and to make it go that little bit further.

This is perfect to eat on its own as a light snack or light lunch or for dinner as we did with rice or cous cous.

For my aubergine guvec to serve 4-5 people you will need

3 large aubergines cut into chunks
2 bell peppers cut into chunks
2 mediuim onions diced
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
3-4 tbsp harissa paste
1 x tin of chopped tomato
1 x tin chick peas drained
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp smoked paprika
Squeeze lemon juice
Fresh coriander to garnish

• Start by preheating your oven to 180c (fan) and place the aubergine and bell papers on a baking tray and bake until they are cooked and beginning to go crispy and golden. Remove from the oven once cooked and set aside
• Lightly fry off the onions in a little olive oil till soft and they start to go l golden brown. Add in the salt, garlic and ginger paste, stir through till the garlic and ginger paste begin to take on a golden colour and the onions are slightly darker in colour.
• Add in the curry powder, with a splash of water and stir the curry powder through and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes, then add the tomatoes and the harissa paste, smoked paprika and the cayenne pepper. Pour in about 100ml of water and then add the chickpeas straight in.
•Leave the chickpeas to simmer on a low heat for about 10-12 minutes or until they have softened slightly but take care not to let them start to disintegrate.
• Once the chickpeas have softened, add in the aubergines and bell peppers and carefully stir through- I used a metal fish slice as this helped to stop the aubergines and peppers keep their shape and to not turn into a mashed consistency.
• At this point the dish should be quite dry and most of the water should have completely reduced, and is ready to serve. You can leave it dry as it is or add a splash of water to loosen the consistency a little.
• Just before serving, garnish with a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh chopped coriander. Serve with rice, cous cous or pitta bread.