Chicken tabbouleh

A light, summery bulgur wheat dish

Perfect for a healthy lunch (can prepare the night before and eat cold the next day) or for a light dinner.

My version is not spicy as I am not a big fan of spicy food but feel free to cook the chicken with spices. Since the onion is raw, prepare for strong flavours but they work so well together and this dish tastes deliciously fresh and nutritious!

This will be perfect at barbecues or picnics in the summer time but it's okay to start a little early!

Serves 2

- 2 chicken breasts, chopped
- olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- paprika
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cucumber, chopped
- 100g bulgar wheat
- lemon juice
- fresh mint, torn (I didn't have any but I would recommend)
- fresh parsley, chopped

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees, then in a small roasting tin, brush the chicken with olive oil, and coat in the garlic and as much paprika as you would like, as season. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes.

2. Place the chopped onion, tomatoes and cucumber into a large bowl and set aside.
3. Prepare the bulgar wheat according to packet instructions (Cook in a pan of boiling water - enough to be fully absorbed - keep adding more until soft to bite).
4. Mix the cooked bulgar wheat into the large bowl with the other ingredients and stir until combined.
5. When the chicken is cooked, stir into the bulgar wheat mixture than squeeze fresh lemon juice on top and mix in the parsley and mint, leaving some to garnish.
6. Either eat straight away as a warm dish or leave to cool for later or the next day!

Enjoy :)

Sun-dried tomato stuffed pepper

A delicious meat-free dish, perfect as a starter or for a healthier mid-week dinner

Serves 1 as a main, or 2 as a starter
- 1 large red pepper
- 60g cous cous
- 2 tsp red pesto (I used a Napolina tomato & garlic one)
- salt & pepper
- dried mixed herbs
- sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- soft goats cheese, crumbled
- 1/2 slice of bread, crumbled
- parsley to garnish

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Cut the red pepper in half and de-pip it. In a baking tray, brush the pepper inside and out with oil from the jar of sun-dried tomatoes (or olive oil). Place in the oven for 10 minutes to soften.
3. Prepare the cous cous according to packet instructions (add boiling water to a bowl of dried cous cous and cover for 5 minutes until soft to the bite and fluffy).
4. Stir the pesto into the cooked cous cous, season with salt & pepper and dried herbs, and stir in as many sun dried tomatoes and as much goats cheese as you wish.

5. Remove the peppers from the oven (they should be softer and have a bit of colour), and stuff each half with the cous cous mixture.

6. Sprinkle with the chunky breadcrumbs then bake in the oven for another 15-20 minutes, or when the pepper is cooked and the breadcrumbs crisp. Garnish with parsley and serve!

Enjoy :)

Spaghetti with tuna & parsley

 This is the perfect pasta dish to make mid-week when you fancy something a bit comforting, a bit special, but quick and easy. It uses ingredients you will most likely already have which is a bonus (who doesn't always have a tin of tuna in the cupboard?)

 It would also make a super quick Valentine's meal, if you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen but want to make something special for a fellow pasta lover.

(I made this just for myself but will double the quantities below to serve two)

Serves 2 

- 200g spaghetti

- 25g butter

- 2 garlic cloves, crushed

- 1 large onion, finely chopped

- 1 tin of tuna, in oil

- 50-100ml creme fraiche

- handful of fresh parsley, chopped

- parmesan, to grate on top

1. Cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions in salted, boiling water (around 10 minutes).

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan and fry the garlic for a couple of minutes.

3. Then add the onion and cook until softened. 

4. Drain some of the oil away from the tin of tuna and pour the rest of the tuna oil into the pan with the onion and garlic. Tip the tuna into a separate bowl and mash with a fork, then add to the pan and stir.

5. Mix the crème fraiche and parsley into the tuna mixture and heat through.

4. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the tuna mixture, stirring until combined.

5. Serve and top with a generous grating of parmesan!

 Enjoy :)

Rosemary, wholegrain mustard & garlic lamb steaks

A perfect, quick mid-week meal - very tender and full of flavour!

 The best part for me was having leftovers and making a lamb steak sandwich the next day...

Serves 2
- olive oil
- 4 lamb steaks
- 2 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- sprig of fresh rosemary
- 1 red onion, quartered

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees and drizzle some olive oil in a small roasting tin. Place in the oven to heat up whilst you prepare the lamb.
2. Coat the lamb steaks in the wholegrain mustard. Feel free to cut the fat off the lamb if you prefer - I kept it on for extra flavour and some of it crisped up which tasted great, but you can just cut off the fatty parts when eating.

3. Remove the tin from the oven and place the lamb steaks in the hot oil. Spread the crushed garlic on top of the lamb and sprinkle with plenty of fresh rosemary, tearing with your fingers. Place the quartered onion around the lamb steaks and drizzle with some extra olive oil.

4. Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or longer, depending on how you like your lamb.

Enjoy :)

Pork Spaghetti Bolognese

A twist on the classic beef bolognese!

Serves 4

- 500g lean pork mince

- 1 large red onion, chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

- 4 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped

- 400g spaghetti

- 400g tin chopped tomatoes

- mixed dried herbs

- salt & pepper

- balsamic vinegar

- cheddar or parmesan cheese, to garnish

1. In a large saucepan, brown the pork mince in olive oil. Then add the onion, garlic and bacon. Stir and cook for 5-10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in salted, boiling water for about 10 minutes, or according to packet instructions.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes, herbs, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar to the mince mixture and mix together thoroughly, bringing to the boil then simmering for a further 10 minutes.

4. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain, and dish up.

5. Top with the mince and sprinkle with some grated cheese!

Enjoy :)

Soda bread

Perfect served hot from the oven, smothered in butter with a bowl of soup for a pick me up on a cold day!

I bought some cream of tomato soup for lunch and wanted to make some bread to go with it, but needed a quick, easy recipe so I thought soda bread would be perfect. Soda bread uses buttermilk (or milk and lemon) and bicarbonate of soda as a raising agent, rather than yeast, so it is really simple and quick to make but has great flavour from the cheese and herbs in this recipe. 

It is quite a dense bread so is great with something runny like soup. I used my lovely mum's recipe - she always makes it and it is delicious so I wanted to give it a try. The original recipe uses half wholemeal and half plain flour but I didn't have any wholemeal so used all plain (to my mum's dismay) and it worked just as well so it is up to you what you choose to use!

I am ashamed to say that my boyfriend and I ate both the loaves I made in one sitting (it's better hot from the oven anyway...) but realistically this recipe will serve 4 as the original recipe says to divide into 4 balls of dough to bake. It's up to you if you want to separate it into just two like we did, or one big one - although remember that the bigger it is, the longer it will take to cook in the middle so cooking times may vary.

Serves 2-4

- 225g wholemeal flour

- 225g plain flour

- 1 tsp salt

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

- 50g butter

- 2 tsp dried mixed herbs

- 75g cheddar cheese, grated

- 250-300 ml milk

- 2 tsp lemon juice

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, and grease and flour a baking tray.

2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and soda.

3. Stir in the butter, herbs and grated cheese.

4. In a separate jug, mix together the milk and the lemon juice, then pour enough into the bowl to make a soft dough. (The original recipe said 300ml of milk and I found this too much and had to add a lot more flour to get it to the right consistency, so add less milk first as you can always add more!)

5. Knead lightly in the bowl until the correct consistency then break into 4 or 2 equal pieces and round into a ball shape.

6. Place on the baking tray and flatten the tops slightly, and cut two parallel slashes in the top of each.

7. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, then slice and serve hot with lots of butter! (Which has to be lurpak...)

Enjoy :)

Crispy duck stir fry

 Since it is Chinese New Year on Friday, I thought it was only fitting that I treat myself to some duck, and thankfully, the supermarkets agreed. In Sainsbury's the crispy aromatic duck is half price at £5 so I bought it and decided that instead of sitting there by myself and scoffing duck pancakes, I would make a delicious stir fry that I could share with you all!

It was super yummy - I love duck because it's so tender and full of strong flavour, and you can make it really crispy. Don't worry if you don't have a whole or half a crispy duck to cook, you can buy duck breasts and cook them like you would chicken and this stir fry would be just as good. If you haven't tried duck before, I really recommend it - I have only enjoyed it in recent years since my mum unfortunately got really bad food poisoning from duck once (not to put you off) and so we never had it in the house so I never got to try it. But now I love it and will always choose it in restaurants if the opportunity is there. As a student, duck is an expensive meat and a luxury but I thought it was time to treat myself! (Make sure you buy some prawn crackers too)

This recipe made a portion for my dinner and two others which I have frozen - all were quite big portions so I will say this serves 3 but it could stretch to feed 4, or if you have an even bigger appetite than me or are eating with a man then perhaps it would serve 2, but there was a lot of duck!

Serves 3

- half a crispy aromatic duck (or any duck equivalent)

- olive oil

- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

- bunch of spring onions, chopped

- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced lengthways

- 1 red pepper, sliced

- 300g beansprouts (or as many as you desire)

- pack of fresh egg noodles (410g)

- sachet of hoisin sauce

- splash of soy sauce

1. Start by cooking the duck - if you have the crispy duck like me then you will need to oven cook this for about 40 minutes on 180 degrees, until crispy. If you have different duck meat then follow packet instructions or if duck breast then slice and fry until browned.

2. Once the duck meat is cooked, set aside, or if you used crispy duck then you will need to shred it and then set aside (and try not to eat all the crispy skin before you even start cooking the stir fry).

3. In a wok, or large saucepan, heat a generous amount of oil, then fry the garlic, most of the spring onions (leaving a few raw to garnish) and carrot for a few minutes. Then add the red pepper and beansprouts and cook until softened.

4. Next, add the duck meat and cook for a few more minutes to heat through. Then stir in the egg noodles and the hoisin and soy sauce. I used the hoisin sauce sachet that came with the duck - but you can buy it in sachets or in bottles at the supermarket and can use as much or as little as you like, but don't forget that it has quite a strong flavour and the egg noodles and duck are quite moist without a lot of sauce.

5. Serve immediately and sprinkle the remaining chopped spring onion on top!

Enjoy :)

Chicken, chorizo & potato bake

This is a new mid-week favourite of mine - super delicious, quick and easy but different to anything else I usually have. Definitely one for you all to try as it has tons of strong flavours and the crisp texture from the roasted potatoes compliments the soft chicken and chewy chorizo perfectly. The best part is, everything cooks together in one roasting tin!

Serves 2 

- 250g new potatoes
- olive oil
- 4 chicken thigh fillets (skinless & boneless)
- 1 tsp paprika 
- sprinkle of ground cinnamon
- sprinkle of dried thyme or mixed herbs
- dried chorizo sausage, sliced
- 75g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 garlic clove, crushed

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
2. Halve or quarter the new potatoes and toss with plenty of olive oil in a baking tin/tray and season. Place in the oven for about 15 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
3. Cut the chicken thigh fillets in half and place them in a bowl. Add the paprika, cinnamon and herbs and stir until the chicken is coated.
4. Take the potatoes out of the oven and place the chicken in the tray around them. Scatter the chorizo,  tomatoes and fresh garlic around the chicken and potatoes as well and place in the oven after seasoning and sprinkling with some more herbs.

5. Cook in the oven for a further 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes crisp.

Enjoy :)

3 simple pasta dishes

Spaghetti bolognese, carbonara, macaroni cheese, and even pasta and pesto can get boring (can't believe I just said that!) so I have come up with 3 really easy pasta meals that taste delicious. They may not be the lowest in fat but they are still fairly nutritious with chicken or tuna, and a variety of different veg. Give them a try - they will not disappoint!

1. Chicken and bacon pasta with garlic and herb cream cheese

This is so delicious, I had this tonight and the flavour is amazing from the smoked bacon and garlic. It was really filling as well and contains a variety of different vegetables. 

Serves 2

- olive oil

- 1 chicken breast, sliced

- 3 rashers of smoked bacon, chopped

- 175g pasta

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 clove of garlic, crushed

- handful of mushrooms, sliced

- green beans, cut in half

- 1/3 200g pack of garlic and herb Philadelphia cream cheese

- handful of fresh spinach leaves

- sprinkling of cheddar cheese

1. Fry the chicken breast in olive oil until browned, add the bacon and stir for a few minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

3. Add the garlic and onion to the bacon and chicken - cook until softened, then add the mushrooms.

4. Add the green beans to the pasta water about 5 minutes till the end of cooking time. Then drain and add to the chicken and bacon pan.

5. Stir in the garlic and herb cream cheese until all coated, and serve on a bed of fresh spinach leaves (or stir them in if you prefer them more wilted) with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese. Voila!

2. Cheesy, tuna pasta

This was a really thrown together meal when I couldn't decide what to have. I had some leftover tuna and mayo that I had in a sandwich the previous day and decided to have this with pasta. This was such a delicious meal but fairly naughty with butter and lots of cheese. Thinking about it, I should have added peas or sweetcorn, or both, to make it a bit more exciting and nutritious. I really love tuna and mushrooms together but for those of you who don't like mushrooms, you don't have to add them!

*This is an instagram photo so sorry for quality - follow me on instagram for photos of food, fashion etc. my user name is 'lottierainbow'*

Serves 1

- 100g pasta

- olive oil

- 1 clove of garlic, crushed

- handful of mushrooms, sliced

- 1/2 tin of tuna mixed with little bit of mayo

- knob of butter

- big handful of cheddar, grated

1. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil and fry the garlic and mushrooms until softened.

3. Stir in the tuna and mayo. Drain the pasta and add to the pan.

4. Stir in the butter and cheese and serve!

3. Creamy pesto pasta

The basis for this recipe came off the campbells condensed, creamy chicken soup tin! It is just a more interesting way to enjoy pesto, since it's really creamy and comforting. I decided to add peas and onion as well, and I used turkey instead of chicken.

Serves 2
- 175g pasta
- 1 chicken/turkey breast, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tin of campbells condensed cream of chicken soup
- 120ml milk
- 1/2 jar of green pesto
- peas
- cheddar cheese, grated

1. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
2. Fry the chicken and onion in some olive oil then add the soup and milk, stirring. Bring to the boil then simmer.
3. Add the peas to the pasta about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
4. Stir the pesto in with the chicken and soup mix and simmer for around 5 minutes.
5. Drain the pasta and peas and add to the sauce, stirring until all mixed together.
6. Serve with grated cheese on top!

Enjoy :)

Quick sausage casserole

This is just a really simple but good recipe I got from a student cookbook. It's a perfect student or family meal as it is fairly inexpensive, using mainly store-cupboard ingredients, and is very satisfying and warming for the upcoming colder months! This recipe made enough for 3 big portions - the first time I had it we had mash with it, and the second time I served it on a jacket potato with green veg. In the recipe it says just to used baked beans but I wanted more types of beans so instead of using cannellini as well I bought the new Heinz 'five beans' which has the normal baked bean in plus kidney, cannellini and 2 others. I definitely recommend doing this!
(Sorry for the not-so-great photo - I've started using my phone now instead)

Serves 4
- 6 sausages
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 green peppers, chopped
- tin of chopped tomatoes
- tin of Heinz five beans

1. Fry the sausages in some oil until browned, then set aside.
2. In the same pan, fry the onion and pepper until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes and bring to the boil then simmer.
3. Cut up the sausages and add back to the pan, followed by the baked beans. Stir and heat through for a few minutes.
4. Serve with anything you like - mash, wedges, jacket potato, or even rice or pasta!

Enjoy :)