These little pasties are really moreish and pretty simple to make, albeit there’s a few different elements to prepare. Given that, I have no compunction about using ready made puff pastry, though if you’re prepared to make your own, these could be even nicer I imagine! When I’m making these, I do extra black beans…
Category: Spicy Stuff
Harissa-spiced Aubergine, Pepper and Potato Stew
Son number two asked me last night to make a vegetarian dinner, forgetting entirely that my attempt at introducing Meat-Free Mondays a few months back had met with almost violent protest from both boys. Having checked the contents of the fridge and the veg drawer, I was grateful for his request, as I found peppers,…
Chicken, Spinach and Chickpea Curry
I’ve been having a bit of a spinach-fest recently. It’s going in everything from omelettes to pasta sauces to casseroles and now in this Thai-inspired curry. As someone with a tendency towards anaemia and who doesn’t eat a huge amount of red meat, the spinach here provides a good boost of iron, but the chickpeas…
Chilli-Beef Macaroni Cheese
This dish combines two great comfort food favourites of mine – chilli beef and macaroni cheese. It’s one of my kids’ top meals too and a great one to make if they have friends over and they want something filling. I’ve given a recipe for the chilli, but if you already have your own failsafe…
A ‘Weekend Special’ Prawn Laksa
I’ve never made a Laksa before, but had read numerous recipes and posts where the author claimed it was one of their very favourite dishes, so it had been on my ‘to do’ list for a while. The list of ingredients is fairly hefty, lets be honest, so this isn’t something I’m likely to whip…
Slow-Cooked Spiced Pork Pibil
No-one in my house will now eat processed meats. Sounds fair enough, but in fact it’s a pain when it comes to making packed lunches. No more easy peasy slices of ham or roast beef, oh no, it has to be ‘proper’ cooked meat. What this means is that every weekend, I have to roast…
A Green Shakshuka (of Sorts)
This is a great catch-all dish – perfect for using up leftovers or veg that’s on its last legs and just FULL of goodness. Really filling too thanks to the potatoes and eggs – it really does have everything. I was inspired by a recipe I spotted in the Good Housekeeping magazine I browsed through…
Spiced Salmon Tacos with Avocado Cream
For my Mexican Bistro Night at the end of June, I wanted a second main course that would be light, tasty, fresh and would appeal to non-meat eaters (who eat fish though). This fits the bill perfectly and I suspect there may be many who wish they’d chosen this option rather than the beef (even…
Slow-Cooker Smoky Chilli Beef
This was my second attempt at a slow-cooked chilli beef to add to my Mexican Bistro Night menu. The first one worked well and you can find in on here, but this is a smokier version, made with brisket that just pulls apart and shreds into sumptious, softly spiced, melt in the mouth meat and…
Slow-Cooker ‘Real’ Beef Chilli
If you have a slow-cooker, it’s perfect for this chilli beef dish made with steak pieces rather than mince. The slow cooking means you can get the most out of an inexpensive cut of meat and enjoy chunks of smokey beef with beans and a chilli-infused rich sauce. If your slow cooker has a delay…
Rustic Hummus
What makes this hummus special is the spicy, toasted topping that adds both texture and another layer of flavour. Plus it looks great! Purists will tell you the chickpeas need to be dried rather than tinned and ideally, I’d agree, but on this occasion, I didn’t have the time to soak them overnight, so a…
Chicken, chorizo and black bean enchiladas
Serves 3-4 | 50 mins including cooking I found a pack of tortillas in the cupboard that needed used up, youngest son wanted enchiladas for his birthday eve dinner and this is what I pulled together with the ingredients in my fridge and storecupboard to keep him happy. We served this with some soured cream,…
cookachew.com 