All praise to Nigel Slater!

he's great isn't he? I am reading his kitchen diary book at the moment which is just so well written and makes you want to cook everything.

The simplest recipes are often the best and here's one of his that I made on Sunday for dinner and it was soooo lovely. I added the potatoes and served it with brocolli (something of a Raad obsession). It was in this months Sainsbury's magazine. Enjoy!

Serves two

Chicken with lemony leeks

4 skinless chicken thighs
1 lemon, juice and zest of
bunch of flat leaf parsley
200 ml chicken stock
100ml of white vermouth
3 small leeks
seasoning
small potatoes, halved and boiled.

Fry off chicken until sealed and golden in about 1 tbsp of olive oil - set aside.
Add leeks to pan (cut into 3 inch lengths then cut through into quarters so you have lots of long thin strips.
Cook on very low heat in oil and chicken juices, with lid on, stir every couple mins for about 10 mins until leeks are fairly soft.
Turn up heat again and put all remaining ingredients into pan with leeks. Put chicken thighs back in too. Cook for another 15 minutes with lid back on, again, stirring every couple of minutes. (drink some more vermouth on ice with lime as you do this, lovely!) add a little water if you think it needs it. Tah. dah x

Beetroot and Black Cumin soup

Soup is the thing of the moment. Easy to make, easy to eat and great to take to work. I don't know about you but with all the miserable weather around and the january going back to workness of it all, I like to have something cheery at lunchtime to look forward to and propel me through the morning! This soup in particular is fantastic for cheering as it's the most amazing colour, guaranteed to make you smile. I can't take credit for this, it's straight from the Moro cookbook. You can use normal cumin but try to source some of the black kind - it's entirely different and a really mystical taste...

1 kg raw beetroot, peeled and finely diced
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 large spanish onion
2 tsp black cumin, toasted
1.5 litres water
3tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt & pepper
chopped flatleaf parsley
natural yoghurt to serve

Heat oil in pan on medium heat. Fry onion gently until is begins to colour. Add garlic and cook for a minute or so longer.
Add beetroot, cumin, potato and water. Bring to boil and simmer until betteroot is tender (30 mins or so).
Blitz with hand blender and smile as it becomes a smooth, rich magenta soup.
Add vinegar, salt and pepper and some chopped parsley.
Heat through again.
Serve with a blob of yoghurt and a sprinkling of parsley.
Fabulous. I also made some flatbreads and rolled more cumin seeds in and served with soup for a truly middle eastern vibe.

Feeling porky....


No not a pork recipe (by the way, the only pork products I eat are hotdogs. I am one of those rare people who can't stand bacon and sausages - yuck!)

No I am refering to my slightly expanded waistline due to the season of gluttony.

So, with that in mind, here is a lovely low fat soup recipe. hearty enough for this cold weather, really tasty and soothing, but no bad things to worry about. (I actually do a great soup with hot dogs in but I'll save that for another time ;-) )

Tomato, Cumin & Lentil Soup

2 tins of toms, chopped
one red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, ditto
a tablespoon of cumin seeds
2 tablespoons of dark muscovado sugar
2 pints of stock (beef stock cubs give a nice kick)
200g red lentils

Simmer the onions in about 1/2 pint of the stock for 10 mins or so until they have softened.
Toast the cumin seeds until aromatic and either grind in pestle and mortar or in a spice grinder (our wet and dry grinder is a godsend for this sort of thing. I must use ot at least twice a week. We had one on our wedding list but no-one bought it. I think people thought it sounded like a sex toy. I digress...)
Add the cumin, chopped garlic, tomatoes, lentils, rest of the stock and the sugar.
Simmer all for 30 mins or so or until the lentils are tender.
Serve with virtuous granary toast whilst wearing an arran sweater. Enjoy!