Tray baked fish with salsa verde and boiled potatoes

This is another Jamie Oliver winner. I’m new to Jamie’s cookbooks so pardon my enthusiasm. Don’t know why I left it so late in the game. They’re fantastic. This one is from his 30 minute dinners.

The reality is, you don’t actually need a recipe for this as it’s a case of throw it all in a baking dish and sticking it in the oven which I, and I’m sure you, have been doing for years. However, this tasted really different and I can only attribute it to the use of anchovy oil.

You will need

4 salmon fillets

A bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off.

1 lemon, quartered

4 garlic cloves, crushed with skins on

1 tin of anchovies

Small bunch, of basil, leaves pulled off stalks

3 – 4 tomatoes, roughly chopped

Olive oil

For the salsa verde

Small bunches of mint and flat leaf parsley, leaves off stalks.

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 heaped tsp capers

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 cornichon

1 garlic clove, crushed

4 anchovies from above tin

Olive oil

Potatoes of your choice,

Step 1:

Cover potatoes with boiled water and add the mint stalks to the water.

Bring to boil then simmer until cooked.

Step 2:

· Place the salmon, skin-side up, in the baking dish.

S Scatter the asparagus over and around salmon

· Place lemon, cut side up, and garlic in the dish

· Pour the oil from the anchovy tin over all ingredients

· Tear four of the anchovy fillets and scatter over the baking dish

· Scatter the basil leaves over

· Add the chopped tomatoes

· Drizzle with olive oil.

· Bake in a moderate over for 15 minutes or until fish is cooked to your liking.

Step 3:

While the fish is cooking, combine the herbs, mustard, vinegar, capers, garlic, cornichon anchovies and six tablespoons of olive oil in a food processor and pulse until combined.

Put a bit of everything on a plate.

My kids don’t tend to like salmon (!@#$%) but they ate it. They even liked the salsa verde. I LOVED it and will be cooking it the next time someone comes over for dinner. Mark is having his later so no verdict from him. My enthusiasm may be premature.

Herby lentils with lamb

We are currently living in a small flat with a tiny kitchen and very little cupboard space, which means buying in bulk is impossible. As a consequence I have become a master of meal planning. It is decidedly unspontaneous, but it means we don’t waste food OR fridge and cupboard space . In addition, all of my cook books are still in storage so apps have become my new bookshelf. The Jamie Oliver 20 minute dinner app is a real winner. One week we ate five Jamie Oliver dinners. Needless to say, they take more than 20 mins, but the inspiration is fantastic.

Zach refused to eat the lentils the first few times I made this, which was very annoying because he eats lentil soup (will post this another day). Then a few weeks ago we went to Lemonia for dinner and while the kids refused to eat the yemista I ordered for them, they both lapped up Chloe’s side of lentils. Hmph, I thought.

So I decided to try again and I made this last week, Zach once again refused to eat the lentils. However, I insisted he at least try and finish one mouthful or he wouldn't be allowed to play with the iPad after dinner. Yes, bribes are the order of the day/hour/minute. Well, his eyes opened in surprise and he proceeded to demolish his dinner in record time and was very proud of his ‘wow plate’. He then announced this was his favourite dinner and could I please cook it again tomorrow. Zachie, Zachie so contrary.

You will need

Lentils of your choice, boiled until cooked but firm to bite. I like puy, but green are fine too. (NB: As part of the 20min dinner thing, Jamie uses tinned green lentils).

1 garlic clove, crushed.

Creme fraiche. A couple of tablespoons

Zest of a lemon.

1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced.

An assortment of herbs: flat leaf parsley, basil, mint, coriander etc, leaves pulled off and roughly chopped.

Baby English spinach

Lamb cut of your choice. I use French-trimmed cutlets for the kids as they’re easy to pick up. Back straps are always good as are lamb chops. If you want to make this for a bigger group a butterfied leg of lamb on the BBQ or a deboned and rolled shoulder would be delicious.

Assuming everything is prepped as per the ingredients list, it will take you about ten minutes to prepare.

I would season and cook the lamb first. I rub oil and salt into the cutlets and then pan fry or griddle on a really hot pan for a few minutes one each size. I like the kids to have them medium rare as they’re much more tender that way and it’s really only been the past six months that Zach has eaten red meat with gusto, having found it hard to chew previously.

Once it’s cooked to your liking, set it aside to rest and then get on with assembling the lentils.

Heat some olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and when its on the cusp of turning golden throw in the cooked lentils. Stir them around until the lentils have warmed up and then stir through the creme fraiche and lemon zest. At this point I tend to take out lentils for each of the kids, then add the chilli and herbs to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the kids I’ll plate the lentils with the lamb and add some cherry tomatoes and steamed broccoli and beans for colour.

For us, I’ll stir some spinach through the lentils and serve as above

Steamed chicken with hot and sour dressing

This Kylie Kwong recipe was in an old issue of BBC Good Food. We must have it at least once a fortnight. I love the flavours , colours and textures on offer and what makes it even better is that it’s health and goodness on a plate. The prep can be a bit tedious (which may give you an indication of how lazy I am), but it can all be done in advance.

You will need:

400g chicken-thigh fillet

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ bunch coriander, sprigs picked

Dressing:

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander stem

1 green onion, finely sliced

5 cm piece ginger, julienned

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 ling red chilli, finely sliced

2 ½ tbspn soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1tsp cane or brown sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp peanut oil

Make the dressing first by combining all of the ingredients except the peanut oil. Heat the peanut oil until smoking then carefully pour it over the dressing to release the flavours. Stir to combine then set aside.

Place the chicken in a single layer bamboo steamer, cover and steam for 13-15 mins, until chicken is cooked through.

Kylie says:

When the chicken is cooked through, cut diagonally into 1 cm slices, arrange chicken on a platter and spoon over the dressing. Drizzle with olive oil and top with coriander.

I say:

Line a platter with brown rice, cut the chicken diagonally into 1cm slices and arrange it over the rice. Spoon the over the dressing. Then sprinkle julienned carrots, (deseeded) cucumber and quartered cherry tomatoes over the chicken. Drizzle with olive and top with coriander.

NB: If your steamer fits atop a saucepan, I’d recommend boiling some brown rice and putting the steamer on top for the final 15 mins, but pierce the baking paper a couple of times. It is a less traditional steam, but the chicken juices flavour the rice in a stock-like way that is truly delicious.

My kids aren’t really up for the potent dressing, so for them I simply dress the steamed chicken with soy sauce and serve it with the rice and vegetables. They really enjoy it which makes me very happy.

Pork meatballs with tagliatelle

This is one of MY favourite dinners. It is so simple and the ingredients are minimal but it is DELICIOUS. I often serve it when we have friends and their children over for dinner and accompany it with an argula, pear and and parmesan salad. The adults are always amazed by how flavoursome such few ingredients are.

2 slices of bread

¼ cup of milk

500g pork mince

The finely grated zest of a lemon

Small onion, very finely sliced or diced.

Garlic clove, crushed.

Jar of passata

Salt, pepper, sugar

Small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

Place the bread in a shallow dish, pour over the milk and leave it until the bread has soaked up all the milk. Then add the mince and lemon zest to the bread. Use your hands to combine it all.

Once combined, make teaspoon sized meatballs.

Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan and brown the meatballs. Removed from pan.

In the same pan, heat some more oil (add a knob of butter to the pan if you wish. I like to) over low-med heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until soft and translucent. The add the jar of passata and allow to bubble up. Season to taste. Stir the parsley through then return the meatballs to the pan. Cook for about 10 – 15 mins, until the meatballs are cooked through and the sauce has taken that wonderfully thick consistency that coats a spoon.

Serve with the pasta of your choice. I’m rather partial to linguine.

My two eat this with gusto. It also freezes well.

Donna Hay’s chicken maracas

The recipe for this is in storage, but the general principle is to mould the meatball of your choice around a paddlepop/lolly stick to form a maraca. It’s such a clever idea. Makes them very easy for the kids to pick up and eat. I will be making a lamb version this Friday for a road trip, so will add some mint to the recipe below.

500g of mince

Small onion, finely diced or grated

Mushrooms, finely diced

1 zucchini, grated

1 carrot, grated

A small tin of creamed corn

1 egg

Breadcrumbs

Combine all of the ingredients except for the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Add breadcrumbs until the texture of the mixture takes a form that will hold to the stick.

Mould to whatever size takes your fancy, then pan fry them.Or grill. Or roast. You choose.