not rocket science guacamole salad

i accidentally bought a bag of 20 avocados for a quid at the market at the end of the day ... so expect a rush of guacamole. here i added it to some leftover couscous, with a bit of apple for fresh crunch, which you can of course leave out if you fear fruit in salads (and yeah, yeah, i know the tomato's really a fruit). you could also add in something toasted - pine nuts or sunflower seeds - for extra protein if you were feeling like heating something.

Ingredients

• 1/2 small bowl couscous, already rehydrated with some veg stock and cooled
  
• 1/2 a ripe avocado, chopped into quite fat chunks
  
• 1/4 - 1/2 red chilli (depending on how much of a wuss you are), finely chopped
• 1/2 granny smith apple, chopped (you could use any variety, except golden delicious cos they are horrible)
  
• 1 tomato, chopped
• handful rocket, roughly chopped
• squish of lime juice
• splash balsamic
• salt, pepper
  

Method

1. place the couscous in a bowl and toss in the rest of the ingredients. This ain't rocket science.

leftova tortilla

a spanish-esque tortilla is a proper recycling way to use up the random stuff hanging round the fridge - basically all you need on top is eggs, potatoes and onions. it takes a while but it's really nice the next day for lunch ...this serves 2 with some leftover for lunch the next day, or no lunch if your other half porks it all.

Ingredients

• 6 eggs, free range naturally. i used medium, but don't stress if they are larger or smaller
• 2 onions
• 5-6 medium potatoes (use any cooked leftover ones if you want - just add them later in the process)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red chilli (optional)
• leftover veg - i had some borderline spinach but you could use anything
• salt & pepper

Method

1. Chop the onion and put in a small squat frying pan to soften in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 mins
2. If you're using raw potatoes, chop small and bung into onions
3. Add the chopped garlic and chilli, salt and pepper and fry gently for about 15 mins until the potatoes are cooked
4. Add your random veg and stir to cook
5. Beat all the egss in a large bowl
6. Once the veg is cooked, tip everything out of the frying pan into the eggs and mix well. If you're using cooked potato, add it now.
   
7. Sloop the eggy mixture back into the pan and turn the heat down very low.
8. Leave for 15-20 mins until set on the bottom. Either slide onto a plate and flip upside down back into the pan, or - much easier - put the pan under the grill to cook the top.
9. Serve in wedges.

spinach sort-of pesto = spesto? spinesto? spinachesto?

pulverise spinach, especially spinach that's looking a bit sorry for itself, with toasted seeds, lemon, oil and garlic for an irridescent sauce - here i bunged it on some egg noodles but it's also good with pasta, or simply as a dresssing for veg.

Ingredients

• 1/2 bag spinach - about 100g, plus any other nearly-dodgy salad knocking around - rocket works well
• juice of half a lemon
• handful sunflower seeds (or pine nuts or any other tasty nuts you have that need using up)
• glug of olive oil
• clove garlic
• spinkling dried chilli
  
• salt, pepper

Method

1. toast the seeds (or nuts) lightly in a frying pan. if you burn them, you'll have to chuck them out because they taste really nasty.
2. once they're toasted, bung in a food processor or liquidiser. put the olive oil in the still-warm frying pan and lightly fry the garlic - again, if it overcooks it'll be bitter so keep an eye on it. cooking the garlic takes the edge off...
3. place everything else in the processor and squish on high until it's a sauce. serve ...

tomato³ sauce

a lush tomato sauce, given depth with 3 types of tomatoes (canned, sundried and pureed) and various green flavours chucked in ... ace with pasta or spread on a pizza base. The pomegranate molasses brings out the sweetness of the tomatoes but it's probably only on sale in poncy-ish delis so you can use sugar instead. It's also a good recipe in which to hide veg that you or your recalcitrant other halves might dislike (I hid half a marrow in this one).

Ingredients

1. medium onion, chopped
2. 2 cloves garlic, chopped
3. teaspoon of capers, chopped
4. handful of green olives, chopped
5. sprinkling dried chilli
6. sprinkling of herbes de provence
   
7. can of tomatoes
   
8. large handful sundried tomatoes (6-8)
9. teaspoon tomato puree
10. any spare veg that needs eating up
    
11. pinch of sugar or glug of pomegranate molasses
12. salt & pepper to taste
    

Method

• If your sundried tomatoes are dried (rather than in oil), cover them with hot water and leave to sit for a few minutes.
• Heat a glug of olive oil over a lowish heat and fry the onions for a few mins until soft
• Turn up the heat and chuck in the garlic - stiring to prevent it burning and tasting horrible.
  
• When you can smell the garlic, add the capers, olives, chilli and dried herbs and stir for a further minute.
• Add the can of tomatoes, tomato puree, chopped sundried tomatoes and sugar or molasses. If you've soaked the sundried tomatoes, bung the tomatoey water in too.
• Add the requiring-hiding veg and stir together.
  
• Let simmer for at least 20 mins ,stirring occasionally, to go all gloopy and delicious. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Use with your favourite pasta, bung in a lasagne or spread on a pizza base.
  

cresstacular sarnie

though not big or clever enough to count as a recipe, this is more of a retro-reminder - if you haven't had a cress sarnie for years, you've probably forgotten how lush it is...

Ingredients

• Couple of slices brown bread, or any nice bread with bits in
• Large handful cress, or any other sprouts
• Lemon juice
• Dried chilli flakes, or paprika if you're a wuss

Method

1. Liberally butter your bread. With the butter I failed to mention above. bah! Or you could margarine it, but it won't be nearly as nice.
   
2. Pile one slice with cress.
3. Shake chilli or paprika evenly onto other slice.
4. Squeeze lemon over cress, squish sarnie together.

extreme green bean machine

speedy vaguely italian salad, simply dressed with lemon juice and olive oil, ideal for hoovering up leftover green salady items and excellent with sprouted funny beans :)


Ingredients

• a ripe avocado
• handful of spinach
• can cannellini beans
• large handful cress and/or alfalfa and/or any other random sprouts
• lemon juice
• olive oil
• salt, pepper
  
• few chopped jalepenos

Method

1. Chop the avocado and spinach and bung in a bowl.
2. Add the beans and cress and mix a bit.
3. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and jalepenos (if using) and toss lightly.
4. Inhale.
   

chilli sort-of satay sort-of noodles

i had some fresh wholewheat spaghetti knocking around, so i improvised some spicy noodles with other random veg and a load of chilli. this makes too much for one meal (unless you're ravenous), so you could either make it for 2 or eat half, then have half cold later on, with an extra squeeze of lemon juice to loosen the noodles.

Ingredients

• portion noodles or spaghetti
• approx 1tbsp veg oil
  
• half a red onion
• a red pepper
• clove garlic
• tsp minced ginger (don't worry if you haven't got any)
• minced chillis (i use the lazy sort from a jar - add according to taste, about 1/4 tsp)
• couple of tbsp frozen peas or any other lurking left over veg
• 1 tbsp tahini
• good sloosh soya sauce
  
• slug lemon juice
• dried chilli flakes, to serve
  

Method

1. put your spag or noodles on to cook. chop the onion and pepper, or otherwise prepare your own veg into stir-fryable bits.
2. when your noodles are about 3 mins away from being cooked, heat a slug of sunflower oil (olive oil is too strongly flavoured for this) in a pan over high heat. stirfry the onion until it colours a bit, then chuck in the garlic, chilli and ginger (if using), stir for 30 secs or so until you can really smell them.
   
3. put in your other veg, and continue to stir until they are slightly softened. they should still be crunchy, but the right side of raw.
   
4. add the tahini and soya sauce, stir to coat the veg. if it's really sticky & therefore unstirable, add a bit of water.
5. drain your noodles, add to the veg and stir to coat. add the lemon juice and maybe some crushed chillis on the top :).

Notes

If you don't have any tahini, or if like my friend Hen your head swells up if you go near sesame seeds, you can substitute peanut butter instead. crunchy, naturally. smooth is for losers. You could use lime juice instead of lemon for a more authentic thai flavour, but i didn't have any limes lying around.

technicolour gazpacho

the ultimate speedy leftover soup marvel ... i usually don't believe in soup, but this cold multicolour version is pretty damn good on an almost-sunny day.

Ingredients

You can be quite adventurous with gazpacho - make it red with tomatoes, or white with almonds, or, like i did, go with whatever's lurking fridgewise. i reckon the essentials to make it gazpacho, as opposed to just whizzed up squish, are: bread, garlic, vinegar and olive oil. For mine, i used some acidic capers and jalapenos with lemon juice instead of vinegar, and randomly bunged in some tahini for nuttiness.

• handful cherry tomatoes
• a few slices red onion (i toned down the rawness by bunging them in the microwave for a few mins)
• couple of small slices oldish bread (i would have used brown but my Carnivorous Other Half bloody snaffled it all - and he doesn't even like brown bread)
• a few glugs olive oil
• 2 sticks celery
• handful of parsley
• teaspoon capers
• teaspoon jalapenos
• 2 teaspoons tahini
• clove garlic, chopped (mmm, raw garlic)
  
• small glass water
• lemon juice to taste (a few slooshes)
  

Method

1. Bung everything in the liquidiser and turn it on. If you don't have a liquidiser, you could chop it all up and mix it together after soaking the bread in the water, but it's a bit of a faff. Looks less pukey chopped rather than totally blitzed, though, so if you want to impress someone, chopping's probably the way forward ;).
   
2. Add more water if you want a thinner consistency.
3. Add salt and pepper if you want - i try and steer clear of additional salt so i didn't bother.
4. Enjoy :).

green bhaji squishup

a simple green lunch feat. onion bhaji, sort-of guacamole and spinach, inspired by finding some cut-price bhajis in the supermarket :)

ingredients

• one squishy avocado
• couple of handfuls of fresh spinach
• an onion bhaji
• lemon juice
• paprika, smoked if you've got it
• dried crushed chillis
• 2 wholemeal pitas
  

method

1. bung the pita in the toaster and the bhaji in the microwave.
   
2. squish the avocado up with the lemon juice, paprika and chilli according to taste.
3. once the pita's toasted, carefully remove it, avoiding the boiling steam (my friend jo still has a burn from ejected pita steam from 1997), and split in half.
4. mush half the bhaji onto one side of the pita, and half the avocado onto the other. fill the middle with a handful of spinach, and squish together. repeat for the other pita.
5. squish into face. mmmmm.