Making parsley pesto is one of my favourite ways to use up a spare bunch of parsley. I find the flavour of this parsley pesto is a little more mellow and earthy than traditional pesto made from basil and pine nuts. I use it in exactly the same way though.

This is an easy mid-week meal. Let’s be honest, you can’t go wrong with sausages and pasta in tasty tomato sauce can you! Parmesan and parsley finish off this dish nicely and the whole thing can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes. This sausage and pepper pasta dish is so easy and delicious!

I have been making this chicken pesto mozzarella and pasta dish for about 20 years. It was something I learnt form a friend at uni and it has stood the test of time. Even though my repertoire in the kitchen has expanded dramatically since then, I still make it today!

This is one of my favourite ways to eat chicken breast, it’s quick, easy and is so filling and comforting. It goes so well with pesto pasta, which let’s be honest, is amazing on its own already!

This is one of those recipes that I feel can be eaten for pretty much any meal, breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner! This chorizo, pepper, potato hash is easy to make and also super versatile in that you can swap in and out different vegetables, or just leave them out if you don’t fancy them.

This gnocchi bake with chorizo, peppers and mozzarella makes a nice mid-week meal. Great when you fancy a change from a normal pasta bake. You’ll find this the perfect Autumn/Winter comfort food.

This is possibly one of the simplest side dishes for Asian food I know. It’s particularly good if you have spicy or oily food and you want a side that is going to lighten and freshen everything up. It’s also great with sushi.

This is a simple chicken stew which I adapted from Nigella’s book Nigellissima. I often eat it with orzo, and sometimes make a little extra orzo and will then mix this in to the leftover stew. I’ll then pack it up to bring to work the next day for lunch where it just needs heating. Overnight the orzo soaks up a lot of the liquid in the stew and its just so plump and satisfying to eat the next day.

Even though we are approaching winter, I still enjoy a salad and this is a lovely hearty winter-warming one. This cavolo nero, sweet potato and fennel salad with red cabbage and a tahini dressing is an unusual combination but it all just works. Hope you give it a go.

This is one of my favourite mid-week dinners as it is so easy and quick to make yet so tasty! In fact I am pretty confident in saying it is probably the pasta dish I have made most frequently ever!

This is a great vegetarian salad that is substantial enough for dinner. Roasting the vegetables and serving it still warm really makes it feel more hearty too. The combination of cauliflower, sweet potatoes fennel and feta is wonderful and the hazelnuts are the perfect finisher. Great for a mid-week dinner and one you can easily change to your tastes and based on what you have in the fridge!

I must admit, the rice is actually my favourite part of this cod and tomato rice dish, it’s so full of yummy things that I thought would go well with the fish. In the end it turned out so well that I actually sometimes just make the rice to eat on its own! Still, the cod just finishes this dish off perfectly.

This recipe uses mainly store cupboard ingredients and fresh spinach can be substituted for frozen so it’s one of those meals that’s a really good standby when the fridge is looking bare.

This is a Korean dish of rice cakes fried in oil with spring onions, lots of Korean chilli paste (gochujang) and chilli powder (gochujaru). I’ve not come across this version in the UK but had it in Seoul in 2019 and make it my mission to learn how to make it on my return home, it’s so moorish and just satisfying!

This is such a great combo and well balanced meal that is comforting and satisfying. I often make it mid-week as it’s easy and just full of my favourite flavours that go so well together. Beautiful salmon, creamy leeks and roasted potatoes, what more do you need.

The great thing about this sushi salmon bowl is that it’s easy to prepare.  I had thought about making sushi but to be honest, I find the end result in terms of flavour is the same and this is way faster, easier and dare I say, looks better, than my home made sushi. I fully respect that making sushi well takes some serious skill, skills which I have not quite honed yet! 

In this dish I have used salmon and salmon roe (ikura) which I have seasoned to add extra flavour.

This is sort of a soup, sort of a stew, not a million miles away from my chicken and white bean stew recipe. It is wonderful and hearty from the beans, sausage and the veg, but the broth is relatively light and the tomatoes provide a nice tang along with a hint of lemon and fennel.

Aubergine is one of my favourite vegetables to cook, especially in Chinese dishes, I think I first came across fish flavoured aubergine (yu xiang qiezi) when I lived in Kunming, Yunnan province after uni and this dish has a similar profile, removing the minced pork but keeping the garlic, ginger and chilli. I decided to add tofu to this dish to make it into a more substantial main course, it goes well with just some simple plain rice.

This pasta dish with kale, lemon, trout roe and parsley is a quick and easy mid-week meal, but also the addition of the trout roe makes it seem fancier than it is. You could substitute the roe with anchovies which you can cook along with the garlic and kale if preferred.

Another great vegetarian meal that is suitable any time of the year and is filling enough to be a main meal without any addition. Particularly with the tangy lemony yoghurt dressing, this salad hits so many notes. I love the toasted nuts, and using lots of fresh herbs. It’s not the most cost effective of salads for that reason but there again there is no meat or fish, so swings and roundabouts I guess.

This salad is both light a fresh from the fennel, apple, greens and the zing of the lemon but at same time the smoked mackerel packs a punch of flavour making the salad feel meaty and substantial. I love this in the summer for dinner.