Dressed Somen with Spinach and Egg

This dish is insanely easy to make, only requires one pot, and can be done in less than 10 minutes. Oh yeah. Great for lunch on the run or a snack, etc. Just adjust the seasoning to your personal tastes.

This recipe uses somen because I've recently become addicted to it. It appears to be a cross between udon, ramen and soba, and because it's very thin, it cooks in a few minutes.

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 x 90g serving of Hakubaku organic somen
• 1 egg
• 50g of baby spinach, washed
• Pepper
• Soya sauce
• Sesame oil
• Olive/vegetable oil
• Boiling water

1. Boil the somen for about 3 minutes. Test to ensure consistency is to your liking. Drain, rinse with hot water to remove starch and set aside.
2. Heat a little oil and scramble-fry the egg to your liking (while cooking, season it with a little soya sauce). Set aside.
3. Return the noodles to the pan with the spinach, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1/2 tbsp soya sauce and a few shakes of pepper. Turn noodles to incorporate spinach and stir for 2 minutes, or until spinach is slightly wilted.
4. Top with fried egg and serve.

Ideas:

• Swap the egg for a handful of prawns fried with a little soya sauce and sesame oil
• You can add other veggies - some sliced fried asparagus, green beans or snow peas would be ideal
• Try other sauce combinations, such as teriyaki

Minced Beef Noodles

This recipe is inspired by japchae, a Korean dish. That dish normally calls for special sweet potato noodles, but this dish uses glass noodles (also known as vermicelli or mung bean noodles).

This dish is pretty easy to prepare with a bare fridge - most of my ingredients were frozen, canned or dried. Yeah...

As with many of my other recipes, this is pretty easy and low-maintenance ('cause that's how I roll). I could happily have used more corn, green beans, and maybe some spinach and mushrooms (sadly, I had neither of the latter two ingredients). It's nice and colourful (somehow makes it look more virtuous)and savoury. Yum.

I don't specify the amount of seasonings because I tend to just throw things in and taste, then adjust as necessary.

This will make enough to serve 2 people.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag (200g) of frozen mixed vegetables - mine was a mix of carrots, cauliflower and broccoli
• 1 x 125g can of corn, drained
• 1 medium onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 150g green beans, trimmed and cut into 1.5cm lengths
• 150g dried vermicelli (glass/mung bean noodles)
• 2 cloves of crushed garlic (or 1/2 tbsp garlic paste)
• 250g of minced beef
• Sesame oil
• Sugar
• Light soya sauce
• Dark soya sauce
• White pepper
• Boiling water

1. Microwave the frozen vegetables according to packet directions, and set aside. Soak the noodles in boiling water and set aside for 5 minutes or until tender (keep checking). When ready, drain and return to bowl.
2. While this is happening, heat 1/2 tsp of sesame oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add the onion and garlic. Stir fry for 2 minutes then add the beef. Pour in a generous splash of light soya sauce, a few shakes of pepper, 1/2 tbsp of sesame oil, 1/2 tsp of sugar and about 5 drops of dark soy sauce. Stir and break up the beef until fully cooked.
3. Add the green beans and fry for a minute, then add the rest of the vegetables, some soy sauce, sesame oil and 1/4 tsp sugar. Add 5 shakes of pepper, and stir to combine. Simmer for a few minutes or until green beans are just cooked.
4. Add the drained noodles and stir to combine. Taste, and season with more soy sauce/sugar/white pepper/sesame oil as necessary.

Jump in and munch!

Sweet Potato Salad

I came up with this one day while attempting to be much healthier than I normally am. I tend to loathe salads with a passion but I find this one bearable.

It's pretty simple, low-maintenance and quite yummy.

Serves 1.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium or large sweet potato (depends on how hungry you are)
• 50g baby spinach leaves, washed and spun dry
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 20g mozzarella, cubed
• 1 tablespoon chopped dried cranberries
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• Tuscan seasoning (salt, rosemary, garlic, thyme, mixed Italian herbs) - I think it's a Masterfoods mix
• Paprika
• Cayenne pepper
• Salt
• White pepper

1. Toast the pine nuts and sesame seeds (over medium heat, no oil) until lightly golden. Set aside to cool. Pre-heat the oven to 180-200 degrees celcius.
2. Scrub the sweet potato. Quarter the potato lengthwise. Slice the quarters into 1/2 pieces. Rub or spray the potato pieces with olive oil and season with the Tuscan seasoning , cayenne pepper, salt, paprika and white pepper.
3. Line a small baking dish with aluminium foil. Place the sweet potato in it and cooked for approximately 30-35 minutes or until tender.
4. Layer the spinach leaves on a plate, followed by followed by the sweet potato, toasted nuts, cheese and cranberries.
5. Serve with a dressing made of 1 part balsamic vinegar, 3 parts olive oil.

Ideas:

• Add grilled/poached sliced chicken
• If you're a pescatarian and want more protein, add some sardines or smoked salmon
• Add herbs or lemon to the dressing
• Add 1/2 cup cooked mushrooms
• Add other vegetables, lightly steamed/boiled and refreshed in cold water (asparagus, broccoli, beans, etc)

Comfort Food

We love food...and comfort food best of all (who doesn't??). So this might be a long list:

Elle:

Lobster with cheese, cream, onion and mushroom (it's a bastardised Thermidor but oh my god Good)

Cheese (Melted on bread, with crackers and fruit or on its own - yes, I like eating cheese for breakfast)

Homemade Mac and Cheese (noticing a theme?)

Creamy Mash with lots of butter (self-explanatory, really)

Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup - if I'm feeling rundown and on the verge of illness I eat this - miracle cure!

Thick rice porridge with pickled lettuce and ba hu (pork floss) - I eat this when I'm sick and particularly as my first solid food post-food poisoning. I'll often have it when I'm missing home.

Watercress and pork meatball soup (yummy, healthy and nourishing)

Really, when it comes to comfort food, for me it has to be either rich and unhealthy or light, brothy and nutritious.

Andrea

I have to admit that when I'm stressed or sick, I often stop eating altogether instead of eating comfort food. Yes, I am an anorexic stresser. During exams periods, if I eat something I feel like I could throw it all out again (I know, TMI). But sometimes, the Boyfriend some people force me to eat, and then I get picky. So, here are my comfort foods (after reading Elle's I know this is a shame, but it's all about being honest) :

Kinder Delice (two layers of soft dark chocolate cake with a creamy kinder milk layer between, covered in chocolate).

Apple or Apple/Pear compote. In very large quantities. The Boyfriend buys me about 3kg during test weeks.

Chicken soup straight from the Tetrapack. Okay, I do put it in the microwave for 5 minutes so it's boiling hot.

Carbonara pasta. The greasiness of the cream+lards+gruyère is just magnificent when sick.

Sour candy.

And let's not forget... PASSION FRUIT SORBET STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CONTAINER.

So, that means that my anorexic stress is easily compensated by eating a combination of the most fattening things ever.

Seared Scallops and Angel Hair Pasta with Haloumi Pesto

So, I recently bought a Food Processor. Colour me extremely excited! I'd been wanting a food processor for ages, so I could try out different recipes. Also, it's just plain fun throwing a bunch of different ingredients into a bowl and blending them.

Once I got my food processor though, I suddenly started dithering about what to make in it. It couldn't just be any old thing...then inspiration struck!

PESTO. That's right. I'm not a fan of normal 'green' pesto; so I never eat it but it's always struck me as something fun to make. Also, I wanted to make a non-green pesto to have with pasta (thus allowing me to get dinner on the table in under 10 minutes, score!). This meal takes only 15 minutes to make, no joke. Perfect for those nights when you're tired and your roomie is refusing to cook and you're starving (it serves two but if they're refusing to cook, they can stay hungry - keep the leftovers for lunch). I just grabbed a bunch of things that I thought would work well in a pesto and dumped them in. The cheeses give the pesto a wonderfully complex hit of salt and tone down the sharpness of the tomatoes.

Also I'm really not kidding about the time frame. The pesto takes all of one minute to be whizzed about, the angel hair pasta 5 minutes to cook and the scallops 5 minutes max. The rest of the time i.e. the other 5+ minutes (since you are doing these things simultaneously) is spent prepping/gathering ingredients and boiling water. Yes, it is that fast. You should cook it.

Ingredients:

For the pesto:

• 75g semi or sun-dried tomatoes (and a few spoons of their oil)
• A splash of red wine
• A glug of olive oil
• 2 tbsps of balsamic vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic
• 50g of canned chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 100g of haloumi
• 30g Parmesan Reggiano
• 1 tbsp silvered almonds
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• 3-4 anchovies*

*The anchovies are optional. They add a subtle base flavour (i.e. do not taste anchovy-ish) but if they're not your thing you can omit them.

Other:

• About 250g angel hair pasta (or enough for 2 people)
• 300g scallops with or without roe attached
• 2 tsps olive oil plus a splash of it
• 2 tsps butter
• 1 tsp salt

1. Boil water. Pour it into a deep saucepan and add the salt and splash of olive oil, followed by the pasta. Cook as per packet instructions or until al dente or until it's the right 'doneness' for you. I use San Remo and find that despite the instructions saying 2 minutes, 5 minutes yields the perfect pasta.
2. While the pasta is boiling, rinse the scallops and pat them dry. Place a frying pan over medium high heat for 30 seconds. During these 30 seconds, chuck all your pesto ingredients into the food processor. Close it securely/as per your model instructions.
3. Add 1 tsp of butter and one of olive oil to the pan for 30 seconds. When they start to sizzle, add half of the scallops. Depending on their thickness, cook for 1.5-2 minutes. While this is happening, use the food processor to chop up your pesto. Then leave it and flip your scallops. Don't forget to check on your pasta - if it's done, take it off the heat & drain it, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid!
4. Cook them for another 1-1.5 minutes. While they are cooking, shake the processor slightly to dislodge any unblended ingredients and blend again. When the scallops are done, remove them and repeat with the rest.
5. Pour the drained pasta back into the saucepan and top with the pesto and reserved pasta liquid. Stir to combine. Serve on a plate with the scallops on the side.

Ideas:

• Add washed baby spinach leaves for a nutritional boost (I'm one of those people who will randomly chuck a handful of baby spinach into whatever I'm cooking)
• Try other seafood - prawns would work well
• Experiment with the pesto! Alter the quantities, change the ingredients - do what you think will taste good
• If you have more time, use other types of pasta
• I had more suggestions but sadly, I've forgotten them...

Slow-Cooker Chicken Stew

I was hungry a few nights ago and googling 'Chicken recipes' and found this:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-recipe-chicken-with-bacon-mushrooms-onions-10000000614073/

I was immediately excited, because a) bacon, b) mushrooms, and c) slow cooker food - minimal preparation and minimal monitoring. To make it even easier, I've modified the recipe to my tastes and to make it slightly healthier i.e. less bacon. Again, I use organic bacon with less salt so I have to add some to make up for it.

This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken thighs, rinsed
• 4 rashes or bacon, sliced crossways
• 3 large sticks of celery, coarsely diced
• 1 carrot, sliced
• I large onion, coarsely diced
• 200g Swiss Brown mushrooms, cut into eighths
• 1 Massel 'Chicken Style' stock cube (yeah, I use these a lot)
• 100ml white wine
• 1 tbsp mixed herbs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Long-grain rice and steamed green vegetables (I did green beans) to serve at the end
• Salt & pepper for seasoning at the end if necessary

1. Put all the ingredients plus the 1/2 tsp of salt into the slow cooker. Mix them up well. Add just enough water to the cooker so that the meat and veg is almost - but not quite - covered.
2. Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours (or on LOW for 6-7 hours). Stir once, halfway through cooking.
3. Taste before serving and add more salt or some pepper if necessary. Serve with rice and some steamed green vegetables (so you can feel slightly virtuous and also to justify midnight snacks of fried haloumi).

I haven't written down any ideas for this but I might experiment with the quantities of ingredients and with the vegetables used...I'm thinking corn, squash and parsnips or turnips. I might even try doing this on the stovetop and reducing the sauce considerably before adding some cream.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Today's post is going to be a continuation of the last post, which was a Vegetarian Dinner Menu. What I love best about this menu is that between the eggplant and the vast amount of cheese consumed, you don't really miss meat (for the duration of the meal, anyway).

If I need to use stock cubes, I like to use Massel ones as they don't contain any animal products - this makes them suitable for cooking for vegetarians (they do Vegetable, Chicken Style and Beef Style). I'll admit I'm lazy when it comes to this sort of thing - making stock to keep for later use is too much work, plus I don't have much freezer space.

This recipe is also low-fuss, so I don't bother grilling the eggplant first (it takes too long).

This serves 4 as a main.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium-sized eggplants, sliced lengthways (1 cm thick)
• 2 x 400g cans of canned chopped tomatoes
• 1 Massel 'Chicken Style' stock cube
• 1 large onion, diced'
• 2 cloves garlic, very finely diced (or 2/3 tbsp of garlic paste)
• 1.5 tbsps oregano
• 1.5 tbsps basil
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 200g Bocconcini, thinly sliced
• 100g Mozzarella, thickly grated
• 75g Parmesan, finely grated
• 50g cheddar (optional)
• Salt

1. Rinse the eggplant and shake so most of the water is gone but the pieces are still moist. Sprinkle with salt and set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and butter. When very liquid, add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add the tomatoes, oregano and basil. Stir to combine.
3. Add 1/4 cup of water and the stock cube to the saucepan and stir until dissolved. Increase the heat and stir the sauce for 5 minutes or until it is slightly reduced.
4. Rinse the eggplant and dry with paper towels. Get a large overproof dish. Spread a thin layer of the sauce over the bottom. Top with a single layer of eggplant. Cover this with some sauce and a handful of bocconcini pieces. Repeat until dish is full; sauce and bocconcini is used up.
5. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove (using oven mitts) and top with the combined mozzarella and parmesan. Return to oven and cook for a further 10-15 minutes or until cheese is golden, melted and slightly browned. Serve.

You will probably need to use a spatula or slice to cut the parmigiana for serving.

Ideas:

• Feel free to increase the cheese content (I like adding gruyere and cheddar)
• Add baby spinach or finely diced mushrooms to the sauce
• If you're missing meat, add some finely diced bacon to the sauce
• Experiment with the herbs
• Try playing around with the way the eggplant is cut and added - you could almost make this ratatouille-like and still retain the core flavours

The Vegetarian Dinner Party Menu

Recently, I had some friends over for a small get-together/dinner party. However, one of them was vegetarian, which posed a few conundrums. Whenever I've had vegetarian friends over, it's been informal and I've cooked egg noodles, or pasta, or a quick pizza. This was meant to be more like a dinner party though, so I wasn't sure what to cook.

Then inspiration struck. CHEESE. Well, not quite. But by happy coincidence I did manage to have cheese in every course. Entirely unintentional, I assure you.

Anyway, in this post I'm going to tell you the menu and the 'recipes' (ingredient lists, really) for dessert and the entrée, since the main and sides will require separate posts (lest you lapse into a coma trying to get through the entire thing).

Serves 4 (we had enough Parmigiana leftovers for 2 people).

Starter/Entrée

Turkish pide (bread)

Olive oil

Dukkah

Fried sliced haloumi

Main & Sides

Eggplant Parmigiana

Saffron Potato Stew

Steamed Green Beans

Dessert

Fresh fruit (plums, grapes, cherries)

'Fondue' (fresh passionfruit pulp for dipping fruit)

Triple cream brie

Plain cheese crackers

The entrée and dessert are crazy easy to prepare and take about 10 minutes max. each. My guests ate the entrée while I prepared the main.

Entree:

1 x Turkish pide (mine was 30cm x 15cm)

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of dukkah (I bought mine at the local market)

200g of haloumi cheese, thinly sliced

1. Slice the Turkish pide lengthways and from there into widths of 1.5-2cm - nice sizes for finger food.
2. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add half of the haloumi. Fry for 1.5 minutes or until lightly browned, then flip over and fry for a further minute. Repeat with the rest of the haloumi.

To serve:

Put the olive oil and dukkah into small, decorative dishes (I used two small ramekins). Place the pide pieces on a small serving platter and arrange the haloumi in front of/around them. Eat :)

Dessert

400g Crimson Seedless grapes

4 Black Diamond Plums

200g x cherries

10 x small dark Passionfruit

250g triple cream brie

1 packet of plain cheese crackers

1. Soak the grapes in a bowl of water. While you are doing this, wash the plums and slice them into eighths*. Drain the grapes, rinse once more and then place on a plate. Arrange the plum slices around them.
2. Wash and rinse the cherries. Place on the plate with the other fruit.
3. Rinse the passionfruit. Slice them in half one at a time, using a small spoon to scoop the pulp and seeds into a small bowl. When you have done this to all the passionfruit, place the small bowl on the fruit platter with the requisite number of forks for your guests.
4. Unwrap your cheese and place on a separate plate with cheese knives and the crackers.
5. Serve and eat to your heart's content.

Ideas:

• Add olives or miscellaneous antipasto to the entrée (marinated mushrooms, roasted peppers, etc)
• Use marinated feta in place of the fried haloumi
• Add different fruits to the dessert - berries, sliced apples, etc
• Use Camembert cheese in place of the Brie
• Add quince paste or similar accoutrements for cheese-eating.

Seared Scallops with Butter Bean 'Ratatouille'*

Everyone loves a quick and easy dinner meal - I do nearly all (about 97%) of the cooking in my household, so any dinner that can be on the table in under 20 minutes makes me spectacularly happy. This recipe requires two pans - a saucepan and a frying pan - so that you can cook things simultaneously, which is one of the reasons why this is so fast. Two spatulas to avoid contamination would be good also. To save a few minutes, only grate the Parmesan and prepare the scallops once the 'ratatouille' is cooking.

*The 'ratatouille' part of this is entirely bastardised and should only take 10-15 minutes to make, which is why I used the quotation marks.

I'm a big seafood person and come from a country where seafood is usually purchased live or literally just dead, so I am a stickler for freshness (sadly, the country I'm currently living in doesn't have the same kind of market). Anyway, purchase scallops that are as fresh as possible. I like to eat them with the roe attached but you can easily purchase scallops without roe if that's your preference.

This meal is quite healthy but still tastes fairly decadent. If you're using it for a dinner party, play around with the presentation a bit.

This recipe will serve 2 - I used it for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 300g scallops with roe attached
• 1/3 tsp salt**
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 300g of chopped tomatoes (about 3/4 of a regular can)
• 2 rashers of bacon, thinly sliced
• 1 400g can of butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 100g of baby spinach, washed
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced and crushed (or 1/2 tbsp garlic paste)
• 3/4 tsp each basil and oregano
• 1/2 a cup of diced eggplant (aubergine), lightly sprinkled with salt (1-2 pinches)
• 1/2 a capsicum (bell pepper), diced
• 4 tbsp of finely grated Parmesan Reggiano
• 1 tsp vegetable oil x 3
• 2 tsps butter

1. Dryfry the bacon in the saucepan over a medium-high heat, until some of the fat renders. Add 1 tsp of vegetable oil. Toss in the garlic (or garlic paste) and onion. Fry.
2. When the onion begins to turn translucent (3 or so minutes), add the capsicum and eggplant. Cook for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, herbs, butter beans and the 1/3 of salt. Stir to combine, partially cover and reduce heat to simmer for 1o minutes. Check halfway through cooking and stir in the spinach.
4. Grate the Parmesan. Rinse the scallops and pat them dry with paper towels. Heat the frying pan over high heat, and add 1 tsp of vegetable oil and 1 tsp of butter. When fluid and on the verge of bubbling, add half the scallops. Depending on the thickness, saute them for 1-2 minutes. Turn over and saute for slightly less time on the other side. Set aside and repeat with the rest of the scallops.
5. To serve, divide the bean ratatouille between two plates. Surround with the scallops. Scatter the grated Parmesan over the ratatouille.

This recipe is 'two spooned' because it is really easy to overcook scallops, leaving them tough and dry. If you're a bit unsure about the semantics of scallop-cooking, YouTube has plenty of resources. Bon appetit!

Ideas:

• Try this with mussels or prawns
• Add 1/2 cup cooked mushrooms
• Serve with grilled Tuscan-flavoured chicken in place of the scallops
• Add a leaf salad on the side
• Substitute chickpeas or other legumes for the butter beans

**I use organic bacon, which has less salt so I compensate with extra salt. If you're using regular bacon, reduce the quantity of salt to 1/4 tsp.

The Cheesy Post

Right now, I am craving cheese like it's nobody's business (what does that even mean, anyway??)

(Heaven)

This, after a breakfast of mozzarella. But one of my many mottoes is: Cheese makes everything better. I love cheese. Haloumi, Brie, Camembert, Cheddar, Gruyere, Jarlsberg, Parmesan Reggiano, Bocconcini, Buffalo Mozzarella - the stuff is divine. As a result, I had to come up with something quick and cheesy to satisfy my cravings, without resorting to cheese toast. This was made up on the fly, so I'll be refining it in the future.

Warning: Will cause your arteries to quake in terror. There is not so much a sauce as there is just ridiculous amounts of melted cheese. This recipe is hugely unhealthy but there are just some days when that's exactly what you need.

This recipe serves 1.

Ingredients:

• 20g Parmesan Reggiano, finely grated
• 70g good quality Cheddar, diced (I like Watsonia Cheddar)
• 20g Mozzarella, grated
• 1 tsp dried flaked onion (or use 1/4 of a fresh onion, finely diced and sauteed with a little butter in the microwave)
• 1 level tbsp cornflour
• Generous dash of milk (approx 40-50ml)
• 100-125g dried risoni
• 1L freshly-boiled water
• 1/2 level tsp chicken salt
• 1 tsp olive oil & 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Put the boiling water, risoni, oil and plain salt in a large (2L) microwave dish. Partially cover with a lid, and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender.
2. Remove and drain. Return the pasta to the dish. Add the cheeses, milk, nutmeg, chicken salt and onion to the dish and stir well. Microwave for 2 minutes.
3. Remove and sprinkle the cornflour evenly over the pasta mixture. Stir in quickly to prevent lumps from forming. Microwave for 2 more minutes or until 'sauce' has reached desired thickness.

Enjoy!

Ideas:

• If you want to make this healthier, reduce the amount of cheese and add some sort of vegetables, such as canned drained corn, baby spinach or cooked broccoli florets. Asparagus might also be a nice addition. I don't recommend mushrooms (as much as I love them) as the flavour of the mushroomy juices can really overwhelm the cheesy taste.

*Update: This is EXTREMELY cheesy. You may wish to share with a friend. I'm 2/3s of the way through and starting to flag.

Healthy Pasta Bolognese

High in flavour, and high in nutrients.

Now, I love carbs. I don't understand people who go on low carb diets; they're almost always my favourite part of every meal and I don't feel full without some carbs, be they pasta, noodles, rice, potatoes, and so on. One of my two most frequently used carbs is pasta. I love to try different sauces with different types of pasta. This recipe is essentially a bolognese that I've personalised to increase the nutrient factor, without compromising on taste.

This recipe will serve 4 people (easily), or two people with leftovers for lunch the next day). It can be completed in 90 minutes, but it's preferable that it take 120 minutes, and I often like it best when it has simmered for 3 hours (or 180 minutes).

Ingredients:

• 400-500g dried long pasta, e.g. spaghetti, fettucini
• 250g beef mince
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed or very finely diced (if you're lazy like me and don't want smelly fingertips, use about 2/3 of a tablespoon of garlic paste)
• 1 cup (or more) of diced miscellaneous vegetables, e.g. eggplant, capsicum, etc.
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 100ml red wine (sometimes I splash in a little more)
• 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed*
• 1/3 cup red lentils, rinsed
• 1 x 310g can of corn, drained
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms (white, portobello, swiss brown, etc)
• 1-2 sticks of celery, finely diced
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 1 beef stock cube (I like Massel)
• 1 tbsp dried mixed italian herbs
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 x 400g canned tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt (it'll be used to salt the pasta so don't bother using a gourmet salt)
• Freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano, to serve

I know there are a lot of ingredients but this dish is really easy to cook - so do not fear! I love to use spaghetti, though I'll add some other ways of modifying this dish at the bottom of the recipe- I love thinking of ways to make recipes more versatile. Do use freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano if you can. I recently started buying all my cheeses fresh from the local market's deli hall and they are so much better than the pre-grated, frozen packaged types.

1. Add 1/2 tbsp olive oil to a deep saucepan (or saucepot), and heat over moderately-high heat until sizzling. Add the beef mince and brown, stirring and poking to break up any lumps. When the beef is brown and cooked through, push it to one side. Add 1 tbsp of oil and add the diced onion, garlic and celery. Cook until translucent.
2. Add the sliced mushrooms, miscellaneous vegetables and mix with the other ingredients in the pot. Reduce heat slightly, stirring to ensure that the ingredients don't stick. When the mushrooms are soft and cooked, add the red wine, Massel stock cube and about 1/4 of the herbs. Ensure that ingredients are well-combined and the stock cube has completely dissolved (biting into a badly dissolved stock cube is not a fun experience for the taste buds).
3. When the liquid has reduced slightly, add the canned tomatoes. Mix. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the Parmesan, pasta, salt and the last of the olive oil). Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer for 60-120 minutes, depending on how much time you have. The longer the better (I like to leave it for 3 hours so that the flavours have time to mingle with each other). Check regularly, adding water and stirring the mixture as necessary.
4. Approximately 15 minutes before your meal, boil enough water to cook the pasta that you're going to use. Add the salt and olive oil to this. Boil your pasta according to the packet instructions or until al dente. I tend to like mine done just past al dente, so I just use a fork to grab bits of pasta to try once it hits the 10 minute mark. When the pasta is finished, drain it, reserving about 1/4 cup of the boiling liquid.
5. Add the reserved liquid to your pasta sauce** and increase the heat. When the bolognese starts to bubble, turn off/remove from the heat. Season to taste with salt, pepper or a pinch of sugar (only if necessary, which based on my experiences with this pasta in unlikely), serve the bolognese over the cooked pasta and top with some of the Parmesan Reggiano.

Bon appetit!

Ideas:

• Use a short textured pasta, cooked to just before al dente. Add to the sauce and pour into a baking/casserole dish. Top with parmesan, mozzarella and any other good melting cheeses that you like, and bake under a preheated 150°C oven set to grill for 10-15 minutes or until brown and melted.
• Serve with a light green salad or some peeled chilled cucumber, thinly sliced.
• Stir through baby spinach before serving.
• For dinner parties, you could use the first suggestion but bake the pasta in individual ramekins instead of a large baking/casserole dish.

* Quinoa is a grain that is similar in appearance to cous cous. It can generally be found at specialist shops and organic stores, but is increasingly available in mainstream supermarkets.

** Adding some of the pasta water introduces the pasta's starch to your sauce, making it better at clinging to the pasta.

Pie and Prejudice

Welcome, welcome to The Ladies of Shallot.

The eponymous ladies have different areas of passion and (somewhat dubious) expertise when it comes to cooking. Nevertheless, we all enjoy food, and each other's company, and thus The Ladies of Shallot was born.

Lady Number One is a twenty-something brunette of mixed heritage. I enjoy cooking, am a bibliomaniac, and I'm a little bit OCD. I'm a geek and proud of it. I love Nigella Lawson's attitude to food and cooking. I loathe coriander and lemongrass with a passion (while, oddly, enjoying lemons) and adore rosemary. I have a particularly soft spot for all foods savoury and carbohydrate-loaded. Oh, and custard.

Lady Number Two is also a twenty-something brunette latina studying in France. I didn't know how to cook until I arrived to the Old Continent and was forced to. But having a very French Boyfriend with good cooking skills, I have learned all of the basics - and how to spice them up just a bit (on a tight budget) to make something out of the ordinary. Oh, and I love pasta.

Lady Number Three is (wait for it, I don't want to shock you) another twenty-something brunette, this time with a knack for experimenting with different crafts (of which cooking is one). I have a particular soft-as-nougat spot for making desserts and baking. In my abundant spare time I wear a tiara and am a kind and just ruler to my cat and dog, who are the most loyal of subjects even if they never pay their taxes. I have an extreme sweet tooth and a fondness for milk and cookies that will put a five year old's to shame.

We don't pretend to be experts at cooking. It's something we all enjoy and do on a regular basis. All recipes are to our particular tastes and you should adjust recipe seasonings to your tastes. We also bear no responsibility for any incidents or mishaps that might occur while you are trying out our recipes - if you don't have a basic understanding of kitchen safety and behaviour, you probably shouldn't be here (this is the prejudice part).

We reserve the right to remove comments that we deem to be inflammatory, troll-like, spam, or just plain rude. We are more than happy to hear about suggestions or modifications to our recipes and would love feedback on how they went. Cooking experiences are best shared.

Adieu, and happy eating!