One Pot Dinner

As you know, I adore a one pot meal – cleaning the kitchen is one of those never ending jobs that I could quite happily go without. So any time a meal can be made with minimal mess, that’s a major plus in my book!

In this enchilada orzo recipe, everything cooks in just one pan – the vegetables, the orzo itself, even the homemade sauce! It all bubbles up together to give one nice big pot of deliciousness.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe.

• orzo (or another tiny pasta shape)
• vegetables – I used zucchini (courgette), red pepper, sweetcorn, and spinach.
• black beans
• tomato paste
• vegetable stock
• spices – smoked paprika, cumin, garlic granules, and chilli powder.
• flour (to thicken the sauce a little)
• grated cheese

If you’d like to, you can change up the vegetables in this easy orzo recipe to use up whatever you have in the fridge, or to suit your family’s preferences. You could try:

• red onion
• spring onions
• mushrooms
• frozen peas

or whatever else you have that needs using up!

What is French Lentil Salad?

French lentil salad is a classic recipe that’s usually made with lentils (obviously), carrots, red onion, and an easy French dressing. I added the pasta because it transforms a simple side dish into a full meal – it’s the perfect cold lunch for a warm summer’s day!

Typically, you’d use Puy lentils (known in the US as ‘French green lentils’) to make a French lentil salad – however, I wanted to make sure this recipe was as easy as I could possibly make it, so I used a can of regular green lentils. To be honest, once it’s all mixed together, there’s no real difference, but regular lentils are cheaper and more convenient to cook with, which makes all the difference to me.

Easy Homemade French Dressing

Making a homemade salad dressing is super easy, but the key is to taste it – and I don’t just mean to eat a big spoonful from the jar and call it a day, but really taste it.

Think about how the flavours are balancing – does it taste a little too tangy? Balance it with a dash more honey. Is it already too sweet? Add a splash more lemon juice or mustard. Does it need more salt? Pepper? A splash more olive oil?

If you can practise tasting your dressings and getting the balance right, making homemade salad dressing rather than using shop-bought just becomes a no-brainer.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this lentil pasta salad recipe.

• pasta – you can use any kind of pasta you like (including wholemeal pasta), but a small, bitesized shape works a lot better than a long pasta like spaghetti!
• green lentils – I used canned lentils, so this recipe is really quick and easy (you know I love quick and easy…). If you prefer, you could boil some regular dried green lentils, or use Puy lentils (sometimes called ‘French green lentils’) for an even more authentic salad.
• carrots – I grated mine, but you could finely dice your carrots if you prefer.
• walnuts
• red onion (finely diced) – if you’d like to mellow the flavour of the red onion a little, you can soak it in water for 10 minutes or so before adding it to the salad.
• fresh parsley (or cilantro / fresh coriander, if that’s what you have on hand)
• homemade French dressing – honey, mustard, minced garlic, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil

There are all sorts of things you could add to the classic French lentil salad ingredients to really augment this pasta salad even further. I decided to use some chopped walnuts for a nice bit of crunch, but you could add any number of other things:

• crumbled feta cheese
• cubes of roasted sweet potato
• cherry tomatoes (or sun-dried tomatoes)
• capers
• crumbled goat cheese
• radishes, cucumber, or any other crunchy vegetable
• your favourite leaves, e.g. spinach or arugula (rocket)

One Pot Vegetarian Dinner

To make sure this recipe is as easy as possible, I made sure everything could be cooked up in just one pan.

1. First, the veggies and lentils are cooked for a while, to create the rich and tasty sauce.
2. Then add the gnocchi and the cheese, and pop the pan back in the oven until everything is hot and bubbly.

That’s it. Two steps. I didn’t even really need to make that a numbered list, did I?

Just one pan to wash, and this tasty, hearty family favourite is ready.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this shepherd’s pie gnocchi recipe.

• gnocchi
• canned lentils (or you could cook up a batch of dried lentils from scratch, if you prefer, then proceed with the recipe as written)
• onion
• mushrooms
• frozen vegetables (I used a mixture that contained peas, sweetcorn, green beans and carrots, which was perfect for the shepherd’s pie vibes)
• canned tomatoes
• flavourings for the sauce – I used soy sauce, garlic, dried thyme
• cheddar cheese for the cheesy topping

To be honest, I like to cook shepherd’s pie with my usual ‘a little bit of this, a little bit of that’ mindset – I will often just add a splash of whatever I can find in the cupboard (I know, I know, I’m ever so professional). Other ingredients I would happily add include:

• a splash of a vegetarian-friendly Worcestershire sauce
• a dollop of tomato paste
• a sprinkle of Bisto gravy granules
• a squeeze of ketchup
• a splash of red wine
• a dollop of Marmite
• other herbs, e.g. a bay leaf or some fresh rosemary

…or, quite honestly, whatever else takes my fancy on any given day.

You could also try…

• Recipe 1
• Recipe 2
• Recipe 3

Easy Homemade Baked Falafel

A very easy homemade falafel recipe that takes no time at all to prepare! Just blitz it up, and let the oven do the hard work.

Total time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 people

Get the recipe here!

Mediterranean Vegetable Flatbreads with Goat Cheese

Mediterranean vegetable flatbreads, piled up with sweet and jammy veggies, creamy dressing, soft goat cheese and fresh basil.

Total time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 3 people

Get the recipe here!

Spicy Roasted Chickpea Wraps

These spicy roasted chickpea wraps are full of crispy chickpeas, crunchy salad, and garlicky sauce – an easy, tasty vegetarian lunch idea!

Total time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 wraps

Get the recipe here!

What’s in these Falafel Wraps?

There are 5 main components to this easy lunch, each of which can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like them to be:

1. The falafel – arguably the most important part! You can make homemade falafel if you’d like to (I have a recipe for an easy baked falafel that you could try), but for an extra quick and easy lunch option, there’s absolutely no shame in using shop-bought falafel, which is what I did this time.
2. The tabbouleh – tabbouleh is a simple bulgur wheat salad made with fresh herbs and olive oil. It’s a wonderful addition to these wraps, bringing heaps of flavour and a fun texture to the meal. Again, you can make homemade tabbouleh, or use shop-bought if you’re more pushed for time.
3. The veggies – I used cucumbers, tomatoes, and some raw red onion. You could also use thinly sliced carrots, a crunchy coleslaw, your favourite pickles, fresh herbs, or whatever other cold, crunchy veggies you like to prepare for lunch.
4. The sauces – I used hummus and aioli (which is essentially garlic mayonnaise). If you prefer, you could try tzatziki (cucumber and yogurt sauce), chilli sauce, or your favourite lemony salad dressing.
5. Flatbreads – to hold everything together into one delicious parcel! A thinner kind of flatbread (like a tortilla wrap) will be able to roll and contain everything more easily, while a thicker flatbread, like the laffa flatbreads I used, are trickier to roll (but just as delicious eaten with a knife and fork!). You could even use pitta bread, if you prefer.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make these tabbouleh and falafel wraps.

• falafel – shop-bought or homemade.
• tabbouleh
• flatbreads (or tortillas, pitta bread, etc.)
• aioli
• hummus (I used red pepper hummus this time)
• raw veggies (I used tomatoes, cucumber and red onion)

Old Family Recipe

This easy apple crumble cake is actually a recipe from my late Granny’s old handwritten recipe book (which you may have seen before if you’ve read my vegetable cobbler recipe!). It’s such a special recipe book, stuffed with random recipes that my Granny got from friends, or copied out of various magazines. It’s a wonderful hodge podge.

In the book, my Granny called this recipe ‘German Krummeltorte’, but after a bit of Googling, I can’t actually find much evidence that Krummeltorte exists… if you’re German, please do let me know if you’ve heard of it before!

Regardless, it is a very, very tasty cake, and I just love how easy it is to make. I have actually changed the recipe just a little from her original, mostly just to simplify it (I have neither the time nor the inclination to use two different kinds of flour and two different kinds of sugar!), but the end result still turns out just beautifully.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy apple cake recipe.

• cooking apples (e.g. Bramley apples) – these are not the sort of apple you’d usually want to eat raw (they’re a bit too sharp), but they cook up beautifully, holding their shape instead of turning mushy like some other apples do. If you can’t find specific cooking apples, just use what you can find.
• self-raising flour
• sugar – any kind of white sugar will be fine, e.g. caster sugar or granulated sugar
• egg
• butter (unsalted)
• ground cinnamon

Why I Love these Scones

These savoury scones have some great selling points:

• You can use different flavours of hummus, and different additional mix-ins, to give these scones a different vibe every time you make them. This time I used jalapeño flavoured hummus and some chopped chives – so tasty.
• They’re super easy to make, but still give the satisfaction of a homemade snack – my kids love having these after school.
• They are tasty even when simply served with lashings of butter (especially if they’re still warm from the oven, so it goes all melty), but they also work well with any kinds of fillings you like – treat them just like a sandwich.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make these easy homemade scones.

• hummus – I’ve tested this recipe using a standard supermarket brand of hummus, and a slightly posher, more expensive brand, and it all works the same. Choose your favourite flavour of hummus – this time I used jalapeño hummus, which was really tasty, but I usually use plain hummus if I’m making them for my kids.
• plain (all-purpose) flour
• baking powder
• optional extras – I used some chopped chives, but you could also your favourite dried herbs, smoked paprika, curry powder, garlic powder, or whatever else you like the sound of.

Flavour Variations

I love the fact that you could make these hummus scones taste different every time. Here are a few ideas (I haven’t tested all of these combinations yet, but I’ll work my way through them slowly!):

• plain hummus scones with garlic granules and chopped herbs
• red pepper hummus scones with finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• caramelised onion hummus scones with a little grated cheese melted on top
• Moroccan hummus scones with raisins

Which of these would you try first?

Vegetarian Potato Bake

I’ll warn you, this isn’t a quick weeknight dinner. There are so many vegetables packed into this recipe that it does take quite a while to bake in the oven – but that doesn’t mean it’s difficult or labour-intensive! It’s basically just this:

1. cut and roast some veggies
2. cut and roast some more veggies
3. add the cheesy sauce (which only has one ingredient!)
4. add the cheesy topping

It’s truly easy, and mostly hands-off, so while the oven’s doing the hard work, you can be spending your time cleaning your kitchen, playing with your kids, watching a movie… And while you’re doing all that, your house is slowly filling with the wonderful smells of roasted vegetables, garlic, crispy cheese… it’s delightful.

You could also try…

• Recipe 1
• Recipe 2
• Recipe 3

Cheesy Vegetable Potato Bake

This irresistible cheesy vegetable potato bake is a seriously easy vegetarian one pot dinner that's packed with goodness! Healthy comfort food at its best.

Total time: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Get the recipe here!

Creamy Chickpea Bake

This creamy chickpea bake is the ultimate comfort food, with chickpeas and roasted vegetables in a creamy, garlicky sauce, topped with melted cheese.

Total time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 3 people

Get the recipe here!

One Pot Rice and Vegetable Casserole

This rice and vegetable casserole is the perfect one pot dinner, packed with veggies, rice and beans – such a hearty vegetable bake that's comforting and full of goodness.

Total time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

Get the recipe here!

Store Cupboard Recipe

I love the fact that this kidney bean curry is made with just store cupboard ingredients – I make it regularly, and I never have to go out to buy anything special. Tinned beans, canned coconut milk, an onion – just things with long shelf lives that I always have in the house.

It helps if you use lazy ginger and garlic, the kinds that come in a tube or a jar, rather than fresh. I just keep them in the fridge, ready to go, and they last a long time.

Kid-Friendly Curry

Because this kidney bean curry has a mild and creamy sauce, it’s pretty kid-friendly, especially if you adapt it to your family’s tastes (feel free to add whatever vegetables your kids will eat!).

Like many others, my kids tend to gravitate towards anything anything dry and beige – so a spicy, saucy curry isn’t something they’d usually go for, but they have actually begun to really enjoy this one. I generally skip the onion if I’m making it for my kids (if you ever need help finding a needle in a haystack, tell my kids they’re looking for a bit of onion in their dinner, and they’ll find it in seconds) but they really enjoy the mild, creamy sauce.

As for me, I love that it’s super simple to make, easy to adapt to my family’s preferences, and has plenty of comforting flavour.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy bean curry recipe.

Detailed ingredient quantities (in both US and UK recipe formats) can be found in the printable recipe card.

• canned beans – I used both kidney beans and black beans, and I love the way the dark colours look against the creamy sauce. To be honest though, you can use whatever cans of beans you have in the kitchen – I often use chickpeas instead, which also work well.
• coconut milk – to add a wonderful creaminess to the sauce.
• onion – I tend to skip this if I’m cooking for my kids, but it does add a lovely flavour to the curry.
• curry powder – in an effort to keep things super simple, I just use a curry powder blend, which contains various spices including coriander, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, turmeric, and lots more. You can use individual spices if you prefer, but I love the fact that someone else has already created the perfect blend – who am I to argue with that?
• minced garlic and ginger – I use the ‘lazy’ versions, which are pre-minced, and come in a jar or tube. They are so convenient to have on hand, and save a lot of time.
• tomato puree (paste)

Substitutions

I love how adaptable this easy curry recipe is. I make it a little differently each time – here are a few ideas for substitutions or adaptations:

• Swap the onion for any other vegetable you like (mushrooms are a favourite!).
• Or, skip the vegetables altogether and serve a vegetable on the side instead (my kids love peas, so that’s a common occurrence in our house).
• Swap the coconut milk for a can of chopped tomatoes for a richer, less creamy curry.
• Use different spices to make it hotter or more mild, depending on your preferences.
• Or use curry paste instead of curry powder, if that’s what you have on hand.
• Serve with a selection of toppings (chopped nuts, fresh herbs, a drizzle of chilli oil…).
• Spoon the curry over rice, or serve with naan bread for dipping.

Whey Protein Powder

I’ve tried several types of protein powder over the past year or so – soy protein, pea protein, whey protein… and my favourite, by a long way, is the whey protein. I’ve found some of the other kinds can have a very strange aftertaste, but whey protein just tastes sweet and creamy.

This time I used a seriously tasty vanilla whey protein powder from Naked Nutrition. It tastes incredible, and is perfect for mixing into my overnight oats. You can buy a small tub of it, or a huge one like the one you can see in my photos – and although its size may look a little intimidating, we’re thoroughly enjoying working our way through it!

If you’re interested in checking out any other health supplements, do have a browse on the Naked Nutrition website. They have all kinds of things available, including a chocolate version of the whey protein powder! I might try another version of overnight oats using chocolate protein powder and a dollop of peanut butter…?!

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make these high protein overnight oats.