Spicy Prawn Salad!

You can have this salad cold or warm - to have it warm just stir fry the prawns in the chilli dressing - it's also delicious with chicken.
This will take you about 15 minutes to make, serves two and will cost £2.50 each.

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
Juice of one lime
2 tbsp sweet chilli dipping sauce
2 spring onions
1 little gem lettuce
198g can sweetcorn - drained
140g cherry tomatoes, halved
125g cooked, peeled tiger prawns


How to make

Boil a small pan of water and cook the eggs for about 10 minutes, then run them under the cold tap until they are cool enough to peel.

Whisk together the olive oil, lime juice and sweet chilli in a small bowl. 

Finely slice the spring onions and mix them in to the dressing.

Shell the eggs and slice into rounds.

Pull the lettuce apart and divide the leaves between two plates.

Spoon the sweetcorn on top of the lettuce and scatter the tomato halves on top.

Finish with the prawns and egg slices and pour the chilli dressing over everything! 

Eton mess!

This is a super quick dessert to make and most people love it, as long as they're not on a diet! This recipe makes enough for 4 people, takes about 15 minutes to put together and when strawberries are in season will cost £1.00 each.

Ingredients

500g strawberries - with the tops taken off
400ml double cream
A pack of 6 ready made meringue nests - crushed
Some sprigs of mint to decorate

How to make

Puree half the strawberries in a blender, chop the remaining strawberries and save four whole ones for decoration.

Whip the double cream until peaks appear, then fold in the strawberry puree and crushed meringues.

Fold in the strawberries.

Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into four chilled bowls and serve garnished with the strawberries and mint.

Gnocchi with creamy tomato & spinach sauce

A tasty light supper and the mascarpone makes a really easy and quick sauce for the gnocchi.
This only takes about 20 minutes to make, will give you two generous portions and cost about £2.00 each.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic gloves - crushed
400g can chopped tomatoes
140g mascarpone
500g pack gnocchi
200g bag of baby leaf spinach
A handful of fresh basil leaves and some parmesan cheese shavings - optional!

To make

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the garlic until it's golden, add the tomatoes, season and simmer for ten minutes.

Stir in the mascarpone and cook for two minutes more.

Meanwhile the gnocchi according to the packet instructions and add the spinach in the final minute of cooking.

Drain well and tip back into the pan, then stir in the tomato and mascarpone sauce.

Mix well and serve immediately with the basil leaves and Parmesan shavings scattered over.

Pea & Bean Risotto!

You can make this risotto with one or a mix of vegetables ( peas, french beans, asparagus spears, broad beans, spinach leaves ) to use up bits and pieces left in the fridge - I've chosen mine because we grow them in our garden!

It'll take about 30 minutes to make and will serve 2 at a cost of £1.75 each

Ingredients

50g butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion - finely chopped

1 clove of garlic

400g fresh peas, broad beans and courgettes

1 litre of hot vegetable stock

225g risotto rice

150ml white wine

25g parmesan cheese - grated

How to make

Heat the oil and half the butter in a frying pan and add the onion and cook gently for about 5 minutes until it's soft.

Stir in the garlic and then add the rice and turn up the heat a bit.

Season and cook for a minute, stirring so all the rice is coated with the fat.

Add the white wine and cook, stirring until it has evaporated.

Start adding the stock a bit at a time, keep the mixture at a simmer and add more stock when its all absorbed .

Add the courgettes, broad beans and peas five minutes after starting to add the stock.

After the rice has been cooking for about 20 minutes, check it: when it's done, it should be tender but still slightly chewy.

The whole dish should look creamy - take it off the heat and stir in the rest of the butter and the parmesan cheese.

Season to taste and then cover and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with extra parmesan and serve straight away.

Quorn Cottage Pie!

I've never cooked with Quorn before so thought that I would give it a go - it was really easy to use and to be honest I don't think I could tell the difference in the finished dish.

It takes less oil to cook and is a really healthy option so good if you want to cut down on meat and calories.

This took me about 40 minutes to prepare and cook in total, is enough for four servings and only costs £1.50 each.

Ingredients

350g Quorn mince

1 tbsp olive oil

i medium onion - finely chopped

1 medium carrot - finely chopped

100g frozen peas

400ml vegetable stock

1tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp cornflour, mixed to a paste with 1 tbsp cold water

1kg potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk

How to make

Pre heat the oven to 180C, Gas Mark 4.

Boil the potatoes until tender, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and carrot and fry until soft.

Add the Quorn mince, peas, vegetable stock, Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, soy sauce and seasoning.

Simmer for 5 minutes and then add the cornflour paste and continue to simmer gently, stirring all the time until thickened.

Put into an ovenproof dish.

Mash the potatoes with the milk until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the potato over the filling and fluff up with a fork.

Bake for 20 minutes until the topping is crispy.