Notes about Recipes in this book

• Courgette, mint and ricotta fritters

  • ChelseaP on May 22, 2021

    Really good, just need to make sure you wring as much water out of the courgettes as possible.

• One-pot red peppers with chicken

  • ChelseaP on June 06, 2021

    Simple and easy weeknight dinner.

• Seed-topped roasted cauliflower dip

  • Lepa on July 17, 2017

    This was okay but I prefer traditional hummus. My kids liked this but my husband complained about the texture (not a smooth as chickpea-based hummus) and that it tasted a bit "funny."

• Quick broccoli satay stir fry

  • Lepa on August 31, 2017

    This is really easy and yummy! I highly recommend it if you have kids, as they love the peanut curry sauce. I didn't add hot peppers but the adults used sriracha at the end. I didn't have peanuts so I topped it with cashews instead. We served it with brown rice. I might add tofu next time but I think you could sub any veg in here and it would be great.

• Smoky butternut squash stew with chickpea dumplings

  • TrishaCP on December 15, 2018

    This was a homey and substantial vegetarian stew. I made it over the weekend and served it a few days later so the flavors really had time to come together. I made the dumplings the day of serving. I didn't have much luck with their texture- I think the problem was that I planned to sub shortening for the suet but didn't realize until too late that I didn't have enough shortening. So I had to use half butter and half shortening, which made for a pretty stodgy dumpling. The flavor was on point however.

• Crispy lemon paprika potato wedges

  • ChelseaP on May 22, 2021

    These are wonderful. Yum.

• Banana thyme cake with lemon glaze

  • sharifah on April 28, 2023

    Very nice cake. It didn't rise very much (see photo). It does need the full 3 Tablespoons of thyme leaves to 'taste' the flavour. Would definitely make again.

• Pear, blackberry and coconut cake

  • Lepa on July 19, 2017

    This was delicious. The batter was very thick and dry. I had a hard time spreading it, or folding the fruit in. I was tempted to add some milk but I ended up adding some melted coconut oil to lubricate the batter. It ended up fine. The texture was good and the taste was lovely. We ate it with fresh whipped cream.

  • TrishaCP on October 08, 2018

    This has lovely flavors. In particular, I really liked the pear and coconut combination. I baked about 20 minutes longer than specified since I was suspicious as to whether the middle was cooked through, and with all of the fruit, I didn't think it would be dry. (It wasn't.) I didn't think the nibbed sugar on top was necessary- I used it but the texture blended into the cake (from the juice from the fruit).

• Soft spiced apple cake

  • Lepa on September 13, 2017

    This was delicious. I especially enjoyed the little nubbins of apple dotting the cake.

  • David.Burbidge on January 13, 2026

    This is one of my favourite go to cakes. you can chop and change the spices, add some dried fruit, a perfect bake for using whatever you have to hand.

• Zesty chilli prawn noodles

  • ChelseaP on July 07, 2022

    Easy weeknight dinner, went down a treat.

• Honeyed plum and pine nut cake

  • ChelseaP on May 22, 2021

    Really delicious simple cake. Loved the addition of the pine nuts.

• Zesty lime chicken with peach salsa

  • TrishaCP on July 18, 2017

    This was an easy and pretty tasty dinner, after some tweaking. Chicken breasts go in a fairly simple marinade for up to two hours before grilling. I had a marinade of about that time and the flavor was really good. (Lime juice is called for in the marinade recipe, but the instructions omit any further reference. I just added it to the marinade with the rest of the ingredients.) The peaches were reminiscent of mango in the salsa, and I would consider peaches as subs for mangoes in other salsa/salad recipes when peaches are abundant. I did add a green chile to the salsa, and I'm glad that I did because the cayenne in the marinade added negligible heat.

• Orange blossom panna cotta with strawberries

  • Lepa on September 29, 2017

    This was inedible. Nobody ate more than a bite of it. It may be my fault, not the recipe's. I didn't have gelatin sheets so I used powder. I looked up substitution guidelines and followed them carefully but the end result was so rubbery we could hardly chew it. The flavor was also off. I like orange blossom but because it was in the panna cotta and the strawberries, the end result was a cloying, disgusting mess. I usually love Ruby's recipes so I'm assuming the fault is more with my execution than with Ruby's recipe writing but I'm not willing to try this again. . .

• Stuffed portobello mushrooms with almond and garlic

  • raybun on June 05, 2017

    These were very tasty. I served them alongside the chorizo burgers from Dinner so omitted the sausage meat and added a little goats cheese instead. I loved the almond addition, that gave a little crunch.

• Spicy sausage and cannellini bean casserole

  • Beth891 on January 24, 2025

    I made a couple of changes- swapped the bacon for chorizo and added extra smoked paprika rather than cayenne. I also increased the temp to 160 fan so I could just give it 45 mins. It was delicious! Definitely one to make again.

• Meatballs with sticky blackberry-anise sauce

  • Soosie on February 28, 2026

    Quite tasty. I softened the onions with a clove of garlic first. As I don’t eat bread or milk I omitted them. Fried with no extra fat and they weren’t bad. I had them plain, no sauce.

• Mild coconut fish curry

  • Lepa on August 28, 2017

    We enjoyed this but the recipe was a bit fussy and I didn't like it as much as the coconut fish curry in Made In India (which is also easier to make).

• Saffron chickpea pilaf

  • Lepa on September 24, 2018

    This was a complete disaster. There wasn't enough water and when I took the lid off, the rice was still crispy. I added more water and cooked it some more but even after the rice cooked, the flavors were muddy and the dish was very unappealing.

• Seeded wholemeal muffins with honey butter

  • Lepa on July 16, 2017

    These muffins are a subtle pleasure. They don't hit you over the head with dramatic flavor but the seeds and honey butter combine to make a satisfying combination. I found myself liking them more and more as I ate. I will definitely make these again, especially because I always have the ingredients on hand. My kids especially loved the honey butter.

• Easy chocolate birthday cake

  • sharifah on August 22, 2020

    It really is an easy cake to make, not too sweet and quite chocolatey. It’s a very light, airy cake which I wasn’t too keen on. I prefer a denser cake.

• Blueberry yoghurt loaf cake

  • TrishaCP on February 20, 2017

    I used the proportions in the Guardian version- the book version uses slightly more flour, sugar, and almond oil. Not sure how that will impact the results. But this is a delicious cake that is perfect for breakfast. The crust on the cake is particularly nice. I did use the almond oil- I honestly don't know if it makes a difference or not. I detected the aroma in the batter, but less so in the final product. I needed five minutes more than specified, but I did use frozen blueberries.

  • Lepa on June 17, 2017

    This was good but not as special as most of Ruby's recipes. I used sunflower oil instead of almond oil so perhaps that would have resulted in a more interesting flavor?

• Ms Marmite Lover

  The baking section of this book is, perhaps predictably, the strongest. I made her lemon, buttermilk and black pepper cake, and it may be one of the most impressive cake recipes of the year.

  Full review