Notes about Recipes in this book

• Chicken & chorizo bake, peppers, sweet potatoes & spuds

  • Jane on October 16, 2019

    This was quick to put together and quite acceptable as a weeknight dinner. Blitzing chorizo, garlic, rosemary and sherry vinegar to form the base of the sauce gave it plenty of depth. It was a bit heavy in starches with sweet potato and potato being the bulk of the dish. I felt it was missing something and diced some preserved lemon on top which boosted it.

  • embk27 on April 07, 2020

    Loved this as a family recipe. Adapted it a bit. I kept the skin on the chicken. I didn’t use the sweet potatoes but added an extra baking potato. I peeled the potatoes which I’m glad about as they soaked up loads of the lovely chorizo sauce. I agree with Jane about the missing something - I crumbled some feta over the top which worked really well. I would definitely take note of the bit about using a blender and tea towel to make the sauce - I tried it in my Magimix and it exploded everywhere!!

• 7-veg tomato sauce, packed with hidden goodness

  • eliza on December 20, 2019

    I didn't like this sauce much at all. The ingredients are all things we like but for us the resulting sauce was bland. I managed to rescue it by adding lots of tomato products. In future I will just make my standard sauce with a couple of carrots grated in. A nice idea but not a repeat for me.

  • Delys77 on January 29, 2019

    Chopped the contents up in the thermomix to save time and then simmered covered for about 20 and uncovered for about 35. All together a bit too long for a week night but a very healthy and easy sauce. For us this made enough for about 10 portions.

  • mckittrickp on July 26, 2018

    My wife hates me for this but I call this one Colostomy Bag Pasta. Don't let that put you off though. Its excellent.

  • Hannaha100 on January 02, 2018

    I was really pleased with how this turned out. DD has been fussy again last few weeks so fingers crossed. (Good way to sneak courgettes into DH too). Allow at least 2 hours - took ages to simmer. I got 2900ml in total, slightly less than stated. Could have used guidance on portion sizes, in the end used pasta recipe earlier in the book to judge 1 portion as 150ml. Also had no idea you could eat squash skin like this.

• Pea & spinach risotto, mint, cottage cheese & Parmesan

  • eeeve on October 29, 2020

    Made this risotto with brown rice and it came out fine. Pretty standard method, didn't exactly have high expectations either. Didn't have the ingredients for the cottage cheese mix in.

• Pasta pesto, green beans, broccoli & asparagus

  • eeeve on March 21, 2020

    Quick and easy, enjoyed this as a weeknight dinner. Only had green beans in and used store-bought pesto, but was still good. Agree with Hannaha100 that only a small amount of cooking water is needed.

  • Hannaha100 on June 19, 2017

    This was a good twist on a bit of a classic - pasta with green veg and pesto. I enjoyed the variety of the veg but could not fit the full amount into one saucepan - had to separate out. If I did full amount again, I might steam some of the veg. Lighter touch on cooking water too, a "mugful" wasn't necessary.

• Four seasons minestrone: summer veg

  • VineTomato on September 04, 2018

    Not many of the recipes in this book jump out at me. It’s not a particularly inspired cookbook. Nevertheless I am committed to making each of the four season minestrone soups! This was nothing special. I made it the evening before so I could quickly reheat after yoga. I added the broadbeans on the day and should have done the same with the chard, it had turned a really unappetising green. I think more tomatoes (tin and jucies) in the base could have helped elevate this. I’m not even sure I will freeze the left overs.

• Italian superfood burgers, balsamic onions, mozzarella & slaw

  • joneshayley on February 05, 2018

    The slaw is good, well dressed and tasty. Balsamic onions are also delicious. However the burgers are a let down. Whole beans? Why? They end up loose and dry within the burgers- mash the beans before adding the meat, which will result in a better texture, and taste. I won’t make these again- there are far better burger recipes.

• Chicken lollipop dippers, pea & mint couscous, charred asparagus

  • CindyinOttawa on May 07, 2019

    I added chili powder with lime to season the chicken and a bit of honey to the dipping sauce to boost flavour. We all loved it, especially the cooking method for the chicken - retains moisture. Used tri-coloured quinoa in place of couscous.

  • embk27 on January 27, 2017

    Great family dinner - my 6 year old loved it and he's a very fussy eater. Dipping the chicken in the sauce and then almonds added to the fun. I did a Harissa yogurt sauce for grown ups too which worked well. I think corn on the cob might work better than asparagus.

• Sag aloo korma, sweet potatoes, chard & chickpeas

  • EdinburghCook on August 30, 2017

    Watch the potatoes....I'd recommend 10 mins as mine went way to far at 15 as per the recipe

• Smoky veggie chilli, sweet gem & cheesy jacket spuds

  • EdinburghCook on August 30, 2017

    Griddling the beans as per the recipe I don't think adds any value and just makes a mess of the pan. I think it would taste as good without griddling the veg as well.

  • Boffcat on March 11, 2017

    Quite good, but not special enough to warrant the fairly time-consuming preparation (griddling all the vegetables in batches takes a long time, even if you cheat a bit like I did and just fry the chopped onions). And griddling the beans just made an unholy mess of my pan! I had hoped the peanut butter would add an intriguing depth of flavour, but I can't say I could tell it was there.

• Super Brussels sprouts slaw, citrus, flaked salmon, feta & nuts

  • Charlotte_vandenberg on March 02, 2021

    Very nice, very easy and not too much work. The citrusy couscous and salmon go very well together and the apple and mustard make the salad really delicious.

• Jamie's Italian super-food salad, grains, grilled avo, broccoli & harissa

  • Hannaha100 on June 23, 2017

    This book and I just don't seem to be getting on. This is a nice salad and made a really substantial lunch that worked well for work. However, although I'm a fan of all the components it seemed a bit overkill somehow - more isn't always more. I feel as though this could be broken down into about 3 really nice salads? Will have a think. OK next time I would cut down using this formula grain (rice/quinoa) +pulse (lentils/chickpeas) + green veg (kale/Broccoli) +root veg (fennel/beetroot) + fat (avocado/cottage cheese) + herb (parsley/mint) +topping (seeds/harissa). I still think this might be too many ingredients.

• Veggie fried rice, sesame, tofu & chilli eggs

  • Hannaha100 on June 20, 2017

    This was nice but not amazing and I found the instructions a little confusing. I definitely don't have a frying pan that's big enough for all those ingredients. Next time use the big wok for mushrooms, rice etc. The tofu and eggs are cooked separately which wasn't clear to me at first. Also my mushrooms were too juicy to "char" as described. Husband thought rice was OK but hated the mushrooms. Neither of us are big fans of silken tofu. Could substitute but might just try something new. Portion sizes generous.

• Japanese miso stew, tofu, seaweed, greens & chilli oil

  • Hannaha100 on June 19, 2017

    I'm afraid this wasn't for us. Husband declared it "full of slimy things" and I just found it a bit bland. A bit better with some more miso and soy sauce. I have had better miso than this. No idea what the secret is, we'll have to look at some other recipes.

• Super greens cannelloni, creamy ricotta & basil sauce

  • Hannaha100 on June 27, 2017

    Husband made this one. It was tasty (liked the hint of lemon) but took too long to make to ever be that practical for us. Possibly one to pull out for dinner guests if plenty of time to prepare in the day.

• Peruvian sweet potato soup, corn, peppers, chicken & quinoa

  • raybun on January 30, 2017

    This was a very tasty, filling soup. I used leftover roast chicken meat rather than thighs but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Lots left for midweek lunches too.

• Persian veggie pilaf, saffron, blueberries & borlotti beans

  • lou_weez on August 11, 2017

    This was nothing special. It ticked the meat-free Monday box, but that was it.

• Chocolate porridge, Greek yogurt & fresh seasonal fruit

  • lou_weez on April 19, 2018

    A nice breakfast, that feels a little naughty. As I'm not a fan of chocolate/orange combination I omitted the orange zest and added cinnamon instead. I also didn't have coconut water so used full cream milk and water.

  • Boffcat on March 12, 2017

    This is good, and pleasingly effortless to make up once you've done the initial prep. (I didn't have quite enough hazelnuts so made up the difference with almonds.) To my slight surprise, despite the dates it wasn't that sweet; if anything it had a slight savoury note, possibly due to the coconut water. I probably wouldn't buy coconut water specially for this in future, but would make it up with diluted cow's milk or nut milk instead - or possibly even some of the juice from the orange whose zest you use for the dry mix.

• Super shepherd's pie, smashed neeps & tatties

  • lou_weez on July 12, 2020

    This was delicious and a labor of love. I reduced the liquid to 600ml as I didn't want a soupy consistency and added a bit more worcestershire sauce. I would do this again.

• Salmon & prawn fish pie, sweet potato & spud mash

  • lou_weez on July 29, 2020

    Really tasty fish pie and easy enough to throw together.

• Squash & sausage risotto, radicchio, thyme & Parmesan

  • Jesmondgirl on March 29, 2020

    Did not add fennel seeds as daughter hates them. Had no cottage cheese so used cream cheese and had no radicchio due to lockdown shortages. Was fine but not fantastic but won’t criticise the recipe as I mucked it about !

• Ratatouille pie, filo, ricotta, basil & almonds

  • EvyTheworldismyoyster on January 22, 2022

    It looked so good in the book, but was highly underwhelming. The ratatouille was ok, but no herbs at all! Also, the filo should have been oiled at least a little bit. But it was mainly the almonds on top of the (tasteless) ricotta that gave a marzipan flavour and simply did not belong there. It could become a good dish, if you season well and replace the ricotta with e.g. some goat cheese. We ended up adding parmesan for flavour.