This is a meal I cooked last weekend, I get in a flap about cooking, so it
was good as the starter and dessert could be made a long time in advance.
Starter
Marinated Mushrooms
1 LB button mushrooms
4 spring onions, or 1 onion
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1 TSP brown sugar
salt and black pepper
1 glass white wine, or stock
1/2 TSP marjoram
parsley
Chop the onions and cook gently in a small amount of the wine or stock, for
just a few minutes. Add the cleaned mushrooms, juice and seasoning, bay
leaves and marjoram. Cook gently until the watery liquid has evaporated,
about 15 minutes. Now add the garlic and the rest of the wine, bring to a
boil and then leave to cool. Stir in about a TBSP of fresh parsley.
To make this dish really work, it must be left for several hours before
serving and is good with fresh brown rolls.
Adapted from "Healthy eating for a new age" by Joyce D'Silva
Main course
Lentil hot pot
Serves 4
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 medium potatoes,
peeled and diced
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
225g/8oz red lentils
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato pur?e
1 bay leaf, plus extra to garnish
&1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 vegetable stock cube
salt and freshly ground
black pepper
warmed pitta bread, to serve
1 Disolve the stock cube in 450 ML water and pour a little of this into a
large pan and fry the onion and garlic until the onion is
softened. Add the potatoes, carrots, celery and lentils and fry for a
further
1-2 minutes.
2 Add the tomatoes, tomato pur?e, bay leaf and oregano; season to taste.
Pour in the rest of the stock.
3 Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25-30 minutes. Ladle into warm bowls,
garnish with bay leaves and serve with warmed pitta.
Adapted from "BBC Good Food Magazine"
Dessert
Melon with mint, ginger and orange
Melon was once a treat. We're blas? about it now, but a simply dressed ripe
melon is wonderful.
Serves 4
Preparation time:
15 minutes.
1 ripe melon, such as cantaloupe or Charentais, cut into thin slices
1cm/&1/2in piece fresh
root ginger, peeled
and cut into thin strips
grated rind of &1/2 orange
juice of 1 large orange
shredded mint leaves
Arrange the melon on plates. Mix the ginger, orange rind and juice; drizzle
over the melon. Sprinkle over the mint. Can be made up to 6 hours ahead and
chilled. Remove from fridge 1o minutes before serving.
ORANGE RIND OPTION
Cut it into strips instead of grating, if you prefer.
Nutrition notes
per serving:
32 kcalories, protein 1g, carbohydrate 7g, fat trace, saturated fat trace,
fibre 2g, added sugar none, salt 0.03g
From BBC Good food Guide
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