Breakfast bowl

It's been a while. Change of countries too.

Here's my breakfast from this morning. Healthy, tasty and fills me up until lunchtime.

What you'll need

1 egg, boiled to your liking and peeled
Half a ripe tomato, chopped
1 small carrot, coarsely grated
100g leg ham or other meat of your choice
1/4 ripe avocado, cubed
2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt of your choice - I used Tamar Valley
Salt and pepper, herbs or lemon juice to season

What to do

Assemble ingredients into a bowl.

Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice or some fresh herbs, as you prefer.

I like a little cider vinegar on my avocado.

Pack it all into a jar or container for a breakfast on the run or at work.

Honey soy salmon parcels

My daughter cooked this salmon, about 95 per cent on her own. How great is that! I heated the oven, put the parcels in to cook, then took them out when they were cooked. That's it. So, needless to say, this is very easy for children (my daughter is 10) to make with minimal supervision. And as an added bonus, it was very tasty and filling. We all enjoyed it very much.

What you will need

Serves four

Four pieces of salmon, skin off, about 100g each
2 cups fresh or frozen beans
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 small finger of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
Olive oil

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

On an oven tray, lay four pieces of aluminium foil, approximately 20cm x 20cm. Lightly grease each sheet with some oil, using a pasty brush. Gently turn up the edges of each piece of foil so that your sauce will not run out when you pour it over.

If using fresh beans, top and tail them. If using frozen vegetables, put the beans and peas in a colander and run some warm water over them in the sink, to defrost them. Drain well of excess water. Divide the vegetables evenly between the sheets of foil (place in the middle). Carefully place the fish pieces on top of the vegetables.

In a small bowl, mix the honey and soy sauce with a spoon until the honey is dissolved.

Drizzle this over the fish and vegetables. Sprinkle some ginger over the top of the fish (this is optional, you may not like ginger pieces).

Now close the salmon parcels, bringing the left and right sides of the foil together over the fish. Crimp together so it will not pull apart. Fold up the remaining sides into the middle of the parcel so that the sauce will not run out and the steam will be tapped inside.

Place into the oven and cook for 25 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before opening (watch out for the steam). Serve to the table in the parcels. Serve with some cooked rice or noodles.

Vegetable soup

Here is a very quick vegetable soup recipe. On Tuesdays, I take my son and his friend to the park after school finishes. I bring lunch and we eat it in the park, before the boys play a game of football.

The weather was cold, and the fridge was looking a bit empty, but I had some sad-looking cauliflower, some carrots, half a zucchini, half a sweet potato and an onion in the pantry. Those five vegetables turned into vegetable soup for the park in about 30 minutes flat. Hot, tasty, quick and healthy. Thumbs up from the boys for this one. Winning all around.

What you'll need

Serves two

1/2 head cauliflower, stalk and leaves removed, broken into florets
1/2 large sweet potato (about 300g), peeled and roughly chopped into chunks
1 large carrot, ends removed and roughly chopped
1/2 large zucchini, stalk removed, roughly chopped.
1/2 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1L hot vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to season

Bread to serve

What to do

I didn't even bother frying off the onion for this recipe. Just throw all the ingredients into a large pot, pour over the stock, put on the lid, turn on the heat and bring to a rapid simmer. Now go and do the ironing or have a shower. Come back in 30 minutes and you'll have a lovely soup almost ready to go. 

Remove from the heat, give it a wizz with your stick blender, season to taste with salt and pepper and it's done.

Pour the soup into a thermos and take it to the park. Serve in a cup with some bread or drink it just as it. Delicious.

Sweet potato, cauliflower and red lentil soup

Now that there cooler weather is here, a big bowl of beautiful soup can take away those chills and those pesky belly rumbles too.                                                                               There are so many reasons to make your own soup; I find that making your own batch of soup is lighter on the pocket, because there are less expensive ingredients like meat in a soup that in a non-soup dish; it is an excellent and palatable way to use up 'past-their-prime' vegetables; it's relatively quick to make; it's healthy and you can stretch soup further to feed more people by serving it with bread or cheese.

Here's my recipe for a filling vegetable soup featuring red lentils; the yummy soup is high in protein and fibre and a great way to help kids eat vegetables that they otherwise might not, like cauliflower.

What you will need

Serves four

1 cauliflower, core and leaves removed, broken into small florets

1kg sweet potato (about 3 medium or 2 large), peeled and chopped into large chunks

1 large onion, peeled and roughly diced

250g dried red lentils

1.5L chicken or vegetable stock (hot)

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

1 large clove garlic, finely chopped

1 olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

Bread, chopped basil and natural yoghurt to serve

What to do

Place a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the oil, onion and garlic and gently cook until the onion is translucent. Add the lentils, mix well with the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Then add the sweet potato, cauliflower and marjoram, Mix well to combine. Pour over the hot stock. Stir gently and increase the heat until the soup comes to a rapid simmer. Reduce the heat to low so that the soup is gently simmering, pop the lid on the pot and let it cook for at least 30 minutes. It is ready once the sweet potato and cauliflower is falling apart and very soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat. I preferred this as a smooth soup so I blended it with my stick blender until all the lumps were vitamised. But you can leave it as is with chunks if you prefer. If the soup is too thick for you, you can add more stock, water or milk to thin it out.

Serve warm with a dollop of natural yoghurt and some fresh bread. Sprinkle over some chopped fresh basil leaves or some grated cheese if you like.

Salted chocolate and caramel tart

Here is my birthday cake from this year. I didn't plan any celebration this year, being a little tired still from our return flight from Australia. But my good friend subtly suggested that a celebration would be in order, which got me thinking, 'Why not?' A quick flick through my library of cooking books for some ideas, a bit of grocery shopping and we enjoyed a little mid-week dinner party on the balcony.

The 'birthday cake' is a salted chocolate and caramel tart; very 'on-trend' I know, but combining all my favourite things; chocolate, caramel and salt. There are a few steps to this tart, but you could make and bake the pastry case the day before if you like. And it looked very pretty holding my birthday candles.

Gingerbread muffins

Christmas baking today. The house smells wonderful. I wanted to make some muffins, as I had some beautiful little Christmas muffin cups in the cupboard, and I just love the smells of cinnamon and ginger in baking. Given that the weather is also freezing cold today - currently it is 1 degree Celsius outside - what better than warming up the house a bit with the oven.

I didn't ice my muffins; you could if you like, but they are lovely to eat warm, directly from the oven with a cup of tea. Did I mention the divine baking smell?

Baked eggplant with feta, tomatoes and herbs

Yes, I admit it, I have a thing for eggplant. I am seeing someone about it - my green grocer. He's very helpful.

Here is another way to cook this most wonderful fruit (yes, it is a fruit!)

Broccoli with mushrooms and bacon

It is mushroom season in Europe at the moment. Due to a wetter-than-normal summer, there is a plentiful supply of many types of mushrooms.

In this recipe, I've used Eierschwammerl, a mushroom type native to central Europe, but you could use whatever mushrooms you have handy.

The Eierschwammerl have a short season, between July and October, depending on the weather. For this reason they can be expensive, unless you know where to go mushroom hunting to pick some for free. But the wonderful flavour and texture of these mushrooms is unlike anything I've ever had, so well worth the expense. A small amount of these mushrooms go a long way too as they are quite strong in flavour, but generally hold their shape quite well once cooked.

They go best in a creamy sauce for meat, game or bread dumplings (knodel). But I think this combination with broccoli and bacon is rather nice too.

Kaiserschmarrn (shredded pancakes)

This is my version of the typical Austrian dessert - Kaiserschmarrn. Basically, it is a large pancake that is shredded/chopped and is then served warm with fruit, a sweet sauce or some icing sugar. I've seen this dish served as an evening main meal, especially to children and especially in cold weather. It is also really wonderful for lunch after a day on the ski slopes.

In my version, I used dried cranberries, fresh strawberries, maple syrup and some icing sugar, although the icing sugar was only for decoration.

Eggplant schnitzel

These schnitzels are really gorgeous; crunchy, crispy coating and silky, soft eggplant inside. So, so delicious to eat. If there is anyone if your family who doesn't like eggplant, give them these and you might find they are converted. My grandmother used to make these when I was a child, so I have some nice memories of eating these too.

Mini caramel tarts

What I love most about this recipe; it's just so pretty! What I love second best; it has dulce de leche in it! What I love third best; crunchy, biscuity base. It goes on and on.....

Zucchini ribbons with tuna, olives and tomato

If you are eating Paleo or low-carb then this dish is perfect for you. Fish is a good source of protein but generally has less calories than a similar portion of beef or pork.

Banana ice cream sundae

Very quick little recipe/idea for a dessert, or afternoon special treat.

This ice cream sundae was my little treat on a Sunday afternoon, after having a marvelous time at a friend's birthday party the evening before. I needed a little pick-me-up (as you do) and as the weather was hot and sticky, this cool treat hit the spot.

Beef steak with pan-fried Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, bacon and aspargus

Recipe for one - I was very hungry, I was cooking just for myself and I love a good steak.

Berry, lemon curd and mascarpone sponge cake

One of the joys of living where I do is the availability of berries. Especially in late spring, summer and into autumn, they are cheap, plentiful and there are many varieties to choose from. But luckily too, berries are generally available all year round and are not too expensive, no matter the season.

Cheesy bacon and egg pies

Quick idea for school lunch boxes, or perhaps an after school snack. Or you could just make a batch of these and keep on hand in the fridge for hungry people for breakfast. Or a picnic. Just about anywhere really!

Spaghetti nests

This idea is borrowed - thanks Barb! This is really a serving idea, rather than a recipe, but if you have children this will go down a treat. It's also an excellent way to use up extra pasta - even if said pasta is a bit dried up and stuck together.

Panfried salmon with crunchy Asian-style salad

It's been a while, sorry! We moved apartments, so I've been a little busy getting everything in order at the new place.

If you've read any of my recipes, you will know I have a thing for lots of texture in my food, crunch in particular is my thing. This recipe with salmon and lots of crunchy vegetables ticks the crunch box for me. The freshness of the vegetables, herbs and nuts provides a good contrast to the richness of the salmon.

Ricotta and banana pancakes

Today is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, the first day of Lent for Christians around the world.

I remember as a child eating lots of pancakes at school on this day and wondering what it was all about. 'Why would Jesus eat pancakes,' I thought.

Now I'm celebrating Pancake Day with my own children, which is lovely, but makes me feel a little old too.

This recipe using ricotta and banana is excellent for fluffy and very tasty pancakes. I like to eat them hot out of the pan with some golden syrup drizzled over the top. Just delicious. Maybe these will be my sacrifice for Lent (or maybe not)!

Tuna, salmon and sweet corn burgers

This was a real 'what is in the cupboard that I can cook quickly for lunch' recipe.

I had hungry children due home in an hour and no time to run to a grocery shop. A search through the pantry cupboard revealed a tin of tuna in brine, one tin of pink salmon and a tin of sweet corn. Put all that together and you get the above - tuna, salmon and sweet corn burgers. The children had theirs as burgers on a bread roll with some lettuce and tomato. I had mine with an avocado and orange salad. Just delightful, and the leftovers went well for lunch the next day.