Syllabub.net

Very easy, very flexible - either a meal on its own or a hearty accompaniment.

Ingredients

• Assorted vegetables - eg onion, peppers, courgette, aubergine, sweet potato (anything really)
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Feta cheese
• Couscous
• Water/vegetable stock

Pre-heat oven to 200C. Chop up the vegetables into bite size pieces (you may wish to parboil potatoes) and arrange in a large oven dish. Pour over a generous splash of olive oil and some crushed garlic. Cook for about 45 minutes checking and shaking/mixing occasionally. It’s done when it’s all nicely cooked and crispy. Sprinkle some feta cheese over the top.

Make couscous by boiling some water (add veg stock if you fancy). Pour couscous (handful per person) into a bowl and add water/stock until just covered - leave for about 30 seconds and stir gently with a fork - repeat until cooked (less than 2 mins).

Mix couscous with vegetables and serve.

This is the easiest meal you will ever make (after toast) and is surprisingly delicious considering how simple it is and how few ingredients there are…

For 2

• 250g Frozen peas
• handful of fresh mint leaves
• Olive oil

Boil some salted water, add the mint leaves and after a minute add the peas. Cook for 2-3 minutes until peas are cooked. Sieve the pea/mint combo into a blender saving the cooking water. Leave to rest for a couple of minutes. Cover the peas with the saved water in the blender and whizz until you have a smooth soup. Add a few drops of olive oil and whizz for another couple of seconds. Serve immediately & season with salt & pepper. Ridiculously nice.

Again, a very dull area - like most people I have bought good and cheap pans over the years, but I think I may have bought my last one. Le Creuset 3-ply saucepan range (16/18/20cm) is beautifully constructed, will probably outlive me, and is probably perfect in every way. Feels good and solid, cooks very evenly and most of all looks fantastic - prices are around £40-£50 in my local department store (Bentalls in Kingston)