Dad's Cuisine

Looking for ways to hide vegetables in a meal? Pine nuts, mint and cherry tomatoes combine in this courgette and goat's cheese tart that will have even the fussiest of diners asking for more. For as long as I've been encouraging Dad to cook healthy, tasty meals , getting him to eat vegetables has continued to be an ongoing battle. It's a battle that has been raging for most of his life.  I can clearly recall how the battle lines were drawn at the beginning of every meal at home. Mum, serving the food, would send over some friendly fire, nonchalantly adding some vegetables to Dad's plate by strategically concealing them behind a large potato. But Dad, eyeing the servings with gimlet eyes, would respond to the perceived unfriendly fire by protesting loudly that there were far too many vegetables on his plate ("That's enough!" he'd cry urgently, seeing a handful of peas dwarfed by a generous helping of beef and potatoes.) Eyes narrowed, he would proceed t...

Christmas spice cake Laced with deliciously warming spices, this Christmas spice cake is the perfect way to kick off the holiday season. Mum would spend the weeks leading up to Christmas frantically getting everything ready. Food, gifts, decorations: no-one did Christmas like my Mum. As was traditional, she would get the Christmas pudding started weeks in advance, on Stir-up Sunday ; one of my earliest memories is standing on the stool at the kitchen counter and giving the Christmas pudding the traditional stir while making an earnest wish. That was the start of Christmas when I was a child.  Christmas is one of the hardest periods of the year since Mum left us - it's never been the same as when I was a child. But I'm determined to make sure my kids have the same special memories of Christmas traditions that my Mum gave to me, because they last forever and bring comfort on some of the darkest days. So, I find myself running around frantically getting everything ready, just lik...

No matter how much your family claims to hate cauliflower and broccoli, they'll be eating great florets of the stuff with this easy recipe for cauliflower and broccoli cheese Cauliflower cheese Cauliflower cheese - also known as cauliflower gratin - is possibly the most comforting dish known to mankind. I exaggerate, perhaps. But there's something so homely and reassuring about cauliflower cheese. It's a wonderful winter warmer, is great a side dish to a roast dinner and is a tasty choice for a quick lunch.  I don't know many (any)  people who would stand up and  claim cauliflower as their favourite vegetable. Yet, as the main ingredient in this dish, it's a winner. I've combined it here with broccoli because you can never have too much leafy veg, and I think the splash of green is appealing and breaks up the visual b landness of an otherwise monochrome dish. Cauliflower and broccoli cheese   And as they say, the secret is in the sauce. This easy recipe for c...

Chestnut and feta cheese burgers Quick and easy to make and with a grown-up twist, chestnut and feta cheese burgers are a hearty, healthy vegetarian alternative to burgers.  Chestnut and feta cheese burger My favourite way to eat fresh chestnuts is roasted - ideally over an open fire, as Perry Como crooned. They take me straight back to those colder autumn days - in fact, one of our favourite weekend activities when the temperatures drop is to forage for mushrooms and chestnuts. But you don't need to wait until it gets colder outside to enjoy this recipe. Although I opt for fresh vegetables whenever I can, I always have tins of pulses and veg available to prepare something quickly. Lentils, kidney beans, chick peas, tomatoes, peas, corn and chestnuts are store cupboard essentials for me.   Chestnuts have a lovely meaty texture, so they're ideal for recipes where you want a bit of bulk. They're also sweet, making them versatile enough to use in both s...

Lentil and coconut soup Great for cooler evenings, this comforting vegan lentil and coconut soup will warm you up, inside and out. We're about to enter our fifth week of lockdown, and we're now used to this new normal. Who knew there were so many hours in the day? We have so much time! I think the thing I've noticed the most is the amount of meals we get through. Usually - in what we now refer to as the olden days - we'd share one evening meal, gathered around the table hastily telling each other about our days' ups and downs. I'd often make dinner 24 hours in advance, so I could just chuck it into the oven to heat up - a great time saver when you're in a rush, but it does make the evenings stretch out.  I no longer start my days gulping down a quick coffee and nagging the kids to hurry up or they'll be late for school. Lunch is no longer a hasty sandwich at my desk. We can no longer have cheat nights and order a takeaway for dinner. Everything...

Cheese and asparagus pastry pockets Spring is in the air. Celebrate the changing of the seasons with these cheese and asparagus pastry pockets. Cheese and asparagus pastry pockets April heralds the beginning of asparagus season, which is one of my favourite vegetables. I usually just roast them in the oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper, but lately I've had to get a bit more creative in the kitchen. Like most of you, I've been staying indoors over the past few weeks, keeping myself and my family as safe as I can. It means I can't see Dad, which is difficult for all of us, but we're keeping in touch every day and I send him some home-cooked meals a couple of times a week, much to his delight.  Spending all this time with my husband and kids (while working remotely full time and homeschooling two very energetic boys) has, beyond all expectations, been a real treat. But having to prepare three meals a day for four hungry mouths means that I hav...

SPICY KIDNEY BEAN STEW Looking for some healthy comfort food? This vegan spicy kidney bean stew is perfect for a quick and hearty supper. Kidney beans tend to be one of my kitchen staples. They're versatile,  incredibly healthy , satisfyingly filling, and while they can be fairly bland when they're eaten by themselves, they make a great alternative in ground beef dishes, and are perfect for soaking up the flavors in a sauce.  I was inspired to make this dish after visiting Mexico and not eating a single chili dish while I was out there.  After eating mountains of guacamole and tons of tacos, I was craving something spicy when I got home. But an authentic Mexican chili (not chili con carne, which is a Tex-Mex dish) usually uses jalapeño peppers and chili powder, whereas I wanted a dish that was spicy without being fiery. In fact, this spicy kidney bean stew has more in common with the lentil dhal I made a few weeks ago....

ROASTED SWEET POTATO AND COURGETTE IN LIME, GINGER AND BASIL DRESSING Add a bit of the exotic to your midweek supper with this roasted sweet potato and courgette in lime, ginger and basil dressing!  Roasted sweet potato and courgette in lime, ginger and basil dressing I can very clearly remember the first time I heard of a sweet potato. I was 11 years old and chatting to my schoolfriend Lizzy, who hailed from Kenya. We were both boarders at our all girls' school in south-East England.  On a cold and dreary Sunday that didn't seem to end, we began lamenting about what we missed most from home, and the conversation inevitably turned to food (it usually does with me). We both desperately missed our Mums' cooking, of course. But then Lizzy mentioned how much she missed sweet potatoes. Now, I loved potatoes in all forms - mash, chips, crisps, wedges: you name it, I'd eat it - but I had never heard of sweet potatoes. "What do they taste like?" I aske...

LENTIL DHAL WITH SPINACH  A mild Indian vegetarian dish filled with aromatic spices that's healthy, tasty and easy to make. Lentil dhal with spinach There are so many variations on recipes for dhal, an Indian staple and one of the few vegetarian meals that Dad actually requests when he goes to an Indian restaurant. I know that Dad misses decent Indian cuisine.  He spent his childhood in Burma and India, so his definition of comfort food is curry , curry and more curry.  When Mum and Dad met, he let her know pretty quickly that the way to his heart was through rock n' roll and food. Mum worked in the music industry and took him along to the best nightclubs and parties to rub shoulders with the stars of the sixties music scene, so the rock n' roll part was covered. And as for curries; Mum - a Welshwoman who grew up in London - rolled up her sleeves and got to work mastering the art of making the perfect curry, learning alongside an Indian woman she met when t...

Baked sweet potato stuffed with spinach and omelette Loaded with protein and fibre, this low-fat baked sweet potato stuffed with spinach omelette is an all-in-one meal that will keep you going for hours!  When I was a student, I can't say that cooking was my strong point. Away from Mum's healthy, varied diet, I survived on burgers, fries and pizza. When I did 'cook', I wasn't very adventurous: it was pasta or baked potatoes on rotation  I'd bake them in the microwave, load them with cheese and far too much butter, scoff them up in minutes and run out the door. Ah, those halcyon days when exercise consisted of dancing in clubs and running to lectures (or the pub), and I laughed in the face of carbs. I ate so many baked potatoes that I didn't go near them for years after I left University. So I decided to revisit this kitchen classic from my student days with this baked sweet potato stuffed with spinach omelette . It's a little more exci...

Caramelized onions and Camembert tart with hazelnut pastry This sweet and savoury tart with caramelized onions and melted Camembert is just the ticket when you want to indulge yourself on a cold winter evening. While preparing this recipe for caramelized onions and Camembert tart , I was transported back to my Mum's kitchen. I would often wander in to find her leaning over the kitchen counter, crying her eyes out and brandishing a sharp knife - no, she wasn't about to carry out a crime de passion ; she was merely chopping onions. And although I did shed a few tears making this, I think I may have found the best way to chop onions without crying - or at least to stem the flow of tears as much as possible.  I really love to make dishes with caramelized onions: they add a delicious sweetness to any savoury dish. I was inspired to make this recipe after my uncle visited my father recently. We hadn't seen him for about ten years, and Dad was thrilled to be ab...

A BIT ABOUT ONIONS Onions are used so often in cooking that their benefits are often overlooked, yet there's so much more to them than meets the (teary) eye! Onions are highly versatile root vegetables that are rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals, low in calories, and bursting with flavour. What's not to love? As well as Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6 and sulphur, onions contain fibre and add flavour to dishes like curries, lasagne, soups, stews and everything in between.  Let's take a closer look at that most humble of kitchen staples: the onion. Cooking onions Onions come in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes. The most common are yellow, white and red. Red onions are great for adding a touch of color to your dishes, and their mild flavour makes them an ideal addition to salads and dips. Chives, shallots and leeks are also part of the onion family, while spring onions have a lovely mild and sweet flavour. A great many people enjoy eating raw onions ...

CHRISTMAS GINGER CAKES Looking for an alternative to traditional mince pies at Christmas? Spice up the holiday season with these mini ginger cakes. These ginger cakes are part of my rebellion against mince pies. I hate mince pies. There, I said it. I don't hate them completely: I really love the buttery pastry, I love how they smell, and I love the mulled wine that often accompanies them. But I loathe the sticky, sweet stuffing of a mince pie. Despite all my best efforts - and there have been many - I can't bring myself to enjoy them, much to my mother's despair. But these ginger cakes are a fantastic alternative - or even a complement - to mince pies. They're not overly sweet, have a nice spicy kick and combine orange zest, ginger and cloves for a real Christmas flavour.  A few years ago, I offered to host Christmas on the condition there were no mince pies or Brussels sprouts. Mum, being a stickler for tradition, was aghast. I explained that I would be ...