week1. Sunday: get baked

Sunday is my day to bake or make stock...stuff that needs either the indulgence of sugar or time (or both!)
So for dinner, I try to keep it simple.
I heated up the last of the (Thursday's) ragu-lash, added some cumin, cayenne and garlic salt. Let it simmer away until it was a sloppy stodge and served it with pepper jack cheese on honey-wheat hamburger buns.

An easy, quick coleslaw: grab a bag of shredded cabbage, pour over 1/3 cup of hot white wine vinegar. Add 1/3 cup of good olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, a pinch of caraway seeds and enough salt and pepper to make sense of it all.

A brew or two on the side, an easy Sunday dinner.

week 1. Saturday: get over it!

Feeling the need for being easy and green, I made The Wombat.

The Australian male has a reputation for imitating this reclusive marsupial because he eats roots and leaves.

Taking a look around the fridge, I found the rest of the parsnips, some baby carrots from last week and a couple of bunches of golden, baby beets.

There was a bag of arugula and fresh, peppery watercress too.
A can of chickpeas from the pantry, some shelled pistachios...

...And a tangy vinaigrette made from lemon, garlic, anchovy and dill.

The veggies were sliced, parboiled and dusted in spice and semolina. Roasted till sizzling and then tossed with some goat cheese into the salad bowl.

Serve it all with some grilled naan bread or a loaf of oven-hot wholemeal bread.

week1. Friday: Get Cheeky

Friday night is all about a cheeky little cocktail and a few choice canapes. Pals gather, most of them underemployed actors, and whilst they rant about new, evil tactics employed by casting agents, I busy myself making pitchers of old fashioneds, margaritas or just pouring some good wine.

This week it was just wine and cheese. A foxy bottle of Rioja. Gorgonzola drizzled in truffled honey, Aged gouda with quince paste. Some tapenade which had a clove of garlic crushed atop it and then a dollop of great olive oil (this is a great mix; use a crusty bit of bread to dip and smush the olives, garlic and oil together. Quite a delicious bite!).

We realised that we were all quite sated and cooking dinner was not neccessary. So we opened another bottle of wine and watched 'Lars and the Real Girl'.

Bring on the weekend!

week 1. Thursday; Get Cosy!

Thursday night is about the first round of leftovers. The weekend is on the horizon. If I cook on a Thursday, it is going to be simple and probably after meeting friends for happy hour (somewhere!)

Tonight is wet and chilly and the perfect dinner is going to be a pot of goulash and some steamy spuds with lashings of butter, pepper and dill.

Last night's ragu mama got heated up. I added loads of paprika and mushrooms. The potatoes were almost as bright red as the goulash! I love potatoes boiled in their jackets. A side of sour cream and more dill.

A meal in a bowl.

A good night to stay in, keep warm and get cosy!

week 1. Wednesday: Get Humped

Wednesday is my midweek 'date' night. Halfway to the weekend, I just want to throw together a 20 minute dinner, open a bottle of wine and get cuddly.

This week is all about the ragu mama. This sauce was put on the stove last night, did an evening in the fridge to sort itself out and tonight it just needs to be heated and put over a bed of pasta.

The sauce was kept deliberately simple so that I can season it up tomorrow night and turn it into a goulash.

So I add extra flavours to the pasta; toss some steamed Brussels sprouts in some burnt butter, some garlic, chili and chopped parsley. Maybe a shaving of parmesan and freshly grated nutmeg.

Spoon some ragu over the top. Serve with some wine and oven-crunchy bread.

week 1. Tuesday: Get Fresh!

Tuesday is my shopping day.
Farmer's Market for the veggies, Supermarket for the rest. Maybe a stop at the butcher or fish monger.
Today I bought delicious, fresh turkey sausages and sweet, baby parsnips.

Dinner tonight: Grilled sausages, potato & parsnip mash, cranberry chutney

Do ahead for tomorrow: start making the ragu mama

click here to see my weekly shopping list