Channa Masala

With the evenings drawing in - the heating ready to be turned on - the trees dropping their orange coats - its time for warm, nourishing, flavoursome dishes with spice!

This is a simple dish but also very cheap whilst being very good for you! Its nourishing and nurturing perfect for these Autumnal days. It also can be made in batches and frozen ready to feed a family a few evening meals.

Top Tip - don't worry about taking off the skin of ginger - just chop or grate the ginger with the skin (after a good wash) and the skin will cook with the flesh of the ginger. Saves so much time and is more nutritious too!

You can add in split red lentils too or instead of the chickpeas - tastes just as good, is just as economical too!

Chana Masala

Makes 1 portion – enough for small foil container. Multiply as necessary

5 tbsp chick peas

5 tbsp tinned tomatoes

1 small onion

1 clove of garlic

Knob of butter

Grated ginger (1cm cube size)

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

½ tsp coriander powder

½ tsp cumin powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

Squeeze of lemon juice

Sprigs of fresh coriander

Pinch of salt & pepper

½ tsp sugar

1. Cook the chickpeas for 20 minutes in water

2. Prepare onion – finely chop and cook with butter over a low heat in a frying pan

3. Peel and crush the garlic and add to the frying pan

4. Turn up the heat to medium and add the spices – turmeric/garam masala/coriander powder/cumin powder and cumin seeds & stir occasionally

5. Turn down the heat after 3-4 minutes and add the grated ginger, salt, pepper & sugar & mix thoroughly all the ingredients

6. Add the chick peas and tinned tomatoes – stir and keep at a low-medium heat for 20-30 minutes (stirring occasionally)

7. Then add a generous squeeze of lemon juice and tear of the coriander (you can include the stalks) and add

8. Mix thoroughly cook for 3-4 minutes and serve with roti or rice and yoghurt

To make it hot & spicy – add a chopped red chilli with the other spices!

Banoffee Pie

This timeless classic is one of the simplest and most popular puddings ever! Mix & Munch cooks absolutely love making and eating it and the parents are lucky if they get a smidgen!

Children and adults love it and its always the first pudding to be finished at any dinner party!

Use different flavour biscuits - biscoffi/oaties/gingernuts/richtea/bourbons for a different base.

Life is too short to make the caramel from condensed milk - the ready bought caramel is excellent and just as good as the home-made version.

Makes 1 small banoffee pie in a ramekin dish

2 digestive (or ginger) biscuits

5-10g unsalted butter

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of ginger

1/3 of a banana sliced

1 tbsp. of Carnation ready-made toffee

1 tbsp. of whipped double cream

1. Bash the biscuits in a small plastic bag with a rolling pin (or use a blender)

2. Melt the butter and add to the biscuits along with the cinnamon and ginger and put into the ramekin and flatten with the back of a spoon. Put into a fridge or freezer (depending on time available) until the base is firm.

3. Meanwhile whip the double cream and slice the banana

4. When the base is firm take it out of the fridge/freezer and add the chopped bananas on the base, then add the toffee and top with the whipped double cream

5. Decorate with sprinklings/gratings of chocolate/edible gold and/or silver spray or powder drinking chocolate.

6. Chill in fridge (or freezer if in a rush)

A ramekin is a perfect portion of pudding and looks very stylish - or you can make a large banoffee by multiplying the above ingredients by 8 and using a large pie dish

Quinoa salad with Feta, Pomegranate and Fresh Herbs

Salads have become a little more interesting over the years with the use of fruit, nuts and different kinds of grains. I like to do a bit of an interesting salad with our BBQ food to bring some refreshing flavours to the sometimes heavy BBQ meat and this one we have used a lot - its an adaptation of a Mary Berry recipe.

This is delicious on its own - or as a side dish at a BBQ. It can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Quinoa Salad with Feta, Pomegranate and Fresh Herbs

Serves 8

Packet of quinoa and/or mix with packet of ready cooked lentils/bulgar wheat or pearl barley

Vegetable stock

3 spring onions

1 block feta cheese

7 stalks of coriander leaves

7 stalks of mint

7 stalks of parsley

1 pomegranate - seeds

3 lemons - juices

4 tbsp olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Handful of Olives halved - optional

Red pepper - diced - optional

1. Cook the quinoa with the stock and allow it to cool

2. Cut the feta into 1/2cm blocks and add

3. Take out the pomegranate seeds and add

4. Cut the spring onions into 1/2 pieces (add the diced peppers, halved olives if desired) and add

5. Remove the stalks from the herbs and finely chop the herb leaves (mint, coriander & parsley) and add

6. Squeeze the lemon juice and mix with the olive oil and salt and pepper

7. Gently mix all together and mix through the salad dressing

You can substitute the pomegranate for half slices of clementine and increase the mint

Take out the quinoa or grains and add watermelon for a more fruity salad