Chorizo, Carrot and Lentil Soup with Garlic Croutons

When Sally told us that she had a mound of muddy, past it carrots in the bottom of her fridge we had a little ponder, looked around at what our own kitchen had to offer and came up with this soup.  It was amazing; spicy, smoky and sweet.

Lentils are the perfect way to bulk out and thicken up a soup and the garlic croutons added a nice crunch.  Although the bowls don’t look particularly large we were all left feeling full and satisfied.

Served 4: 61p per person

Ingredients:
Half a chorizo sausage £1
¼ bunch of parsley 25p
Onion 20p
Bunch of carrots approx £1
Total: £2.45

Store cupboard:
Red lentils
Remains of semi-stale loaf of bread
2 cloves garlic
Spicy smoked paprika
Stock pot
Olive oil

- Cut the chorizo into small chunks, chop the onion, garlic and carrots and slice the bread into bite-sized cubes.

- Toss the bread cubes in olive oil until lightly coated, season with salt and black pepper and sprinkle over the garlic.  Cook on a low heat in the oven until they are dried out and golden.

- Meanwhile, add the chorizo pieces and a little olive oil to a large pan and fry over a medium heat for a few minutes until they release some of their oil and are slightly browned.  Turn off the heat, remove the pieces with a slated spoon and set to one side.   You should be left with a flavourful, rusty red oil.

- Add the onion to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes.  Add the carrots and fry for a few more minutes.  Sprinkle over a tablespoon of paprika (or to taste) and stir in.  Boil the kettle and make up a 1 ½ litres of stock.

- Add a handful of lentils and stir for a couple of minutes before adding the stock.   Bring to the boil and then reduce and leave to simmer for around 20 minutes.

- Finely chop the parsley and add to the soup.  Check the seasoning. Turn off the heat and blend.

- Stir half the chorizo piece into the blended soup and divide between bowls.

- Top with the croutons, remaining chorizo and final sprinkling of parsley and serve.

Breakfast: Honey & Toasted Almond Porridge

This is super quick to make; perfect for rushed weekday mornings.  Oats and nuts release their energy nice and slowly so it ought to keep you going for a few hours.


Fed 1 - Multiply quantities as needed

Halloumi and Broad Bean Mash Wraps

Hot sunshine and vegetarian week inspired this combination. Each ingredient brought out the flavour of the other, although we think that garlic might be a nice addition to the yoghurt in future versions. Some spicy sausage would promote the wraps to near perfection. The marinated halloumi was lovely; it could easily be transferred to other dishes like simple salads or burgers.
We prepped and ate these on the roof; determined to be outside soaking up the evening heat.


Fed 5 for dinner: £1.42 per person (2 wraps each)

Ingredients:
1 Packet frozen broad beans £1.30
1 Lemon 30p
1 Tub natural yoghurt 55p
1 Cucumber 90p
2 Packets of wraps £1.80
1 Block halloumi £2.25
Total: £7.10


Storecupboard:
Honey
Mint (a handful)
Parsley (a handful)
Chilli flakes
Olive oil
Bouillon/Stock


- Drain and slice the halloumi, then marinade with juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of honey and a big pinch of chilli flakes.


- Chop the cucumber and squeeze out the excess water. Add it to the yoghurt and set aside.


- Cover the wraps in foil and heat gently in the oven.


- Tip the frozen beans into a large pan with about 2/3 glass of water and a teaspoon of stock powder. Turn on heat and stir until defrosted. Blend fairly well, then add herbs and blend until it's smooth.


- Meanwhile, add an extra drizzle of honey, then grill the halloumi until it turns golden. Turn it halfway through.


- Spread everything out on the table/picnic blanket and pile up your wraps.

Brick Lane Beigels with Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese

This is more of an idea than a recipe. 

Whenever we are out near Brick Lane for the night, we visit one of the beigel shops on the way home and pick up some supplies for the next morning.  We try to plan in advance and buy in some cream cheese, smoked salmon trimmings and lemon in preparation.

At 25p a pop they double up as a frugal drunken snack. 

Fed 5 for breakfast:  54p per person, per beigel.

Ingredients:

6 Beigels £1.50

Half tub of organic cream cheese 64p

Smoked salmon trimmings 90p

Lemon 20p

Total: £3.24

Store Cupboard:

Black pepper

- Halve the beigels and toast in the oven.

- Break up the smoked salmon trimmings.

- Spread each beigel half with cream cheese and top with smoked salmon.

- Squeeze over some lemon juice and add a good sprinkling of black pepper.

- Serve with a big pot of tea or coffee.

Sweet Potato, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad

This was a late night comfort dinner after a very long day at work.  It was a hasty effort which turned out better than planned.  The idea was to indulge in two garlic butter rolls, but a brainwave turned one roll into a sweet potato sandwich for the next days lunch - highly recommended.  Saint Augur blue cheese worked perfectly because it's so creamy, but any blue cheese would do.  The salad leaves and parsley came from our roof garden in Peckham - will post on that soon.


Fed 2 for dinner & 1 for lunch: 95p per person, per meal.

Ingredients:

75g Walnuts 75p

1 Large sweet potato £1

1/2 Packet blue cheese £1.10

Total: £2.85

Store Cupboard:

Bread

Butter

Garlic

Parsley

Salad leaves

- Peel and chop the sweet potato into equal size chunks and put them on to boil. Use a pan with a lid if possible. It will take abound 25 minutes.

- Put the butter into a dish with crushed garlic and parsley (enough for as many garlic bread rolls as you want - or you could make extra garlic butter to store in the fridge). Set aside.

- Cut the blue cheese into chunks and set aside.

- When the sweet potato is cooked through (push at a big piece with a knife to see if it's soft), drain it. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes.

- Put the bowl of butter inside the now empty pan with the lid for about a minute. The heat will soften the butter enough to mash the ingredients together.

- Put the walnuts, blue cheese and salad leaves in a serving bowl. Add the sweet potato chunks and mix it up.

- Serve with the garlic bread and a big glass of red wine.

If you are really pushed for time, you could try microwaving the sweet potato and have it cut open with the salad on top.

Courgette and Butter Pasta

We put this meal together one quiet Monday evening.  We were exhausted and couldn't be bothered to cook anything which required more effort than walking down the road for a Vietnamese.

Inspired by a vague memory of a River Café recipe printed years ago in the Guardian, the limited contents of our fridge led us to this dinner.  The courgette, cooked slowly in butter and its own juices, becomes so soft and creamy that there is no need for a sauce.

 

This meal is surprisingly satisfying for how simple it is and has a decidedly lower cost than the aforementioned alternative.

 

Fed 2: 43p per person.

Ingredients:
1 courgette 40p
Half packet of farfelle 45p
Total: 90p


Store cupboard:
Extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
30g butter
Parmesan

- Halve the courgette and slice fairly thinly, about 1cm thick.

- Gently fry the garlic in olive oil until soft and then add the courgette. 

- Season the courgette with salt, stirring until the courgette slices begin to soften.

 - Add half of the butter to the courgette, stir in and reduce the heat.

- Cook the pasta in salted boiling water.

- Continue stirring the courgette slices for another 10-15 minutes while the pasta is cooking.  They should be really soft and starting to collapse.  Add a little of the pasta water if they start to become dry or stuck to the pan.

- Stir in the rest of the butter and remove from the heat.

- Drain the pasta and tip into the courgette and butter sauce.  Toss well to coat.

- Serve in bowls, topped with black pepper and plenty of parmesan.

Grana Padana and Pecorino are good alternatives to Parmesan and are often a bit cheaper too.

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Thyme

Scrambling eggs is an art in itself, the key is to not overcomplicate it.

We have tried an array of different methods and combinations, including scrambling duck eggs which ended in an over whisked grey mound with a grainy consistency.  Not recommended.  This recipe keeps it simple.  The butter and thyme give the eggs a creamy aromatic flavour.  Dried thyme holds its flavour better than most herbs, working just as well if you don't have access to fresh thyme like we did.

These eggs make a great breakfast dish on their own or with a couple of rashers of crispy grilled bacon.

Fed 2.

Ingredients:

3 medium sized eggs

A dash of milk

A couple of sprigs of Thyme

Knob of butter
Salt and pepper

- Crack the eggs into the bowl, adding a dash of milk (about 4tbsp), salt and pepper and the thyme.

- Gently whisk the mixture for about 20-30 seconds until all combined.  

- Heat a large knob of butter in a frying pan on a moderate to low heat.  Once melted add the egg mixture and leave for about 20 seconds. 

- With a wooden spoon lift and fold the mixture from the bottom of the pan and leave for about 10-15 seconds, then stir again.  Repeat this process until the eggs are almost cooked through, as they will continue to cook for a couple more seconds after removed from the heat. 

- Serve however you wish, with a piece of toast or as part of a full english.