I hate the idea of food waste, so instead of tossing them in the compost, I decided to try and salvage I decided that Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky was too depressing and I wasn't in the mood, so instead Definitely worth a read if your mood can handle it though.

This was the result this evening, and it seemed good enough to share, so here it is.

Sweet Potatoes are normally really expensive here, so when the price drops, I buy up loads of them. Usually, being a tuber, they last pretty well. This time though, that meant using up 4 kilos of sweet potatoes fast. After putting a couple in a few other dishes and still having a mountain of them to use, I chopped off the ugly bits and made soup. As often happens, I didn't have a very clear idea when I started of where I was heading with this soup, but I am really happy with where it ended up, so thought I'd share. I had thought maybe I would go a big veggie soup direction, or maybe cream of sweet potato soup, or something coconutty. The Fromage Blanc was the last from my most recent batch of homemade cheese, and the chives were the only ones that poked their heads through this year. The pot looked rather like a bald man's head with only a few green hairs sprinkled around. I used chicken stock as I had some from a recent chicken dish, but veggie stock would have worked well too. It all came together very nicely though! Ingredients: For the soup: 2 tbsp olive oil 3-4 onions, chopped 4 cm ginger, diced 2 - 2,5 kg sweet potatoes, chopped 4 c chicken stock 1 tsp Urfa Biber 1 tbsp nigella seeds 1 - 1 1/2 c corn Salt and pepper to taste for the red pepper paste: 1 red pepper 1 red chilli pepper 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 1 onion, chopped For the fromage blanc 3/4 c fromage blanc (or cream cheese) 2-3 tbsp fresh chives 1/2 tsp garlic powder salt 1) Place red pepper and chilli in the oven, whole at 200°C for 20-30 minutes, until the red pepper is soft and starting to char. 2) In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onion and ginger. 3) Add sweet potato and stock. Add water until the sweet potatoes are just covered and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 - 25 minutes until sweet potatoes are soft. 4) Using a hand blender, blitz soup until it is most of the way smooth. Add corn, Urfa and nigella seeds. 5) Meanwhile, remove peppers from the oven and blitz in a blender with the onion, olive oil and vinegar. (I used olive oil left over from preserving my Cabécou Goat's cheese). 6) In a bowl, mix the fresh cheese, chives, garlic powder and salt. 7) Serve the soup hot, with dolloping options of fresh cheese and red pepper paste. I am really happy with this soup. Having the fresh cheese and the red pepper paste on the side meant we were each able to spice it up or make it creamy according to our own tastes. This also continues the trend of keeping spicy things on the side so that Little Bit can eat the same meal as us. He wanted corn from the tin while I was cooking, so I ended up needing more corn than anticipated, but then he offered me 5 kernels for the soup. Individually of course. He was very proud of his contribution too! The fresh cheese was very tasty, and I enjoyed the creaminess as it melted into the soup, but the soul also works really well without it. The red pepper paste is tasty in its own right, and I am happy to have it around for other purposes too. I like happy accidents in cooking!

I went looking for spicing inspiration in Food DIY by Tim Hayward, which I discovered was a good choice Place a quail egg in the centre and fold the meat around the egg and pinch it shut. 5) Roll the ball

This one isn't anything particularly spectacular, but it was quick and easy for a week night dinner and very tasty, so I thought it maybe worth sharing. Little Bit loved it for all the bits he could pick out and identify and get excited about (and for the mess he could make with the couscous). Ingredients: For the couscous: 1 c couscous 2 c water 1 tbsp olive oil 1 carrot, grated 1/2 c raisins 3 cloves 2 tsp curry powder (I used a pineapple curry powder from a spice market) Salt to taste 1 tbsp butter For the veg: 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1/2 head of broccoli, floretted and chopped 2 - 3 cm butternut, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 2 tsp zathar 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp honey 3/4 c chopped almonds, toasted 1) Heat oil in a small saucepan and toss the couscous. Add the other ingredients except the butter, bring to a simmer, and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed and the couscous is fluffy. Add the butter and mix it in, allowing it to melt into the couscous. 2) For the veg, in a large sauté pan, heat the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil. Sauté onions until beginning to soften. Add other veg, balsamic, honey and zathar, and cook until veg is tender - about 10 minutes. 3) Spoon the veg over the couscous and serve. Sprinkle warm, toasted almonds over the top. Full of veggies, with a little crunch from the almonds and some sweetness from the raisins, it was satisfying and flavourful. The balsamic and honey balanced each other nicely, with the sweet curry flavour adding further flavour notes. Dead simple, this pulled together in under a half hour and was filling and satisfying, not to mention healthy! The butter could be skipped to make this vegan, or bits of chicken could be added just after the onion for the carnivores out there.

As mentioned in Day 39 of The Challenge Pancakes are an easy classic. For whatever reason we decided to have pancakes and bacon for dinner, but to give it a veneer of respectability we made the apple cinnamon pancakes. Ingredients: 1 1/2 c flour 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 3 tbsp sugar 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3 tbsp melted butter 2 eggs 3/4 - 1 c milk 1 apple, grated 1) Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add wet ingredients one by one, mixing after each addition. 2) Melt butter in a heavy bottomed skillet, and drop a large spoonful of batter into the skillet. Wait until the bubbles have come to the top of each pancake and popped, then flip them. When the second side is golden brown, serve up. We had ours with bacon and maple syrup, quark and cinnamon sugar, and a fresh cheese on the side. I've never tried this before, and was happy with how they turned out. I highly recommend trying these, both with the apple and with the cheese, but step up the amount of apple. It was more prominent in the batter than in the cooked pancakes. It made a tasty, very adult dinner.

It is veggie-packed but was not too heavy, which was a relief after all the rich food around Christmas

Everyone I shared either with (and not just sycophantic family members who have to tell me they're good

As mentioned on Day 56 of The Challenge This is a classic comfort food. In any case, I always find it very satisfying and comforting.

I simply folded them in pie crust, brushed with olive oil and baked in the airfryer at 195°C for 8 minutes