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As mentioned in Day 41 of The Challenge Vegetables stewed with prunes and warm (rather than hot) spices served over couscous. What better for a rainy autumn afternoon? Especially not knowing how well the friend coming to lunch tolerates spice... Ingredients: 3 red onions, chopped 2 tomatoes , diced 3 carrots, chopped Half a head of garlic, sliced 6 celery sticks, chopped 400g chickpeas 400ml vegetable broth 1/2 c tomato passata 100 g prunes, pitted and chopped (or apricots could work) 1 cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp tandoori powder (I like the light heat and the warmth of this spice, but you can use paprika if you'd rather) 1 tsp of Aloha Spiced Cacao (or cocoa powder) 3 tsp urfa biber or chilli flakes Salt and pepper to taste 1) Put a heavy oven proof dish in the oven without its lid, and heat to 180°C. 2) Chop your veg and add to the preheated dish. Add spices and stock, replace in the oven and allow to cook 1 - 1 1/4 hours until vegetables are almost tender (I like the carrots and celery to have a little bite left) and flavours have blended. Taste test and serve over couscous. Super simple, tasty and easily adapted to different veg, chicken or different levels of spice. It diffuses a lovely smell through the house, and on a cold afternoon warms you from the inside.

A friend sent me a recipe from another blog, agoodcarrot.com, for Turkish rice. The recipe looked good and it occurred to me that I hadn't made any stuffed grape leaves in a while, and that I had the necessary ingredients on hand. Tomorrow's lunch planned! Massive caveat to doing this in the late morning with a teething 1 year old: it takes a while to fold grape leaves! The rice, slightly modified to suit my pantry and tastes, took no time to cook what so ever, but then folding was another story. Moral of this: plan a little further ahead and give yourself more time than I did! They were tasty enough to make up for the delay in lunch though, so no worries. Ingredients: for the rice: 1 onion, chopped 1/2 c raisins, chopped 2 1/2 tbsp dried mint, crushed 3 tbsp olive oil 1/2 c walnuts, chopped 2 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp allspice 2 c rice 3 c water salt and pepper to taste 1 packet grape leaves, washed 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice 1 egg, beaten 1) Heat oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions until they are translucent. Add the nuts and toast lightly. Add the raisins, spices and rice and cook for a further couple of minutes on medium heat, until the rice becomes translucent. 2) Add the mint and water and stir, and bring to the boil. At this point, put a tight lid on the pot and then you can either do what I did and put it in a Wonderbag slow cooker, or you can lower the heat and cook until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). 3) Cool the rice! Then fold into the grape leaves: cut the stem off a leaf and place it stem-stump down on your palm. Place a small amount of rice filling (approx. 2 tsp) in the centre and fold in the sides then roll it up to the top. Place seam side down in a heavy bottomed pot. Use torn or small leaves to line the pot. 4) Pour 1 1/2 c water and 1 tbsp olive oil over the top and place a plate on the stuffed bundles to keep them from floating. Heat the pot over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes. 5) Beat the egg and lemon juice together and pour evenly over the stuffed leaves and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. 6) Serve! These were really tasty! I highly recommend them, provided you have enough time. The rice is very tasty on its own too, so if you don't have time to fold them, just serve it as a side for something else. With some of the left over rice, I made rice balls stuffed with orange peel and raisins with cloves and fenugreek, a couple of days later and served them with a very simple minty tzatziki and lentil sliders.

As mentioned in Day 39 of The Challenge We haven't had this one in a while, but the local farmer we frequent had beets again so with autumn cool coming on, this was the perfect choice. Ingredients: 4 large beets, chopped 3 carrots, chopped 2 onions, chopped 3 potatoes, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil 1 litre of beef stock 1 c apple cider vinegar 2 tsp thyme salt and pepper to taste 1-2 tsp sour cream per serving 1) Heat oil in a large soup pot and sauté onions until translucent. Add carrots, potatoes and beets. Stir allowing them to sauté for about 5 minutes. 2) Pour in broth and cider, just to a little over the level of the vegetables and add seasoning. 3) Simmer until the root vegetables are tender, then blend to desired smoothness. i like it almost fully blended, but it is also good chunky. 4) Taste test and adjust vinegar or seasoning. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream. Not too heavy, but warming and autumnal, with a rich colour and rich flavour highlighted by a vinegary tang, I love borscht.

As mentioned in Day 38 of The Challenge This can be vegetarian, as this was, or with ham and bacon, but either way it's tasty and satisfying, while also being easy and quick to assemble. Ingredients: 2 c peas 1 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, chopped 4 potatoes, chopped 2 carrots chopped. 2 tbsp lemon Salt and pepper to taste 1) Sauté onions in oil in a saucepan. Add potatoes and carrots and sauté for a minute longer, then add the peas and enough water to cover the veg. 2) Bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Blitz to desired smoothness. 3) Serve into bowls and drizzle the lemon juice over the top and season as desired. Simple and satisfying especially served with crusty bread and some cheese.

As mentioned in Day 35 of The Challenge This is a recipe which I very much enjoy, but full disclosure here, it isn't mine, it is my husband's. I had never had it before moving in with him, and he has developed and tweaked it and made it truly his own in the years since. I am always delighted when he decides to make it again, and it is too good not to share. As with almost everything I make (I seem to say this a lot), it is endlessly variable, with different vegetables being able to be included or substituted. Here's the one he made me this time, so moreish just before a night shift, I ended up not wanting my midnight lunch. Ingredients: 500g long grain rice (we used a wild rice mix) 500g kidney beans, cooked (or others of your choice. Traditionally it would be with black eyed peas, but those are hard to obtain here) 200g bacon cut into chunks 200 g cabbage chopped 2-3 chillies, sliced 3 onions, chopped 2 carrots, chopped 2 tsp chilli powder 1 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1) Fry onions in olive oil in a pan until translucent. Add bacon and stir. Once bacon starts to give off juices, add cabbage and carrot. Add any other herby notes here if you so desire. 2) Cook rice as per instructions. Reserve any cooking liquid from the beans and the rice. 3) Once the rice is cooked, add it to the bacon and veg mix with beans. Add any reserved liquid or about 1/2 c of water and stir. 4) Simmer and spice to taste. Serve hot. Very simple, minimal dishes but very versatile, tasty and filling.

Feel free to add more heat, or add a couple of drops of hot sauce once it's served up so everyone can Use gluten-free noodles and soy sauce and it is gluten-free.

fun of it I decided to form mine into ro-shays - ahem, rochers for those who speak French- , but feel free

Thanksgiving was last week, and unfortunately - mid-November not being considered part of the festive season here, and there being, therefore, no reason for them to be available - no turkeys were to be had, even for ready money. We discovered the day before the Big Feast that we could have ordered one, but this required a few days' notice. Instead, we decided to have a Thanksgiving Ham. We modified our standard cornbread stuffing recipe by adding a little orange zest to it, then bedded the ham down on that. Smothering it in a gingery apple sauce, and then blanketing everything in bacon, all elements came out moist, basted and richly delicious. Paired with sweet potatoes, broccoli, basil carrots and baking powder biscuits, this was truly a Big Feast (as Little Bit calls it), enjoyed as a family. Ingredients. 1 smoked ham (ours was roughly a kg) 8 - 10 rashers of bacon 1 - 1 1/2 c apple sauce ~ 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated 5 c stuffing 1) 3/4 fill an oven-proof dish with the stuffing of your choice. Make a small hollow in the centre and nestle the ham in it. Smother the ham in the apple sauce and grate ginger over the top. Lay bacon over the whole. 2) Roast at 165°C for about 3 hours. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving. Enjoy with trimmings! We all agreed that the ham stood in nicely for the turkey at our Thanksgiving dinner and that this was a cooking method to be added into the rotation. The apple and ginger imparted a subtle but discernible and tasty note to the ham, which matched well with the orange note in the stuffing. Bacon was bacon, and therefore not to be argued with. Everything was moist and delicious. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

bits. 3) EITHER place in Ice cream churn until thick and nearly frozen, then place in container in the freezer OR place directly in a container in the freezer, relying on the lightness of the whipped cream for the Place in a container and freeze.

I am not vegetarian, gluten-free or vegan (a glance at my other recipes should confirm that for anyone