| Very nice easy, healthy and flavourful dinner to make for a midweek meal. I used Frylight cooking spray instead of olive oil to cut down on the calories and this worked well. I did serve this with some new potatoes as I wasn't sure if it would be substantial enough for dinner, but as the fillets I had were quite large I needn't have as the main dish was more than enough. |
| This is a very good, warming, hearty dish for a cold evening. I used fresh thyme and dried rosemary and there was lots of flavour. It smelled great while it was cooking in the oven and my potatoes didn't come out as crisp as in the photo, but that's because the smell was making me too hungry to wait any longer! |
| I used this more as an inspiration than as an actual recipe as I already had a tin of Cajun seasoning lying around, which I used instead of the prescribed recipe. I pretty much make my potato wedges the same way anyway most of the time so the only thing I really did word for word from this recipe was the chive dip which is just two ingredients - low fat yogurt and chives! Still, it made for an easy, healthy weeknight meal which my partner and I both enjoyed. |
| A very nice, simple chicken stew. This tasted good, though as it was ever-so-slightly bland, I may use hot smoked paprika next time, or just plain paprika instead of the sweet-smoked variety I used this first time. This reheated very well for lunch. |
| These burgers were tastier than I expected them to be and I was very pleased considering they are pretty healthy. I thought they might be a bit too wet with the grated courgettes and onions in them, but they were solid enough. I'm glad the recipe specified cooking them in a frying pan though as I think they would have fallen apart on a griddle pan, which is how I usually cook burgers. |
| This is a terrific main dish to make for a dinner party. After some initial, easy prep, the lamb shanks and some other bits are left to stew in the oven in a wine and balsamic vinegar-flavoured sauce for three hours (with the chorizo and veg added after two hours). This was flavourful and went well with mashed potatoes. Lorraine gives instructions on how to reduce down the sauce for a thicker gravy but I didn't find that necessary. |
| This is a simple, straightforward recipe for roasting a pork shoulder, which was exactly what I was looking for as up until yesterday I had never done so before. The pork itself turned out beautifully and was soft and tender and the gravy to go with it was easy and delicious. However, it did feel as if some instructions were partially missing. Maybe my pork wasn't fatty enough to have much in the way of juices once it had cooked for a couple of hours (I did a 1.6kg joint for 4 1/2 hours total at 140 deg fan), but I took it upon myself to drizzle some olive oil over the vegetables halfway through as without it they were looking very dry. I'm glad I did so as the potatoes especially came out very well, with nice, crunchy brown edges. However, with the timings given by Lorraine, my carrots were still hard in the middle. Also, sprigs of fresh thyme are shown in the recipe photograph, but there is no mention of it in the recipe itself, unless it is just there as a garnish. In any case, I'm glad I tried this recipe, but I will use it as a starting point to use more interesting versions in the future. |
| A very simple and quick way of cooking haddock, which yielded a lot of flavour in the sauce. The minimal amount of chopping and prep made this an ideal weeknight dinner. I served this with buttered new potatoes and vegetables on the side instead of rice, as the author suggested. |
| After doing Nigella's version of this from Kitchen for the last few years, I stumbled across this recipe and decided to give it a go as it seemed ever-so-slightly more straightforward. This was quick and easy and came out very well, with lots of flavour, and dare I say it, but I think I may prefer Lorraine's version to Nigella's. The chopped spring onions and sesame seeds (which I didn't bother to toast) added a subtle crunch to the texture and the sauce thickened nicely. My only complaint is that this dish is quite sugary, but then I suppose that's what makes it taste so good! |
| This was simple enough to make and consisted of ingredients that give good flavour (chorizo, lemon and thyme for example), but overall, although it was nice, it was very basic and nothing very special. I didn't really see the point of topping the fish with most of the chorizo and some lemon zest, only to add the rest of those two ingredients for another five minutes at the end. |
| This is healthy and tasty and does not take a long time to cook, making it good for a weeknight. I did find getting the timings between the two pans on the go to be a bit of a balancing act as there was always something going on in both, but I suppose as the book is called "how to be a better cook," it is a good lesson in timing! I halved this recipe as I was just cooking for two, though I might not halve the sauce ingredients so much next time as it was a bit light on the sauce front. I didn't add chilli and ginger to my rice as I prefer my rice plain, although I can see how it would be good. |
| This is an excellent substitute if you are missing tuna salad sandwiches at all. Even if you've never had tuna salad, this is a terrific sandwich filler. The crunch and texture is very satisfying, especially on toast. That said, I have trouble waiting for it to be on the toast before I start shovelling it into my mouth! I do recommend adding the dulse flakes as recommended as it really does help add that extra fishy taste, but of course without the actual fish! |
| I thought I'd try this different take on sausages (which I served with mashed potato) as the use of balsamic vinegar made it sound like it would be quite flavourful. As I was only cooking for my OH and me I halved the amount of cherry tomatoes I used, which still ended up seeming like way too many. The flavour overall was nice, but not outstanding. This was fairly easy to put together, but I'm not convinced that this is something I'd want to keep making. |
| This was nice, but nothing very exciting. The chilli and mint gave a nice kick of flavour to the courgettes and the pork was easy to prepare. I didn't bother with the pre-cooked brown rice and just steamed some plain white basmati rice on the side as I already had some in the house and it is also cheaper and even more less steps to do! |
| The sauce is lovely and overall this is a very nice, healthy meal with fresh flavours. My only drawback is, as with many of these recipes, that although the prep is fairly fast, the amount of washing up it creates (pan for the sauce, pan for the pork, pan for the rice, food processor, etc.) is quite a lot for what is supposed to be a quick midweek meal! |
| I had never made a meat pie before and this was a good recipe to start with. It is quick and easy (if a bit messy) to assemble and once the initial prep is done and it's in the oven it only takes 15-20 minutes to cook. I've made it twice; the second time I realised I'd run out of eggs and used milk to glaze the puff pastry instead and it came out almost as well, though not as golden brown and crispy as with the egg. |
| From: Jamie's America (reviewed 10th June 2011)I made this one time for my parents when they were visiting (they're from NY and I live in London) as cheesecake is one of their favourite desserts. They're used to the more traditional vanilla-flavoured type, but this has a twist of lime which adds a refreshing tang. Overall, I liked it, though I have to admit that I didn't make the meringue topping as I just don't find toppings very necessary with cheesecake. |
| From: Jamie's America (reviewed 11th September 2011)I made this in honour not only of the Italian Grand Prix, but being that it's 11/09/2011, I also made it in honour of New York and the type of food I used to love growing up in that wonderful city. This tasted very authentic and very similar to the veal or chicken parmigiana dishes I used to always have in Italian restaurants in New York. I used pork escalope as suggested by Jamie as it was MUCH cheaper than veal, but I didn't really notice the difference. I served this with spaghetti as did most of the Italian restaurants of my childhood and it brought back happy memories. Thanks, Jamie. |
| This is a very easy to make version of stroganoff using chicken instead of beef. The result is a quite creamy, tasty dish. It might be a little bit too creamy for some, but with some added squirts of lemon at the end it is more refreshing than you would imagine. |
| Using a lot of easy to find store cupboard ingredients, this is a simple recipe that provides delicious results. Though I wouldn't say that it tastes quite like a korma you would get from a takeaway, it is still a fulfilling hearty meal, which also reheats very well for lunch the next day. |
| This is a lovely simple salad dressing which can be made quickly and easily by simply shaking the ingredients together in a small jar. It is delicious on salads and goes well with chicken and fish dishes. |
| A simple soup recipe using fresh ingredients that makes a whole lot of soup. Great for saving and re-heating for lunch. Some might find it a little on the bland side but with lots of added black pepper it is very good. |
| As soon as I saw this recipe listed I knew that I had to try it out. Chorizo is one of my favourite ingredients as it always brings great flavour to whatever recipe it is in and this soup is no exception. The combination of the salty chorizo with the sweet potato is delicious. This is a hearty, warming soup that tastes even better re-heated the next day and also well from frozen. |
| As an expat American living abroad I am always on the lookout for meatloaf recipes and of the few that I have tried, this is by far the best. The loaf itself comes out really juicy and flavourful and the tomato sauce with smoked paprika, chili and chick peas gives an interesting twist on an old classic. I made this recently for my in-laws and my mother-in-law said it was the best meal she'd had made for her in ages. High praise indeed! |
| This is the first lasagne recipe I've tried and for a start it was pretty good. Be warned that, especially if you're not that experienced, it does take quite a while to prepare all the ingredients and go through all of the steps to complete the recipe. The end results were very good, though the only criticism I would make is that the sauce made it all a little too wet for my liking and I would probably add half a tin of water to the bolognese sauce instead of the whole tin as Jamie recommends. The use of creme fraiche instead of a white sauce does make the whole thing that bit easier however. |
| This is a good easy hearty dish using a mix of fresh and store-cupboard ingredients. Good for feeding a few people, the use of kidney beans and chickpeas really helps bulk it up, keeping it fairly healthy and low in fat. Of course it is really good with added shredded cheese and sour cream! As with the lasagne recipe from the same book, I tend to add less water to the mix than Jamie recommends as I prefer the final results to be a bit less wet. |
| On a page in the book with other stew recipes, this is a very flavourful, rich stew that is is simple to make. I'd recommend giving it a stir occasionally as quite a bit stuck to the bottom of my pan, but it was still very tasty. |
| A simple easy stew taken from a page of basic stew recipes from this book. I used ale when making this, though you could also use Guiness or stout, which I might eventually try as well. This came out a bit sharp tasting for me, though still good, but I suppose that depends on what type of booze you use. |
| A quick easy way to prepare new potatoes. The addition of lemon, mint and butter adds terrific flavour and this is a great side dish for most chicken, lamb or fish main courses. |
| A good mid-week meal, this is basically breaded chicken with lots of flavour thanks to the inclusion of garlic, parsley, lemon zest and butter in the breadcrumb mixture. I prefer to bake instead of pan-frying as I find the crumbs stick better to the chicken that way, but you could do it either way. |
| A delicious take on the classic chicken wrapped in bacon, this dish is quick and fairly easy to make. The end results are very flavourful thanks to the use of prosciutto, parmesan, lemon zest and thyme. This goes really well with salad and new potatoes for a satisfying weekday meal. |
| This is a simple and delicious way to cook salmon together with green beans. Covering the salmon in pesto and wrapping it in foil keeps it moist and juicy. I find that I don't need to add as much olive oil as Jamie does (in general!) to keep it moist. The combination cooking of the greens with the fish also helps save on the washing up. |
| Quick and extremely easy to make, this is a simple way to serve trout. It almost seems too simple, but sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. This goes well with new potatoes. |
| An easy midweek meal, the use of fresh herbs adds a lot of flavour, as does the smoked streaky bacon that the fish is wrapped in before being baked in the oven. This goes well with any type of green vegetable or salad and/or potatoes. |
| This is the only recipe I've tried so far from this book that I didn't like. This may be due to my using a curry power that was too spicy for my tastebuds, but I found the actual cooking of the cod in the pan to be a bit messy and really did not enjoy the end results. Oh well! |
| An easy no-cook cheesecake which everyone I served to seemed to love. I didn't actually make the raspberry topping but just served it with fresh raspberries on the side, which worked quite well. |
| Very good fish pie recipe which is not too heavy and creamy like some. Full of vegetables and easy to make. The leftovers also tastes good cold, which is a good thing as I brought the remains to work for lunch and didn't want to make my office smell of fish by reheating in the microwave. My only small complaint is that celery is a bit awkward to grate (or maybe it's just me?) so I would recommend using a food processor to grate the vegetables and cheese. |
| This is a good, easy recipe for entertaining as it only takes a few minutes to actually assemble and then stays in the oven for an hour. The red onion, chorizo and orange zest add lovely flavours and it's a great all-in-one dish with maybe a salad on the side. |
| A slightly healthier recipe for meatballs, using turkey instead of pork or beef. This is easy to make, though it takes a bit of time to roll all of the 50 tiny meatballs Nigella says you can eke out of the ingredients. I find this to be slightly on the bland side, but it's comfort food which I usually eat with rice, which soaks up the tomato sauce well. |
| I don't normally make any sauce or gravy to go with lamb steaks, but as I had some port on hand I thought I'd give this a try. I'm glad I did as the simple sauce adds excellent flavour and made the lamb even more enjoyable. |
| This is a quick way of frying up turkey or pork escalopes. The flavour is maximised with spices, garlic and lemon and is a really good mid-week meal accompanied by salad and potatoes of your choice. |
| This is a quick cheat's way to small roast potatoes using, of all things, gnocchi. Having watched Nigella enthusiastically rave about this revelation of hers on her programme I figured I had to try it. Maybe it was because I baked mine (which is an option) instead of pan-frying them, but these came out way too crunchy and hard for me. I think I'll stick to new potatoes or small roast potatoes from now on, thanks. |
| I'm never very successful at frying up breaded meat or fish in general, but this is one of the worst recipes for such a dish that I've tried. The recipe calls for instant polenta instead of the usual breadcrumbs. I found that it all fell right off straight out of the pan and the texture was just too gritty for my liking. |
| This is a very easy and wonderfully flavourful way to serve up lamb. The recipe calls for chops, but I'm not a fan of gnawing on bones so I usually use lamb leg steaks, which works just fine. The most time consuming part of preparing this is lining up all of the spices this calls for, but once that's done all it takes is mixing the spices together, rubbing them onto the lamb and then frying the lamb in garlic oil. This tastes beautiful and is one of my OH's favourite dishes that I've made. |
| As this cake is flour-free, it has more of a brownie, gooey consistency. The lime gives it an interesting twist of flavour and it is very easy to eat, though at the same time quite rich. It reminded my in-laws of the chocolate lime sweets of their childhood. I quite liked it and didn't bother with the accompanying recipe for margarita cream to be served with it, but I can imagine how it would work well if you like cream with your cake. |
| There are plenty of recipes for this classic French dish out there, but being a fan of Nigella's easy to follow recipes, I figured I'd try this one. If you fear the overpowering sound of so much garlic, don't worry. Garlic gets much sweeter when roasted for a long time, as it is in this dish. This is easy to put together, and tasted very nice, but it didn't have the wow factor that I thought it would, considering it's such a well-known classic. |
| This is a simple Sunday supper for two. It's as simple as it gets really as all you do is sear the duck legs first and then place them in a small tin surrounded by potatoes which is left in oven to cook for a couple of hours. Very nice. |
| Very nice. This is a quick version of a classic which, just using a few ingredients, is easy to whip up for a delicious midweek meal. I'm not usually a fan of creamy sauces but the vermouth, garlic oil and spring onions add a lot of flavour. This went very well with green beans and new potatoes, though as my OH suggested, I could imagine it working well with mashed potatoes or basmati rice as Nigella also recommended. |
| This was very easy to make and worked really well. My first attempt at what is basically a big Yorkshire pudding with embedded sausage patties and it came out perfectly. Next time I'll make the gravy to go with it and maybe also use more sausages than suggested. |
| This is a must make for any fans of the chocolate and peanut butter combination. Easy and makes a wonderful, rich and impressive dessert for a big gathering. |
| This is a really nice dish for a Sunday lunch. Warm and hearty and it smells wonderful while cooking - just like my grandmother's chicken soup! I followed the basic recipe as this was my first time making this, but may try following one of Nigella's variations next time as I did find this ever so slightly bland. Still, the chicken was so soft and juicy that it was falling off of the bones as I lifted it out of the pan. I'm looking forward to the leftovers. |
| This was a really good, easy way to jazz up some frozen broad beans. All you do is cook them in a saucepan with some simmered chopped tomatoes and garlic and a bit of oil for about 15 minutes and you're done. It made a terrific side dish for roast chicken and was really good cold the next day for lunch mixed in with some couscous and leftover roast chicken. I don't have kids, but I imagine that the flavour added to the beans by the other ingredients would make it a possibly easier way to get some greens down their gullet. |
| A fairly light, mild curry that is quick to pull together on a weeknight. I really liked this and can see making it again often. |
| I was a bit unsure while I was making this how well it would turn out as I used a bit too much flour and the sauce seemed rather thin when poured over the chicken, but I needn't have worried. The end result was a rich, flavourful dish with juicy pieces of chicken which really did taste like a dish one might get from a Chinese takeaway, only a lot healthier. I may substitute different stir-fry vegetables next time, though the snow peas worked well, but I definitely will make this again. |
| This has the authentic taste of macaroni salad in a vinegary mayonnaisey dressing that I remember eating occasionally as a kid, so if you can't find it anywhere then this is a good recipe to follow. That said, I would only recommend making it as a side dish or for a buffet and not as a main lunch dish to eat during the week as it is a bit heavy and claggy. |
| From: Nigella Bites (reviewed 17th June 2011)This is one of the simplest recipes ever, but it is satisfying to eat. All it consists of is roasting pancetta in garlic oil for ten minutes and then tossing with linguine and maybe adding some parsley at the end if you like. It's really tasty and perfect for a weeknight when you're too tired to make much of an effort. |
| From: Nigella Bites (reviewed 17th June 2011)This was my first foray into making my own meatballs. This is a nice comfort dish to make for a hungry bunch. It is fairly easy, though time consuming. My only minor complaint is that I think the recipe for the sauce, as is, is missing something as I find the flavour slightly bland. Otherwise I really like it. I haven't tried the accompanying home-made pasta and I'm not sure if I ever will, but the meatballs and sauce are a good start. |
| From: Nigella Bites (reviewed 4th September 2011)I made this to go with a pork stew recipe that suggested cabbage would be a good side dish. This turned out to have more flavour than the stew! This was easy and quick to make and a had a nice hint of Asian flavours with soy sauce and toasted sesame oil added at the last minute. The recipe was easily halved as I was just cooking for two. |
| From: Nigella Bites (reviewed 8th January 2012)Incredibly easy, this was a great main dish to make on Christmas Eve. It felt rather strange pouring a whole bottle of coca cola into the pot to boil the ham in, but the result was delicious, especially after the ten minutes finished off in the oven with the treacle, English mustard powder and demerara sugar glaze. Very tasty indeed. |
| Having recently rediscovered this cocktail, one of my favourite drinks back in college, I wanted to recreate it at home as Amaretto is a liqueur I almost always have in the house. All this consists of is amaretto and lemon juice. I have to admit, I didn't exactly follow Nigella's measurements exactly and came up with a drink that was probably too strong on the sour and even stronger on the amaretto, but I liked the sharp contrast of sweet and sour and will be making this again. Now I need to find some maraschino cherries to complete the recipe properly. |
| I'll admit that I'm not overly keen on fruit cake, but having declared I would bring dessert to my in-laws for Christmas I decided on this. This was indeed quite easy to make in advance of the big day and it kept well wrapped in baking parchment and tin foil in a baking tin, as instructed by Nigella. The cake itself was very moist and although the chocolate flavour wasn't overwhelming, it left a nice aftertaste and added an extra dimension. |
| This was a simple, easy to prepare dessert to bring to a friends' house over the holidays and it went down a treat. The flavours combined beautifully and the end result was a wonderful combination of textures - soft and fluffy cake with a slightly crispy top. |
| Excellent cookies; perfect for the season. |
| This was the first recipe I ever made from this book and it was a great introduction. It is very easy, especially with the gnocchi as a side dish. The uses of cider and mustard, along with the cream gives this a rich, creamy flavour. |
| The preparation for this dish couldn't be simpler and the results are really delicious. Unlike in the photo in the book, I roasted the sweet potatoes and the poussins in separate trays in the oven (which is how Nigella instructs in the actual recipe). Although I find poussin a bit fiddly to eat, this was very juicy. I absolutely love the flavour of the sweet potatoes which is roasted in garlic oil and cumin (my favourite spice). This has become a regular way of preparing sweet potatoes even with other dishes. |
| These are easy to make and come out chewy and delicious. The last time I made them I stored them in the "throwaway" foil tin I baked them in, a la Nigella, but as I was the only one in the house eating them they turned a bit hard and crumbly rather quickly. The next time I make them I'll store them in a more airtight container and see if they last any longer, as they're really worth making for a get up and go portable breakfast. |
| This is Nigella's different take on the classic coq au vin, using a whole bottle of Riesling wine instead. This came out well but I have to admit it was a bit bland for my tastebuds. |
| Not having an ice-cream maker, I was excited to try this way of making one of my favourite dessers, using only pomegranates, lime juice, icing sugar and double cream. This makes a very creamy ice-cream, which is simply mixed together and stored in the freezer in an air-tight container. I think the fruit flavourings could be a bit stronger here as I still tasted mostly cream, but if like me, you don't have and don't really want an ice-cream maker, it's an easy alternative. |
| This recipe is exactly as described and is very easy. It is simply a combination of quickly-fried minute steaks with an accompanying mashed bean side. My OH and I weren't so keen on the mashed beans as we found them a bit bland and oily in texture. |
| This is a quick and flavourful way to prepare chicken in the middle of the week. This recipe requires chicken escalopes, streaky bacon, garlic oil and white wine and goes very well with a green salad. |
| This is a very quick way to make a tasty midweek meal. Gammon has a lot of flavour on its own but Nigella adds even more with garlic oil white wine vinegar, pepper, honey and parsley. This is ridiculously easy and goes well with potato and vegetable sides of your choice. |
| I really wanted to like this as salmon is one of my favourite foods and the idea of a sticky glaze with it sounded great. Unfortunately I actually found the mirin glaze a bit too sickly sweet and was disappointed both times I attempted this recipe. |
| This is a different twist on the traditional stir-fry, using cannellini beans as the starch base rather than rice or noodles. It is easy to make and very filling, but unfortunately I found it to be a bit bland. |
| This is a fun dessert to make and bring to parties. It is rich and very filling and it's really delicious. I didn't bother adding the icing sugar to the top as I think the bars are sugary enough without them. These are very satisfying and I would only recommend if you have plenty of room in your tummy for them. |
| I really liked these. The ingredients gave the chicken a nice, gentle flavour. These can be eaten hot or cold and I can imagine them being a good thing to take to a picnic, as Nigella did in the episode of the show in which she made them. In fact, that's probably what they're perfect for. |
| A quick way of making hunter's chicken as a mid-week meal. This is hearty, comfort food that goes down well in the winter. Although the recipe uses cannellini beans as an option, after the first attempt I took Nigella's advice and served it with rice instead as a personal preference, which absorbed the sauce well and proved to be comforting and satisfying. |
| I thought this was surprisingly really good and much better than it had a right to be considering how much of a cheat's recipe it is. Instead of stewing for an hour or more, this chilli can be cooked for less than half an hour due to the flavour added to it from chorizo, sweet chili sauce and a blend of spices as well as jarred pasta sauce. I didn't add extra chilli flakes as recommended as I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to spices and I found the mild kick of the sweet chilli sauce to be enough for me. I'll definitely be making this one again when I fancy a hearty midweek meal, especially in winter. |
| A quick and easy midweek pasta dish. I didn't have spaghettini but used normal old spaghetti which was fine. The sunblush tomatoes, rocket and prawns made for a very colourful, pretty dish and the chilli flakes added a nice kick. I think if i made this again, though, I wouldn't use all of the oil of the sunblush tomatoes as instructed as it made the dish a bit *too* oily for my tastes, especially towards the end, but overall this was nice. |
| edited on 27/08/12: I'm upgrading this to three stars as I decided to give this recipe another go in desperation for a quick, easy burger recipe that seemed relatively low in fat. This time I put the burgers in the fridge to firm up for about a half an hour before grilling them on my griddle pan. They still came out a bit soft for my liking, but the flavour was really good and my husband said he liked them and wouldn't mind having them again. So, for a quick burger recipe, it's not too bad. I served these on wholemeal rolls with cheese slices.
I was happy to see a burger recipe in a Nigella book as I normally don't have very good results when trying to make my own. Unfortunately, this recipe didn't really help me as, as usual for me, they came out a bit mushier than I was hoping for and the mixture was a bit too wet for my tastes. I didn't use a burger press as per Nigella's suggestion (I don't have one!), so maybe that's part of the problem. |
| This was a quick, shortcut way of making macaroni and cheese. The cheese sauce was made with Red Leicester (which I tried for the first time and quite liked), eggs, evaporated milk and grated nutmeg and then poured over cooked macaroni to bake off in a hot oven. The results weren't as bubbly and drippingly cheesy as I hoped it would be, but more set into the pan and a bit coagulated. It did taste nice, but was quite rich. I'm not sure if I'd make this again. |
| I really liked this. The sweet potato took a little longer than the 15 minutes suggested, which made the butternut squash go a bit mushy, but despite that the flavour of everything combined was really good. I wasn't sure how well the mango would go, but the sweetness added a nice contrast. I used pre-cooked prawns, which worked fine and served the whole thing with basmati rice. I wish now I had taken a photo as the whole dish was very pink and pale orange! |
| Ridiculously simple to make, and needs a decent side to go with it to make a complete meal, but the combination of the chorizo and scallop flavours with a bit of lemon was really good and very fast to throw together. I made the chickpea and rocket salad to go with it, as suggested, but I'd be open to suggestion for different ideas of accompaniment. |
| Very quick and easy to make. Just a matter of frying up some cumin seeds and warming through some chickpeas and rocket with sherry. The sherry flavour was a bit too strong for my tastes, but it served decently as a side dish to the chorizo and scallops dish on the preceding pages. |
| I've never made my own coleslaw before and I made this today to take for a picnic and it's very good! Nice, fresh flavours with a hint of sweetness from the maple syrup. I've never had nuts in coleslaw before either and it adds a nice extra texture. The measurements given make plenty. |
| This is a perfect recipe for when you don't have a lot of time on your hands but you need a dinner that is warm and soothing and easy to make. Similar to the flavours of a quick linguine recipe from Nigella Bites, this is easy to eat comfort food using orzo pasta instead of risotto rice. |
| From: Ocado (reviewed 14th April 2011)This is a quick and easy, but also elegant way to serve pasta mid-week. The lemon and parsley gives the dish a fresh flavour and using half fat creme fraiche keeps the calories down. I used spaghetti instead of linguine as it was what I had in the cupboard, and I also just used cooked prawns instead of a seafood mix and it was absolutely fine. I'll definitely be making this one again. |
| Excellent quick and easy dish which is comforting and healthy and perfect for a simple weeknight meal for two. I turned the chicken thighs over halfway through the initial 10 minute poaching time as it didn't look as if they would cook the whole way through otherwise. I also left out the butter to cut down on the calories and the dish tasted fine. |
| This is an easy way to incorporate salmon into weekday cooking. You basically spread garlic and herb philly onto salmon fillets and top with breadcrumbs that have been mixed with lemon zest and chives and just bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes. It comes out juicy and flavourful and goes well with new potatoes and veg of your choice. |
| This was a resounding success. The combination of flavours (the sauce is incredible) and textures was perfect and I would be very happy if a dish I ordered in a Chinese restaurant tasted as good as that. This also reheated very well for lunch the next day. I will definitely be making this again. |
| Another excellent stir-fry from this book with a delicious sauce. Also, surprisingly healthy for PW! I think next time I may substitute broccoli florets for the snow peas as suggested as I think the textures would work better, but overall this was another hit I will be making again. |
| I was really excited about getting the Pioneer Woman book and this was the first (and so far, only) recipe I tried. Unfortunately I found this to be very disappointing. Good meatloaf is one of my favourite comfort foods, but this version uses bread and milk as binders for the loaf and when I made it, it came out way too soggy and wet for my liking. I've concluded that I much prefer using dried breadcrumbs and eggs. I also don't think baking it on a grill as suggested is the best idea as it makes it incredibly hard to slice and serve. |
| This was simple and straightforward to make and overall I quite liked it. I'd never eaten clams before so I thought I'd give it a go, even if they were only from a tin. The sauce was nice and creamy and the texture of the clams with the freshness of the parsley went very well with the linguine. It was a nice Saturday night meal with a glass of wine. My only complaint was that the clams didn't have a very strong flavour, so aside from the texture they gave the sauce, which I liked, they didn't add very much to the dish. Maybe a stronger, bolder seafood in here would be better. Still, not too bad at all. |
| This couldn't be simpler. I love fried bread and I love eggs, so this is a perfect quick cooked breakfast for me. |
| From: Real Food (reviewed 19th June 2011)This was very quick and easy to prepare, and the combination of the parmesan and butter with the breadcrumbs on top of the plaice, which has a very distinctive taste, was very nice. I prefer baking breaded fish in the oven to frying as it tends to fall apart less. However, my plaice fillets were probably a bit thinner than Nigel would have suggested (the fault of my grocery delivery, not his), and the fish came out a bit mushy and fell apart quite easily when dishing up, despite my reducing the cooking time. Still, it did taste good still and went well with the baked potato wedges I did at the same time, as well as with a green salad. |
| Easy, tasty and healthy dish. Great flavours for summer or anytime. I wouldn't quite say it is "hit 'n' run" as between the chopping and cooking it takes over an hour, but it is easy to do and once you're finished prepping you can relax while it is cooking away in the oven and making your house smell nice. |
| I'll admit straight away that although I like it, I am not generally the biggest fan of macaroni and cheese as I generally find it to be too heavy. That said, I was intrigued enough to give this recipe a try for the interesting combination of sweet potatoes and feta cheese in the mix. Although this, like other mac and cheeses, was rather heavy and a big laggy, the contrast of the sharp feta to the sweet potatoes was very good and there was an overall more creaminess to the texture which I liked. I think it could have used a bit more English mustard or paprika (or a bit more of both) as it still felt a little lacking in taste, but still was quite enjoyable. It also made for a hefty amount of leftovers for lunch the next couple of days and was quite good eaten cold. |
| I never thought I would say this about a Nigella baking recipe, but I was so disappointed with these brownies. The idea of a Nutella brownie sounded amazing, and what was even more amazing that the only ingredients were Nutella and eggs (and a bit of sea salt). I followed the instructions and weight measurements exactly, but these ended up tasting mostly just of chewy eggs. |
| Easy to make and went well with a salad and new potatoes, though most vegetables would go well with this. I found the sauce slightly too sweet and will probably use less sweetener if I make it again (which is likely considering my OH really enjoyed it), but overall it was a pleasing combination of flavours. Note, I used bacon medallions which didn't wrap around the chicken, resulting in the sauce messily leaking out all over the baking tray. |
| From: Smitten Kitchen (reviewed 10th May 2011)I'd never used vodka in cooking before so I was really intrigued as to how this would taste. It ended up being a very flavourful sauce which went very well with pasta. I didn't have fresh basil unfortunately, but I used dried and added lots of black pepper, which gave it a nice kick. My only minor complaint is that I ended up halving the ingredients as I was only serving my OH and myself and there was still way too much sauce for just the two of us. However, I would definitely make this again as the sauce itself was delicious and it was a quick and easy midweek meal. |
| From: Smitten Kitchen (reviewed 14th June 2011)I made this last night and as I was only serving two I halved the ingredients and it still worked really well. I probably didn't marinate the chicken for as long as I should/could have due to lack of time, but it was still very flavourful and I would definitely make this again as a tasty weekday dinner. It went very well with basmati rice on the side. |
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