get your freeze on

As you may have noticed, I’ve been having trouble keeping up at the moment, as evidenced by my almost month-long absence from the site. With work, husband’s work, budgetary concerns, and other matters, my creative spark seems to have eluded me.

But that might not be it. Instead, my creative spark eludes me after I get off of the bus at 6:30pm every weekday. What I had imagined cooking when I made my shopping list the week before just sounds like a chore. I’m too tired.

I imagine I’m not the only one to whom this happens. But after a month of it, I’m bored with not cooking, either. So what do I do?

After getting some good advice and having a spare Saturday afternoon, I finally come to a good solution: make it ahead, and freeze it.

Now of course this isn’t always a good option. Freezing pasta would just be silly. (Or at least I think it would be.) But sauces, soups and curries – now that’s a whole other story. So a couple of Saturdays ago, I concocted a lovely aubergine and red lentil curry, but didn’t have it until just this past Saturday, after a long day out. Whilst we paraded around London, our little curry sat at home, defrosting, waiting for us to come home and love it.

Love it we did, too. It was gorgeous! I think that week in the freezer did wonders for it.

So for the time being, I’m on the lookout for great meals I can make and freeze ahead of time. Any ideas? Try this one while you ponder.

Aubergine and red lentil curry
(serves 2 medium-sized portion or 1 large, 1 small portion)

1 aubergine, sliced lengthways
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of water
100 g carrots, julienned
1 large onion, quartered
2 tbsp groundnut oil
75g red lentils, dried
50 g creamed coconut
3 tbsp lime juice
3 spring onions
1 chilli, seeds removed
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp fennel seeds, ground
1 tsp cayenne

150 g wholegrain rice
3 tbsp fat-free natural yogurt (optional)
2 tbsp lime pickle (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Spray a foil-lined roasting tin with a couple sprays of olive oil. Salt the halves of aubergine and place face-down on the tin. Roast for 45 minutes.

In a food processor, chop up the spring onions, lime juice, chilli, and garlic.

To prepare the curry, heat the spices in a large pot over med-high heat. Add the onion and stir to coat the onion with the spices. Add the oil and saute for about 3 minutes. Then add in half of the food-processed mixture.

Add the chopped tomatoes in slowly, so that the tomatoes bubble over the high heat. Add the water too. Once it’s all in, mix and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the red lentils as per the packet instructions (Generally, this just involves bringing to a boil and reducing to a simmer for about 25 minutes.)

When the lentils are ready, drain them. Add the coconut to the food processed mixture, and chop/combine again. Then add this mixture to the red lentils. Set this to the side.

When the aubergines are ready, remove from the oven and use a fork to scrap out the flesh. Chop up if necessary, and then add to the curry. Then add in the coconut lentil mixture and stir through. Check the seasoning, and add any as required.

If you’re freezing for later, stop here, allow the curry to cool, and then transfer to a freezable container.

When eating, just bring back to a simmer and allow to heat through. Serve with rice, with bits of yogurt and lime pickle on the side. (To ensure that everyone’s properly full, consider serving naan bread as an extra.)

Calories: 1 small serving (1/3 of the curry, 50g rice (dry weight), 1 tbsp yogurt and 1 tbsp lime pickle): 680

Let me tell you, this made my Saturday night. I ate happily, knowing I’d created a fabulous, wholesome meal, but barely had to lift a finger.

the long, slow march to spring

Is it just me, or is everyone feeling the February fug?

Nothing seems particularly exciting, or inspirational, when it comes to food right now. The dishes I'm serving up are the same ones I served up last month, and the month before that. Other than forced rhubarb (which has scary Gothic overtones for me, sorry), no "new" ingredients can be found in my fridge or my cupboard. It's sad. I'm sad, and a little bored.

So what's on the menu this week? We gotta eat, after all...

Monday: sausages and mash. swede mash. Pretty tasty, especially with a bit of wholegrain mustard stirred in.

Tuesday: twas to be a Thai curry, with frozen fish, carrots and bok choy. But the cinema sounded much more exciting (as did the local Chinese restaurant). Alas, no to our friend the Thai curry.

Wednesday: Spanish-style butter beans and prawns with tomato and chilli. Yum, actually. I'm quite looking forward to that.

Thursday: ratatouille pasta. There are still some decent courgettes coming from Spain, though God knows where that aubergine came from. I imagine it huddling together with all the other shivering aubergines in the crate on the way here, dreaming of its warm cozy home. I envision a lovely, chunky rustic pasta, with loads of sauce.

Friday: burgers and sweet potato chips. A stalwart.

Here's the issue, I think: all of these dishes are nice, right? tasty. belly-filling. But I'm getting no sense of urgency to eat them. The tins and frozen produce, and possibly even that swede languishing in the refrigerator, aren't going anywhere.

The feeling (like in in May, when you gotta, you must, you have to do nothing but eat asparagus) eludes me completely right now. I miss it. Terribly.

Possibly one of the biggest roadblocks to healthy eating, the mundane hovers over us like the wretched two-degree fog. Come, spring, come!

fine February foods

Welcome to February, the month of cold drizzly nights and Valentine's Day (possibly, by the way, the worst night of the year to go out to dinner). During this shortest of month, the best thing to do is wrap up warm and get in the kitchen to cook up filling dishes that keep everyone happy.

By now, hopefully the zeal of New Year's Resolutions have worn off. The goal here is not to eat just salads or those "healthy" ready meals from the supermarket. Firstly, eating just salads is not very seasonal at the moment - though I do eat as wintry a salad as possible for lunch most days. The goal is to make nutritious meals that are mouth-wateringly savoury.

Unfortunately, February doesn't bring very much new produce to the table. We'll have to wait until March or April for new herbs like parsley and mint to come into season, and spring vegetables are still awhile off. But for now, let's continue making the most of the good stuff we do have.

cabbage

One of the best things about cabbage is the variety: savoy, green, white, red - take your pick, they're all good. But if you're a regular around here, you'll know that this isn't the first time I've lauded the virtues of cabbage.

-a crunchy stir fry with leeks (another excellent winter vegetable). Just a few sprays of olive oil and a splash or two of water in the wok with these ingredients is all it takes. Season before serving, of course.

-braised red cabbage with apples or pears is an excellent side dish to poultry and game.

-fancy a salad? Try this red cabbage and warm spinach salad from Epicurious. I'd recommend using fat-trimmed bacon medallions and a lot less oil, but overall, it sounds like a great dish to me.

-this broiled chicken with braised porcini and savoy cabbage recipe sounds divine. I wouldn't recommend changing a thing. According to the site's nutritional info, one serving is a mere 250 calories. That leaves enough room for an appetizer or a dessert!

leeks

I adore leeks. For one, I don't cry when I chop them, which is always useful.

But on a more relevant note, onions in the UK are not having a good year. Remember all that rain we had during the summer? Well, it waterlogged a lot of our onions. And Dutch onions, generally our back up supply, didn't do so well either. Luckily, our leeks are fine. So eat more of them - they're just as tasty, just as healthy, and since they're in better supply, they're likely to be cheaper.

-watercress and leek soup is a very easy one to make. Braise the leeks in stock, then add the watercress and puree. It's really very tasty, and very low-calorie.

-try the chorizo, leek and bean stew I made just this past week.

-a skillet dish is a good option for a cold night. Toss in leeks, potatoes and herbs - top with a bit of grated cheese or a dollop of creme fraiche.

-try them in place of white onions in any other recipe you'd like to try.

-grill them as a side dish - just be sure to parboil them first (a little trick I learned from Jamie Oliver; if you don't the outer layers will go very tough and stringy)

-stir fry them all on their own. Serve as a side dish to any protein you fancy.

squash, celeriac and parsnips

You know the drill with these lovely root vegetables. They are a vegetarian's saving grace. Puree them, mash them, mix them together: it all works. Just in the last few weeks I've done:

-roasted butternut squash and leek soup. Roast them for 45 minutes, and then puree with some stock. I served this soup for my lunch for six days straight, with two more servings in the freezer.

-squash and celeriac bake. This dish is what will get you (and me) through the long winter. Next month, I'm going to work more on lovely gratins, excellent bakes and filling casseroles. It got our ancestors through the long months, and it will get us through too.

-steam and puree any of these for an excellent side dish. I find the savoury squashes hold up well with beef and lamb, whereas I'm more likely to use parsnips with fish. And don't forget carrot and swede - they work a treat too.

-roast any of these in small chunks and keep refrigerated. Use them to bulk up lunchtime salads.

chicory

These bitter salad leaves are bang in season, and really tasty too. Their flavour will need to be tempered however; either with something sweet, like a dash of honey or a slice or two of pear, or something nutty and tangy, like a vinegar and oil mixture. Their crunch will hold up with a quick stir fry too.

-just last week I served a chicory side salad with grilled gammon.

-make a lovely dinner-sized salad with chicory, watercress, walnuts and oranges - bulk up with leftover roast chicken or a just-grilled chicken breast.

mussels

The "poor man's seafood": these little gems are lovely. They're best straight from the shells; the frozen types have "been handled a little too much", in my husband's opinion.

-steam a couple kilos of these mussels with white wine and herbs. Serve with wholegrain bread.

-cook them in a tomato and chilli sauce and serve with linguine

frozen vegetables

Frozen can mean freshest; but it can also mean we can eat food that's in season when it's technically not in season, if that makes sense. The nutritional value is about as high as possible, as the vegetable was placed in the freezer immediately after being picked. These are always in my freezer:

-peas: fantastic as a puree as a side dish with fish or shellfish.

-green beans: a great green vegetable option in the middle of winter when we begin to tire of broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

-frozen spinach: perfect for gratins. On my menu this week - sausage and cannellini bean gratin.

So enjoy! Get eating.

fish from the freezer feat

Thursday night’s gym night, then straight back to the flat to start dinner. It’s almost the end of the week! I planned on doing a freezer raid, and I came out with frozen smoked haddock, frozen peas and frozen green beans. Perfect! It may not sound gourmet, but the results were extremely satisfying.

Smoked haddock with pea puree and green beans
(serves 2)

2-3 Youngs frozen haddock fillets (depending on size – total, about 350 g)
300 g frozen peas (garden peas or petit pois)
200 g frozen green beans
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tartar sauce

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Wrap the haddock fillets in a foil parcel and bake for 30-35 minutes. (Add a lemon wedge if you like, but it’s not necessary)

Ten minutes before the fish is due to finish, steam the green beans and the peas. (I like to use a two tier steamer.) Remove the peas and puree with a hand blender, adding salt and pepper.

Divide the pea puree equally on the two plates. Add the green beans to the side, and then the fish, angling it so that one end is propped up on the puree. Add additional pepper and a dollop (1 tbsp) of tartar sauce. Serve immediately.

Because it was gym night, I split the portions 50/50 with my husband, cutting the third fillet in half. Other nights I might give him both, or just make two fillets.

Total calories for one serving: 445 – very healthy and really, just scrummy. The smoked haddock gives such a wonderful savoury flavour, and the pea puree is divine. My husband loved it – it even beat chip shop mushy peas, he said. (No doubt they are healthier too, at about 70 cals per 100 g. If you wanted to cut the calories, just don’t have the tartar sauce – it will reduce your count by about 80 calories.

This has been one of my favourite dinners all week, topping even the swede curry.

good intentions and frozen pizza

For Sunday lunch I had planned a vegetarian delight – the Epicurious recipe of mustard-crusted tofu with sweet potatoes and kale I've been raving about for nearly five days – but alas, it never quite came to fruition.

I can't say exactly why. Perhaps it was the late afternoon stupor brought on by Back to the Future III, or maybe it was just laziness. In any case, it led me to the freezer, where I pulled out a mushroom and cheese pizza, one we keep for "emergencies."

But before you give me too hard of a time, let me first defend the humble frozen pizza. Sure, they're boring, bland, and often quite unhealthy. But the amount of time it takes to make a fresh pizza – and I'm including the sourcing of the pizza base, etc – I could have had the tofu on the table.

So the poor, defenseless pizza just needed a little jazzing up: reduced fat mozzarella, sliced thinly and distributed evenly; a drizzle of chilli oil, and some freshly chopped and partially deseeded green chillis. Yum!

While not perfect, the twenty minutes it took me to make this (eight to dress the pizza, 12 to cook) were about as much as I could handle last night. So look forward to tofu on Wednesday instead.