Mediterranean Vegetables with Pesto and Feta Wraps

A juicy and vegetable filled lunch, good hot or cold in a wrap or a pitta bread.

Sweet Potato and Broccoli cakes with Salsa

Baked sweet potato cakes instead of fried, they still develop the lovely crispy edges, given time. 

Also embracing the completely legitimate unit of "handful" in this recipe, since most of my cooking is by eye or by taste anyway...

Taco Mix Wraps Lunchbox

A warm spicy number for lunch this week as the weather turned colder

Daal and Naans Lunchbox

Delicious and warming lunch for cooler days and still low fat and high protein. 

Home made naans? 
Oh just a little something I knocked up...  (no really, they don't take long!)

Spiced Bubble and Squeak

A satisfying and warmly spiced lunchbox for the rainy week ahead

Rainbow 'slaw

I have discovered home made coleslaws, and I love them. 

Just a sharp knife and 15 minutes required (and the healthy : delicious ratio is very favourable indeed...)

Apple & Thyme and Honey & Mustard Sausage Rolls

A favourite with a twist for lunch this week. Quick and easy to make and lasted out a week of lunches for 2 of us with a crunchy red cabbage 'slaw on the side

Focaccia

Another week, another lunchbox. This took up most of my Sunday but was well worth the wait (and lasted for a full week of lunches for 2 of us)

Cheese and Tomato Quiche Lunchbox

Baking beads were a solid investment.

Bean and Avocado Salsa Tortillas Lunchbox

Another weekend of diet sin, another week of packing in the veggies in penance... c'est la vie.

Ploughman's Lunchbox

A delicious fix for the week of "please don't make me turn the cooker on" heat.

... is that home-made chutney? Heck yes it is.

Mixed Vegetable Frittata

High protein, low carb, make ahead for a full week, keeps you full, packs in the vegetables... it's all you could want from a lunchbox (even if I say so myself...)

Banana, Berry and Ginger Smoothie

Delicious and refreshing, and a surprisingly filling breakfast (plus penance for a one too many glasses of wine the night before...) the ginger gives a lovely spicy twist at the end.

Bacon, Olive and Cheese Bread

Yes, really, all in one bread.

Hummus with Pitta Breads and Crudites

Another Sunday afternoon in the kitchen, with some very fruitful results.

The moral of the story is that pitta breads are surprisingly easy to make yourself and that home-made hummus is far better than shop bought.

Caraway Bean and Vegetable Stew

Those familiar with the English summer will understand the reasons for alternating from hot weather salads to warming wintery stews for our lunchboxes.

But anyway, on a cold day let this stew cara-you-away to a tasty warm place (what's more delicious than a pun?)

Gnocchi, Vegetable and Mozarella Bake

Ashamed to say that this served just 2 very hungry people... would easily stretch to 3 or 4 with a salad and a piece of bread on the side!

Elderflower Cordial

At some point summer sneaked in, and out came the elderflower. Of course, this means elderflower cordial shortly follows.

Chickpea Salad with Cumin and Lime dressing

Cometh the sun, cometh the big salads.

Stilton infused Cottage Cheese with Thyme and Black Pepper Crackers lunchbox

Although I'm in the "yes" camp on cottage cheese, I know it isn't perfect and isn't one of those instant mouth watering foods. But tight budgets (and tight jeans...) draw me to it as an easy lunchbox option, so how can we make this more delicious?

Just stir in a bit of salt and fat, of course (I'll just buy new jeans...)

Bruschetta Lunchbox

Another lunchbox ticking all the right boxes - cheap, easy to make ahead and delicious.

Fish in Pitta with Lemon Pepper Mayonnaise and Salad

Finally getting my creativity back after a lull and loving being back in the kitchen. Plus enjoying the warmer weather and the options for summer dinners this brings.

Pro-tip: get too hungry after cooking and forget to take photo for blog...

I may make this again as it was delicious - note to self, come back and add photo if I do.

Curried Parsnip and Orange Soup

Another gem from the 365 362 Vegetarian Dishes book (I found another with bacon in it...) Delicious, easy and quick.

Courgette and Mushroom Stew with Garlic Bread

Spring is supposed to be here, but actually there are still days cold enough to warrant a big bowl of stew. As with most stews, this doesn't look like much, but tasted great.

Adapted from an old vegetarian cookbook I acquired "365 vegetarian dishes" (although I recently found one that calls for anchovy extract, and another that adds bacon, so lets call it 363...)

Dolmades - Stuffed Vine Leaves

Just a quick one as the recipe isn't mine! Mostly a note to myself to do this again (if I find somewhere nearby that sells vine leaves)

This week's lunchbox filler has been dolmades - vine leaves stuffed with lightly spiced rice. They took a little while to make on Sunday but have lasted out the week well, are really delicious and are another easy one to grab from the fridge each morning for lunch that day.

Full recipe credit to MediterrAsian (and their photos are much better too...) although I altered the rice a little, to include allspice as well as cinnamon. Not sure how authentic this is, but they taste good!

Chewy Almond and Drunken Apricot Cookies

Did my friend move house and leave me to inherit some delicious baking supplies? Maybe.
Has this re-awakened my insatiable sweet tooth? Perhaps.
Did I still have some apricots left over even after flapjacks? Well...

The important thing is, everyone gets cookies.

Chocolate, Orange and Ginger Flapjacks

Cooking has been neglected for a little bit while sorting out car things, so I'm happy to be back at it with an impromptu batch of flapjacks for lunch with friends.

I'm not usually a fan of flapjacks as they're so plain but these have enough flavour added that they're far more rich and interesting, plus banana chips for crunch and dried apricot for chewiness. Delicious.

Smokey Bean Burgers with Creamy Garlic Dressing

Quick, easy, delicious, and another excuse to eat the amazing garlic dressing (the recipe for which was stolen from a friend of a friend years ago... thanks!)

Vegetable and Tofu Dumplings

Another addition to the creative lunch boxes repertoire - and another good one to make in bulk and grab over the week.

Sweet and Savoury Spiced Popcorns

It's movie night, but felt like something a little different... enter spiced popcorn, one sweet and one savoury.

Savoury Spice Mix
1 tsp powdered curry leaves
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Add all to pestle and mortar and grind together until thoroughly mixed. Taste and adjust as preferred.

Sweet Spice Mix
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Split open the cardamom pods and put the seeds into the pestle and mortar. Grind to coarse powder.
Add all other spices and grind until mixed and sugar is visibly finer.
Taste and adjust as preferred.

Popcorn
Pour in enough oil to cover the base of a saucepan with lid, add 2-3 kernels of corn and set on a high heat, shaking occasionally.
When those have popped, the oil is hot enough - add the rest of the kernels (enough to just cover the base roughly) and put the lid back on quickly to keep the heat in.
Hold the lid and shake the pan to coat the kernels with oil.
Return to the heat and shake occasionally as they pop.
When popping has stopped take off the heat and leave to cool a little.

Split your popcorn into two bowls, and gradually sprinkle your chosen spice mix over, mixing with one hand to evenly coat the batch.

Lunchbox - Spinach, Anchovy, Tomato and Mozzarella Calzones

Another creation for more interesting lunch boxes, easy to make a whole batch and then just grab one a day for the week.

Pancakes with Cardamom Syrup

A fresh, sweet, zesty syrup to drizzle on pancakes.

Cardamom Syrup
4-5 cardamom pods
3 tbsp brown sugar
50ml water
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch orange zest

Split open the cardamom pods and tip the seeds out into a pestle and mortar. Discard the shells and grind the seeds.
Add the ground cardamom and all other ingredients to a pan and stir to help the sugar dissolve.
Let simmer gently over a low heat while you make the pancakes, stirring occasionally.
The syrup should thicken up slightly and the sugar will all dissolve, adjust spices to taste.

Pancakes (makes around 5)
110g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml milk
75ml water

Sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt.
Mix the milk, water and eggs together in a jug
Add the liquid to the flour at a steady pace, whisking constantly.
Pour a small amount into a hot frying pan and tilt around to coat the base.
Once set (around 45 seconds to 1 min) loosen from the pan and flip to cook the other side for a further 30 seconds

Spoon the syrup over warm pancakes to serve.

No Cheese Quesadilla

In the ongoing project to find more interesting things for lunch boxes, 2 flavours of quesadilla - without cheese (in the ongoing project to try to be healthier)