Moroccan lamb

This lamb curry follows the general instructions for Whatever You Want Curry

The specifics for this variety are as follows:

Use lamb pieces for the meat. When adding spices, be especially generous with the cumin - a couple of table spoons. I find that lamb tends to tone down the spices so you can afford to be generous to avoid the dish ending up bland. Once the onions are soft, the spices are in and the lamb pieces are nicely browned, add a couple of large chopped tomatoes. These should provide plenty of liquid to cook the dish.

Cover and simmer on a very low heat for at least an hour.

Add a generous handful of green beans, and stir in a cup or so of cream. Continue cooking for another half an hour. Long and slow is the trick with this dish.

A few minutes before serving, thicken the sauce with ground almonds.

Serve with couscous.

Cajun chicken salad

A tasty spicy treat, especially for summer (which this isn't) or to serve as a starter.

Sprinkle some chicken pieces with Cajun spice mix and fry in olive oil & butter until cooked.

Make up your salad of choice. It's good to include some sweet ingredients such as dried cranberries or diced apple to offset the spice, and some slices of red onion also go well. A cool creamy dressing such as Ranch or Caesar is a good choice.

As a main course, serve with either potatoes - e.g. baked or fries - or rice or couscous.