Tagliatelle & tuna

A very quick & easy pasta dish, when you want something a little different.

Get your pasta cooking - fresh or dried tagliatelle in a large pan of salted water.

Meanwhile, make a Roux sauce (melt butter, add flour and fry a little, then slowly stir in milk, whisking to remove lumps). When you have a thick sauce, mix in a couple of cans of drained flaked tuna. You don't want the sauce too thin before mixing in the tuna because there will likely be some liquid with the fish. Once it's mixed in, thin down if necessary, and season with a pinch of garlic salt and black pepper.

Drain the pasta, serve with the sauce.

Sausage & chips (or mash)

A simple and filling British staple.

Sausages - either fry or cook in the oven until browned.

Chips - these days we use a fryer that uses only a spoonful of oil. Chipped or diced potatoes come out dry and crispy.

Serve with veg, or baked beans, or salad.

Alternatively do mashed potatoes for that great comfort dish bangers'n'mash. If doing that, it's good to fry the sausages along with a sliced onion, then near the end add stock and gravy mixture to make an onion gravy.

Stir fried beansprouts

We often use this as an easy accompaniment to a stir fry.

Fry a sliced onion until it starts to turn golden. Throw in a handful of fresh beansprouts and a dash of soy sauce. Toss briefly until heated through and serve immediately.

If you want a bit of color, you can add some shredded carrot or other vegetables to the mix.

General Tso's Chicken

This recipe came from a collection of crock pot recipes, and I was impressed with how it turned out.

Mix the following into your crock pot: 1/2 cup each of sugar, soy sauce, and pineapple juice, 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar, a few cloves of minced garlic, and a pinch of cayenne pepper and dried ginger.

Season a generous spoonful of cornstarch with salt and pepper, and coat chopped up pieces of chicken. Fry the chicken over a medium/high heat until browned and add to the crock pot.

Cook on low for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. When done, the sauce should be thick. If not, thicken with a bit of cornstarch mixed with water.

When I cooked this, I had no dried ginger so I substituted a spoonful of pickled ginger finely chopped. I was also fairly generous with the cayenne. The result had quite a zing to it, OK for me but you may want to take it easy if you're not used to spicy food.

Chicken Teryaki pittas

Chop some chicken into small pieces and marinate in a Teryaki sauce. Fry until cooked through. Serve in pitta pockets with mayonnaise and filling of choice such as rice, shredded lettuce, and chopped tomatoes.

Broccoli soup

Chop up a crown of broccoli into fine pieces. Cook until tender but not too soft - either in a pan of salted water, or a few minutes in the microwave.

Meanwhile, make up a Roux sauce (butter, flour, whisk in milk until fairly thin). You need a generous quantity when making soup. When the Roux is cooked, stir in a spoonful of concentrated chicken stock, then add in the cooked broccoli. Heat gently and stir occasionally to let the flavors infuse.

Serve, topped with fried bacon pieces, and garlic toast.

Quesadillas

Another entry from our Mexican stable. In whatever form, wraps make a good alternative to the "meat & two veg" routine.

Chop some chicken into bite-sized pieces and fry until cooked.

Place a flour tortilla in a heated frying pan (non stick) and sprinkle on a few spoonfuls of chicken. Load it up with whatever veggies you want to include: finely-diced tomatoes, olives, green onions, diced pepper ... finish off with a generous handful of grated cheese and top with a second tortilla.

Cook on a moderate heat for a few minutes, until the bottom is nicely toasted, then flip the whole lot over. This is where you find out if you gave the cheese enough time to melt and glue everything together :)

When both sides are browned, slide out onto a plate, cut into wedges, and serve with sour cream.

It doesn't look much, but it's surprisingly filling!