

Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Fun and tasty, this is a great little canapé for grey January and it ticks lots more boxes too. It is gluten free and vegan. It is make ahead, has easy to source ingredients, needs very little cooking, is easy to make and doubles up as a starter. I hope it is as much a winning combination for you as it is here. Just looking at it makes me feel virtuous and healthy. Ingredients - makes 12 6 rice paper spring roll wrappers (from Waitrose, Asian supermarkets or Amazon) 3 lar


Chicory with Roquefort
I know cranberries are meant to be for Christmas, but I had cranberry sauce in the fridge and dried cranberries in the cupboard. I already had walnuts so just a quick dash to my local Waitrose for Roquefort and some crispy chicory. Add a dollop of that cheery bright red sauce that was lingering. Yum - this proves cranberries are not just for Christmas. Ingredients - makes 20 60g Roquefort 25g softened butter 25ml double cream 1 small salad onion 10g chopped walnuts + 15g


Mild Chilli Dip
This dip is very simple to make and very clean and simple in taste as well. We all love it. The chillies are mild (so long as you buy the right ones) and give an almost spring like flavour. The emphasis here is as much on the presentation as on the taste and although flower arranging is a skill I don’t seem to possess, the springs of dill bring the whole dish together with minimal effort. And of course any dip can be presented this way. Ingredients 50g mild green chillie


Olives with preserved lemon
Like many people over Christmas and New Year, you may have had quite a lot of cooking to do. So for this week's recipe let's do something very simple. I you like olives and you like the salty zingyness of preserved lemons, you will love these little monsters. They are quick and easy to make and the bright flavours dance around your mouth like a whirling dervish. Ingredients 1 jar queen olives in brine 2 preserved lemons (more or less depending on the lemon size - I used Be