Sausages and beans with kale

Very quick to make and quite healthy (if you use good quality sausages).  Serves about four (assuming two sausages each) but you can stretch it out by adding another can of beans and some crusty bread on the side.

Extra virgin olive oil - a little for frying and some for drizzling
8 sausages, chopped into pieces a few centimetres long.  Any flavour but I tend to use pork-based ones.
Big bunch of kale, trimmed and chopped
2 or 3 cans of cannellini beans, chickpeas or borlotti beans
Zest and juice of 1 lime (you can use lemon but I prefer lime)
Salt and pepper

In a large frypan, saute the chopped sausages in a dash of oil, over medium heat, until lightly browned. Add the kale - it will seem like a mountain, but don't worry, it wilts down.  Cover the frypan for a few minutes to steam the kale.  Add the beans and a drizzle of oil and stir.  Pop the lid back on again until everything is cooked through - it won't take long.  Add the lime zest and juice, stir through and serve well seasoned.

Recipe adapted by me from the many online recipes featuring these staple ingredients.  You could adapt this further by using spinach or some other greens instead of kale and adding a sprinkling of chopped nuts just before serving.

Dhal

You can dial down the heat for children - we call this "Roald Dahl Dhal" in our house.  Just omit the chilli.

Serves 6 (or a family of four with leftovers for lunch the next day).  I sometimes serve this with Prue's beef curry to make a curry banquet for a crowd.  I often double the recipe and freeze half.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 long red chilli, finely chopped OR 1 teaspoon crushed chilli from a jar
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
400g can diced tomatoes
1 1/4 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup split yellow peas - soak for 30 minutes, rinse and drain
1/4 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup green split peas, rinsed and drained


Method:

Half an hour before you start, soak the yellow peas.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat.  Saute onion, garlic, chilli and ginger for 3-4 minutes until onion is soft.

Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric.  Stir for one minute.

Mix in tomatoes, stock, split peas and lentils.  Bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered about 30 minutes until dhal is tender.

Top with fresh, chopped coriander if you wish.  Serve with basmati rice (you won't need much), sour cream or unsweetened yoghurt, fruit chutney and poppadums.

Goulash

A simple, tasty stew from the Destitute Gourmet, adapted ever so slightly by me.

Serves 4 to 8

2-3 tablespoons of oil
1 kg stewing steak, cubed
2 medium onions in chunks
1 tablespoon paprika
2 large tomatoes, or substitute tinned tomatoes
3 or 4 potatoes, cubed
1 capsicum, sliced
1/2 teaspoon thyme
bay leaf
salt and pepper
750 ml stock
Sour cream to serve

Optional thickening: 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/2 cup tomato paste

Heat oil in large saucepan, brown meat and onion.  Add paprika, stir until meat is coated (don't let paprika burn).  Add tomatoes, potatoes, capsicum, herbs, salt and pepper and stock and bring to the boil.  Simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours.
If you need to thicken, combine flour and tomato paste and add to saucepan.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some nice bread to mop up the juices.

Chicken and mushroom special

This recipe makes a big meal for one, but you can easily increase the quantities or split between two with a side salad.  It's low-fat and one-pot.  PIE doesn't eat chicken, so this is my go-to recipe when I am cooking for one.  It's spicy but not too hot so good for older kids too.

Ingredients

Quarter of a cup of basmati rice
Quarter of a red onion, sliced
Dash of lite olive oil
Two mushrooms, more or less
Half a teaspoon of cumin
Half a teaspoon of ground coriander
Half a teaspoon of curry powder
One teaspoon of chicken or vegetable stock powder (or a cube)
Half a cup of water
One medium skinless chicken breast
A couple of tablespoons of fruit chutney

Put the rice and onion in a medium saucepan and toss around with the olive oil for a minute or two - don't let it burn.  Put in the spices and the mushrooms and stir around for another half a minute.  Add the stock and half a cup of water (or twice the measure of rice if you want to increase quantities).  It will quickly be bubbling so turn down the heat to low.

Lay the chicken breast on top of the rice mixture and slather some fruit chutney (or pesto, or even tomato sauce in a pinch) over the top.  Put the lid on the saucepan and leave it for 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken breast).  Test the rice and if it's cooked then turn off the heat and leave it to steam for five minutes before serving.

Adapted by me from a Weight Watchers recipe circa 2000.

Lamb and barley stew in the slow cooker

There's a bit of preparation involved but this is a tasty one-pot meal that, once cooked, sits happily on the "warm" setting of the slow cooker while family members help themselves.

Serves four

3 or 4 lamb shanks, lamb leg steak or shoulder chops (leave the bones in)
1/4 cup sherry
1 stock cube, dissolved in 3 cups of warm water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Few shakes of worcestershire sauce
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large potato, diced
2 carrots, sliced
1 stick of celery, chopped
1/2 cup barley
3 bay leaves
1 large sprig of thyme
1 cup of frozen peas
A handful of parsley to serve

Heat a large frypan and brown the meat.  Place the browned meat in a large ovenproof casserole dish or pre-heated slow cooker.

Put the onions, potato, carrots and celery into the dirty pan and stirfry for a minute or two until slightly softened (don't let them burn).  Tip all the veges and herbs into the slow cooker on top of the meat.

Add sherry to the dirty pan, simmer for a few minutes, then add stock.  Bring to the boil then remove from heat and pour over the meat and veges.

Add everything else except the peas and parsley to the slow cooker.

Cook on high for 6 hours.  If you are cooking in the oven, cook for 2 hours on 180 degrees Celsius.

Twenty minutes before you want to eat, add the frozen peas and stir through.

Serve with the parsley and some buttered bread to mop up the juices.  Pick out the bones first if you wish.

Adapted by me from a recipe by Tracey Sunderland published in Taste magazine, May 2007 and retrieved from the website: www.taste.co.nz