Ingredients

2 large slices wholemeal bread
1 tsp margarine
80g houmous
½ tsp chilli sauce or ¼ tsp chilli powder
1/6 cucumber, finely sliced or 1 small tomato, finely sliced.
1 tsp capers
A small handful coriander, finely chopped
Black pepper, ground

Equipment

Chopping board
Knife

Method

Slice the bread (if using unsliced bread) and spread margarine on one side of each slice.

Spread half the houmous on to one of the slices of bread.

Drizzle the chilli sauce on top of the houmous and arrange cucumber or tomato on top.

Sprinkle chopped coriander on top, along with capers and black pepper.

Spread the remaining houmous on to the other slice of bread, then place this on top of the filling on the first slice, to close the sandwich.

Slice it in two, wrap it up or put it in a Tupperware box and take to work.

You can listen to this recipe’s podcast on the player or alternatively you can save the mp3 by right clicking and “saving as” on the download link below.

Ingredients

Salad
1 x egg
3-4 iceberg lettuce leave, ripped into pieces
1/6 cucumber sliced
½ green pepper
1-2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 x small (80g) tin tuna
1 tsp capers
3-4 new potatoes quarters

Dressing
½ tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
20g ginger, chopped into a couple of chunks
½ tsp sesame seed oil

Equipment

Saucepan
Chopping board
Tupperware box

Method

Boil a pan of water, add the new potatoes and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until ready. You can test the potatoes by inserting a knife to see if they feel soft enough to eat.

Hard boil the egg by placing it in a pan of cold water with a pinch of salt (or dash of vinegar); heat until the water is boiling; boil for about 5-10 minutes.

Set the Potatoes and eggs cooking arrange the lettuce, cucumber, green pepper and spring onions in the Tupperware box.

Make the dressing by simply adding all the ingredients into a cup, and whisking together, the flavour from the ginger chunks will soak into the dressing.

When the eggs and potatoes are ready, take the pan off the heat, drain them and put them into cold water.

Open the tin of tuna, drain off the liquid/oil and use a fork to scrape it out onto the salad.

Crack the eggs, peel of the shell, chop into eighths and put on top of salad in the Tupperware.

Sprinkle capers over the salad and pour salad dressing on top.

Close the Tupperware, take it to work and if possible keep it in a fridge.

This can be made the night before, but dress it in the morning before you go to work, otherwise the dressing will make the salad wilt and go mushy.

You can listen to this recipe’s podcast on the player or alternatively you can save the mp3 by right clicking and “saving as” on the download link below.

Ingredients

5 cherry tomatoes, washed
1 tsp live oil
1 tsp white vinegar
A pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 tbsp mayonnaise
2 slices of bread
1 tsp margarine or butter

Equipment

Tin foil
A grill pan or flat tin
Medium saucepan
Chopping board

Method

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees (gas mark 2).

Wash the cherry tomatoes and chop them in half. Put the tomatoes onto the greased tin foil and place on a metal tray or grill pan.

Sprinkle with olive oil, vinegar and salt on to the tomatoes and roast the tomatoes in the oven for about 30 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the eggs in a pan of cold water, add a sprinkle of salt and place on a medium heat. Once the water is boiling rapidly, cook for a further 5-10 minutes at a good boil.

When tomatoes are roasted (they will have gone shrivelled and darker) remove them from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes.

Peel the shell from the hard boiled eggs and roughly chop.

Add mayo and mix it into the eggs, but do not thoroughly mash the eggs in the process (as you would for egg mayo), there should still be some good size chunks of yolk and white.

Butter the bread, put egg mixture on top and arrange tomatoes on top. Place the second slice of bread on top.

Slice the sandwich in two and wrap-up or put in a Tupperware box to take to work.

Both the eggs and tomatoes can be made up to two days in advance. If doing so, store tomatoes wrapped in cling film or tin foil and keep the eggs, still in their shells in the fridge.

You can listen to this recipe’s podcast on the player or alternatively you can save the mp3 by right clicking and “saving as” on the download link below.

Ingredients

1 medium onion
1 large leek
1 medium parsnip
1 carrot
2 sticks of celery
1250ml stock (or 1250ml of boiling water with 2 stock cubes)
1 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tbsp chopped coriander stem
1 tbsp chopped parsley stem
a grating of black pepper
1 tsp soy sauce
100g Greek yogurt and 6 slices bread to serve (optional)

Equipment

1 large non-stick saucepan with a lid
1 chopping board
1 large knife

Method

Put the non-stick saucepan on the heat and add the oil.

Add the chopped onions to the pan, stir, then cover and cook for about 15 minutes on a very low heat, until they are translucent, stirring occasionally.

Add the leeks and cook for 5 minutes, covered.

Add all the other vegetables, coriander and parsley stem and stir.

If you are making your own stock with stock cubes, pour the boiling water over the stock cubes in a measuring jug or other vessel and stir to dissolve. Add the stock to the vegetables in the saucepan and bring the mixture up to a simmer.

Add a grating of black pepper and the soy sauce, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Let it soup cool for a while bit before blending with a blender until smooth.

Reheat as necessary and serve with a dollop of yoghurt on top of each serving (optional).

You can listen to this recipe’s podcast on the player or alternatively you can save the mp3 by right clicking and “saving as” on the download link below.

Ingredients

Approximately 50g of cooked chicken (any cut will do), removed from the bone if necessary. Leftover’s from last night’s dinner are ideal.
½ ripe avocado, peeled
½ tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaf
Juice of ¼ of a lime
1 tbsp yoghurt
1 tsp root ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 spring onion very finely chopped.
Large pinch of paprika or chilli powder (optional)
2 slices bread
1 tsp butter
1/6 cucumber, very thinly sliced

Equipment

1 chopping board
1 bread knife

Method

In a bowl mix together all the ingredients except the avocado and chicken.

Put the avocado in a separate bowl and mash with a fork until it becomes a slightly lumpy paste and add to the mixture.

Roughly chop or shred the chicken into small pieces, approx 1cm thick, depending on the cut of meat.

Stir the avocado mixture into the chicken, add a pinch of salt and give the mixture a good stir.

Butter each slice of bread on one side. Top one slice with the avocado mixture, then the cucumber slices, then close the sandwich.

Cut the sandwich into two, wrap in cling film and take to work.

You can listen to this recipe’s podcast on the player or alternatively you can save the mp3 by right clicking and “saving as” on the download link below.