Cheese

Other than chocolate, cheese is the only other food-stuff that has the textural ability to soften into an unctuously gooey consistency. Half solid, half liquid, but fully delicious. I read once that we find things like cheese and chocolate to be so decadent and luxurious because of the pleasurable way the fat solids melt and coat the inside of your mouth… but everything in moderation yes?

Although not incredibly cheap to buy, I count cheese as a frugal ingredient as a little goes a long way, and it’s fridge shelf-life is very plentiful. 

Cheddar. The extent of a surprising amount of people’s cheese-eating repetoir  (apart from some mozzarella on a pizza of course). It’s a good place to start but is only the tip of the ice-berg. It goes hand in hand with many student meals such as baked potatoes, pasta dishes and chilli con-carne. It adds a slight saltiness and creaminess to balance the starchiness of said carbs. Judge this next dish as you see fit but don’t you dare knock it until you’ve tried it. I made your basic salad with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber and topped it with………… pizza croutons! To stretch one sad and lonely leftover slice of pepperoni pizza, I snipped it into squares and fried them in a pan and then grated over a shower of cheddar. When all was golden and bubbling I let everything cool before snapping the croutons in to cheese encrusted shards and scattering over the salad. I then drizzled over the pesto dressing detailed in the feta dish below.

Feta has a very different role to cheddar - tasting fresher almost, with its starched white saltiness. It hardly melts like other cheeses so can be grilled or crumbled raw in to chalky crumbs on top of salads or in to sandwiches. Below is a tasty concoction of rice, spicy roasted sweet potato cubes, avocado and a zingy lemon and basil dressing. I  made the dressing by using the residue of some pesto in a finished jar by shaking up some olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning in it.

Halloumi is my favourite thing at the moment. Like feta it doesn’t melt and can be fried in a little oil until a golden crust has formed on the outside but the interior is warm and softly-set. Cheaper than meat (and longer lasting) it makes a wonderful veggie alternative to your salads, wraps or pittas. This wrap was a Thai inspired lunch with halloumi as its star. I fried a small chopped chilli and some frozen spinach with the halloumi slices and laid that, singing from the hot pan, on to a cooling bed of smashed avocado. I then squeezed over half a lime, drizzled with a little sweet-chilli sauce and dotted with basil leaves.

So there you go; three very different cheeses and one very happy student.

Greens

My Mother has instilled in me the need to have a ‘little bit of something green’ on every plate of savoury food that I eat. This means I have become increasingly reliant on those trustworthy freezer companions; peas and broccoli florets, to satisfy this need.

However, an often under-looked favourite of mine is a bag of frozen spinach. It’s possibly the most versatile of all greens. It has the ability to instantly wilt into silky little slicks when thrown into any stew, soup or pasta sauce. Or, when stuffed inside the inferno that is the steam-filled pocket of a toasted pitta, left to wilt and paired with cubes of feta or fried halloumi, it can make an instantly healthy and sophisticated lunch. It’s also great in a smoothie; instantly chilling it and becoming indistinguishable except for the colour and goodness it exudes.

See recipe below for this delicious chickpea and spinach curry:

Kale also survives the freezing process well, and is almost as versatile as spinach but needs a little bit more cooking to soften the tougher sinews of the leaves. Due to it’s robustness it can take on a battering of flavours more successfully than spinach can. It loves to be fried up with onion and garlic, simmered in a little stock and served with sausages, chorizo sausage perhaps, or combined with pasta that’s been tossed in an anchovy dressing…

Below is my kale, sweet potato and spicy sausage hash. Simply fry a chopped onion, the crumbled sausage meat of 2 sausages and the baked flesh of a sweet potato with salt, pepper and paprika - then top with a fried egg!

The humble lettuce leaf also carries a huge weight of worth in my cookery repertoire. I favour the tight little bundles of cos as; because the leaves are still attached to the stalk they stay fresher far longer than any bagged salad. They instantly lift a plate of food, even just a few leaves add a pleasing crunch and freshness. Chopped in a salad or whole with a sandwich, they make you feel more saintly in your eating - lightening the load and brightening your plate. Although everyone should be aiming to have a rainbow of food on their plate - getting your greens sorted is always a good place to start!

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

1 Red Onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons of whole cumin/coriander seeds

1 teaspoon of garam marsala

1 400g carton of Chopped Tomatoes

1 400g tin of Chickpeas

4 big handfuls of Spinach

1. In a large saucepan, gently fry the onions and garlic in a bit of flavourless oil. When beginning to soften add whatever whole spices you have and let them pop in the oil.
2. Next add the chopped tomatoes, then fill the carton with cold water and add that to the pan too. Let it bubble for 5 mins before adding the chickpeas. 
3. After 2 more minutes take the pan off the heat then add the spinach to cook in the residual heat.
4. If you're using frozen spinal then you might need to put the pan back on the heat to reduce a bit more.
5. Serve with rice, mango chutney and any other bits and pieces you can get your hands on; bhajis etc.

Eggs

I think it's fair to denote the title of the most versatile of all ingredients to the humble egg. Its skills include glazing, binding, enriching, combining and aerating as well as standing strong on its own. This means that eggs are unique in the fact that they are equally as welcome in the world of baking as they are in savoury dishes.

The construction of an egg is as interesting as its qualities. I learnt once that the thin skin that lines the inside of the the shell has one small pocket of air.  The chick pieces it with its little beak as it hatches, breathes its first breath of air, and gains the strength to peck through the shell. Also, the cord that attaches the yolk to the shell, and keeps it centred, is called a 'chalaza' - what a good word.

Anyhoo, to have in mind that a yolk becomes a chick proves that an egg has all the nutrients we need to live. That's why they make such good breakfasts, they keep you satisfyingly full for longer. My favourite way to have them at the moment is scrambled with fried tomatoes, hot, buttered toast, avocado and smoked mackerel. (Look out for future blogs celebrating other fishy underdogs such as smoked mackerel.)

As well as breakfasts and brunches, I've started to incorporate eggs in to my evening meals too. As I'm going meat-free this term, I want to try and find new ways of using them for a reliable source of protein. The baked eggs recipe below is jut a simple, spicy stew but feels exotically middle-eastern. The yolk, when pierced with a shard of pitta bread, soothes the spiciness and, along with the avocado, tempers the heat.

If there's any leftover stew it works well with some fried sausage bits to make a pasta sauce, or blended to make a soup.

Spicy Baked Eggs

Serves 1 or 2

1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 red pepper
2 sticks of celery
1 carton/tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp - paprika and/or cumin
1/2 a chilli or 2 tsp of dried chilli
2 eggs
Pitta bread
Avocado

Chop the vegetables as finely as you can and sweat the onion and garlic in a large saucepan (that has a lid) in a bit of oil until soft.
When soft, chuck in the pepper and celery and continue to cook for about 10 mins. 
Then pour in the chopped tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper and spices. 
Give everything a good stir then leave to reduce on a gentle heat for 5 mins.
Make small dips in the sauce with the back of the spoon and crack the eggs in to them. Pop the lid on and leave for a further 5 mins until the eggs are cooked.

Top with chopped celery leaves or other green herbs. Serve with toasted pitta brushed with oil and sprinkled with a bit of paprika and little scoops of avocado.