If I'm late home from work or don't feel like cooking, instead of reaching for the takeaway menu, I put some bread in the toaster and open a can of baked beans.

 

 

Baked beans are cheap, convenient and contain plenty of good nutrition. A can of backed beans is high in fibre, protein, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It's also lower in fat than most take-away and the combination of beans and toast makes a filling, hearty dinner. It is of course even better if your toast is wholegrain.

 

Many people dismiss baked beans because they're tinned or a bit old fashioned, but I love them. Baked beans on toast is an easy meal to prepare, no thinking required. Which is exactly what you want when you're home late, tired and your brain's a bit fried.

Party season is just starting. It's a time when everyone's busy, eating too much and often quite stressed. On your nights at home take the pressure off with a light and healthy meal. Something which will make you feel better, but can be put together in minutes.

 

 

 

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add 400g of spaghetti. While this is cooking, tear up eight fresh, really ripe tomatoes, into a large bowl - just do this with your hands, scrunching them up as you go. Shred the meat off half a barbecued chicken. Add this to the tomatoes, together with four big handfuls of baby spinach, the juice of half a lemon, two tablespoons of olive oil and some fresh basil. Drain the pasta and then add to the tomatoes. Toss quickly to combine and then serve immediately.

 

 

Empty a large tin of salmon into a bowl. Add in two tablespoons of capers, a punnet of cherry tomatoes, half a bunch of fresh dill, four cucumbers and two large handfuls of rocket. Tear up four slices of rye bread, into chunks and add these to the salad. Squeeze over the juice of half a lemon and two tablespoons of natural yoghurt and add some chopped fresh chilli if you like a bit of heat. Toss to combine and serve immediately.

 

 

As you may know, I enjoy having eggs for breakfast. This morning I made a version of Mostly Eating's zucchini flecked scrambled eggs.

 

It's a simple meal, suitable for breakfast, lunch or a light dinner. The addition of zucchini means you're getting about two serves of vegetable, plus it's frugal eating, even if you buy the best eggs< /a> around.

We've eaten well this week. A tray of quickly ripening peaches has meant lots of fruit, both fresh and in desserts. Plus beautiful produce in my weekly vegetable box has inspired some lovely meals.

 

On Sunday night my partner made a version of this baked mushroom rice dish from Nigel Slater. It's a little like a risotto, but much easier to make and with a slightly different texture. We loved it. R used chopped leeks instead of the shallots and, not having any parmesan, we sprinkled over some pangritata instead.

 

It has a long cooking time, but most of that happens in the oven, so it's a lovely meal to make on a Sunday afternoon when you're pottering around.  Delicious too.

 

The other meal I've cooked, which I may have linked to before, as I make this a lot, is Radiant Soup.  I love this meal. Love, love love it. The basic recipe is delicious, but I usually tweak it a bit to make the dish more of a meal. Today I added a little more water and cooked some red lentils in the turmeric, coconut base.  I then added some rice noodles towards the end of cooking, together with some chilli flakes.  Absolutely delicious.