I’ve never made falafels before and was a bit surprised by the texture of these, but I think that’s because I was comparing them to shop-bought, solid ones. Whilst cooking them I was worried that they would be too squishy, but they were absolutely fine so don’t worry if you feel the same. I’ll never get them to look like Jamie’s, but they tasted great!

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the falafel:
1 x 400g tin of mixed beans
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
1 lemon
1 tbsp harissa paste
1 heaped tsp allspice
1 heaped tbsp plain flour
1 bunch of fresh coriander
Olive oil

Sides

2 mixed-colour peppers
4 spring onions
8 small tortillas (we used tortillas with herbs in for extra taste)
1 tbsp chilli sauce (or tobasco)
250g low-fat cottage cheese

Method

1. Drain the beans and chickpeas and put them into a food processor. Finely grate in the lemon zest, then add a pinch of salt and pepper, the harissa, allspice, flour and coriander stalks (reserving the leaves).

2. Blitz until smooth, scraping down the sides if needed. Scrape out the mixture and then use clean, wet hands to quickly divide and shape it into 8 patties about 1.5cm thick.

3. Put 1 tbsp of oil into a frying pan and add the falafels, turning when golden and crisp.

4. Chop the peppers into bitesize chunks and put on a griddle pan with the trimmed spring onions (if you don’t have a griddle pan you can roast in the oven with some olive oil – you’ll need to do this before frying the falafels).

5. Heat up the tortillas in the microwave for 45 seconds, while you marble the chilli sauce into the cottage cheese. Remove the peppers and spring onions from the pan/oven and squeeze over half of the lemon juice.

6. Either take all of the elements to the table so that people can construct their own wraps, or stack the peppers and onions, cover with some cottage cheese and then top with the falafels. Enjoy for tea or as a yummy lunch!

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Another of the new recipes that we have tried out this week is Nigella Lawson’s Chicken with Tomatoes and Peppers. This is a super easy recipe to make and it’s really tasty, and you could cook it on a school night which is always great! I also think that leftovers would make an excellent lunch too, or just pop it in the freezer for another day. We served this with orzo pasta, but it would go well with green veg or some crusty bread.

The original recipe states that you should use chicken thigh fillets – we couldn’t find any but bought thighs with the bones. Tom spent ages (and I mean ages!) removing the meat from the bones before cooking, and he has told me to say ‘Do not do this!’ Either cook the chicken with the bone, or use breast fillets – but trying to remove the meat from the bone is really more hassle than it is worth! We couldn’t find a jar of flame-roasted peppers in our local supermarket, so roasted a couple of red pointed sweet peppers instead.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

1 x 15ml tablespoon garlic oil
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
500g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bitesize pieces
1 tsp dried oregano
2 x 15ml tablespoons marsala
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes, plus water to rinse out can
1 tsp sea salt flakes, or 1/2 tsp pouring salt
1 x 290g jar (190g drained weight) flame roasted red peppers (or use 2 peppers and roast yourself)

Method

1. If you are roasting peppers, heat the oven and chop the peppers into medium sized pieces. Place on a tray and cover with olive oil before roasting.

2. Pour the garlic oil into a pan and cook the onion until soft, stirring frequently. Add the chicken along with the oregano and turn in the hot pan. Add the marsala and watch it bubble up, before promptly adding the tomatoes and the salt.

3. Half-fill the empty can with water and pour it into the pan, swilling out as much of the tomato as you can.

4. Drain the peppers and snip with scissors into bitesize pieces (or remove your roasted peppers from the over). Add to the pan and then bring to the boil before turning down the heat and leaving to cook at a steady simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

5. As the pan is simmering, cook the orzo pasta. When the pasta is done and the chicken cooked through, serve in bowls or serve straight from the pan at the table. Enjoy!

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