Chicken Chow mein

• a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½–1 fresh red chilli, to your taste
• 1 large skinless chicken breast, preferably
free-range or organic
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 spring onions
• a small bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 bok choi
optional: 4 shiitake mushrooms
• 100g (2 bundles) medium egg noodles
• groundnut oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon cornflour
• 1 x 220g tin of water chestnuts
• 2–3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 small lime

To prepare your stir-fry
• Put a large pan of water on to boil
• Peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic
• Finely slice the chilli
• Slice the chicken into finger-sized strips and lightly season with salt and pepper
• Cut the ends off your spring onions and finely slice
• Pick the coriander leaves and put to one side, and finely chop the coriander stalks
• Halve the bok choi lengthways
• If using the mushrooms, either tear into pieces or leave whole
 
To cook your stir-fry
• Preheat a wok or large frying pan on a high heat and once it’s very, very hot add a good lug of groundnut oil and swirl it around
• Stir in the chicken strips and cook for a couple of minutes, until the chicken browns slightly
• Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, coriander stalks, mushrooms (if using) and half the spring onions
• Stir-fry for 30 seconds, keeping everything moving round the wok quickly
• Add your noodles and bok choi to the boiling water and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, no longer
• Meanwhile, add the cornflour, water chestnuts and their water to the wok and give it another good shake to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom
• Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• Halve the lime, squeeze the juice of one half into the pan and mix well
• Drain the noodles and bok choi in a colander over a bowl, reserving a little of the cooking water
• Stir in the noodles and bok choi, with a little of the cooking water to loosen if necessary, and mix well
• Have a taste and season with more soy sauce if needed

Warm chicken thai salad

Ingredients

1. 1 tbsp olive oil
2. 450g boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
3. 1 small onion, very finely chopped
4. 2 garlic cloves, crushed
5. 2 tbsp soy sauce, plus extra to serve
6. 2 tsp caster sugar
7. 1-2 red Thai chillies (depending on how hot you like your food), deseeded and very thinly sliced
8. 1 cucumber
9. 2 large carrots, cut into very thin strips
10. 150g beansprouts
11. Handful each coarsely chopped fresh mint and coriander leaves
12. 40g chopped roasted salted peanuts (optional)
13. Grated zest and juice of 1 lime, plus wedges to serve

Method

1.  Heat the olive oil in a wok or large frying pan and stir-fry the chicken over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce, sugar and chillies and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes, until the chicken is browned and the sauce has reduced to a sticky glaze.
2. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon and discard, then slice on the diagonal.
3. Toss with the chicken. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.
4. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze over, and soy sauce for drizzling.

Thai chicken burgers with cucumber relish

Ingredients

1. 3 skinless free-range chicken breasts
2. 100g fresh breadcrumbs
3. 1 tbsp plain flour
4. 2 small red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
5. 5 spring onions, finely chopped
6. Grated zest and juice of 1 lime, plus extra wedges to serve
7. 4 tsp soy sauce
8. Dash of fish sauce
9. 1 tsp lemongrass paste (we used Bart Lemon Grass, from Waitrose)
10. 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
11. 1 medium free-range egg, whisked
12. 2 tbsp olive oil
13. ½ tsp sugar
14. ½ cucumber, peeled and diced
15. Roasted sweet potato wedges tossed with fresh coriander, to serve

Method

1.  Finely dice the chicken. Place it in a large bowl with the breadcrumbs, flour, two-thirds of the chilli, spring onion, the zest of 1 lime and the juice of ½, 3 tsp of the soy sauce, the fish sauce, lemongrass paste and coriander. Add enough egg to bring it all together. Shape into 4 burgers, put on a lined plate and cover with cling film. Chill for 20 minutes.
2.  Meanwhile, make the cucumber relish. Mix the remaining soy, sugar, juice of the remaining ½ lime and remaining chilli, pour over the cucumber and combine. Set aside.
3.  Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the burgers for 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Serve with the cucumber relish, roasted sweet potato wedges and extra lime wedges.

Nicoise salad

Ingredients

• 300g small new potatoes
• 100g fine green beans , trimmed
• 3 eggs , as fresh as you can get them
• 2 Baby Gem lettuces , outside leaves trimmed off
• 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 200g cherry tomatoes , halved
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• small handful basil leaves
• 325g piece fresh tuna loin
• juice ½ lemon

FOR THE OLIVE DRESSING

• 50g black olives , preferably Niçoise, pitted
• 5 marinated anchovies fillets
• 1 garlic clove
• juice ½ lemon
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 

1. First, make the dressing. Tip the olives, anchovies and garlic into a large mortar and mash with a pestle until you have a very rough paste. Scrape into a bowl, if you like, stir in the lemon juice, olive oil and vinegar, then set aside.
2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 15 mins until tender, then drain and set aside. Cook the beans in boiling salted water for 4-5 mins until tender with a slight crunch. Drain, tip into iced water, then drain again and set aside. Boil a small pan.
3. Halve the potatoes and heat 2 tbsp oil in a non-stick frying pan. Place the potatoes cut-side down in the pan and sizzle for about 4 mins until golden and crisp. Toss the potatoes in the pan to brown on all sides, then turn up the heat and add the tomatoes. Fry the tomatoes for about 1 min until just starting to blister, then season. Splash in 1 tbsp of the balsamic vinegar, then turn off the heat and scatter over the basil.
4. To cook the tuna, place a non-stick frying pan over a high heat, then turn the heat down to medium and add 1 tbsp oil. Season the tuna generously, then sear for 4 mins, leaving it undisturbed in the pan to brown. Turn over and continue to cook for 4 mins on the other side. This will give you very rare tuna. For rare, cook for 2 mins more on each side and for well done, add another 4 mins on each side. Set the tuna aside to rest for a few mins.
5. To serve, whisk the remaining oil and vinegar with the lemon juice in a small bowl and toss in the lettuce wedges. Place a spoonful of olive dressing into 2 serving bowls, arrange the potatoes and tomatoes over, then put a pile of beans on top. Slice the tuna in half at a slight angle and place each half on top of the beans. Wedge the lettuce around the outside, halve the eggs and position in between the lettuce. Dollop a small spoonful of olive dressing on each egg.

Mackeral with morrocan dressing

• 1tsp sea salt
• 2tbsp toasted pine nuts
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 5tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 4tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Couscous and salad, to serve
• 6tbsp lemon-infused oil (see Sue's tip)

1. For the dressing: Dissolve salt in 3tbsp boiling water. Cool. Put the pine nuts in a bowl with the shallot, garlic and herbs. Season with pepper, then stir in lemon oil and salty water.
2. For the mackerel: Rub each mackerel with a little olive oil and season.
3. Griddle for 3-4 mins each side. Cook one or two at a time and keep them warm on a tray in oven.
4. Spoon dressing over the fish. Serve with couscous flavoured with lemon and parsley, the lemon wedges, and salad. (Not suitable for freezing).

Garlic and coriander chicken

• Chicken breast (sliced), 200g 
• Corn flour, 3 tbsp
• Black pepper powder, 1/2 tsp
• Oyster sauce, 2 tbsp
• Soya sauce, 1 tbsp
• Sugar, 1 tsp
• Coriander, 1 stalk
• Chicken stock, 10ml
• Garlic, 3 cloves
• Oil, enough for deep-frying

1. Mix the sliced chicken with corn flour.
2. Then, deep-fry the chicken in hot oil until brown and crispy. Drain and set aside.
3. Slice and chop the garlic and coriander together.
4. Stir-fry the chopped garlic and coriander until brown, and add together the black pepper powder and all remaining ingredients.
5. Lastly, put in the deep-fried crispy chicken and mix well.