One of the odd things about ‘going home for Christmas’ is that I end up eating completely differently. Not better, or worse, per se - just differently. I was filling out my Project You ‘Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024’ book, and realised that one of the things that makes me feel my best is what I’m going to call Simple Good Food. And I’d like to share it with you.
Me looking into my kitchen cupboards:
Simple Good Food will build on everything I’ve learned from reading Smitten Kitchen for a decade, informed by the ethos of What To Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking, the healthy (in every sense) approach taken by Julia Turshen, and with my own flavours and approach folded throughout. It goes without saying that what I learnt from Ella Risbridger and Kate Young on their course at Ty Newydd last year underpins this project in every way.
I’m going to bring you a collection of dishes - I don’t even want to call them recipes, really - that, to me, qualify as Simple Good Food. That is to say, they are:
Made with a small number of ingredients, which you can find at any reasonably sized supermarket, ideally a Local or Express store for fresh ingredients
Not fussy - at all.
Made with very little hands-on time (and no fancy kit needed)
Either very quick (to serve 1-2 people) or happy to sit in a box in the fridge for a few days to be dipped into for lunches and dinners
Put together with an eye on protein and fibre content (though I won’t include numbers in the recipes); where they’re inspired by something someone else has published or posted, I’ll always credit them.
Beyond all those practicalities, though, Simple Good Food is this: food to make you feel cared for. This is something I aim for throughout my writing, and food is the purest expression of that I can think of.
I’d love to see you on the journey.
Let’s start at the very beginning: veg-packed eggs
Jarred, roasted red peppers are one of my best friends. They’re packed with flavour, sit happily on a shelf in the cupboard (and then in the fridge once you’ve opened them), and add a joyful shot of bright colour to any dish. A new member of the gang is bagged spring greens. They’re not glamorous - and in most convenience-sized supermarkets I end up having to buy spinach or kale instead - but they are cheap, grown in the UK pretty much all year round, and full of micronutrients. Perfect for the time of the year when I’m sick of root vegetables (I do love a parsnip, but… you can have too much of a good thing). I got the initial idea for this from Lucie Baker on TikTok - this is my spin on it.
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