SEASONAL COOKBOOKS TO SPICE UP MEALTIMES
THE ROASTING TIN AROUND THE WORLD: GLOBAL ONE DISH DINNERS ★★★★ Rukmini Iyer
Square Peg, £16.99
RUKMINI Iyer trained to be a lawyer but, as her weekend cookery hobby became more and more important to her, she began to realise she had taken a wrong turn. Determined to make a change, Rukmini, above, abandoned the law, headed to cookery school, started a supper club and began to work as a food stylist and recipe writer.
Her days were enjoyably hectic but tiring and she found herself craving meals that were full of flavour but easy to make. So she started devising dinners where all the ingredients were cooked together in a single roasting tin. Her cookery books were immediate bestsellers.
Her latest offering takes a whistlestop tour of world cuisine, her “chop and chuck” tray bakes making the most of easy-to-source ingredients with an international flavour.
Choose from dishes including creole spiced crab tarts with lemon and chilli; Venezuelan slow-cooked beef with red peppers and bay; spiced paneer with potatoes, peas and tomato; and a fairytale-pretty Persian love cake with rose, cardamom and figs.
GOOD FOOD FOR BAD DAYS: SELF CARE SUPPERS AND OTHER RECIPES ★★★★ Jack Monroe
Bluebird, £7.99
COOKERY writer and activist Jack Monroe has made no secret of the fact that, for her, some days are a struggle because she suffers from depression, anxiety and PTSD.
During a particularly challenging week, she posted a recipe for “Self Love Stew” on Twitter and it struck a chord with her followers who loved the therapeutic idea of making simple, satisfying food for when you’re at your lowest.
So Good Food For Bad Days is, says Jack “a manual for nourishing yourself”. The recipes contain moodenhancing ingredients – bananas, chocolate, cheese, chicken and oats – making use of easily sourced tinned food.
Many are designed to be batch cooked and frozen for days when starting from scratch is a step too far. Make fiery jalapeno cheese scones which take a matter of minutes to mix but are “creamy, hearty and filling”; vegetable chowder; butter bean, brown lentils and red wine casserole; snack on tasty orange and blueberry oat bars and a “sleepy time hot chocolate”.