One list, five meals: Michelle Darmody helps you cook a week's worth of food

Lamb and roasted vegetables

Serves 4

• 2 small red peppers, de seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 large courgette, sliced
• 4 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed but left almost whole
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• a sprig of thyme, off the stalk
• 1/2 a red chilli, roughly chopped
• 2 tbs of white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tbs of honey
• A dash of rapeseed oil
• 8 lamb chops
• A knob of butter
• A bunch of parsley, chopped

Put the rice on to boil in lightly salted water and drain when cooked. Brown rice takes quite a bit longer than white rice to soften, sometimes almost twice as long, so please allow more time than normal.

Toss the peppers, courgette, garlic, onion, thyme, chilli, white wine vinegar and honey in the oil and place into an oven heated to 180 degrees for at least a half an hour or until the vegetables are cooked through.

Heat your grill to medium and rub a little oil and seasoning into the chops. Grill for about three minutes on each side or until they are cooked to your liking.

Allow the meat to rest for five minutes before serving. Serve the chops on a bed of the vegetables with the juice from the pan poured over and the rice on the side.

Melt the butter in the roasted dish and use it to scrape any remaining juices, pour this onto the meat and sprinkle with the parsley.

Miso Mushrooms with Rice

• 300g of basmati rice, rinsed in cold water
• A dash of rapeseed oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 250g of mushrooms
• 8 tsp of miso paste
• 300mls of stock
• A handful of spinach, shredded
• A handful of parsley, chopped

Put the rice on to boil in lightly salted water and drain when cooked.

Heat the oil and sauté the onion, until it has turned translucent. Add the mushrooms to the pan, and fry until they are soft. Stir in the miso paste and stock, and leave to bubble away for three minutes.

Serve the mushrooms spooned over the rice, with the spinach and parsley sprinkled on top.

Warm Potato Salad with Smoked Mackerel

• A dash of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Left over potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
• 200g of chorizo, chopped
• A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tbs of cider vinegar
• A generous bunch of chives, chopped
• 2 smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed and broken into pieces
• Miso Mushrooms with Rice
• 300g of basmati rice, rinsed in cold water A dash of rapeseed oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 250g of mushrooms
• 8 tsp of miso paste
• 300 mls of stock
• A handful of spinach, shredded
• A handful of parsley, chopped

Put the rice on to boil in lightly salted water and drain when cooked. Heat the oil and saute the onion, until it has turned translucent.

Add the mushrooms to the pan, and fry until they are soft. Stir in the miso paste and stock, and leave to bubble away for three minutes.

Serve the mushrooms spooned over the rice, with the spinach and parsley sprinkled on top. Saute the garlic in a little oil until it is just starting to change colour then add the potatoes to the pan and fry until golden.

Remove from the pan and set aside. Using the same pan fry the chorizo. Stir fry until it has started to turn golden.

Add the tomatoes and vinegar to the pan and fry for another minute.

Toss the potatoes and chives into the pan with the chorizo and coat them in the juices. Toss through the mackerel and taste and season, if needed

Plaice with Olive Oil Mash

• 900g of potatoes — half to be kept aside for tomorrow
• 50 mls of milk
• 3 tbs of good quality olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 4 fillets of plaice
• The juice of half a lemon
• A knob of butter
• Green leaves for four
• 1 tbs of salad dressing
• A handful of almonds, toasted

Put the potatoes on to boil in lightly salted water. Drain when cooked-through. Set half aside for tomorrow. Mash the milk and olive oil into tonight’s potatoes.

Season, especially with black pepper, and continue to mash until smooth. Add a little more milk, if necessary.

Heat a griddle pan and melt butter. Fry the garlic, then set it aside. Season the fish and place on the pan, skin-side down, for two minutes, or until the skin is crisp.

Turn- over and griddle the other side for about two more minutes, until the fish is cooked-through. Add the lemon juice to the pan. Toss the leaves in the dressing and sprinkle with the almonds.

Serve the fish on a scoop of mash. Pour any juices from the pan over the fish. Serve the salad on the side.

Venison and sweet potato mash

• Sweet potatoes, peeled
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• A dash of rapeseed oil
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp of mixed spice
• 250mls of stock
• Flour for dusting
• 550g of shoulder of venison, cut into bite-size pieces
• 200mls of red wine
• A handful of dates, de-stoned and halved
• 4 tsp of tamarind paste, optional

Put the sweet potatoes on to boil in lightly salted water and drain any excess water once they are cooked.

Heat the oil and saute the onion in a large ovenproof dish until it is turning translucent.

Stir in the carrots and fry for a minute, keep stirring constantly. Add the garlic and spices and continue stir frying over a low heat for a further two minutes.

Add the stock and allow to bubble away for five minutes. In the meantime, season the flour and dust the pieces of venison until they are completely covered.

Heat another dash of oil over a medium heat in a large frying pan. Fry the venison until it has browned all over.

Tip the venison into the vegetables. Rinse out the frying pan with the wine and add that to the vegetable pot.

Place into an oven heated to 180 degrees and allow to simmer away with a lid on for 40 minutes. Stir in the dates and season, allow the stew to simmer away in the oven for a further 30 minutes until the meat is tender.

Mash the sweet potato with the tamarind and some seasoning.

Grocery list

Meat and Fish
• 8 lamb chops
• 550g of venison
• 4 filets of plaice 200g of chorizo
• 2 filets of smoked mackerel

Dairy
• Butter
• Milk

Fruit and Vegetable
• 2 small reppers
• 1 large courgette
• garlic
• 4 onions
• thyme
• 1 red chilli
• parsley
• sweet potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 900g of pototatoes
• lemon
• green leaves
• cherry tomatoes
• chives
• 250g of mushrooms
• spinach

Store cupboard
• brown rice
• white wine vinegar
• honey
• rapeseed oil
• mixed spice
• stock
• flour
• dates
• tamarind
• olive oil
• salad dressing
• almonds
• cider vinegar
• basmarti rice
• miso paste