Spinach & avocado soup

Ingredients 800g spinach, 1/2 nutmeg, 1 onion, 1 avocado, 1 potato, 1 tsp avocado oil.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

I love soup. I find all the chopping, stirring and pureeing very soothing, the warm smells that fill the house comforting, and I love ladling out steamy bowls of soup for people to dunk hot crispy bread into, dressing it with ever more creative croutons or swirls of cream and yoghurt. This soup is so thick and glossy and brimming with super-healthy spinach and avocado to keep those winter colds at bay.


1) Peel and finely dice the onion and the potato. Add the onion and avocado oil to a pan and allow to soften (about 5 minutes if you've chopped it finely enough) before adding the potato and enough water just to cover them (ideally about 1/4 pint)

2) When the potatoes are soft (about 10 minutes), add the spinach to the pan in installments, stirring well as it wilts down. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid away from the other ingredients (do not discard).

3) Halve the avocado around the stone and twist it apart. Remove the stone and scoop the avocado flesh from the shell. Add to a blender and blitz thoroughly. Add the contents of the pan and puree, adding a little of the liquid at a time until the desired consistency is reached. I like a good, thick soup but this is entirely your preference.

4) Stir in about half of a freshly grated nutmeg (don't ever bother with the powdered stuff - it tastes and smells of nothing!) with half a teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper (and salt if you wish, though I never do) to season, and serve.

Spinach, feta & beetroot cannelloni

Ingredients 1 beetroot, 200ml passata, 1 leek, 1 small white onion, 1 carrot, 400g spinach, 150g feta, 50g cheddar, 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg, 12 cannelloni tubes, olive oil, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/2tsp basil, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 glass red wine.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes (plus overnight)

Words fail me to describe just how luscious this dish was. Spinach, as you know, is my absolute favourite and I would genuinely eat it three times a day without ever getting remotely bored of it. Mmmm spinach. But even those without my passion for it, will love the combination of tangy feta and fresh juicy spinach, smothered in a rich tomato and beetroot sauce. For best results, prepare a day in advance. By allowing the pasta to rest overnight, the juices from the spinach will begin to soften it, meaning it can cook for less time in the oven and avoid that horrible "leathery" texture that can happen when the sauce isn't sufficient enough to "boil" it, as dried pasta really does require this.

1) Combine the fresh spinach, nutmeg and feta in a food processor until a thick puree has formed. Fill the cannelloni tubes using a teaspoon and a little patience and transfer to an ovenproof dish. 

2) Use the grate option on your food processor to blitz the onion, leek, carrot and beetroot together, then transfer the soffrito/mirepoix to a pan with a glug of olive oil and allow to sizzle for 5 minutes until soft and juicy. I like to add a glass of red wine for extra flavour and cook it off at this stage, but this is entirely optional.

3) Add the herbs and passata, then simmer for a further 10 minutes and set aside to cool down to room temperature before pouring over the cannelloni. Allow to rest in the fridge overnight.

4) Top with the cheddar cheese, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes, then serve hot.

Spinach & mushroom soup

Ingredients 1/2 pint ham stock, 1 medium potato, 400g spinach, 250g chestnut mushrooms, 50ml sherry (I use amontillado for cooking), 1 tbsp butter.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

Despite being allergic to mushrooms, I do dearly love chopping them up. My husband loves eating them so I get the opportunity to lay into them with my big bad chef's knife on a regular basis. The challenge with cooking mushrooms though, is that obviously I cannot taste them because DEATH, so I rely on my sense of smell. This soup smells nothing short of INCREDIBLE. There is nothing like the combined scent of mushroom and sherry - it's so rich and fragrant and yet earthy all at the same time. This soup was very silky in texture and my husband assured me, absolutely delicious. Let me know what you think!

1) Slice the mushrooms and peel and dice the potato. Melt the butter in the pan and stir in the mushrooms. After 5 minutes, stir in the spinach. It may seem like it won't all fit in the pan but once it begins to wilt the volume will decrease don't worry!

2) Once the spinach has wilted, add the potatoes and stir through, allowing the combined juices from the mushrooms and spinach to begin to soften the potatoes. Add the sherry and stir through - try not to begin frothing at the mouth with lust at the rich, raisiny smell.

3) Add the ham stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Blitz through in a food processor or using a stick blender until a smooth consistency is reached and serve hot.

Spinach & nutmeg en cocotte

Ingredients Per two eggs: 100g spinach, 50g manchego, 1 clove garlic, nutmeg, black pepper, bread.

Serves: 1 person per egg Preparation: 15 minutes

Eggs en cocotte are essentially baked eggs with STUFF, which let's be honest is a scrumptious concept. When topping food with a poached egg, the yolk is the best part - a luscious creamy puddle of sauce - and the white is merely a boring flavourless shell so I like to take the opportunity to sex up the white of an egg, then put it back together again as above. Spinach, nutmeg, cheese, garlic... what is not to love?

1) Chop the spinach (or blitz it in a food processor) and sautee it in a pan along with the crushed garlic. Give it a good squeeze to make sure there is no excess spinachy juice, then grate in the manchego and season with black pepper and nutmeg.

2) Separate the egg white from the yolk and whisk the white lightly into the spinach mixture until just combined. Decant into ramekins and then add one yolk per ramekin.

3) Sit the ramekins in a baking tray filled with boiling water and bake in the oven at gas mark 5 for 8-10 minutes (until the white barely wobbles).

Serve with dippy bread and revel in the lusciousness!

Fine bean & beluga lentil salad

Ingredients 400g spinach, 100g garden peas, 1 tbsp almond butter, 200g fine beans, 200g beluga or puy lentils (I loveMerchant Gourmet's ready to eat pouches), 1 tbsp butter.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 30 minutes

After the excesses of Christmas, I always veer towards clean, green food. Lentils need not be boring however - this steamy hot salad has an irresistible gloss of silky almond butter, meltingly soft spinach and a crisp crunch of fine beans.

1) Roughly chop the spinach and fine beans and add to a pan with 1 tsp butter and 1 tbsp almond butter. Stir until the spinach has just begun to wilt.

2) Simmer the peas in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain and add to the pan along with the lentils. Add a little extra almond butter if you wish, season with black pepper and serve hot or cold.

Almond, spinach & poached egg yolk pasta

Ingredients 200g spinach, 1 cup pasta, 1 egg, 1 tbsp almond butter, nutmeg.

Serves: 1 Preparation: 15 minutes

Spinach and nutmeg go together like ramalamalamagadingagadingadong but I bet you've never considered adding almond butter into the mix...
Well friend, you've got a whole world of woody scrumptiousness coming to you! This is an unusual pasta in that there's no real sauce to speak of, it's pure flavour and texture with a lick of egg yolk to lubricate the way, and it's absolutely lovely. I like to use spinach pasta to double up the spinach goodness, but I do realise that I am a spinach junkie...

1) Add the pasta to a pan of hot salted water and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

2) Stir the spinach into the almond butter and continue stirring on a low heat until the spinach has begun to wilt. Grate a little nutmeg into the pan, then stir in the pasta.

3) Drop an egg yolk into a pan of boiling water for 45 seconds, then spoon carefully onto the pasta. Serve immediately, breaking the yolk onto the pasta to coat it in the silky, creamy sauce.

Pasta with spinach & ale sauce

Ingredients 1/4 cup Hobgoblin ale, 300g spinach, 1/2 tsp grainy mustard, 1 tbsp buttermilk, 150g gruyere, pasta.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 20 minutes

I am a spinach junkie. I cannot get enough of it and it's such a great ingredient - so quick and satisfying and gloriously healthy. This dish is a little more indulgent given the cheese and beer content but it's magnificent nonetheless.

1) Bring the pasta to the boil in a pan of salted water and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

2) Reduce the ale in a milk pan and stir in the spinach, mustard and the buttermilk, then remove from the heat once the spinach has wilted.

3) Grate the gruyere into the pan and stir through until a completely smooth, elastic sort of fondue has formed. Strain the pasta and stir into the spinach sauce.

Spinach & ricotta cheesecake

Ingredients 400g spinach, 75g ricotta, 30g walnuts, 1/4 nutmeg, 10g parmigiano, 3 eggs

Serves: 2 Preparation: 30 minutes

Spinach and ricotta, when done well is a marvellous combination. Without the addition of freshly grated nutmeg, cheese, or the contrast of a piquant tomato sauce or juicy vegetables it can be a little bit bland though, even for a spinach freak like me. This juicy little cake (I suppose one could consider it an incredibly lazy souffle) is marvellous for lunch with salad, or could be served with sides as the protein part of an evening meal.

1) Blitz the spinach in a blender and add the ricotta, freshly grated nutmeg, finely chopped walnuts and parmeggian.

2) Whisk the eggs in a bowl and stir the spinach and ricotta mixture into the eggs.

3) Spoon into lightly buttered ramekins and bake at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.

By buttering the ramekins they will slide effortlessly out but be careful not to burn yourself!

Veggie Scramble

Ingredients 4 eggs, 200g spinach, 4 baby plum tomatoes, 1 avocado, 50g gruyere, bread, salt, black pepper, butter

Serves: 2 preparation: 15 minutes

There's a reason that this blog is called Everything Goes With Toast - in my humble opinion, when it comes to quick snacks, there is little in this world better than gilding a piece of toast with beautiful cheeses, vegetables, fruits, jams... I don't think I'll ever exhaust the potential of a slice of toast.
This is one of my favourite lunches - a thick wedge of crunchy, seedy bread topped with meltingly soft - well seasoned eggs and the juicy, silky combination of tomato, avocado and spinach. Packed full of goodness, super quick to make and utterly irresistable.

1) Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk thoroughly. Season with salt and black pepper (I've discovered this amazing seaweed salt recently - soooo savoury) and set aside.

2) Pop the tomatoes off the vine and slice in half. Add to the pan with a knob of butter, the spinach and stir through until the spinach has just begun to wilt.

3) Halve the avocados and scoop the fruit from the shell, discarding the stone. Cut the avocado into chunks and add to the pan, along with the eggs and grated gruyere.

4) Stir constantly for 3-4 minutes until the eggs are cooked, then spoon the veggie scramble onto a slice of toast and serve immediately.

Since becoming pregnant, I have really enjoyed spreading hummus onto the toast before adding the eggs... but I can't guarantee that this will suit everyone's tastebuds! It's a good source of extra protein if nothing else!

Spinach, Feta & Tomato pastie

Ingredients 100g spinach, 50g feta, 1 tomato, Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt, Jus-Rol™ or 250g plain flour, 1 tsp salt, 250g butter to make Puff pastry.

Serves: 2 Preparation: 1 hour and a half

I have long been a slave to the Greek perfection of spinach and feta pie - fine layers of crispy filo are all well and good, but sometimes I like to vary this dish by adding the sharp, sweetness of tomato and switching filo pastry for puff pastry instead so that I can make lots of individual pasties instead of one big pie.

1) To make puff pastry: Add the room temperature butter to the flour and salt and rub together loosely. Don't mix it too thoroughly - you want to still see the butter. Add about 100ml of COLD water and mix until you have a rough but firm dough. Cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Roll out from left to right onto a lightly floured surface - you should see marbled butter at this stage. Fold in half and roll out again from left to right. Fold once more, then cover with cling film and chill for another 20 minutes before using.

2) Roll out the pastry and cut into sections for your pasties. Spread a layer of Greek Yoghurt over half of the pastry and press the spinach into it. 

3) Layer the feta and spinach, pressing down quite firmly to avoid trapped air.

4) Slice the tomato in half and slice out the core and seeds, leaving the flesh. Slice into strips and rest on the top of the spinach and feta.

5) Fold the empty half of the pastry over the toppings, pressing down again to ensure that there isn't any air trapped inside, and tightly fold and crimp the edges to form a seal. Prick a hole for the spinachey steam to rise out, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees

Roast peppers with lavender goats cheese

Ingredients 1 Bell pepper, lavender goats cheese, lavender vinaigrette, spinach, rocket, watercress

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

This recipe uses two of my recent lavender recipes - lavender goats cheese and lavender vinaigrette. It might sound like a whole lot of lavender... but you can never have too much. This is absolutely delicious, and such a lovely twist of the classic roast pepper and goats cheese combination.

1) Slice the tops from your bell peppers, remove the core and seeds, then slice between the membranes to leave 3 or 4 slices of pepper flesh. Discard the core, seeds and membranes. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

2) Top a slice of bread with the roast pepper, and add the lavender goats cheese balls. Roast in the oven for a further 5 minutes, then dress with the salad and eat hot.

Avocado egg mayonnaise

Ingredients 1 avocado, 2 eggs. Serving suggestion: bacon, spinach, read

Serves: 2 Preparation: 10 minutes

Being all pregnant and stuff, I cannot make my own mayonnaise as I'm not allowed unpasteurised, raw egg things. I know that I can buy pregnancy-friendly mayonnaise but it makes my soul die just a little bit. My solution was to puree some gorgeous creamy avocado instead. Oh so silky, oh so yummy and much better for you than mayonnaise as avocado is a Good Fat!
My darling hubby enjoyed this as part of his bacon sandwich.

1) Boil the eggs for 8 minutes, then remove the shells and cut into chunks

2) Halve the avocados and scoop the fruit from the shell, discarding the stone. Pulse in the blender until smooth, then season with salt and black pepper to taste.

3) Stir the eggs into the avocado and you're done!

Potato & halloumi salad

Ingredients Exquisa potatoes, halloumi,  Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt  cucumber, mint, spinach, rocket,

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

Since doing a pregnant, I have had to stop making my own mayonnaise and buy some Hellman's instead and for the most part, I just can't bear the thought of it. As a result, this mint & cucumber yoghurt dressing was born! It's perfect with the salty tang of halloumi and some crisp salad greens.

1) Boil the potatoes in hot salted water for 20 minutes, run under the cold tap for a minute, then slice in half and set aside to cool.

2) As the potatoes are cooking, slice your halloumi and grill for a couple of minutes until one side turns golden and the other remains gorgeously gooey.

3) Peel about an inch and a half of a cucumber and slice the flesh from the juicy seeds in the centre. Discard the seeds and pop the flesh into a blender along with 3 or 4 mint leaves and 3 tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt. Pulse until combined, then stir in the potatoes and halloumi and serve.

Double spinach pasta

Ingredients 400g Spinach, 150g Seeds of Change spinach pasta, 1 wheel camembert

Serves: 2 preparation: 15 minutes

I adore spinach, in my humble opinion there can never be too much of it on the menu, and when I was sent some Seeds of Change spinach pasta as a gift, I knew exactly how best to serve this. A gentle ooze of Camembert, the fresh softness of spinach - absolutely glorious. This recipe couldn't be quicker, or more simple but it's absolutely perfect in its simplicity.

1) Put the spinach pasta on to boil for 8 minutes in hot water.

2) Slice the lid from the Camembert and scoop out the cheese. Add to a pan with the spinach and stir on a low heat until a smooth sauce has formed.

3) When the pasta is ready, strain and add to the sauce, stirring through until it is evenly coated.

This works served hot, or cooled as a pasta salad - though I hesitate to use the word salad to something so indulgent!

Roast pepper stuffed with spinach, feta & puy lentils

Ingredients La 1 bell pepper, 100g spinach, 10g puy lentils, 50g feta, nutmeg

Serves: 1 preparation: 30 minutes


When I became a vegetarian all those years ago, I needed to seek new protein sources which did not involve soya or mushrooms, both of which I'm horribly allergic to. Puy lentils are packed full of protein and soluble fibre, iron, potassium and zinc. They're low in fat and for the newly pregnant (me! By the way I did a pregnant!), they're high in folic acid too. A definite super food and like spinach, they needn't be boring just because they're virtuous. The stuffed pepper is the healthy alternative to a pie in my opinion. You can fill them with just about anything, and without pastry most fillings are healthy, delicious and super low maintenance to prepare. A pepper is a marvellous thing. I like to pre-roast them before stuffing them and roasting them again until the skin is almost completely blackened and has infused the centre with luscious tangy juices. In this case the tang of the feta, the melting soft spinach and the texture of the lentils makes this a real power-lunch for me, hot or cold!

1) Slice the top from the pepper (do not discard the lid) and scoop out the core and seeds. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes at a high heat.

2) Steam the spinach for 4 minutes, then carefully squeeze out as much as the liquid as possible.

3) If you use dried puy lentils - these will need to be cooked first for about 45 minutes (personally it's one of those ingredients I'm quite happy to buy canned. Merchant Gourmet's are FANTASTIC), to prepare canned - strain away the brine and combine with the spinach along with a little salt, black pepper and freshly grated nutmet.

4) Layer the feta, spinach and puy lentil mix into the pepper, packing it down tightly until it is full to bursting. Replace the lid and return to the oven to roast for a further 10 minutes, then serve!

Lavender curry

Ingredients 400g Coconut milk, 1 tsp lavender, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 white onion, 400g spinach, 1 courgette, butter or ghee, 2 cloves garlic

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

My personal curry tastes appeal more to the Thai style "soupy" green curries, but lavender could be used in a thicker Indian style Korma sauce if you prefer.
The exotic fragrance and flavour works in the same way coriander or mint does to cut the spices, and as in previous recipes - lavender is a perfect partner to coconut.

1) Grind the lavender with the spices in a mortar and pestle and set aside.

2) Finely dice the onion and add to the pan with the butter or ghee. Cook until the onions are soft, then add the garlic and spices and stir through.

3) Slice the courgette and cut each slice into quarters. Add to the pan and stir through, before adding the coconut milk.

4) Turn down the heat and allow to simmer gently until the courgette has begin to soften. Add the spinach and stir through until it has wilted, though not begun to lose its colour. Serve with rice or naan bread.

Spinach halloumi & sweetcorn fritters

Ingredients 40g polenta, 20g plain flour, 1 egg, spinach, sweetcorn, halloumi, olive oil (Optional: Rachel's Organic Greek Yoghurt)

Serves: 2 preparation: 10 minutes

Fritters are traditionally a sort of savoury doughnut, but thin like a pancake full of stuff, but like potato cakes - I like to make mine a bit thicker. Sweetcorn and polenta as both a texture and flavour combination are absolutely wonderful but combined with spinach (you know me, anything with spinach is pretty much my food heaven!) and the salty tang of halloumi this makes a great comfort food.
1) Whisk an egg and stir in the flour and polenta.

2) Finely chop the spinach, cut the halloumi into chunks and stir along with the sweetcorn into the flour and polenta. If the texture is a little dry I like to add in a little Greek yoghurt.

3) Form a patty and drop onto a lightly oiled pan. Sizzle for 2-3 minutes on each side then serve.

Sauteed spinach & samphire

Ingredients Samphire, spinach, butter

Preparation: 5 minutes

Samphire is incredible. Fresh, juicy yet almost unbearably salty it's hard to come by but well worth it if you can get hold of it. In combination with the softness and delicacy of sauteed spinach this makes a fabulous but simple side dish.

1) Melt a knob of butter in a pan and stir in the samphire and spinach until coated.

2) Stir on the hob until the spinach begins to wilt (around 4 minutes) and serve

Strawberry & white stilton salad

Ingredients   Spinach, salad leaves, cucumber, strawberries, white stilton, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin oil

Serves: 1 Preparation: 5 minutes

White stilton and strawberries are a wonderful combination - sweet and creamy. This salad is perfect drizzled with pumpkin oil.

1) Slice your strawberries (don't keep them in the fridge, they should be at room temperature or the flavour will be impaired), silton and cucumber into chunks.

2) Toss the salad leaves in a little pumpkin oil and mix with the rest.

3) Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and serve.

Chachouka

Ingredients 2 bell peppers, 10 baby plum tomatoes, 1 white onion, 2 cloves garlic, 200g spinach, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp paprika, pinch saffron, 1 tsp chilli powder, olive oil, butter

Serves: 2 preparation: 30 minutes

Chachouka is a North-African casserole - I remember strings of melting soft onion, spices and the sharpness of the saffron and tomato under creamy egg yolk the first time I tried it in Paris, years ago. Because, as you know, I loathe onion - I've added spinach to the mix with fabulous results.

1) Slice the tops from the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Remove the portions of flesh from between the membranes and slice into strips. Roast in the oven along with the whole tomatoes for 15 minutes at 200 degrees, drizzled with a little oil.

2) Peel and slice the onion, then break into rings. Sautee in a little butter along with the spices on a medium heat for 15 minutes, adding the garlic at the last 2.

3) Stir in the spinach, pepper and tomatoes, then transfer to an ovenproof dish. Press wells into the surface with a tablespoon and crack the eggs into them. Bake in the oven until the egg white has just turned opaque, then serve.