Dinner

To make the pesto: with a pestle and mortar, grind the basil and garlic with the salt into a paste; add the pine nuts and do the same. Mix in the lemon juice, then the olive oil. If you prefer to use a food processor, throw in all the ingredients and blitz. This will give you a chunkier texture.

To make the risotto: heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan with high sides and gently fry the onion, celery, carrot and garlic, when soft, turn up the heat and add the rice. Stir for 4 to 5 minutes to coat in oil.

Add the diluted grape juice, which should sizzle when you pour it in, and allow it to be soaked up. When the pan is almost dry, start to add 300ml of the stock and the butternut squash. Add another splash when the liquid has almost been soaked up. Stir fairly constantly until you have used all the stock and the rice is cooked, and the mixture is nice and loose.

Remove from the heat. Serve with a little pesto spooned over the top, to be stirred through at the table.

PUMPKIN CURRY

Serves 2 children and 2 grown-ups

1 medium-sized pumpkin (approximately 1.2kg to 1.8kg)

Olive oil, or sunflower oil

Pumpkin seed oil (from healthfood stores)

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 small onion, sliced

1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

450ml vegetable stock

500ml tomato batch sauce (see recipe in lunch section)

2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1 x 200g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.

Tear off a long strip of tin foil and fold it in half, then in half again and again, to give you a thick base to sit your pumpkin on. This will stop the base from overcooking and collapsing.

Use your hands to cover the skin of the pumpkin in olive or sunflower oil and then sit it on the tin foil. Place on a baking tray and put in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. When it has softened, allow the pumpkin to cool slightly to make handling easier.

Cut off the top and retain it to be used later as a lid. Scoop out the seeds and discard (or you can dry these out in the oven for later use, such as ground into crumbles). Start to cut away some of the flesh from the inside of the pumpkin, making sure you leave enough on the sides to keep it rigid. Set aside this flesh to add to the curry.

In a roomy pan, add a splash of olive oil and a splash of pumpkin seed oil and fry the garam masala and the seeds until they start to pop. Throw in the onion, green chilli and garlic and cook until soft. Pour in the stock and tomato sauce, and add the remaining vegetables, chickpeas and the pumpkin flesh. Simmer for 30 minutes.

When cooked, ladle the curry into the hollow pumpkin, pop on the lid and take to the table ready to dish up.

Serve with rice; brown is best.

ROAST VEGETABLE AND CHICKEN COUSCOUS

This is a great meal for busy multi-taskers. Simply throw everything into the oven and get on with your other jobs.

Serves 2 children and 2 grown-ups

1 small organic free-range chicken

½ lemon

1 raw beetroot, peeled

1 red onion, sliced into wedges

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped into chunky pieces

1 small aubergine, chopped into chunky pieces

1 courgette, chopped into chunky pieces

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

olive oil

150g couscous (cooked according to instructions on the packet)

For the dressing:

200ml organic natural yoghurt

½ lemon, juice only

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 small handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

Pinch of salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas 5.

Put the lemon into the chicken cavity and roast the chicken for 45 minutes per kg, turn the oven up to 220C/425F/gas 7 for the final 15 minutes. Calculate the total cooking time: the vegetables will need to go in the oven for the last 30 minutes.

Put all the vegetables in a roasting tray, mix through the garlic, add a generous splash of olive oil and place in the oven.

Mix all the dressing ingredients together and stir well.

Check that the chicken is cooked by using a skewer to pierce deep into the leg. The juices that flow should be clear.

Portion the chicken and mix together the couscous and roasted vegetables. Serve with a green salad and a dollop of dressing.

Tip

If you give the couscous a hearty stir when the vegetables are mixed in, the beetroot will turn the grains pink — perfect to give your meal a fun touch. Any leftovers can be used for the lunchboxes.

BAKED FISH WITH TOMATO AND SALSA RICE

You could use almost any fish for this dish: mackerel, trout, haddock, cod, brill, plaice, tuna, salmon. My favourite is sea bass, a delicious, firm white-fleshed fish. If you are using a small fish, such as mackerel, you may need two fillets per grown-up.

Serves 4

4 fish fillets, skinned

12 halved cherry tomatoes (different coloured ones look great)

1 small handful of chopped rosemary

2 tbsp olive oil, plus an extra splash

Salt and ground black pepper

½ red onion, finely chopped

1 red pepper, finely chopped

175g (raw quantity) rice, cooked

1 small handful of cooked peas, or baby broad beans

2 tbsp toasted pine nuts (NB: omit for nut-allergy sufferers)

½ lemon, juice only

1 tbsp avocado oil

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 small handful of chopped basil

To serve:

Steamed green vegetables

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/gas 3.

Put the fish fillets on a greased baking tray. Mix together the tomatoes, rosemary, the olive oil and a little seasoning and spoon on top of the fillets. Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

Heat the splash of olive oil in a pan, add the onion and pepper and fry for a couple of minutes. Stir in the rice, peas, or broad beans, and pine nuts and allow them to warm through, then remove the pan from the heat. Mix together the lemon juice, avocado oil, honey and rice vinegar. Pour over the rice and add the chopped basil. Stir to combine.

Spoon the rice on to four plates and place the fish fillets on top. Serve with the steamed vegetables and tuck in.