29 March - couscous and a chicken pie

Lunch today was a simple couscous salad; with spring onion, cherry tomatoes, roasted red pepper, green beans and a bit of bacon. Then in the evening we were out at the Lounge for drinks with friends. I'd been a bit disappointed with their food lately, but I had a really good chicken and gammon pie with chips and creamy leeks - definitely back on form.

21 March - scrambled eggs and garlicky greens

I started today with my first attempt at scrambled eggs in a microwave. Although the apartment does have a small hob, there's only one rather large pan, so I thought I'd try my hand with the microwave instead. The result - actually, not bad scrambled eggs after a good bit of stirring.

Knowing the lack of interesting lunch options at the conference centre, I picked up some couscous salad in Sainsbury's on my way in to see me through another busy day. Then it was out again for the evening, this time for supper with a fellow freelancer and an in-house editor who we've both been working for. Luckily the editor is based in Glasgow so was able to take us somewhere a bit different, in the trendy West End. It actually turned out to be a Zizzi's - a familiar chain, but actually quite a funky location. I went for roast pork belly, which was lovely and tender, and better still was served on a huge pile of garlicky spring greens - who says the Scots don't do veg!!!

15 March - chickpea salad and pasta with salmon

Along with some leftover couscous from last night, I made up some chickpea and pepper salad for lunch with a bit of soft goats cheese on the side.

Tris often says that we don't have much pasta for supper, mainly because it tends to be one of my lunchtime staples. So this evening I consciously went for a pasta dish - smoked salmon and leeks in a cream sauce.

6 February - vegetable couscous

I got round to using up the last of the pork bolognese sauce today in a jacket potato for lunch. Tris was out for the evening so I settled for a simple veggie supper based on the seven/five vegetable couscous I've cooked before. Tonight the veg was red onion, courgette, carrot, red pepper, white cabbage and a few chickpeas left over from yesterday, plus all the spices (garlic, ginger, toasted and ground cumin and coriander, saffron, paprika and dried chilli) and some stock. Once I'd chopped up the veg, I realised there was too much for one, so made enough for Tris to take for his lunch tomorrow as well. With couscous and a sprinkling of fresh coriander it made a tasty and healthy-feeling supper-for-one.

13 January - calamari in valetta

I ventured into Valetta today, determined to have some proper Maltese food for lunch. The places with tables out in squares were tempting, but despite the sun, I was feeling a bit too chilly to sit outside. So I fell back on my guidebook and sought out Rubino, a restaurant recommended for modern Maltese cuisine. It was a bit tucked away and difficult to see in from the street, But I just took the plunge anyway. It was full smartly-dressed businessmen taking clients out to lunch - a good sign - and the waiters were welcoming.

I went for just a main from the menu scribbled on a blackboard in a mix of English and Malti. As I waited for my calamari, I was served with bread and little crackers to dip into some bigilla - a Matli dip made of spiced crushed beans - tasty and quite moreish. When my squid arrived, it was huge - three whole grilled squid with a herby sauce and spicy roast potatoes. It was very good and great to have some fresh seafood. I didn't quite manage to clear my plate though and needed a good strong espresso before I went off to spend the afternoon exploring the city!

While I was out, I managed to gather a few bits and pieces of food, so supper back at the apartment consisted of some couscous already mixed with Mediterranean spices, some fried courgette, cherry tomatoes and a bit of mozzarella. After a filling lunch, it was all I needed and with more Maltese wine ended the day pretty well.

30 December - bruschetta and slow-roast lamb

When I had the oven on to cook the salmon yesterday, I popped some peppers and squash in to roast at the same time. I had both today on some bruschetta for lunch with a bit of goats cheese - mmm!

For dinner, I decided to try out a slow-roast lamb recipe I'd seen in the Guardian magazine a few weeks ago where you coat the lamb in yoghurt spiced with ras al hanout (the Moroccan spice mix usually used in tagines) and cook it long and slow with red wine and sliced onions. I slightly miscalculated my timing and put it on earlier than it should've been - I didn't think it'd matter too much with a 4-hour cooking time. Towards the end, I probably should have checked it a bit more, but was distracted by other things and was rather annoyed to find when I finally took it out that it'd completely dried out, so that the onions had shrivelled and burnt and there was no sauce left in the dish to pour over the meat. So all in all, the meat was a bit dry and disappointing. We had it with some couscous and a bit of roast aubergine and pepper and some extra yoghurt on the side. Not bad, but not as tasty as it should've been.

18 December - omelette and roast veg

When I asked Tris what he fancied for lunch today, he suggested an omelette. It was a chunky, sort of Spanishy affair, with some cold boiled potatoes, red pepper and a couple of mushrooms, plus six eggs and a handful of parsley - still going on the terrace. I cooked it in a big frying pan then popped it under the grill to finish off and it came out looking good and went down nicely with a good dollop of homemade sweet chilli and tomato jam.

We were out socialising early evening, but after working all weekend, I was knackered, so I came home early. Having expected to eat out, I hadn't really got anything in, so supper was cobbled together from leftovers. I still had some rather sad-looking roasted squash and beetroot, which I heated up in the oven together with some fresh red onion and garlic. I piled the veg on top of some couscous and scattered over a few bits of goats cheese and fresh coriander and the result was really quite good.

2 December - couscous salad and an orange supper

Cold's still in full force and tastebuds difficult to tempt. I tried to break through with a bit of chorizo in a warm couscous salad for lunch; giant couscous with chorizo, cherry tomatoes, beans and sweetcorn.

This morning's vegbox had a bit of a festive feel as I'd ordered a few bottles of bubbly along with the regular veg. They're all organic (a champagne, a prosecco and some rose sparkling) and have gone into the wine cellar ... okay the garage! ... ready for a bit of seasonal sparkle once my tastebuds are back. Will report back on what they're like ...

Tris was out this evening, so I bought myself a pork steak for supper. I simply fried it and made a bit of sauce to pour over (Marsala, parsley and butter) and had it with some braised cabbage with carraway seeds and mixed carrot and parsnip mash. It made a rather yellowy-orange plate of food, but lots of good, comforting flavours.

20 November - lamb tagine with pomegranate

I got a couple of pomegranates in Friday's vegbox, so today I made a lamb tagine (using my usual recipe) and instead of figs or dates, added the final sweet touch with a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds. It was a bit messy getting the seeds out - and I ended up with bright red stains all over my white t-shirt! - but the final result looked great and tasted pretty good too.

I remembered to put the tagine on well ahead of time and let it bubble for almost two hours, so the result was meltingly tender and with some roasted squash and peppers and a pile of couscous, it was a great way to end the weekend.

8 November - couscous salad and chicken noodle soup

Lunch recently seems to have alternated between something toast-based and pasta, so today I went for some couscous to mix things up. Yesterday I picked up a pack of little mini peppers in the supermarket, mostly because they looked neat. I roasted them this morning to mix in with the couscous and rather wished I'd just gone for a normal pepper because they were a bit too thin and tricky to peel. Mixed in with a bit of fried chopped chorizo and all it's nice paprika juices, they tasted fine though.

This morning I also cooked up the chicken carcass to make some stock, then used some of it this evening to make chicken noodle soup - dead quick and easy after being out early evening. What I chuck in the 'soup' varies, but today I used a chopped red chilli, which gave it quite a punch, some lemongrass, ginger and a star anise, together with some of the leftover chicken, some pak choi and the noodles, it was really tasty and warming, but fresh and light too.

13 October - food with friends

Today was a day for catching up with friends - out for lunch with one and another round for supper this evening. I "did lunch" with Ange at Jamie's Italian and I have to say, after our rather disappointing evening there a couple of months ago, they did much better with lunch. I had mushroom panzerotti (mushroom filled pasta) and Ange had truffle risotto and both went down really well. And it had just the vibe for a good lunchtime natter too.

Despite a rotten cold, Michelle made it round for supper this evening. With a bag of beetroot from last week's vegbox still unused, I sliced up a couple to make beetroot crisps (very finely sliced beetroot, lightly coated in oil, spread on a baking sheet and oven baked on a low heat for nearly an hour, then sprinkled with salt); a good pre-dinner nibble. Then I did the lamb tagine recipe we brought back from Morocco last year. Every time I look at the recipe with it's dodgy English and printing mistakes, it takes me right back to our morning of Moroccan cookery in Essaouira - it always comes out well too. Today, I used fresh Turkish figs instead of the dates from the original recipe and they worked really well.

• Mix together about 500g lamb neck fillet cut into cubes with a very finely chopped onion, a couple of cloves of garlic (finely chopped), 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp Ras al hanout, a pinch of saffron, some salt, a cinnamon stick and couple of tbsps olive oil. As I don't have a proper tagine, I put the whole mix into a wide heavy-bottomed pan with a lid instead.
• Cook over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes to brown the lamb and give it time to release its juices.
• Then add 750ml cold water (could have used a bit less), bring to the boil, turn low, cover and leave to simmer for an hour plus.
• Gently fry a good handful of blanched almonds in a little vegetable oil and add to the tagine towards the end.
• Crush together a juniper berry with a tiny chunk of gum Arabic (brought back from Morocco with us). Mix with a scant tsp of ground cinnamon, tbsp caster sugar and a couple of tbsps orange blossom water in a small frying pan.
• Bring this mix gently to the boil, then add the figs, cut in half, cut side down for a couple of minutes just to caramelise. Add the figs to the tagine to bubble for the last couple of minutes, then tip the sticky sauce over at the last minute before serving with couscous and today a simple grated carrot salad.

I was too busy chatting to take any pictures, but it all looked good and went down well too. The lamb was lovely and rich and flavour-packed and the freshness of the carrot offset it nicely. All round a really good evening.

14 September - pork with creamy chanterelle sauce

We're off on holiday at the end of the week, so I'm trying to make the most of the last few veg on the terrace. Lunch was another couscous salad, with some smoked salmon flakes and homegrown beans and tomatoes.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so in-between chores, I wandered up to a nice veg shop in Clifton that I'd spotted the other day had lots of wild mushrooms. I came home with a bag of yellow chanterelles and a tall spike of cavalo nero that poked out of the top of my backpack and raised a smile in Ruby & White on my way home getting some pork loin steaks.

I fried the pork steaks until nice and brown on each side, then popped them in the oven to finish off. I then used the same pan to gently fry a shallot, added the chanterelles, followed by a glug of white wine. I bubbled it down a bit, added some double cream, bubbled a bit more and poured the sauce over the pork. With some potatoes and the cavolo nero, it tasted wonderfully autumnal.

8 September - couscous salad and spaghetti bolognese

Another great 'salad' for lunch - this time couscous with some roast squash and pepper, tomatoes, a few bits of bacon and a bit of the sauce left over from last night's chicken - really yummy!

We had a simple classic for dinner; spaghetti bolognese. This is something that's slightly different every time I make it and is inspired by a number of different recipes, including a classic Italian Elizabeth David recipe and a more recent one from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Tonight it was quite a fresh, tomatoey version with fresh basil.

• Gently fry a chopped onion in a mix of butter and olive oil until soft, adding some chopped garlic and a few bacon bits.
• Add minced beef and stir until browned.
• Add a glug of milk and bubble until almost gone - this was an idea from HFW and gives it a slightly creamy feel.
• Do the same with a glass of white wine.
• Stir in a tin of chopped tomatoes, salt, nutmeg and some chopped basil.
• Bubble away for as long as possible, at least an hour. Then serve with spaghetti (or tonight linguine actually) and a good pile of grated parmesan.

7 September - Moroccan chicken

I had a fantastically tasty salad for lunch today; new potatoes, fried chorizo, homegrown tomatoes and beans, some fresh cooked beetroot, a few strips of roasted pepper and a poached egg. The red chorizo-flavoured oil, mingled with the oozy egg yolk and the purple beetrooty juices all came together in a perfect, vivid puddle in the bottom of the dish to mash the potatoes into!

We had lemony Moroccan chicken for dinner with couscous and some cubes of roasted squash. Tasty, but again a bit rushed and it could've been cooked a bit longer.

19 August - lamb and aubergine stew

I've been meaning to have a go at this slow-cooked lamb and aubergine stew from For Every Season for a while. Stew is generally a wintry dish, but the recipe promised this one was more summery and in the sense that it's got quite a North African feel to it, I think it is. The original recipe includes black olives, but as I'm not a big fan, I just left them out.

• Fry c. 300g cubed lamb in oil and remove to a dish.
• Do the same with a cubed aubergine.
• Next fry (in the same pan) a sliced onion until soft, then add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and a bit less than half a tin of chopped tomatoes.
• Stir in 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp ground cumin, then add a glass of water.
• Return the lamb to the pan, cover and simmer gently.
• After about 1/2 an hour, add the aubergine and continue to simmer for another hour or so. So a good hour and a half in total, so that the lamb goes wonderfully tender.
• Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with couscous.

It smelled great while it was bubbling away and once on the plate, lived up to expectations. Definitely one to do again.

14 August - cold pork, a baked potato and orange polenta biscuits

For lunch today I had the leftover pork from last night, which I think was even better cold as the sticky sweet-vinegary coating stood out without the other strong flavours. It went went with some vegetable couscous; with tomatoes, green beans and broad beans.

I really like a baked potato, but I rarely cook them because it seems such a waste to put the oven on for an hour plus just for a single potato (and we don't have a microwave). This afternoon I was baking biscuits though, so popped a potato in at the same time and didn't feel quite so guilty! I had it with a mix of leeks, bacon and mushrooms in a creamy sauce - basic food but tasty and comforting.

The biscuits were little orange polenta biscuits from a Jamie Oliver recipe. As I'm teaching at the moment, I often take a flask of tea with me to slurp through the day. My flask has a funny little compartment in the lid, just about 3cm across. I'd often thought that it'd be fun to slot a couple of tiny biscuits in to snack on. In the book, these looked just right, but I found that getting them to come out the right size was more of a challenge. The recipe was supposed to make 25 biscuits, but in the end it made double that number! I had to bake them in two batches as I only have one large baking tray. The first batch came out really too big, so I tried to make the second batch smaller. I ended up with a handful just small enough to fit in, put some in a tin and took the rest in to leave in the staffroom. They disappeared pretty quickly!

• Mix together 170g butter, 170g sugar, 255g polenta and 100g plain flour, followed by the zest of two oranges and 2 eggs. I did it all in a food mixer.
• Cover the mixture and put in the fridge for an hour.
• Spoon small teaspoons of mixture (a rather variable measure!!) onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake for c.6mins at 190C.

Very easy and tasty.

4 August - leftover tart and roasted veg

For lunch today I had the leftover slice of courgette and goats cheese tart - just as good second time around with a pile of spinach wilted with some garlic and butter.

Dinner was a big pile of roasted veg; peppers, aubergine, beetroot and tomatoes (from the garden). I made up a bit of vaguely Moroccan-inspired sauce; a chopped onion, chopped garlic and red chilli fried up with some toasted and crushed cumin and coriander seeds. I then added some tinned tomatoes and a splodge of harissa. It seemed to work quite well along with a pile of herby couscous.

30 June - Moroccan chicken and couscous

The parsley is growing by the day, so today's dinner started off as wanting to use some herbs. After a bit of browsing, I came across a recipe in a little cookbook from Bordeaux Quay, a local restaurant and cookery school. It's described as Moroccan chicken tagine, although I'm not sure it's really a tagine, more chicken with a Moroccan sauce. It didn't actually include any parsley, but I reckoned it would probably go quite well!

It's another dish that starts with a paste made of a list of ingredients whizzed up in a blender. The paste is called chermoula:

• 1 tbsp fresh coriander
• 1 lrg clove garlic
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• c. 1/3 chopped red chilli
• pinch of saffron
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• juice 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• pinch salt

1. You brown two chicken breasts in a little olive oil on both sides (just a couple of mins) and remove.
2. Fry a chopped onion gently in the same pan. The recipe asked for celery (yeuck!) and carrot, but I used a leftover golden courgette, diced, instead.
3. Chop the skin of 1/2 small preserved lemon (you really don't need more as it's quite a strong flavour) and add about half to the pan, together with 1 tbsp of the chermoula paste, 2 chopped tomatoes and 250ml chicken stock.
4. Return the chicken to the pan and leave to simmer for about 20 mins.
5. Finally, stir in a good handful of chopped coriander, parsley and mint, the rest of the chermoula and preserved lemon.

Served on top of a pile of couscous mixed with some more chopped herbs, it was really delicious - great flavours; fresh and zingy - definitely one to come back to.

14 June - chickpeas with tomatoes and harissa

It was a lovely sunny day today, so both lunch and dinner were al fresco - hooray! It was a quick lunchtime favourite; peas and pancetta with linguine. Unfortunately, I wasn't really concentrating and undercooked the pasta.

This evening's dinner was from Sunday's Observer magazine; Nigel Slater's chickpeas with tomatoes and harissa. I roasted 8 medium tomatoes cut into 6 pieces each with a red pepper chopped into large chunks mixed with some olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar and a pinch of cumin seeds at about 200C. I left them to cook while I was on the phone and when I went back to check after nearly an hour, they were a bit charred around the edges - oops! I picked out some of the very blackened bits of skin and tipped the lot into a pan, added a splash more olive oil, a teaspoon of harissa paste and the chopped rind of preserved lemon and let it heat through. Meanwhile I cooked up some giant couscous that I came across in the supermarket the other day. Finally, I stirred some whole basil leaves into the chickpea mix. The stew was really tasty - the lemon and harissa really gave it a tang. I was a bit less convinced about the giant couscous; rather back to that frogspawn feel again!

14 May - slow-roast lamb

With the FA Cup Final to watch on the telly this afternoon, it was the ideal time to do slow-roast lamb - popped in the oven at half-time, it was perfectly cooked for 8. This is a favourite recipe, originally from Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine.

• Slice two large onions and scatter in the bottom of an oven-proof dish. Add a whole bulb of garlic, split into cloves, but unpeeled, 50ml red wine vinegar, 150ml red wine, 50ml olive oil, a heaped teaspoon of rose harissa paste and some salt.
• Nestle a shoulder of lamb (c.700g today) on top of this mix and add water until the lamb's about 80% covered. Bring it just to the boil on the hob, then put in the oven at 180C for about half an hour.
• Turn the oven down to 150C and leave to cook for around 4 hours.

The resulting lamb is meltingly tender and falling to pieces on the bottom, but with a lovely crunchy crust on the top. The onions and garlic become really tender and jammy, but need straining out of the remaining liquid with a slotted spoon. I dollop the onion mix onto plates and top with a chunk of lamb (a mix of soft and crunchy bits), then serve it with some couscous, roast beetroot and pepper, and a splodge of minty yoghurt (just Greek yoghurt with chopped mint). It's a fabulous combination of flavours and textures and today was washed down with a bottle of bubbly to celebrate Man City's cup win!