13 February - mackerel salad and pork hotpot

Lunch today was a bit of an experimental winter salad; smoked mackerel with new potatoes, leeks and sweetcorn. It wasn't one of my best, but not bad.

To use up the leftover pork chop, I came up with a pork and cider hotpot, partly inspired by a WFI recipe, using the slow cooker. I softened some onions in a pan, then browned the pork,chopped into chunks. I put the onion and pork in the slow cooker with 250ml dry cider, some chestnut mushrooms and a bit of yellow pepper, plus some thyme and a bay leaf. Then I popped it in the oven for a couple of hours (at 180C). It was the first time I'd used the slow cooker without using one of the recipes that came with it and I was a bit nervous when I lifted the lid. It initially looked like it'd dried out quite a bit and I quickly added another slurp of cider, but later realised, it probably just needed a stir. With a spoonful of mustard stirred in at the end, it came out quite well and was really tasty with some mash to soak up the juices and some kale on the side.

21 November - mackerel salad and dahl

There was some mackerel left over from the kedgeree the other night and some roasted red pepper from last night, so today I made up a lovely bright mackerel salad with some new potatoes, cherry tomatoes and spinach, all in a mustardy dressing for lunch.

After last night's rich tagine, I went for a veggie dinner of dahl (a recipe from Floyd's India), spicy cabbage and rice. Dahl always looks a bit unappetising splodged on the plate, but with lots of lovely spices and just the right amount of heat, it was all much tastier than it looked.

17 August - double lunch and kedgeree

We have a staff meeting on a Wednesday lunchtime. I knew I wouldn't make it through to after the meeting without something to eat, but I hadn't been organised enough to get anything in for a packed lunch, so I stopped off at Hart's on my way in this morning and picked up a courgette and feta danish. It made the perfect savoury snack just to get me through. It wasn't quite enough to last through the rest of the afternoon though, so after the meeting I went into Chandos Deli for a goats cheese and red onion tart which I had when I finally got home at about 3.

Dinner was another quick favourite, kedgeree with smoked mackerel, spinach and peas. I think I've complained before that my kedgeree hasn't been as good since Sainsbury's changed their smoked mackerel. Tonight, I used some new curry powder though, from Steenbergs, which gave it just the right amount of kick and flavour. I think it went some way to making up for the less flavoursome fish.

1 June - mushroom pasta and kedgeree

With one more portobello mushroom left in the fridge, I couldn't resist baking it again; this time coated in a simple mix of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a bit of parsley. I then chopped it up, mixed it with some cream and some lardons and stirred it into some pasta for lunch.

A busy day didn't leave much time for shopping and I nipped into Waitrose feeling completely uninspired about what to cook for dinner, so went for an easy fall-back option of kedgeree.

• Boil enough basmati rice for two (I use a 1/3 measuring cup and fill it twice with rice and three times with water) with some salt and a few cardamom pods.
• Fry a sliced onion in some butter until soft, then stir in a good teaspoon of curry powder. The curry powder I happen to have in the cupboard has a nice flavour but is very mild, so I add a pinch of chilli powder too.
• Add a small bag of spinach and let it wilt down.
• Tip in the cooked rice and stir it until coated and yellow - you need a low-ish heat at this point to stop it sticking.
• Flake in some hot-smoked mackerel fillets, stir in, then add a squeeze of lemon juice.
• Serve with boiled eggs and a scattering of parsley.

I used to cook this with Sainsbury's Taste the Difference smoked mackerel which was absolutely delicious, but sadly, they don't seem to do it anymore. It's never been quite the same with any other brands, but still makes an easy, tasty supper.