21 August - nicoise light and creamy chicken curry

Back home, it was a nicoise "light" for lunch (no potatoes), after that huge breakfast, out in some beautiful afternoon sun.

Then in the evening, I went for an old favourite creamy chicken curry recipe from Madhur Jaffrey with spicy cabbage. Managed to get just the right balance of creaminess, spice and kick - always good.

18 August - homegrown tomatoes and a rabbit burger

The tomatoes on the terrace are ripening nicely and I'm now picking a good handful every couple of days. They've been building up a bit, so today I had a nice big Nicoise salad for lunch with lots of tomatoes, some green beans and some fancy tuna from a jar instead of a tin. The tuna was quite nice; a kind of halfway house between tinned and fresh.

This evening, we had an easy meal out at Deco Lounge, just round the corner. They always have good specials and today they were even more interesting than usual. I had a rabbit and pancetta burger! I have to say it tasted more porky/bacony than it did really of rabbit, but it was still really nice and a bit different.

17 April - a working lunch & dressing from a bottle

Another busy day of networking saw a working lunch at a Thai restaurant; promising corn fritters to start followed by some rather uninspiring sweet and sour chicken. Then there were several coffees in the sunshine on Brighton seafront, followed by early evening drinks and canapes at the Brighton Museum.

By the time I got back to the apartment to collapse this evening, I wasn't quite sure whether I wanted more food or not. So it was a simple supper of fresh tuna nicoise. Sadly, I had to give in to French dressing from a bottle. Although I've got my little bottle of olive oil for the week, buying a whole bottle of vinegar for just a dribble really didn't seem worth it!

12 April - a lunchtime salad & cod for tea

The recent warm sunny weather is definitely on the wane, but it was still feeling summery enough to merit a salad for lunch - a big plate of nicoise-style salad (new pots, green beans, cherry tomatoes and a boiled egg), plus the rest of yesterday's parma ham on the side. The sun came out just at the right moment to snatch a quick sunny photo on the terrace, but then a cloud came over and it was back inside to eat.

Dinner was cod wrapped in pancetta and baked in the oven (about 15 mins) with the rest of the asparagus in a risotto. I'm not quite convinced about risotto as a side dish, but not bad.