Storecupboard favourites for lockdown

We’ve been sitting together as a family for three meals a day, which is two more than usual. Without the possibility of nipping down to the shop for a missing ingredient, we are all making do – adapting and engaging with our cooking instincts. We waste less, think more, and value food in a completely different way, for the precious life-giving stuff it is.

These are a handful of simple things that use the lottery of produce that arrives in our veg box, also what’s in my spice rack, dry store and freezer.  Straightforward storecupboard cooking.

Smoky pepper + white bean quesadillas (title image)

Quesadillas, like a lot of Mexican food, get a bad write-up as being cheese- laden and lazy, but they are a truly quick meal, and by filling them with not just cheese they become more nourishing and much more delicious. Watch a video of me making them here, and click the title for the recipe.

Puy lentil spaghetti bolognese

This is a go-to dinner when the fridge is bare. You can mix up the veg you add, but we almost always have an onion, a carrot and a stick of celery in the bottom drawer of the fridge. You could use root veg, too, or even the finely chopped stem of a head of broccoli.

Vegan millionaire’s shortbread

I find normal millionaire’s shortbread too cloying and sweet. This version, which uses the sweetness of dates and has seeds and nuts for added crunch, is much more my thing. I use Doves Farm gluten-free flour, which gives the best texture for most gluten-free baking – and I have tried them all.