Meat and three veg

I love a small piece of lean meat with a selection of vegetables. There are lots of cuts of lamb you can treat this way. Leg steaks, backstrap, fillet or rack all work well. I like to rub my piece of lamb with salt, pepper & cumin & leave to sit before cooking. Or with a bit more effort make a paste of garlic, olive oil, rosemary, cumin, cinnamon & lemon zest. Another favourite is a paste of anchovies, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, capers, red wine vinegar, olive oil & garlic. Serve the lamb with couscous - I usually toss a spring onion in a hot saucepan with olive oil, add the couscous, cover with the same quantity of boiling water, clamp on the lid & leave it to do it's thing. When you're ready to use, fluff up with a fork, stir through some olive oil, toasted pinenuts & parsley. Try roasting some asparagus. This is really popular at our house. In a dish lightly toss asparagus spears, very fine slices of garlic, a sprinkling of chilli flakes, some colourful cherry tomatoes, olives, olive oil & a good handful of fresh basil. Season with salt & pepper & put in a hot roasting tray, in a hot oven (225), and roast for about 12 minutes. Turn a couple of times during cooking if you remember. Steam seasonal vegetables and before serving toss in a little olive oil & season. Experiment to see what tastes good to you. I like lemon infused garlic oil with asparagus, or orange infused with carrots. I cooked asparagus in the tinfoil parcels with baby carrots & added slices of lemon. That worked. This is the time of year for ratatouille. I'm sure you'll have a recipe somewhere. And add potatoes if you need them - sauteed, crushed & roasted, or hasselback work well with all these dishes.

Or cook a beautiful fillet of pork - rubbed with a paste of juniper berries, flat leaf parsley & black pepper. Sear the pork fillets first in a pan then roll in the juniper mixture & roast at 175 about 8-10 minutes. Don't forget to leave your meat to rest before serving. This gives you time to finish off the veg or make a sauce. Put the roasting pan on a hot element, add a little wine & beef stock (maybe 1/2 cup of each) & reduce by 1/3. Pork is good with mash - try adding celeriac or kumara - and cabbage or chinese greens such as bok choy.