Nutella No-bake Squares

At a loss for things to do this bank holiday weekend? Make these! I know I'll be baking my way through mine!

The greatest compliment that my cooking can get is when I bring it into work, turn my back, and when I turn back everything has been eaten! This is the power of Nutella. It unites people!

So, everyone’s made the delicious Malteaser squares, and I decided to adjust the flavours a bit of that classic traybake to make a chocolate-hazelnut version.

Simply put: this is everything you think a sugary, chocolatey, crunchy, nutty square would be. Pure treat perfection.

Lemon and Poppyseed Cake Squares

SHALL WE HAVE ANOTHER SQUARE CAKE?

I am definitely, completely still in love with the lemon and poppyseed loaf which I was obsessed with a few posts ago.

I decided to remake the flavours in a slightly different style. These squares are moist yet light and jam packed with flavour. I added the poppyseeds because I had them, but they are optional if you don’t have any!

There is something that I am just really digging at the moment - the "tray bake" cake. Simple, sort of like a cross between a cake and a brownie - all the springiness and lightness of a cake coupled with the easy noshing of a brownie.

This really is my kind of cake. It would look perfect on top of an “afternoon tea” tray as it slices beautifully into perfect little bite-sized cubes.

Spicy Adobo Chicken

Who is up for a little mid-week heat?

What I love about this dish is the unashamed spicy heat. Don’t serve this if your loved ones can’t handle a bit of spiciness in their life! All the heat is down to the gorgeous little chipotles in adobo sauce:

..which I managed to find a teensy can of in a specialty grocery shop here in the UK. It wasn’t cheap, but I have seen this ingredient in SO MANY Mexican recipes and I felt like I was missing out by not having it and having to do some of my classic substitutions. I have also found a great looking recipe for the "make your own" version of this which I shall be trying as soon as my bulk order of chipotle chillies comes in the post.

The great thing about this chicken dish is that it is incredibly versatile. To serve mine, I just created a kind of “open” fajita by placing a cooked tortilla on a plate, spooning some rice in the middle, topping with chicken, cheese and beans and then eating with a knife and fork, using the tortilla as a delicious base. Now, some may say I have discovered a whole new way to eat Mexican food, and some may say that I just piled too much food on the tortilla for it to be able to be folded up.

Whatever, it was delicious!

You could also serve this chicken in tacos, or in burritos, or just by itself with some rice.

Swedish Meatballs

Each week I ask my lovely Swedish boyfriend what he would like for dinner the next week. Normally he doesn’t have a preference so I just go ahead and make whatever I am in the mood for/have the ingredients for, but this week he asked for Swedish meatballs. I had to oblige.

We have a tradition where we hit up IKEA in early December to get wrapping paper and decorations and special Swedish Christmas groceries. We always have meatballs when we are there, and they taste GOOD. So my aim was to recreate our winter IKEA tradition (yes, it’s August, I KNOW).

These tasted AMAZING. Really, truly, one of the best things I have made all year. I will make these for years to come, and I’m really excited about that.

Coconut and Raspberry Loaf

This is a delicious comforting hug of  a cake

Oooh, this is a classic. I tend to get this on the rare occasions that I frequent Starbucks, and every time I get one I think “I gotta make this at home!” And then I always forget.

But not today!

I’m totally in love with cakes baked in square tins and sliced, there is something very comforting and easy about them, no cake to slice and no big wedge-shaped slices to fiddle with. Basically, I can bring them into work or people’s houses and we can all dig in and enjoy  with minimal fuss or effort. That’s kind of my wheelhouse.

Pea and Bacon Oven Baked Risotto

Yum yum yum. There is nothing more comforting than a bowl full of rice

Ooooh, a risotto you put in the oven? That you don’t have to hover over, stirring and staring constantly?

It exists! I found it! And it is delicious!

This is for all the times you wanted to make a risotto mid-week but thought that that meant there was no chance of dinner getting on the table before bedtime.. Fry, stir, pour, cover, bake, done! This is my kind of meal, filling and flavourful and no-faff. There will be plenty of food here for three, or two with generous leftovers for the next days lunch!

Truth time: pretty much the main reason I like cooking peas is because I, without fail, play the Peter Kay “they don’t do peas.. has thou nowt moist?!” bit in my head anytime I think about peas.

Serves 2 with leftovers!