1、Spiced crab cakes with lemon & lime aïoli

2、Crab cakes with sweet chilli & ginger dipping sauce

An easy help-yourself starter with the zest and spice of ginger and chilli

Ingredients

• 75g French beans, finely sliced
• 200g fresh white crabmeat
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• grated zest 1 lime
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
• 75g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 egg, beaten
• sunflower oil, for frying
• 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 red chillies, roughly chopped
• 6cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 dried kaffir lime leaves
• 1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• 175g caster sugar
• 50ml rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce or lime juice
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Method

1. To make the dipping sauce, blend the garlic, chillies, ginger, lime leaves, lemongrass and coriander in a food processor until very finely chopped. Tip the sugar into a small saucepan, add 3 tbsp water and heat gently to dissolve. Continue to cook for another min or so until the syrup starts to thicken slightly.
2. Add the chilli and ginger mixture, and continue to cook for a further 2-3 mins. Then stir in the rice vinegar, fish sauce and soy sauce. Remove from the heat and leave to cool to room temperature.
3. Cook the beans in a small pan of boiling salted water for 1-2 mins until tender. Drain and refresh under cold running water, then leave to dry on kitchen paper. Mix the crab with the cooked beans and all the remaining ingredients, apart from the sunflower oil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and shape into 8 small patties.
4. Heat 1-2 tbsp sunflower oil in a frying pan and cook 4 crab cakes at a time until golden brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and keep warm while you cook the remainder. Serve with the sweet chilli dipping sauce.

3、Spiced lamb with lemon & herb quinoa

Quickly griddle marinated lamb on a sizzling grill then serve with a healthy grain salad with herbs and citrus

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp cumin seed
• 1 garlic clove
• ¼ tsp red chilli or pinch of chilli flakes
• juice 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 8 lamb chops
• 250g quinoa
• 5 spring onions, sliced
• small handful coriander
• steamed stem broccoli, to serve

Method

1. In a pestle with a mortar crush the cumin seeds then add the garlic clove, chilli and some salt and pepper. Mash to a paste. Stir in the lemon juice and olive oil and pour half the mix over the lamb chops and leave to marinate. Set the other half aside.
2. Rinse the quinoa in cold water then place in a saucepan with twice the volume of water. Place on the heat and bring to the boil then turn down the heat slightly and boil gently for 10 mins. Turn the heat off and stir through the reserved dressing. Cover and leave for another 10 mins.
3. Meanwhile heat a griddle pan or grill to high and cook the lamb for about 3-5 mins on each side or until cooked to your liking. When ready to serve stir the spring onions and coriander through the quinoa and serve with the lamb and steamed stem broccoli dressed in a drizzle more oil.

4、Salmon & prawns with dill & lime aïoli

For a simple, smart starter, just mix mayo with garlic, herbs and a squeeze of lime and serve with seafood and brown bread

Ingredients

• 400g cooked king prawns, shelled apart from the tail
• 400g smoked salmon
• 140g good-quality mayonnaise
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill, plus extra leaves to garnish
• juice ½ lime, plus 1 wedged to serve
• granary bread and butter, to serve, if you like

Method

1. Arrange the prawns and salmon on plates. Mix the mayo, garlic and chopped dill, and add lime juice to taste. Put a spoonful on each plate, scatter over dill leaves add a wedge of lime and a grinding of pepper.