Dhal

This recipe is one of the first recipes I learned to make. It's originally from my Mum's Woman's Weekly cookbook, but I've adapted it a bit over the years. OK, it might not be the most authentic recipe ever, but it works, it's tasty, and the lentils just collapse in your mouth. Very easy to veganate. It's not super spicy (hello, Woman's Weekly), so if you want to make it a bit more zingy, spicy, whaevery, get in there and change it. Also, if you wanted to add other vegetables to it, I'm sure you could get away with carrot, pumpkins, beans, that kind of malarky - but I kind of like it just plain, myself.

2 1/2 cups (500g) of brown lentils
30g butter or oil
2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
2 small fresh red chilis, finely chopped
1/2 inch of grated ginger
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom (or 6 green cardamom pods)
1/2 a star ainise
2 small cloves of garlic, finely chopped
6 cups (1 1/2 litres) of stock
1 teaspoon of ground tumeric

1. Place the lentils in a large bowl. Cover them with water and stand them overnight.
2. Drain the soaked lentils. Chop your onions and chilis, grate your ginger. Melt the butter in a very large saucepan, add the onions and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
3. Add the chilis, ginger, coriander, cumin, garam masala, caramom and anise. Stir to coat the onions. Mince the garlic, and add to the pot. Stir once or twice. Do not let the garlic brown.
4. Stir in the lentils, and coat them in the spices. Add the stock and tumeric. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, and then simmer for at least 50 minutes, or until the lentils are soft and the mixture is thick to stir.
5. Serve with papadams, rice and a pickle of some description. If you feel possessed by the garnish demon, red chili slices, fresh coriander leaves or a blob of yoghurt are all very nice.

*Dhal can be made a day ahead. It keeps best in an airtight environment in the refrigerator.
*Dhal freezes well, and makes a good lazy night dinner. Try to freeze it in smaller portions so it doesn't take forever to defrost.
*See that up there? That's a green chili. Just deal with it, guys.

Zucchini Slice

Zucchini slice is one of those things everyone makes at some point in time, and if you learn a good recipe, you'll keep going back. And if you get a bad recipe, you'll never make it again because bad zucchini slice is boring as batshit, and good zucchini slice is hot shit. It's fast, easy to make, impressive, and an excellent lunch box stuffer. I originally got this recipe from Matt Young, and then hybridised it with a recipe from Stephanie Alexander. Both the original recipes are pretty heavy on the oil, but my version is completely oil bereft (though I give you the option of adding some if you so desire at one point). You can use a mandolin if you have one for slicing the onions and zucchini, but I don't have one, so I just use an ordinary grater on a course grade. This slice can be easily vegetarianised, but I don't think I could no-egg it, so vegans, read on for something else...

Some grated cheese - aged cheddar of parmesan are optimal

Three thickly sliced big delicious tomatoes

500-600g zucchini (about four little ones or three medium sized ones)

Two rashers of bacon

One large brown onion

Two garlic cloves, cut into small pieces

A hand-full of fresh baby spinach leaves

A teaspoon of oregano

Some fresh basil leaves

Lashings of freshly ground black pepper

3 large free range eggs (if you use cage eggs,

you'll be consigned to the seventh level of Danté's inferno - the phlegethon, to be exact, for your violent wickedness)

150g of self-raising flour

1. Turn on the oven to 180ºc. Grate the cheese into a small bowl. Find a nice medium sized baking tray. Line it with baking paper. Use about three quarters of the tomato slices to line the bottom of the pan, reserving the most attractive and complete slices of the tomatoes for later in the recipe. Leave evenly spaced gaps between them. Set the cheese and baking tray aside.

2. Wash your zucchinis and then grate them into a large cake basin. Bigger the better. Slice the bacon and add to the zucchini. Slice your onion into slender segments and add to the bowl. Oregano, baby spinach leaves, basil leaves and pepper - bung 'em all in.

3. Crack the eggs into a little glass or cup to check for freshness. Add one by one to the zucchini basin. Mix all ingredients thoroughly, coating your vegetables in the eggy goo. If there is not enough eggy goo to cover all the ingredients in a fine film of eggyness, you may wish to add another egg or a little olive oil to help coat the ingredients.

4. Add the self-raising flour. Combine quickly and thoroughly, and then tip the zucchini mixture into the prepared baking tray. Decorate the top of the slice with the remaining tomato slices. Sprinkle cheese over the top and pop in the oven for 30 minutes. When the 30 minutes are up, cool in the tray for a few minutes before lifting on to a board and cutting into large squares. Serve hot or cold.

* Vegetarians: Omit bacon and cheese, if you like.

*Other successful ingredients in this slice have been broccoli, carrot slices, cooked spuds, salami slices, mushrooms, kalamata olives and semi-dried tomatoes.

*If you up the vegetable content, add more eggs and flour. I've made big ones with up to five eggs and a cup of self-raising.

*If the pan is wide and flat, it will crisp up more. You can cook bigger ones for a good while longer. The browned bits on top and on the bottom are supremely yummy.

*I thought decorating it with nice basil leaves on top would look nice. Wrong! The basil leaves just incinerated themselves. However, salami slices up the yummy factor and work well on the top of the slice too.