Lost Mojo

Boy, am I glad to see February: January is a long month after the expense and over indulgence of Christmas.  Given that I've gone cold turkey on supermarket shopping and pay day is a long wait, I've been seeing how many meals I can make from what is lying around in the cupboards.

Before Christmas I had lost my cooking mojo, too frazzled with festivities to think most evenings, but now it's "Ready, Steady, Cook" every night as I attempt to rustle up something edible from that which is lurking in the darkest corners of my kitchen.

We're all hoarders when it comes to food.  Out of date spices at the back of a drawer; bargain joints of meat lost in the bowels of the freezer.  Most of us are sitting on a fortune of unused ingredients.  I've been checking out the Love Food Hate Waste campaign for advice as I try to avoid chucking perfectly good food for lack of inspiration.  (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com - they have a great newsletter available via email too)  Dig out forgotten bits and pieces, add in a few locally bought fresh ingredients and it's amazing how many different cheap tasty dinners you can produce.

One family I know goes online to maximise their food supplies - they have discovered a few family favourites by typing a list of what is left in the fridge into an internet search engine and seeing what it suggests.  Last night's squash, sweet potato and chestnut risotto was a hit.  Today's lunch of carrot, parsnip, swede and lentil soup finished off the rest of the soggy veg lurking in the fridge.  There is a recipe for the risotto listed at the bottom.  Roasting root vegetables gives them colour and added depth of flavour which stops them being too bland in something like a risotto. We'd love to hear about your successes with leftovers.  Why not tell us about them in the comments section?

Lisa Reid

Squash, sweet potato and chestnut risotto
serves 4

320g Arborio rice
1 small squash
1 large sweet potato
1 medium onion
Packet of ready to eat chestnuts/chestnuts leftover from Christmas defrosted
Vegetable stock

Chop and peel both the squash and potato, toss in oil, sprinkle with salt and roast in an oven for 40 mins until tender and crispy.
Meanwhile lightly fry the onions in some oil, add the rice and fry until translucent then gradually add the stock - stirring after each addition until the rice is cooked through. 
Add the chestnuts to heat through.
Add the cooked potato and squash then serve with plenty of black pepper and grated cheese.