One list five meals: Creamy Fish Soup

600g of potatoes, diced

1 litre of stock, preferably fish stock

Zest of 2 lemons

300 mls of milk

250g of salmon, skin removed, bones removed and diced

250g of pollock, skin removed, bones removed and diced

3 tbsp of cream

A bunch of parsley, chopped

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until it is turning translucent. Add the leeks and potatoes and stir until the leeks have wilted.

Add the stock and lemon zest and allow to bubble away for about 12 minutes until the pieces of potatoes are softening.

In another pan heat another dash of oil and fry the pieces of fish so that they are browned all over. Add them to the saucepan with the milk and give one gentle stir.

Add the thyme and allow to bubble away until the potatoes and fish are cooked through.

Cheesy Toast with Smoked Mackerel

8 thick slices of bread

200g of cream cheese

Zest of 2 lemons

A bunch of chives, finely chopped

4 fillets of smoked mackerel, we use the

wonderful Woodcock Smokery in Cake Café

A handful of rocket leaves

Mix the lemon zest and chives into the cream cheese and season with cracked black pepper.

Toast the bread lightly on each side. Spread with the cheese. Place under a medium grill and heat until the cream cheese is turning golden on the top.

Slice the mackerel fillets in half and lay each half onto a slice of the cheesy toast. Serve with a generous handful of rocket on top.

Baked Spinach Pots

2 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped or crushed

350g ricotta

250g of soft goat’s cheese, crumbled such as Ryefield

200g of Parmesan, grated

1 small handful of golden raisins

1 small handful of pine nuts, chopped

300g of spinach, roughly chopped

2 tsp of grated nutmeg

Green leaves for four

1 tbsp of vinaigrette

Crunchy bread for four

Mix the garlic, ricotta, goat’s cheese and half of the Parmesan in a bowl and stir.

Add the raisins, pine nuts, spinach and nutmeg into the mixture. Season. Scoop the mixture into four small ramekin dishes. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 180 degrees. After this time remove it and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Place it back in the oven for five more minutes or until cooked through and the Parmesan has turned golden.

Toss the leaves in the vinaigrette and serve with the pots and the bread on side.

Sausage with Stewed Lentils

A dash of olive oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 red pepper, deseeded and finely sliced

1 carrot, finely diced

250g of puy lentils

A sprig of thyme

150 mls of stock

125 mls of red wine

1 tbsp of natural yoghurt

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onions until they are turning translucent. Add the garlic to the pan as well as the red pepper and carrot; sauté until the garlic is starting to change colour.

Stir in the lentils until they are coated in oil. Stir in the stock, thyme and wine and allow to bubble away until the liquid is almost absorbed, the stew is nice and thick and the lentils have softened. Taste and season.

In the meantime, heat another dash of oil and add the sausages to the pan and stir fry until they are cooked through.

Serve the sausages on a bed of lentils and put a dollop of the yoghurt on top.

Cauliflower and Potato Curry

Rice for four

A dash of rapeseed oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 thumb size pieces of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp of ground turmeric

1 tsp of cumin seeds

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tsp of honey

1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets

2 potatoes, cut into bite size pieces

1 tbsp of natural yoghurt

Put the rice on to boil in lightly salted water and drain when cooked.

Heat the oil and sauté the onion until it is turning translucent. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, turmeric and cumin seeds to the pan. Stir-fry for a further minute.

And the tomatoes, honey, cauliflower and potatoes. Stir. Half fill the empty tomato tin with water and add that too. Allow to bubble away over a low heat until the potato and cauliflower are cooked through. Stir occasionally. Taste and season.

Serve with the rice and a dollop of yoghurt on top. Sprinkle with coriander if you wish.

Michelle Darmody owns The Cake Cafe, The Daintree Building, Dublin 2, 01 4789394 www.thecakecafe.ie