One list, five meals: Salmon on Toast

Buy everything on our shopping list and you have all you need to create five meals. Want to make just one of the dishes? Then follow Michelle Darmody’s colour-coded guide — for the Day One dinner, buy the ingredients marked with a red circle and so on.

Salmon on Toast

2 darns of salmon

2 bay leaves

100g of creme fraiche

100g of cream cheese

100g of smoked salmon, roughly chopped

The zest of 2 lemons

4 juniper berries, completely crushed – optional

Toast for four

Place the darns of salmon in a saucepan and cover with water. You can add half white wine, half water if you have some left over, it adds a nice flavour. Add the bay leaves and place a lid on. Bring to a gently boil and allow to simmer for five to seven minutes until it is cooked. Set aside until it is completely cooled.

Pull the skin from the salmon and mash it with a fork. Mash in the creme fraiche, cream cheese. Stir in the pieces of smoked salmon, the lemon zest and juniper berries until they are all combined. Taste and season.

Place it into the fridge for 20 minutes before serving. Spread on the toast and serve. This is lovely in small bites as a party canapé and can be served with a filling salad for dinner.

Creamy Roast Cauliflower Soup with Hazelnuts

A dash of rapeseed oil

1 head of cauliflower, large part of the stem removed and broken into florets

2 tsp of dried thyme

1 tsp of chilli powder

1 tsp of nutmeg

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

100g of creme fraiche

300 mls of milk

A handful of hazelnuts, chopped and roasted

Crunchy bread for four

Use a wide baking tray with sides. Toss the florets, some seasoning, thyme, chilli and nutmeg in the oil. Roast in an oven heated to 180 degrees for about 25 minutes until the cauliflower has softened and is starting to turn golden.

In the meantime, in a large saucepan, sauté the onion in another dash of oil. Sauté it over a low heat until it is completely soft. Add the garlic and continue frying until it is just starting to change colour.

Add the contents of the roasting dish to the saucepan. Rinse the roasting tray with 750 mls of water and scrape any juices from it. Tip this into the saucepan. Allow to bubble away for ten minutes then blitz with a soup gun until it is completely smooth. Stir in the creme fraiche and milk and allow to come to serving temperature. Taste and season.

Sprinkle with the toasted nuts and serve with the bread on the side.

Sticky Chicken with Spiced Rice

4 spring onions, very finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 tbsp of soya sauce

3 tbsp of honey

A thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and very finely chopped

1 red chilli, very finely chopped

4 chicken breasts

A dash of rapeseed oil

2 tsp of mustard seeds

2 tsp of turmeric

Basmati rice for four

1 litre of stock

Mix the spring onion, garlic, soya, honey, ginger and half of the chilli to make a sauce. Completely coat the chicken in the sauce. Set aside the fridge for at least an hour. You can leave it covered in the fridge over night if you wish.

Heat a dash of oil in a large saucepan and fry the mustard seeds until they are popping. Stir in the turmeric, the rest of the chilli and rice until the rice is coated in the oil. Add the stock and allow to bubble away until the rice is cooked. You may have to top up with water half way through, just keep an eye on it.

When the rice is on place the chicken breast into an oven proof dish and bake in the oven until cooked, about 35 minutes.

Add a little stock to the dish to loosen any sauce. Serve the chicken on the rice and pour any sauce over.

Bacon and Egg Rolls with Spinach Salad

3 eggs

225g of plain flour

450mls of milk

1 tbsp of sun-dried tomato pesto

Olive oil

12 streak rashers

Green leaves for four

A small fennel bulb, very thinly sliced, think base of the stalk removed

The zest of a lemon and ½ tbsp of juice

½ tsp of honey

½ tsp of Dijon mustard

Whisk the eggs, flour, milk and tomato pesto until it is smooth and there are no lumps of flour.

Heat the oil in a large pan and when it is hot pour a quarter of the egg mixture in, coating the pan. Cook until the under side is golden then flip it over. Cook on the other side until it too is golden.

Remove and continue with the rest of the mixture.

Once cool enough to handle, slice the egg into strips the same width as the rashers and roll with the rasher with the egg, secure with a cocktail stick. Place under a grill for five minutes until the rasher is cooked.

While they are cooking whisk two tablespoons of olive oil with the lemon zest, juice, mustard and honey. Taste and season.

Toss the leaves and fennel in the dressing and serve on the side of the bacon and egg rolls.

Spiced Noodles

Thin egg noodles for four

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tsp of soya sauce

A dash of rapeseed oil

6 cloves of garlic, finely sliced

A thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and sliced

4 spring onions, thinly sliced

2 handfuls of baby spinach

½ tbsp of rice wine vinegar

2 tsp of honey

1 lime, quartered

A handful of sesame seeds

Put the noodles on to boil in lightly salted water. Drain when they have started to soften.

Whisk the egg and soya sauce. In a small saucepan fry as if you are making an omelet, stir it towards the end so you have little pieces of omelet.

Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the garlic and ginger for thirty seconds. Add the spring onions, spinach and noodles and coat in the oil. Stir in the vinegar and honey.

Serve with the lime on the side so people can add it themselves and the sesame seeds sprinkled over the top.