Sweet Potato and Mexican Bean Baby Food Puree

This puree is a great one for once weaning is established as it introduces a little more flavour and gentle spice to baby's taste buds. I really do think the more flavours you introduce to baby early on, the less fussy they are as they get older and grow into small children, my almost three-year-old is such an adventurous eater and I can almost always entice her to try things, so we're following the same routine with weaning our little one.

Again, purees can still be used if taking the baby led weaning approach, serve with a spoon, some bread sticks, rice crackers or the like to load up.

This freezes well or can be portioned up and popped into the fridge for a few days too. The below makes 3-4 portions for my seven month old, but could make more for a younger baby or one with a small appetite.

I've been using my Nutribullet to prepare these purees - but you can simply use a potato masher with a little water added, if you don't have one, or a traditional blender.

Sweet Potato and Mexican Bean Baby Food Puree

Here's how:

• 1 sweet potato
• 2 tbsp kidney beans
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin 
• 1/2 garlic clove
• 1 spring onion
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• Pinch black pepper
• Handful coriander leaves and stalks

Firstly place the oven onto 200 degrees and pop the sweet potato inside to bake until soft - for about 25-30 minutes. 

Scoop out the inside and place into a blender or Nutribullet, or into a bowl if you are using a potato masher or ricer.

Now add the cooked/tinned kidney beans with the cumin, paprika and black pepper. If you are using a blender or Nutribullet simply chop the ends off of the spring onion and peel the garlic clove, but if hand blitzing then finely chop the onion and mince the garlic. 

Add the coriander leaves and two tablespoons of cold water and blitz to a thick consistency. 

Portion up accordingly into tubs or an ice tray and either pop into the fridge once cool or the freezer. Serve warm. 

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Another hearty, warming and delicious soup that formed part of my 'Seven Days of Soup' whereby I followed a liquid diet for 1 week pre-holiday to shift some further, stubborn baby weight and lost half a stone.

This one is heavy on the spice so not for the faint-hearted, and if you have it over more than one sitting (makes sense when making a batch of soup) expect the heat to intensify overnight.

It's really simple and you can use either Green, Yellow or Red Thai Curry paste - I use Sainsbury's own brand Red personally.

Thai Sweet Potato Soup



Here's how:

• 1 white onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 3cm piece ginger
• 500g Sweet Potato
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 pint vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp Red Thai Curry Paste
• 1/2 tsp Fish sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• Handful fresh coriander
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch sea salt
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Firstly pop the coconut oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and place on a low heat. Then peel the garlic and onion and finely dice - add to the pan to soften.

Peel the ginger and slice and add to the pan.

Peel the potatoes and cube into small pieces - add to the pan with 1 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste, sea salt and black pepper and allow to cook for a few minutes.

Now add the coconut milk and make up and pour in the vegetable or chicken stock with the fish sauce. Allow to cook for 30 minutes, then check the sweet potato with a fork - it should be nicely soft - if not cook for a further 10 minutes then test again.

Once you're happy the potato is soft, add the fish sauce, lime juice and coriander and allow to cool before blitzing in a blender or Nutribullet.

Return to the heat once blitzed until completely warmed though - enjoy.


The other soups I enjoyed during my 'Seven Days of Soup' included:

Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Vegetable Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chunky Lentil Bacon and Kale Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi

Middle Eastern Roast Pork with Roasted Roots and Yoghurt Dip

At the weekend, following a few weekends of eating a traditional Sunday roast dinner I fancied cooking something different - a twist on the classic and came up with this Middle Eastern-inspired pork shoulder joint that I marinated for five hours and it went down a treat, we'll definitely be having it again.

I served with some roasted 'roots' or carrots and parsnips drizzled with olive oil and scattered with cumin seeds and some garlic-roasted sweet potato plus a little wilted spinach and a quick yoghurt dip - delicious.

The below was enough for Glen, Bridget (age 2) and myself with a little sliced meat leftover for sandwiches the next day.

Middle Eastern Roast Pork and Roasted Roots

Here's how:

• 1 small pork shoulder (approx 1.5kg)
• The pork marinade:
• 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
• 1.5 tsp dried ginger
• 1 tsp ras el hanout
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp sea salt

The roots:

• 1 pack baby parsnips
• 2 large carrots
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• Pinch sea salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Everything else:

• Half pack spinach
• 2 tbsp natural yoghurt
• Handful parsley
• Handful coriander

Firstly combine the cumin, ginger, ras el hanout, pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon and paprika in a small bowl and mix to combine the spice mix. Get your pork joint into a large bowl and rub all over with the spice mix, into the creases of the meat to ensure it is fully coated.

Now wash your hands, and then cover the pork with either cling film or tin foil and place into the fridge to marinade for several hours. If you haven't got five hours, a couple will do.

Once the pork is sufficiently marinated, remove from the fridge for twenty minutes and pre-heat the oven to 180. Then place the pork into a roasting tin, fat side up, drizzle with a little olive oil and place onto the middle shelf. This will need 30 minutes per 500g plus an additional 20 minutes - or cook according to the packaging.

Whilst the pork is cooking, peel the sweet potatoes and chop into flat rounds and place into a small oven proof dish that you can mash into after roasting, place in four unpeeled garlic cloves and set aside.

If using the baby parsnips you can just cut the ends off but I like to peel too as Bridget won't eat them with the peel on. Place them into another roasting dish. Peel the carrots and cut into long wedges, similarly sized to the baby parsnips and add to the roasting tin. Drizzle with a generous glug of olive oil (1.5 tbsp) and then scatter over the cumin seeds and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper then toss to coat fully. Cover and set aside.

Cumin Roots

When you have about half an hour of pork cooking time left, place all of the roots into the oven to begin cooking - they will take about 45 minutes, which allows the meat some resting time.

For the yoghurt dip simply chop the parsley and coriander and add to a bowl with the yoghurt. Then once the sweet potato is out of the oven, take out one of the roasted garlic cloves and add to the dip and stir well. Leave in the fridge until serving.

When the meat is out of the oven, leave to stand and rest for 15-20 minutes before carving into thick slices.

Middle Eastern Pork

Place a drizzle of olive oil into a pan and wilt the spinach with a little salt for 1 minute whilst getting everything else out of the oven.

The sweet potatoes need to be gently crushed or mashed in their cooking vessel, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a teaspoon of cinnamon and stir through.

Roasted garlic sweet potatoes, pre mashing

Cumin roasted roots

Now use a platter or a wooden board and dish everything up accordingly, so the family can dig in and get as much or as little of what they want. Once the meat is on, drizzle over some of the yoghurt dip which complements the flavours really well. Enjoy!

Baby Bites Salmon in a Cheese Sauce with Sweet Potato and Vegetables

Bridget is now 18 months and whilst she's always loved her food from her first weaning tastes, she has started to get a little fussier and unpredictable in her eating habits. Some days she may really enjoy some sliced carrots and then the next time I try to offer her some she's uninterested so I now try to offer at least 3 small portions of vegetables with every main meal in the hope that she won't reject them all and this tactic is paying off.

This meal is delicious for all the family and takes little preparation aside from preparing the cheese sauce.

The below serves one toddler and one adult.

Salmon in a Cheese Sauce with Sweet Potato and Vegetables

Here's how: 

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder 
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 150ml-200ml milk
• 1 bay leaf
• Generous grating of nutmeg
• 50g Cheddar or other hard cheese - I used Pilgrim's Choice here)
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 small fillets salmon
• Handful frozen peas
• Baby corn
• Mange touts
• Tenderstem broccoli (or any other vegetables you have to hand) 

Firstly pop the oven onto 180 degrees and place the potatoes into the oven to bake.

Now prepare the cheese sauce by melting the butter gently in a heavy-bottomed pan then adding the flour once melted. Mix with a balloon whisk and slowly add the milk, mustard powder, bay and pepper and allow to gently heat. Add the cheese and the nutmeg and stir with a wooden spoon. Once satisfied with the sauce, set aside. If too thin, add a tiny bit of cornflour and cook out. Now set aside.

Place the salmon into a small ovenproof dish and cover with the cheese sauce and place into the oven for ten minutes.

Now prepare the vegetables by either placing into boiled water for five minutes or steaming for 9 minutes.

Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and scoop out the flesh and pop onto the plate.

Drain the vegetables and add to the plate and finally remove the salmon and cheese sauce and dish up. Enjoy!

Deliciously Ella Sweet Potato Brownies

I made these Deliciously Ella Sweet Potato Brownies a while back as a healthier version of something naughty and they really are quite moreish.

Free from refined sugar they are great for your little ones too - my little Bridget absolutely loved them and I was happy knowing they weren't packed full of nasties. Deliciously Ella has tons of fantastic recipes but these are my favourite to date. 

Deliciously Ella Sweet Potato Brownies

Here’s how:

• 2 large sweet potatoes (approx 600g) 
• 80g ground almonds
• 100g brown rice flour
• 14 Medjool dates
• 4 tbsp raw cacao 
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• Pinch of salt 
• Whack the oven on at around 200 degrees and place the sweet potatoes in on the middle shelf for 25 minutes or until nicely baked. 

Now remove the flesh and place into a blender or Nutribullet with the dates and blitz.

Pop the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl and then add the sweet potato and date mixture and stir well to combine.

Grease and line a baking tray or dish and pour the brownie mixture inside. Use the back of a spoon to flatten out and place into the oven for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Creamy Mustard Chicken and Mushrooms, Roasted Sweet Potato, Roasted Carrots and Asparagus in Garlic Butter

This is a lovely dish for the colder nights - it's warming and hearty and could be served with rice, pasta or just salad, or as I have with some roasted sweet potatoes and a selection of vegetables.

Surprisingly given the warm wholegrain mustard addition, this is also a weaning winner too - especially with the roasted sweet potatoes which are always a hit with Bridget. The vegetables and sweet potatoes make for great finger foods whilst the chicken and mushroom encourages the development of spoon feeding.

The below recipe makes enough for two adult portions and two weaning portions.

Here's how:
Chicken & Mushrooms:

• 300g chicken breast
• 150g mushrooms - I used Chestnut but any work well
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow pepper
• 4 spring onions
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 heaped tbsp creme fraiche 
• 100ml hot chicken stock
• 1-2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 2 tsp dried tarragon
• Pinch black pepper

The accompaniments:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 pack asparagus tips
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 carrots
• 1 tbsp butter
• 5 cloves garlic
• Pinch paprika
• Pinch dried thyme

Firstly place the oven on to 180 and the kettle on to boil.

Peel the sweet potato and slice into rounds of about 1/2 cm thickness.

Peel the carrots and cut into chunky wedges and place into a saucepan with the sweet potato and pour over the boiling water till everything is covered and place on a medium heat and cook for five minutes.

While the pot is boiling, finely slice the spring onion and 1 clove garlic and add to a non-stick pack with the olive oil and place onto a low heat.

Slice the pepper and mushrooms and set aside for a moment.

Chop the chicken into evenly sized chunks and once the spring onion has started to soften add to the pan. Turn the chicken to cook and whiten on each side.

By now the potato and carrot will be nicely blanched. Remove and drain away all water and give a vigorous shake.

Place into a baking tray or dish. I try to pop the sweet potato one end, and the carrots the other if possible. Now sprinkle over the thyme over the carrots and the paprika over the sweet potato. Add four of the garlic cloves to the pan and then drizzle over about a tablespoon of olive oil. Place into the oven to cook for 30 minutes.

Once the chicken has turned white on all sides add the pepper and mushrooms to the pan and allow them to soak up the cooking juices and slightly soften.

Now add the creme fraiche and stir till it reduces down to a less solid and more liquidy format then add the chicken stock, tarragon, mustard and black pepper and give a good stir. Allow to cook, stirring every few minutes for about five minutes. Then add the flour and stir until all is absorbed by the sauce. Now this needs to cook away until the sweet potatoes are nicely charred – stir every few minutes and this should thicken up beautifully.

A few minutes before removing the sweet potato and carrots from the oven and the chicken off of the heat, in a separate pan, melt the butter with a clove of garlic – I just cut in half and this is enough to flavour the butter. Now add the asparagus and shake every minute or so. Leave these to cook whilst you plate up everything else and that will be plenty of cooking time. Enjoy!

Baby Bites: Spiced Cod with Sweet Potato

This is a meal I made for Bridget when Glen and I had the grown up equivalent. I thought the flavours might be too strong for her so made her a small portion as an experiment but she absolutely loved it.

The cod has a delicately aromatic flavour from the yoghurt marinade and is another good introduction of bolder flavours in the weaning process. The light spicing is complemented by the sweet potato.


This freezes really well and the below makes enough for 3-4 portions. Allow to cool completely before placing into the freezer and simply remove and defrost on a plate on the morning of the day you need to - it will be defrosted in 3-4 hours. 

Spiced Cod with Sweet Potato

1 fillet of cod approx 150g
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 thumbnail of fresh ginger
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 clove garlic
1/2 lime
1 sweet potato

Firstly pop the oven on at 180 and place the sweet potato in to bake.

Next try to remove any obvious bones from the cod.

Create the marinade by combining the yoghurt, garlic, ginger, lime and spices in a bowl and stirring to evenly distribute all of the flavours.

Pop the cod into the marinade and turn over a couple of times and spoon marinade onto the top to ensure the whole fillet is covered and absorbs the flavour. Leave for 15-20 minutes.

Towards the end of the squash cooking time, place the cod into an oven proof dish and loosely cover with some foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Mash the cooked potato and flake in the fish, portion up accordingly and then allow to cool enough before feeding.

Mediterranean Makeover Cottage Pie

This is a twist on the classic comfort dish, cottage pie. Aside from giving it a sweet potato lid topped with a combination of Cheddar and crumbled feta cheese, the filling has been given a tomatoey Mediterranean makeover too.

Not only is this a delicious alternative to a family classic for the grown ups and any older children, but made as it is here without salt, it's a great weaning dish once little one is past the six month mark and certainly went down well with our little Bridget.

The addition of cinnamon to the browned steak mince gives a lovely delicate flavour and it works well served with salad or as I have done here with Lemon & Chilli Brocolli Spears (simply blanch, drain and roast with a drizzle of oil, garlic, lemon zest, chopped chillies) and topped with a single 1cm square of feta crumbled over.

The below gives three adult sized portions or two plus 3-4 weaning portions. 

2 large sweet potatoes
20g Cheddar or alternative hard cheese
50g feta cheese
200g lean steak mince
1 red onion
1 courgette
1 carrot
50g mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1 tin of chopped tomatoes or jar of passata
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp olive oil

Firstly pop the oven on and place the two whole sweet potatoes in to bake. You could of course peel, chop and boil to create mash, but as you'd need to pre-heat the oven anyway, this way saves you using another saucepan.

Next add the olive oil to the pan and place on a low heat.

Finely dice the onion and crush the garlic and add to the pan.

Peel and dice the carrot and add this to the pan too and allow to soften.

In the meantime, dice the courgette and slice the mushrooms too.

Once the carrot, onion and garlic are softened, add the steak mince and brown off. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to move around and break up so it doesn't all stick together in a nasty clump.

Once browned all over, add the pepper and cinnamon and allow to cook through for a further couple of minutes.

Add the courgette and mushrooms, the tin of tomatoes and the oregano and stir through. Leave cooking for as long the potatoes take to be soft centred.

Once the potatoes are ready, remove from the oven, slice open and scoop out the flesh into a small bowl. Use a fork to gently mash, although this shouldn't be too laborious as the flesh should be very soft and smooth.

Transfer the meat and sauce into an ovenproof dish and then evenly top with the sweet potato. 

Grate over the little bit of Cheddar or other hard cheese and then crumble over the feta into uneven pieces - which will result in some being meltingly oozing and others caramelised - in short, a deliciously contrasting topping.

Pop the dish onto a baking sheet and then place into the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top has started to brown.

Remove from the oven, allow to stand for a few minutes, then dish up and enjoy. 

When serving as a weaning dish, I don't mash this up as it is a fairly soft consistency anyway and my seven and a half month old copes just fine with the texture, but if you prefer to blitz in a blender or hand-mash then do so and of course allow to cool down enough before serving to baby.

Baby Bites Spiced Mince with Sweet Potato

Once you start introducing your little one to meat, you'll probably find there's no stopping them - at least that is what we have found with Bridget.

Starting with blander flavours to get them used to various textures is the norm, but there's no reason why what you give has to remain bland. I slowly introduced bolder flavours to my daughter with a sprinkle of cinnamon on eggy bread, some fresh herbs and various other gentle spices. This dish uses some more delicate spices and does pack a slight punch so add the spices a little at a time if you're nervous to offer spicier food. Again combining it with the sweetness of the potato will tone it down anyway.

The below makes enough for 10 portions and this freezes well. Just pop out a portion on the morning you need it and allow to defrost fully outside of the fridge before re-heating. 

250g lean steak mince
2 carrots
1 red onion
1 small clove garlic
1.5tsp cinnamon
1tsp paprika
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tbsp frozen peas
1.5 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 tin of tomatoes or passata
Olive oil
1 large sweet potato

Firstly place the oven on at 180 and place the sweet potato inside to bake. If you are in a hurry you can pop it into the microwave for five minutes before putting into the oven and this will speed up the cooking time.

Next add a drizzle of olive oil to a pan and place on a low heat.

Finely dice the onion and carrot and crush the garlic and add this to the pan, allowing it all to soften.

Next add in the mince, using either a wooden spoon or plastic spatula to break up and ensure no nasty lumps are formed during cooking, keep moving it all around and allow to fully brown.

Once lightly browned, add in all the spices (paprika, cinnamon, coriander and turmeric) and stir through.

Add in the frozen peas and stir to evenly distribute amongst the mince.

Finally add in the tomato puree and passata or tinned tomatoes and stir once again. Now allow to cook slowly for 30 minutes or so.

Once the potato has been in the oven for 30 minutes, remove it, discard the skin and place the flesh into a bowl and gently mash with a fork or potato masher.

Once the mince mixture has cooked for 30 minutes, remove from the heat and add to the sweet potato and stir to combine.

Allow to cool a little if serving right away and portion up into your freezable containers. Allow to fully cool before placing into the fridge or freezer.

Baby Bites Spiced Sweet Potato Chips with Cherry Tomatoes

This is a great finger food to introduce to your baby with some gentle smoky spicing from paprika and I serve with two large and juicy cherry tomatoes cut into quarters - no ketchup needed here! 

It is very low maintenance and you can increase the amount if cooking for the family and add dried chilli flakes or fresh, chopped chilli if you prefer a little more bite.

1 small sweet potato

Drizzle of olive oil

1/2 tsp paprika

Place the oven on at around 180. 

Chop the potato into chips or wedges that will be easy for your little one to manage and handle her/himself. 

Place into an oven-proof dish and drizzle with the olive oil so each has a little coating.

Sprinkle over the paprika and then place into the oven to cook for 25 minutes or until starting to char.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool enough so baby can handle and serve with a couple of quartered cherry tomatoes.

Baby Bites - Cheesy Sweet Potato Mash

From six months old in the weaning game, almost anything is fair game with a few exceptions. Part of the fun here is introducing new tastes, flavours and then eventually textures, so to start with, we had simply mashed individual root vegetables. The sweeter varieties such as parsnip and sweet potatoes were particular favourites, but I've read that in order to not give your little one too much of a sweet tooth, it's vital to introduce more savoury tastes around this time too.

You can mash together almost any root vegetables but Bridget really loved the combination of swede and parsnip and carrot with parsnip. Also I started the weaning process a little earlier than six months so at this point we may have been a little more adventurous than if you're just starting out.

One of the first foods I gave to Bridget with protein in, was this Cheesy Sweet Potato and it has since become a firm favourite.

For ease and organisation now I’m back at work, I make up a batch and pop into little pots in the freezer so this makes up 3-4 portions.

2 smallish sweet potatoes or 1 big one
30g cheese, we use Cheddar or Red Leicester

This is the easiest thing to make - simply bake the sweet potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes or until the inside flesh is soft and yielding.

Remove from the oven and then remove the inside flesh and pop into a bowl, using a fork or a masher to fully mash. Sweet potato is such a lovely soft and smooth texture when baked which makes it perfect for little ones even before the arrival of teeth.

Grate in the cheese and fully mix and then divide between 3-4 pots and if serving a portion right away, allow the potato to cool enough first.

When using a ‘frozen’ portion, I remove from the freezer in the morning and allow to defrost first, then simply pop the pot into a bowl of boiled water to warm.

Bubbledogs

Even before its’ opening last year, Bubbledogs was surrounded by a flurry of media hype. I’ve been meaning to go for a while and recently made it with a group of ladies who I’ve been working with, including the lovely Sarah of Little Lady Eats. We found that going en masse is a sneaky rue to avoid the tell-tale queues up the street – that’s right folks, you can book a table at Bubbledogs, you just have to be in a group. We had booked a couple of months in advance mind, but nevertheless, we were in.

Situated on sophisticated Charlotte Street, the whole concept of Bubbledogs is a clever one – Champagne combined with ever-so-trendy hotdogs, very now, very New York.

Eight made up our group and we were spread over two high tables on stools, towards the back – towards the much-lauded ‘Chef’s Table.’ We strutted immediately past the relatively long queue and found a rather narrow, wooden interior that immediately put me in mind of a ski lodge. The walls were adorned with drawings of dogs, which some in our group found cute, and I could see the connection, but being unmoved by animals as I am (unless eating them of course), I could take them or leave them.

As it was a mid-week work treat and not an extravagant evening, we ordered a couple of bottles of the house Prosecco, which was excellent and priced at £32 a bottle. The helpful waiter also explained that this was cloudier in appearance that other sparkling wines and had less fizz due to its’ preparation being different – I was impressed with the knowledge. After a quick toast amongst our number at making it through January, the single most depressing month, we moved on to the food. `

In what our group deemed as a rather hostile move by our, up until this point jolly group, the waiter informed us after we’d ordered that we would be required to ‘vacate the table’ at 8:30pm – precisely an hour and a half after we’d arrived. Never a fan of this style of time-managed dining, it was even more infuriating that there had been absolutely no mention of this when booking, or even on our arrival nearly thirty minutes prior. It did sour the mood a little, but hotdogs are obviously not going to take long to prepare so it was actually a notion that would and should’ve been left unsaid, but there you have it.

So naturally, Little Lady Eats and I were keen to try as much as possible so we ordered a different dog each and split them in order to try two each – a Sloppy Joe (chilli dog) and a Swedish Viking which was the special that evening, we both opted for the pork ‘dog.

The Swedish Viking was actually a great combination of pickled cucumber, sweet mustard, crispy fried onions and ketchup. The only disappointment was the actual sausage, which was of questionable quality. Don’t get me wrong, the hotdogs are reasonably enough priced, given the location at under £10 a pop, however bland, rubbery meat was the standard in our dogs and I thought it could have been better. When I was in Stockholm a couple of years back with six friends we enjoyed a hotdog or two when inebriated from the numerous street sellers which were priced at around £1-2 and frankly the meat was better there.

The Sloppy Joe was a ‘chilli dog’. Now Sarah and I were both expecting chillies or a chilli sauce in there, which is obviously down to our own lack of dog-knowledge – what we were instead greeted with, was a chilli con carne topping. Once again the meat of the chilli was of poor quality, the flavour was hiding in the overcooked, almost crusty meat and it was frankly a disappointment.

Aside from the dogs we had ordered one each of the sides on offer for each of our two tables. The standout side, in fact the tastiest thing I had that evening, was the sweet potato fries. These were soft, fluffy and sweet in the centre but crispy, perfectly seasoned and delicious on the outside. They were served with an absolutely to-die for truffle mayonnaise, and though the dish was a simple one it was completed elevated by the gourmet accompaniment.

The other two sides were incredibly average – a coleslaw that was perfectly edible, but nothing to write home about and a portion of ‘Tots’. I was fairly excited to try the tots as I remember an episode of Friends where Joey mentions them, but found they were in fact, a combination of a potato rosti and a croquette – very school dinner, very unappetising.

Given the hype around the opening, I was always going to try out Bubbledogs for myself, and now I’ve been, I’m unlikely to return – however I’m still glad to have given it a whirl. The reasonably priced menu cannot be denied and there’s certainly no hiding the fact that here in London, there is a huge appetite for conceptual restaurants like Bubbledogs. The long queues along Charlotte Street suggest this will remain a ‘hotspot’ for some time yet, but for me Bubbledogs just didn’t live up to it’s hype and from now on I’d rather spend my money on restaurants that rely on the food to guarantee repeat customers rather than a quirky concept.

Can I get a bun with that burger?

Indian Spiced Bean Burger with Skinny Slaw and Sweet Potato Chips

So in a bid to shed a pound or ten pre-Christmas, I’ve decided a bit of healthy eating is in order, and to kick start this I’m doing a full week completely meat-free.

As I’m the person that does 99% of the cooking at home, the boy is also being subjected to this, so I thought I’d need to be slightly creative to avoid accusations of serving up ‘rabbit food’ so the first evening was a vegetable curry, which went down well on Sunday evening as both of us had what can only be described as a ‘skin-full’ on Saturday night and last night I made an alternative to burger ‘n’ chips.

I made my first ever bean burger, which I flavoured with some Indian herbs and spices and served with a home made spicy coleslaw and some sweet potato chips. This was also well received by the pair of us – and although we enjoyed it, I did think whilst eating it, that next time I’ll improve it with some chopped chorizo – but then I’m always thinking about ‘next time’ and new ways with everything I cook. The sweet potato chips and coleslaw were great accompaniments, and both a lower calorie version of the usual suspects, they really complemented the spices from the burger too.

Also please note from my picture the ridiculously thick size of the patties, again, a learning, and next time I will try to make these more compact, but overall it was a good dish and one I’d eat again with or without the addition of meat.

Here’s how:

Sweet Potato Chips:

• 300g sweet potatoes

Half a red chilli, finely chopped

3 Cloves Garlic

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel and cut into chip or wedge shapes, then rinse thoroughly. Add to a pan of boiling water and cook for fifteen minutes. In the meantime add some olive oil into an ovenproof dish and place into a pre-heated oven. Drain the sweet potatoes and shake in the colander then add to the dish and move around to make sure all have an oil coating. Scatter the chopped chilli, and pop in the unpeeled garlic cloves (feel free to add more or omit if you’re not a garlic fan or if you have a hot date later!) Season well and cook for twenty minutes or until they start to crisp.

Skinny Slaw

• 2 carrots coarsely grated

½ white cabbage coarsely grated

1 red onion coarsely grated

1 tablespoon paprika

3 tablespoons of low fat natural yoghurt

Salt & pepper to taste

Simply combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Makes a large bowl full, perfect for 4-6 people or if you’re only two, then great for keeping in the fridge to perk up salads or sandwiches for lunch the next day.

The Burger (makes 4 large patties or 6 smaller ones):

• 200g butter beans, cooked and cooled

200g chickpeas, cooked and cooled

200g kidney beans, cooked and cooled

1 small red onion finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

About two tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves and stalks

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 small red onion finely diced

1 red chilli finely chopped

1 egg, whisked

100g breadcrumbs

2 cloves, finely ground

To make the burger pop all of the cooked beans into a large mixing bowl and crush up with a potato masher, leaving the mixture quite coarse (don’t put through a potato ricer). Add the coriander and all of the herbs, onion and garlic and stir through with the egg. Gently add in a tablespoon at a time of the breadcrumbs until you have a texture that would hold well in a burger. Then shape into patties with your hands and top each side with some additional breadcrumbs.

Heat a tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil in a non-stick pan and once hot add the patties and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. When you turn over to cook the other side, add a slice of Emental cheese so it melts nicely into the burger.

The Extras

• Burger buns of your choice 

2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt with a tablespoon of fresh, chopped mint

1 tub of salsa

Leaves and/or sliced tomato

Sliced red onion

Once your chips are almost done and your skinny slaw is ready – add in your burger patties to the pan to cook. To assemble I added some shop-bought (Sainsbury's) salsa to the bottom bun, then a slice of juicy beef tomato, the cooked burger with melted cheese next and then to finish a spoonful of the cooling minty yoghurt dressing.

Plate up and serve - good for veggies and meat lovers too.