Yum – those recipes sound great, and I love having more quick recipes to fall back on! -Liz

Hi there Liz, glad to hear you liked the sound of these. They’re a useful addition.

Kathryn I have a really nosey question for you! I’m intrigued to know how you go about developing meat recipes as a vegetarian? Do you taste them yourself or draft in help?

Hi there Sophie. Trade secrets! I use a few strategies. Firstly I used to eat and cook meat and while it was a while ago, I do remember a lot of the principles and flavour combinations. This is augmented by my reading.

If I am unsure, or am experimenting I’ll ask my mum to make it up. She’s a great, very trustworthy test kitchen and I can tweak from there.

But probably the main thing is I make my meat recipes really simple. I use easy, quick cooking cuts, which I barbecue, grill or pan fry. I’ll either marinate these or supplement with an interesting sauce or vegetable combination – to provide the flavour and spark. It’s not complex cooking and I can often test without the meat. Or I have a couple of friends that also test for me.

There are plenty of people who write much better and more imaginative meat recipes than me. But one of my central themes is the quick and easy cooking – how to make a healthy meal at the end of a long day. So while my recipes may not be the most elaborate cooking, they fit in with this goal.