Conroy Natalia - The kitchen orchard : fridge foraging and simple feasts

For Natalia Conroy the fridge and store cupboard are an orchard, the source of abundant meals.

NATALIAs cooking uses simple, everyday ingredients and a little imagination. Cream, fresh herbs, leftover cheese all are fruits of the fridge. Dill lifts a salad of beetroot and mustard, fresh rosemary flavours a soup of white bean and ham. Plain carrots are transformed into fluffy carrot and walnut cake. This is simple, affordable food that celebrates the joy of cooking, eating and sharing.

NATALIA CONROY grew up in West London. She gave up her degree at Oxford University to work at The River Caf, where she trained as a chef under Ruth Rogers, Joseph Trivelli and Sian Wyn Owen. This is her first book.

I think that this dish is a great way of eating sweet red peppers when they are at their best at the height of summer. My mother used to make a version of this, which she called lecs. It was her version of a Hungarian dish that her mother used to make, to which her mother added finely sliced onions, fresh dill and, at the end, a beaten egg stirred in and cooked by the heat of the dish.

SERVES 4 AS A SIDE DISH

Peel the peppers using a potato peeler. Peel them as if you were peeling an apple, working round the pepper but leave a gap between each circle. You should end up with a pepper thats half-peeled and looks stripey. Cut it in half and remove the seeds, then cut each half into medium strips (you should have stripes of skin along the length of each strip).

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the garlic slices and leave to colour. Season generously with salt. When the garlic is golden brown and just starting to stick to the bottom of the pan and the wooden spoon, add the peppers and the parsley. Toss the contents of the pan about a bit, then reduce the heat and add 3 tablespoons of water. Cook covered, stirring regularly until the peppers are very soft about 30 minutes. Finish with more chopped parsley and pepper.

Peppers, Parsley, Garlic

Carrots, parsley, honey

These carrots make a great side dish for sausages or roast meat. I also like a large bowl of them on a cold night with a mustardy green salad and some warm bread.

SERVES 3 AS A SIDE DISH

	tablespoons olive oil
	carrots , washed thoroughly, roughly chopped into 1cm-thick diagonals
	garlic cloves, peeled, finely sliced
	tablespoon honey
	tablespoons flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, gently heat the olive oil. Add the carrots to the pan and leave them to colour, adding a little salt. You want the carrots to really brown and almost catch at the bottom. Turn them and add the garlic slivers, allowing them to sizzle in the olive oil. Stir the carrots and garlic and add a couple of tablespoons of water to help loosen any bits of carrot that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the honey and continue to cook on a low heat. Finally, add the parsley, some freshly ground pepper and place a lid on the saucepan, leaving the carrots to cook on a very gentle heat. You want to cook the carrots until they are really starting to fall apart about 30 minutes. During this time, if you feel that they are starting to burn at the bottom, add a splash more water.

Chicken, parsley, green beans

SERVES 4 AS A MAIN COURSE

300g	boiled chicken (it would be good to use the boiled chicken from a chicken soup, see )
	tablespoons Basil, Garlic, Pine Nuts 1 (see )
	tablespoons whole parsley leaves
	tablespoons coriander leaves
400g	fine green beans , blanched until soft but still holding their shape

Toss the chicken with the basil sauce, herbs and the green beans until everything is mixed together well; it should be so well combined that each mouthful contains sauce, chicken, herbs and beans.

Swiss chard, parsley, spinach

The clean and fresh taste of this recipe serves as a lovely accompaniment to rich dishes.

SERVES 4 AS A SIDE DISH

	tablespoons olive oil
	garlic cloves, peeled and cut into fine slivers
	bunch Swiss chard , leaves blanched, stalks roughly chopped into 1cm pieces and blanched until soft
500g	spinach , blanched until soft in plenty of boiling salted water and drained well
small handful capers
juice of 2 lemons
	bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic until golden brown. Add the Swiss chard leaves and stalks, spinach, capers and toss with the garlic and oil. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Check the seasoning and serve.

Swiss Chard, Parsley, Spinach

Chicken, parsley, carrot soup

The most stressful element of Jewish holidays for my mother was neither the gathering together of large numbers of Jewish friends and relatives, nor the possibly traumatic theme of the holiday, but rather more the ordeal of having to eat one of her friends attempts at chicken soup. Pond water tended to be her description. A number of my recipes are variations on my mothers, however I do not believe this recipe can be bettered. So here it is in its most original form: chicken soup la Katyushka, my mother.