This is a beautifully balanced winter salad, with toasty, nutty flavours and plenty of sweetness and saltiness going on. I like to use watercress or rocket, but the door is open to try any type of leaf. The best thing about this salad is that is can be tweaked and still be delicious. The hazelnut oils adds a lot of flavour, but it can be switched to an alternative or just a good quality extra virgin if you are having trouble sourcing. The plums can be switched for pears or nectarines, or some raw apple works wonderfully well also.

This is a simple sharing plate that was inspired by a walk through the woods as the seasons change here in Ireland. I wanted to create something vibrant, hearty, comforting and healthy, the echoed the landscape. The “soil” – a scattering toasted fruit, nuts and seeds – lays the foundation for this dish while the earthy cumin works well with the sweet and zesty accompaniments and garnishes.

My mum has been making this meringue roulade for as long as I can remember, it's a much loved dessert during the Spring and Summer months and perfect for entertaining a crowd. It looks impressive and tricky but is actually quite simple. A bit of practice does go in to perfecting the rolling technique. For this recipe I've included the lemon curd from a previous post, available on my feed, and it adds a lovely tart flavour to cut through the sweetness of the meringue.

This red curry packs a punch, and strikes a wonderful balance with a coconut broth that is rich, spicy, salty and sweet while the fresh vegetables are light and vibrant. There is also plenty of textural difference going on. Charring the vegetables first adds good depth of flavour. Serve with some fresh white rice.

While visually appealing, this poached pear dessert is also absolutely delicious. The ginger, chocolate, wine and nuts all play together fantastically. Bosc and Conference pears are a good choice for poaching, and you should use a dry and drinkable red wine that isn’t overly fruit forward.

This is one of my favourite ways to eat cabbage. The fried capers are salty, crispy and extremely satisfying, and the savoury black garlic brown butter works wonderfully well with the refreshing tang from the buttermilk dressing. The whole thing is lifted and made fresh by the lemon. I have experimented with different types of cabbage and found that napa, hispi and savoy work the best.

Here is my take on the ever classic and comforting dish mushrooms on toast, with a few little tricks thrown in that add a some flavour, texture and visual appeal. The crispy panko egg yolk tastes as good as it sounds, but can be a little bit tricky to perfect. If that sounds like a little bit too much, you can also fry or poach an egg to go on top.

This is my famous recipe or honey-glazed rainbow carrots with ricotta, pistachio, chilli & orange. As you can imagine, it’s big on flavour. This elevates any roast dinner or family-style get-together. Roasting the vegetables this way brings out a lovely level of sweetness and a natural nuttiness and the accompaniments hit every flavour mark.

These Black Pepper Parmesan Sablés are the perfect treat on a summer’s evening, washed down with a glass of port, sherry, vermouth, or a dessert wine. They are rich and crumbly, while retaining a good snap, and are surprisingly filling. The best thing is that they are incredibly easy to make - just throw everything in a food processor.

With sprouts still being in season in Ireland I wanted to create something a little special with them. I love the flavour of a well roasted, blackened sprout. A few drops of balsamic as they finish off in the oven really lifts them up. These tacos pack a lot of flavour in, and with a few simple tweaks (the sour cream, honey and cheese) they can be totally vegan.

This eye-catching salad for two is quick, easy, vibrant and zesty. The bright citrus notes play wonderfully with the salty, rich haloumi. The dressing lifts it with a bit of sweetness provided by the honey. I love to serve it up on one big plate as a main or as a side to accompany other dishes.

February 1 marks the Celtic pagan festival of Imbolc, which was later adopted as the feast of Ireland’s matron St. Brigid. The preparation of boxty is among a number of traditions observed on Imbolc. It is a simple potato pancake using mashed and/or grated potatoes. There are many iterations of this basic recipe, varying from county to county and even between households. Here’s how to make it

A simple tray-bake style dinner that is vibrant, healthy and delicious. Nutty roast cauliflower, crisp chickpeas and a zesty herb tahini that is full of life. Leftovers taste even better as a cold salad.

A wonderful autumn or winter treat, these fritters don’t take long to whip together. Any apples will do, but I much prefer tart green or cooking apples. The sparkling cider adds a wonderful light and tangy edge while the green cardamom pairs wonderfully and adds some much needed underlying warmth. They can be glazed or simply dusted in sugar.

This miso-glazed aubergine dish is vegan, simple and delicious. The crispy tempura that tops it is light and crispy and very satisfying. I spent quite some time trying different methods while developing the recipe, trying to create a tempura that is crisp and tasty and easy to make. The flavours come together nicely. Be sure to check out my tempura guide in the recipe cards.

In making this butternut squash conchiglie with crisp sage I set myself a challenge. Keep things as simple as possible. The results were fantastic. Roasting the squash gives it a lot of depth. The chilli and lemon balances the sweetness well. It’s an easy recipe that packs in a lot of flavour and can be done in no time. It’s very easy to keep it vegan by leaving the parmesan out.

Barmbrack, Irish tea brack or in Gaelic, bairín breac (meaning speckled loaf) is a traditional sweetened bread commonly made around the Halloween season in Ireland. Many of the older traditional recipes use yeast, and are lighter in colour and texture than the bracks most people come across today. For this recipe I referenced many different sources, including my mother’s copy of All In The Cooking, first published in 1946 and famous Irish flour makers Odlums well established directions.

I’ve been working on this recipe for some time. I wanted to get the crackers as light as possible and worked on different baking times and temperatures. I also wanted the goat’s cheese mouse to be nice and airy. This is a great one for entertaining, as everything can be made in advance and assembled later.

Whether you’re having it on a piece of bread as a tapa or cutting off a gigantic slice for dinner, Tortilla de Patatas always hits the spot. You can expand on the basic recipe and add whatever you like in the way of meat or vegetables, but here we have kept it quite simple. Truffle oil adds a very suitable earthy richness to the dish that we feel works very well.

April 25 is Anzac Day, officially named in 1916 to commemorate an intense battle fought by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on the Gallipoli peninsula during World War 1. These oaty, chewy and crunchy biscuits were sent to the soldiers, and became famous due to their long shelf life.