15.10.08: Quorn cutlets with tomato and veggie sauce

She masterly pan-fried two lemon-pepper quorn fillets. At the same time, She grilled a green and yellow pepper, spring onions and aubergine, then mixed it all up with a jar of Lloyd Grossman's chili-tomato sauce, shaved off some parmesan, and voila, tonite's dinner! A fig, physalis, pear, beetroot, watercress, spinach and rocket salad patiently stood by the side of the stage ready to perform.

SHE SAYS: Sauce was def. improved by a few slugs of wine, but I missed the fat, silky slices of regular onion. A quorn patty is like the best big chicken nugget ever, so just go from there in your imaginative assessment. Unlike Him, I was beginning to find our salad combo a little tiresome, but it was still v good by any normal dinner standard.

HE SAYS: Its been a little while since we had this culinary creation. The quorn was ever so crunchy and the sauce, mamma-mia! it was awfully tasty (I think the added red wine gives it a distinctly rich depth of flava). I didn't mind the spring onions replacing the regular variety She usually puts in the sauce and the peppers brought a sweet note and crunchy texture to the plate. I'm not yet tired of the figs or for that matter, sweetfire beetroot, in the salad and the pear was a nice touch too.

12.09.08: Quorn and fresh tomato-veg sauce, and enchilidas mole

Just another flash in the pan: the lemon-pepper quorn escalope smothered with a fresh tomato and veg sauce, plus leftover sweetfire beetroot and spinach & watercress salad.

SHE SAYS: If you think Hers looks a little bland, well, your eyes don't lie. Despite application of white wine to pan, and a nice-looking veg medley, the typical quorn concoction was surprisingly ho-hum. Of course, the chicken-fried steak quality of the quorn still came thru, but its savoury influence was dimmed by the factor. Not the comfort food vibe I had in mind!

HE SAYS: Just down the block where I'm staying is this fantastic veggie restaurant, Mother's cafe and It was there that I indulged in the enchiladas mole. Consisting of lots of black bnz, Monterey Jack cheese and rich and savoury, gravy-like mole sauce smothering a corn tortilla, it was aided and abetted by brown rice and a generous scoop of fresh guacamole. The bnz were especially nish, creamy, a little spicy, rich and moist with good sauciness. It's hard eating by oneself but when you have food like this it helps distract you from the loneliness.

25.08.08: Grilled lambchops with roast aubergines and tahini sauce

She cannot resist saying, 'Hey! Check out the grill marks!' It seems after 3 or 4 goes, the spesh grill pan is finally, um, earning its stripes with these li'l lambchops marinated in rosemary, olive oil and a mysterious Mexican-y spice mix lounging on the kitchen shelf. Sides of couscous with ho-made preserved lemon bits and coriander, plus Nigel Slater's roast aubergines with tahini filled out the plate, while a simple green salad with raspberry infused beetroot stood by.

SHE SAYS: Enh. The chops were good, but an attempt at a red-wine reduction just, well, fizzled, apparently. Still, I managed not to overcook the chops, and they were tasty enough. The couscous was fluffly and intensely flavoured with the lemon - all good.

The aubergines, though, were not so yummy. The tahini we bought in a rush yesterday I suspect was made with roast sesame seeds, given its tan colour and heightened flavour - not a bad thing, except it made the sauce look like peanut butter. Also, though this intrigued me before I tried it, cardamom is a shockingly bad choice of spice for aubergine. Shame on you, Nigel! New beetroot was okay but not anything to sing and dance about. An odd dinner, all things considered.

HE SAYS: It's a good thing we had loads of chops because they didn't have much meat to them. But they were tasty, with the marinade offering a smoky, spicy kick. The aubergines were interesting but not that appetising, the tahini sauce seemed not to work with the roasted veg and it just seemed a little out of place on the plate. Agree with Her that the raspberry infused beetroot was nothing special and I detected an artificial aftertaste which was neither expected nor apprieciated from me, beetroot's biggest fan.

20.08.08: Quorn with fresh veg and tomato sauce

Despite at least one previous protest against making fresh tomato sauce, She did it again, adding a green pepper and aubergine for filler and finishing with shavings of parmesan reggiano. (It didn't seem such a task this time, not sure why.) Crisp quorn patties and a salad of carrot, fresh 'healthy living' mozz, physalis, and rocket didn't exacty play second filler either.

SHE SAYS: I enjoyed this probably more than I should - it was merely good, with contrasting crisp quorn coating and rather mushy veg, but the sweetness of the tomatoes and the treat of my fave fake chicken hit a little-kid note of appreciation in me. The 'healthy' mozz had surprisingly good stringy, pull-apart texture and mild milky flavour - better than I expected and a good foil for the tangy physalis.

HE SAYS: The homemade sauce once again delivered: I thought the aubergine was nish and tender, the tomatoes not too shweet and the green peeper still a little crunchy. Maybe I would've added a wee bit of vino into the mix but it still turned out tickling ma tastebuds good and plenty. The salad was another crunch fest, what with the carrot making a return after a short break. The moz was happy to see its new pal again but missed Ms Beetroot rotten.

03.03.08: Quorn, veggie sauce, and pepper-jelly salad

Lemon-pepper quorn patties smothered with sauteed onion, aubergine, red and yellow peppers, a couple of bottled pasta sauces, fresh basil and a few shavings of grana padano. You can't see it, but the avo, tomato, radish and mixed-leaf salad has a sweet pepper-jelly dressing on top.

HE SAYS: The quorn cutlets were very nice. The sauce with the veggies was filling and tasty, and the salad was made all the better with sweet pepper jelly.

SHE SAYS: Quorn and sauce were v. satisfying, as always. The dressing was a little disappointing; mixing the jelly with olive oil produced a less-than-delicious result, could be the Spanish extra-virgin oil has too strong a grassy taste for this dressing. Next time I would just dilute a couple of tablespoons of the jelly with a bit of water and pour it straight on.