WELCOME TO September

The food world is full of people who dedicate their

THE HEALTH DEBRIEF

FAD-FREE insight DEBUNKED food & health news

THE ONE-SHOP, NO-WASTE COLLECTION

Save time by being a savvy shopper and you’ll also be rewarded with great-tasting, no-fuss dishes designed to help you beat food waste

QUICK MEAL FOR ONE

Give beans on toast a smart upgrade with added greens and a spicy Spanish kick

THE BUDGET RECIPE

Healthy family food doesn’t need to break the bank, as this tasty one-pot veggie dish proves

BATCH-COOK RECIPE

This classic French stew is so worth making and freezing. Serve half, then put the rest in a pie

PLANT-BASED RECIPE

This light, fresh pasta dish is wonderful hot or cold and is ready in just 20 minutes

FRIDAY NIGHT MEAL

An aromatic and spicy noodle soup is the tastiest way to end the week, with or without chopsticks

TAKE A PACK OF… GRANA PADANO

This hard grating cheese from Italy is a versatile kitchen ally

Should we be eating less fruit?

Once upon a time, an apple a day kept the doctor away… But not any more, finds Sue Quinn. According to the latest fad-diet directives, we need to beware of the fruit bowl

THE 5:2 RECIPE

All wrapped up: this light and lovely supper will boost your feelgood factor

MINI PLUM PAVLOVAS

We love a challenge (and this one was tough to get right): mini meringues with a low-sugar twist

FROM OUR INBOX…

SUBJECT: Reader Julia Barrow’s email praising a proposal

FOR STARTERS

NEWS, NIBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE AND GOOD THINGS TO DO RIGHT NOW

Samin Nosrat

The US chef, writer and teacher behind award-winning cookbook and Netflix series Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, on roast chicken and taking chances

Wish list

How do you decide what to buy? Everything you see and read about here has been chosen from the hundreds of products we see, test and try out. Only the most useful, most beautiful and best value for money make the final cut

” A holiday romance”

Jun Tanaka, chef-owner of London’s The Ninth restaurant, has a long-standing love affair with Italian food, and this practical gadget has particularly special memories

THE KITCHEN RULES How to design a workspace that works

On the design front, writer and keen cook Debora Robertson has had more kitchen nightmares than Gordon Ramsay – but she’s made it a mission to learn from others’ mistakes so you won’t have to. Follow her nine hard-won steps to finding true cupboard love

Life after BAKE OFF

Being chosen to appear on The Great British Bake Off is beyond the wildest dreams of many a keen amateur baker. But what happens when contestants wave goodbye to the TV crews and get back to real life? Kerry Fowler meets up with four of the show’s past stars to find out

”Farming oysters was a gamble”

They were once so plentiful they were a staple food on both sides of the Atlantic. Now deemed a luxury item, oysters are being farmed with such care and attention by Andrew Rooney that first-time tasters experience a sense of awe. Lucas Hollweg travelled to Northern Ireland to find out how Rooney Fish works its mollusc magic

WHAT TO DRINK

Susy Atkins picks bottles for September, plus drinks to savour with mussels

TEST REPORT

”The pace was relaxed and easy-going”

The Med’s great CHILL-OUT ZONE

Accepting that his partying days are over, Les Dunn books a holiday to a once-dreaded ‘family destination’ – and finds himself seduced by the rural charms and unpretentious cooking of laid-back Menorca

21212: Edinburgh quirkiness

WHY IT’S GREAT If you want to pretend you’re a resident

British eating apples

Apples have good-for-you-credentials and are so versatile

A cook’s year BEETROOT

This colourful root is one of the finest turn-of-the-season vegetables. Over the page, Gill Meller gives beetroot a last hit of summertime smoke and flame with his knockout, coal-cooked recipe

The easiest way to go meat-free

If you want to serve a crowdpleaser of a dish, pasta is a wise choice –and no one will stop to think about whether or not they’re missing meat. Gennaro Contaldo’s new recipes show just how delicious this star ingredient can be

ALWAYS A WINNER TACOS

They’re the ultimate DIY dinner: mix and match the fillings and salsas, then prepare for messy fingers. Try a Mexican chicken tinga, a veggie taco with refried beans or a punchy scampi tartare – and put the beers on ice

THE FILM JAWS (1975)

Want to get your teeth into a good honest American-style meatloaf while watching a Spielberg classic? You’re gonna need a bigger plate

How a Soho favourite serves fish

I love this combination: the meatiness of the monkfish

”A meze makes for stress-free cooking”

A table heaving with flavourful bits of this, that and the other… That’s what Georgina Hayden grew up with, and she still believes it’s the best way to eat, because much of it can be made ahead. Bring on the Med-style feast!

From Bombay with love

Prepare for a day in the life of the biggest, fastest, densest, richest and most cosmopolitan city in India with the founders of hit restaurants Dishoom. These brilliant, easy-to-follow recipes are a virtual tour of the city’s best eating and drinking spots

When curry meets pie

Pie never tasted so good. The curry filling is full

If you make one pudding…

It has to be this unbelievably easy throw-together pud that champions late-summer raspberries, smothered in buttery vanilla custard and spiked with tangy lemon curd

LOOSE ENDS

Don’t let this month’s special ingredients linger in your kitchen. Instead make the most of them with these smart and easy ideas

WIN KITCHENAID appliances worth£ 1,600!

Celebrate KitchenAid’s centenary with the chance to win a set of very special Queen of Hearts appliances

COOK IT LIKE delicious. and you could WIN a five-star Scottish escape

COOK IT LIKE delicious. and you could WIN a five-star

Why can’t we teach children to love food?

Looking at the national curriculum, teaching about food in schools is supposed to be much improved these days, but mother and food writer Polly Robinson can’t find much evidence

THIS MONTH IN THE delicious. KITCHEN…

When the delicious. team test recipes they often debate the best ways to do things, as well as answering questions that arise in the test kitchen. What’s the best way to achieve crispy fish skin? What exactly is escabeche? What are different olive oils good for? It’s the kind of information you won’t find anywhere else, and it will take your knowledge to the next level.

Know your OLIVE OILS

Extra-virgin, light, single-estate, unfiltered, cold-pressed

TAHINI

A staple in Middle Eastern recipes such as houmous, baba ghanoush and halva, tahini is a thick paste made from ground or puréed sesame seeds. It adds a rich, nutty, slightly bitter hit to sweet and savoury dishes

No-knead bread

Hands up if you think making bread is difficult? If you’re an aficionado, you’ll know it’s not; if you’re a bread-making newbie, we’d like to introduce you to the no-knead version which, thanks to a long, slow rise, is packed with flavour, yet takes only 15 minutes to prepare

GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY

When I was a girl growing up in North Yorkshire, my