Spanish rice with healthy salad (The recipes for both are sufficient for 3 people with healthy appetities)

For the rice, you will need - 2 cups of raw rice (basmati gives it a better flavour though), 1 big sized onion chopped, 2 medium tomatoes chopped, 4-5 flakes of garlic crushed, 4 cups of

stock* (chicken or veg depending on what you are), a cup and a half of mixed vegetables or meat or both pre-cooked (boiled), 3 tbsps of olive oil, , a generous pinch of oregano, salt to taste.

*One of the easiest ways to get stock is to take Maggi's chicken cubes or vegetable cubes and boil that with water. There is the Indian version and foreign version. Check the respective packets to know the number of cubes for a litre of water. 4 cups of water is roughly a litre and needs to two full cubes of the foreign variety.

In a vessel, drop in the olive oil and when heated, fry the onions, rice and the garlic till light brown. In another vessel, bring the stock to boiling point, add in the tomatoes and the oregano and let it simmer for around 5 minutes. Once the broth is done, add it to the fried rice, mix well and then add your pre cooked vegetables/meat. If you are using basmati, let the rice cook in it. If you are using raw rice, continue the process of cooking like you would normally do. In the pressure cooker or in the rice cooker. Stock generally has a good deal of salt in it, so do taste before adding your salt.

You will need: 2 cups of mixed vegetables (carrots, beans, cauliflower, potatoes, peas) and if you are a non-vegetarian, chopped sausages or bacon. These should be pre-cooked. For the dressing you will need, 1 small chopped onion, 1/2 cup olive or refined oil, 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, 1 tbsp of vinegar, a pinch of chilli powder and salt to your taste. Put all of the dressing ingredients in a tight lid bowl and shake for all you are worth. Mix this dressing to your vegetables/meat and pop it into the fridge.

We definitely did enjoy this meal. Hope you do to, if you try it out