Mexican Food Made Easy:
Fresh tomato salsa - lovely. If you are serving it straightaway, it's fine to not remove the insides of the tomatoes.
Sweetcorn and black bean salsa - lovely and fresh. I used tinned sweetcorn and it was fine.
Roast tomato sauce - I sometimes blacken the veg in a very hot oven or under the grill rather than using a frying pan, and if I don't have fresh chillis I put a dollop of ready chopped hot chillis (the type that comes in a jar) on top of each tomato. I don't peel the tomatoes before blitzing. This sauce is necessary for several recipes in the book so I usually do a huge quantity and then freeze it in small batches for use at a later date.
Smoky tomato sauce - very good. I use chipotle paste. Again, this freezes well so it's worth making a large quantity.
Classic guacamole - amazing. I love this.
Green rice - lovely. I make steamed rice in my usual way, and do the "green" bit separately (often using defrosted frozen spinach, or on occasion finely shredded green cabbage), then stir them together just before serving. I have done it the way the book says as well and can't tell the difference other than doing it separately feels like less hassle!
Black bean sopa Azteca - excellent! I use tortilla chips to garnish rather than frying tortilla wraps, and have been known to use Cheshire or Lancashire (or similar) cheese instead of feta, and natural yogurt instead of sour cream.
Sweet and spicy squash and chickpea soup - really quick to make and very good. I drizzle with ready done chilli oil
Tortilla soup - one of my favourite recipes in the book. I have made it when people come over for dinner and any issues they have with being served soup as a main course quickly go. This is very filling! Again, tortilla chips, yogurt and any crumbly cheese work as garnishes. Any surplus soup (ungarnished) freezes very well.
Panfried mackerel with sweet sour salad - I wasn't feeling very positive about this when I made it but it was surprisingly good!
Spring tacos with mushrooms - good and quick!
Summer tacos with courgette and corn - lovely (and quick).
Winter tacos with creamy greens - I didn't like how these looked, but they tasted good.
Spicy bird tacos - excellent. I bake chicken thighs covered with foil for 20minutes at 180C then chop finely if I don't have leftover roast chicken, or prawns or fish work well too. The sauce can be frozen without the protein added. I use chipotle paste .
Smoked mackerel tostadas - lovely and fresh, even without the shallots (I don't like deep frying).
Queso fundido - fantastic. Needs salad!
Meatballs de Mehico - this is the only thing in this book that hasn't worked for me. I used cooked rice (though when I asked TM on Twitter she said to use raw - my BIL did this and it didn't cook). Having said that, I made double the quantity and froze most of them uncooked and they barbecued really well at a later date.
An easy, speedy chilli con carne - I wasn't very keen on this and found it too dense and filling. My DH loved it though. It takes a while so you need to get ahead with cooking it. Freezes well.
One pot bacon, beans and pumpkin - I liked this very much with green rice.
Grilled polenta with mushrooms and greens - I love this. Really quick and tasty.
Chicken and corn humble pie - excellent. You need the roast tomato sauce, but if you have it in the freezer it is quite quick to do. Again, I use chicken thighs (prepared as for spicy bird tacos) and have had success with the topping when I accidentally picked up a tin of creamed corn from the supermarket instead of normal corn.
Spinach and ricotta enchiladas - more roast tomato sauce needed, but this is an excellent dish. I don't like raisins so use dried apricots.
Chilli chocolate truffles - very good. Be brave with the chilli, especially if you plan to freeze some.
Vanilla cheesecake with pineapple caramel - good!
Salted caramel and nut pancakes - very good, but don't put ice cream near the caramel sauce otherwise it goes solid!
If anyone is still reading, thank you!