This one started life as an entirely vegetarian dish, which I found in that wonderful little book called Not Just a Load of Old Lentils by Rose Elliot. It can easily be returned to a strictly vegetarian dish by replacing the anchovy paste and worchester sauce (which contains fish) with a spoonful of Marmite.

Put a cup of orange split lentils (rinced) in a large saucepan. Add a cup of water and a cup of milk. Don't add any salt at this stage. Simmer for twenty minutes or so until the lentils are completely soft.

Meanwhile slice a large onion, and cook gently for ten minutes in another pan with a little olive oil. The onions should be very soft but not browned.

In a third pan, cook ten or so large mushrooms, cut into thick slices in a little more olive oil for ten minutes or so. Add plenty of freshly-ground black pepper. The mushrooms should be soft right the way through.

Add the onions to the cooked lentils, then add the juice of a lemon, a large spoonful of anchovy paste (or a couple of tinned anchovies chopped up), a couple of dashes of Worcester sauce (if you like) and lots of freshly-ground black pepper. I find that salt is not needed here, since the anchovies tend to be quite salty on their own. Stir well.

Spread the cooked mushrooms over the bottom of a wide shallow oven-proof dish (ceramic or pyrex). Cover with the lentil mixture, then sprinkle a little grated cheese over the top. A sprinkle of paprika will add colour, if you want.

This dish is one freuqnetly served by our good friend Alice as part of a late breakfast on Sunday monings (after a late Saturday night!). Delicious! Also good as a sweet dish with lunch or dinner.

This fruit salad is characterised by what it doesn't contain. There's no apple (which I find a bit hard and tasteless), no banana (which goes a bit slimy all too quickly) and no melon (because I don't particularly like it!).

First, prepare a fresh pineapple. You have to slice off the top and bottom, then cut off the prickly outer skin. Then, cut into slices, and cut out the tough centre from each ring. Then, slice each ring into pieces.