Casual Entertaining: Garlic Chicken Wraps

Ooh, here it is: my first foodie post! I have chosen Casual Entertaining because one of our favourite go-to recipes is in it. It's not even so much of a recipe, but more of an idea. I love Ross Dobson's approach to feeding people. His beautiful food is delicious, accessible and comforting. It also pulls off that trick of being packed full of flavour while not using very many ingredients. Genius.

We are on the cusp of autumn weather here and are in need of good transition meals. We still want something a little fresh tasting, but it needs to have more oomph to it than what we've been eating over the hot months of summer. This recipe for chicken shish kebabs with garlic sauce fits the bill perfectly: easy to assemble and very more-ish. The garlic sauce is the only "cooking" bit and couldn't be easier. There is also something satisfying about whisking in the oil slowly so it doesn't curdle: it makes me feel "cheffy"!

There are many sections in the book, catering to all your kitchen needs: from "Grazing" to "Chic Eats" to this wonderfully easy, yet heavenly recipe for chicken pot pies in the "Cheap and Cheerful" section. This is his version in the picture below, not mine, but so straightforward is the recipe that mine looked exactly the same and were polished off down to the last, buttery flake of pastry by adults and children alike.

If this has whet your whistle, Dobson has several other books that are well worth checking out. If you are feeling virtuous and, like me, have a desire to try cooking with all those wholegrains that are a bit of a mystery to us more pedestrian home cooks (I'm looking at you quinoa, aduki beans, buckwheat...), then he demystifies them magnificently in Wholefood Kitchen. Keep an eye out for a second-hand copy as this title is quite hard to come by.