Chicken with potatoes (pollo arrosto con patate)

Serves 4

I love the way cafes at Italian airports cook great quantities of food in huge baking trays without any fuss. This is roast chicken and chips, Venice airport style.

800g medium all-purpose potatoes
1 red onion cut into wedges
2 tbs olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbs thyme leaves
sea salt and black pepper
200ml dry white wine
4 poussins about 450g each
12 cherry tomatoes on the vine
oregano and thyme leaves to serve

Heat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Peel the potatoes, halve lengthways and slice thickly. Toss with the onion, olive oil, herbs, sea salt and pepper. Scatter over the base of a large, oiled roasting pan. Pour over the wine and 200ml water. Roast for 20 minutes. Cut each poussin in half, firmly down one side of the backbone. Add them to the roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil.

Roast for 20 minutes, shooshing the potatoes around once or twice to prevent sticking. Add the tomatoes and roast for another 20 minutes.

Strew with oregano and thyme leaves and drizzle with the pan juices. Serve with a rocket or watercress salad.

Thai beef with lemongrass

If you love a great steak, lighten it up by turning it into a sizzling Thai beef salad.

Serves 4

2 rib-eye steaks, about 400g
1 tsp sesame oil
2 lemongrass stalks
3 red shallots, finely sliced
1 small red chilli, finely sliced
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tbs basil leaves
3 tbs mint leaves, roughly chopped
3 tbs coriander leaves
3 tbs lime juice
2 tbs Thai fish sauce or soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 lime quartered

Heat a ridged cast-iron grill or non-stick frying pan. Brush the steaks with sesame oil. Sear on one side until crusty then turn and cook briefly on the other side. Rest on a warm plate for 10 minutes.

Trim the lemongrass to its inner, tender white part and finely slice.

Put the lemongrass, shallots and chilli in a bowl. Add the tomatoes, basil, mint and coriander, and toss.

Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar. Toss well, then tip the salad onto a large platter.

Slice the beef and strew throughout the salad. Serve with rice and lime wedges.

Harissa beef with couscous

Fast and foolproof, couscous makes a great bed for crusty beef spiced up with garlicky, blow-your-socks-off North African harissa chilli paste.

Serves 4

600g beef fillet, rolled and tied
1 tbs harissa
1 tbs olive oil
300g couscous
1 red onion, halved and finely sliced
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
sea salt and pepper
600g asparagus or green beans, trimmed
1 tbs coriander leaves

Heat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Coat the beef with harissa.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Sear the beef on all sides until browned. Transfer to the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the beef, cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes. Toss the couscous with the red onion, extra virgin olive oil, spices, sea salt and pepper in a heatproof bowl.

Pour 500ml boiling water over the couscous, cover with foil and leave in the switched off oven for 10 minutes.

Cook the asparagus in simmering salted water for five minutes, then drain. Arrange the asparagus on the couscous. Scatter with coriander leaves. Slice the beef thickly and arrange on top.

Ploughman's sandwich

Serves 2

A ploughman's lunch in a British pub used to mean just bread and cheese. But it's far more interesting with rare roast beef and mustard as well. So go for a ploughman's: spread two slices of pumpernickel or dark rye bread with mustard.

Top with slices of rare roast beef from the deli counter or last night's roast dinner, a little aged cheddar cheese, crumbly lancashire or tangy stilton, and a thick slice or two of pickled onion. Scatter with sea salt and pepper, serve with a cold ale.

Steak tartare sandwich

This is one of the great raw dishes of the world and one of the pleasures of a Parisian lunch. I prefer it with a good bread like pumpernickel, rye, pain levain, sourdough or wholemeal. For steak tartare you will need:

Serves 2

100g very fresh beef fillet
1 anchovy fillet
2 gherkins
1 tsp rinsed capers
1 tsp dijon mustard
a dash of Tabasco
a dash of Worcestershire sauce
2 slices dark rye or pumpernickel bread
1 egg yolk

Very finely chop the beef, anchovies, capers and gherkins by hand or whizz in a food processor, adding the mustard, a dash of Tabasco and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Spread the tartare on two slices of plain or toasted dark rye or pumpernickel bread. Top with a fresh egg yolk, still in its half shell, so you can add a little egg to the meat as you eat it, enriching and binding it.

Sticky chicken wings

Another triumph for common sense: these spicy golden chicken wings are roasted instead of fried, for a much lighter result - they taste so much better this way.

Serves 4

8 organic chicken wings
1 tbs grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 tbs oyster sauce
sea salt and pepper
2 tbs honey
1 tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp sesame oil
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 lime, quartered
sweet chilli sauce for dipping

Toss the chicken wings in a bowl with the ginger, garlic, soy, rice wine, oyster sauce, sea salt, pepper, honey, five-spice and sesame oil.

Leave to marinate for 30 minutes or so. Heat the oven to 200C/gas 6.

Drain the chicken wings.

Arrange on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Scatter the chicken with spring onions. Serve with limes for squeezing, and sweet chilli sauce for dipping.

Oven chips with togarashi

Serves 4 as a side dish

These are baked, not fried, for when you really feel like chips. Togarashi is a Japanese sprinkle made of dried chilli, sansho pepper, sesame seeds and ground seaweed.

2 huge baking potatoes (250g each) or 4 large ones
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp togarashi pepper

Heat the oven to 220C/gas 7. Trim the ends off the potatoes and cut lengthways into long chips. Toss with olive oil to coat. Arrange in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking tray. Bake for 40 minutes until golden and tender. Crush the sea salt, sugar and peppers to a powder. Toss the potatoes in half the togarashi mix, saving the rest for another serving. Serve with grills, roast chicken or homemade burgers.

· Lighten Up by Jill Dupleix is published by Quadrille, pounds 16.99. To order a copy for pounds 15.99 with free UK p&p go to observer.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0885