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Multiple ways with chickpeas

Chickpeas can bulk out salads, rice dishes and curries when other ingredients are scarce, or blend with crushed garlic, lemon juice and olive o

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Posh tatty

A crispy roast potato or a spicy wedge is a tasty midweek treat, but for unexpected guests, slip your spuds out of their jackets and make gnocchi by peeling and

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Great grains

Soak cous cous in stock for 10 minutes, fluff with a fork, and add any of the following: roast odds-and-ends of veg; sultanas and spice; cherry tomatoes and feta.

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Jar head

While we might spread Marmite onto toast and squirt ketchup onto hot dogs, Nigella likes to dollop her yeast extract onto spaghetti and chef Paul Rankin adds a das

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Cheats' pizza

Spread tinned tomatoes on bread with a sprinkling of cheese, and toast for instant pizza, or add to kidney beans, chopped veg (or mince if you have it), a

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Lunch on tap

'Black olives make a wonderful tapenade if mixed with capers and tinned anchovies.

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Oat so good

Porridge oats can be combined with beaten egg and breadcrumbs as a crunchy coating for meat and fish, or as a topping for macaroni cheese.

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Quick curry

'I like to use tinned tuna in masala,' says Manju Mahli, author of the http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Indian-Cookbook-Step-step/dp/1844835839

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Indian-Cookbook-Step-step/dp/1844835839

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Jammy devil

Not just great on toast, a jar of jam also makes a great glaze for pork or chicken.

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Just desserts

'Honey and nuts stirred into yogurt is an easy storecupboard/fridge pud,' says foodie and smallholder Fiona Neville, from http://www.cottages

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Fruit loop

Whiz up a smoothie using tinned peaches or frozen summer berries, with 1 banana, 100ml (3fl oz) yoghurt and 100ml (3fl oz) milk.

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Bare essentials

'My Bare Cupboard Pasta makes dinner out of almost nothing!' says Jules Clancy, author of 5ingredients/10minutes.