I’m cooking for 3 friends: ideas for these ingrediants please?

Oh…..I see! I thought you were cooking 3 friends!!! I was gonna suggest some fava beans and a good Chianti, but now I guess that suggestion isn’t too good, huh?

Sorry this is a bit long, but here’s are 2 recipes for the stuffed peppers with cous cous

Pepper stuffed with couscous
1 red pepper, remove top and bottom and de-seed
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for couscous)
255g/9oz couscous
300ml/½ pint hot vegetable stock
1 leek, top only, sliced
1 lemon, zest and juice
30g/1oz feta, crumbled

Method
1. Preheat oven to 250C/500F/Gas 9.
2. Place pepper on a baking tray, drizzle over the oil and then place in the oven to roast for five minutes.
3. Tip the couscous into a large bowl and pour over the hot stock.
4. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave the couscous to soak for five minutes.
5. Remove pepper from oven and take off the cling film over the couscous.
6. Add the leek top, lemon zest and juice and feta to the couscous.
7. Spoon the couscous into the pepper (reserve the rest for additional recipes) and return pepper to oven for a further five minutes.
8. When pepper is soft, remove from oven and drizzle over some more olive oil before serving

or Couscous stuffed pepper
½ romero pepper, seeds removed
150g/5½oz cooked couscous
50ml/2fl oz olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 orange, zest and juice only
1 lemon, zest and juice only
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped basil
1 tbsp chopped coriander

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. Place the pepper on a baking tray.
3. Drizzle with a little oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Roast in the oven for 12 minutes.
5. Place the couscous in a large bowl.
6. Pour over the orange/lemon juice and oil then mix together.
7. Add the zest and herbs, season and mix well.
8. To serve, place the roasted pepper in the centre of a warm plate and spoon over the couscous mixture
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I think that the stuffed pepers, salad, parsnips crisps and stuffed peppers would be very random. What you could do is have the parsnips crisps on the side as a side dish and do the following with the mussels and the couscous
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Thai-style mussel couscous
200g/7oz couscous
350ml/12fl oz hot vegetable or fish stock
2 tbsp oil
3 red chillies, de-seeded and chopped
½ leek, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
500g/1lb 2oz fresh mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
1 lime, zest and juice only
1 orange, zest and juice only
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Place the couscous in a medium bowl.
2. Pour over the hot stock and cover the bowl with cling film or a tea towel. Set aside until all the liquid has been absorbed.
3. Heat a medium saucepan with oil.
4. Add the chillies, leek and garlic and stir. Cook for a few minutes until the leek is soft.
5. Add the mussels, cover the saucepan with a lid and gently shake the pan. Cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes, until the mussels open.
6. Drain the mussels using a colander, reserving the cooking juices.
7. Pour the juices back into the saucepan and reduce slightly.
8. Meanwhile, remove the cooked mussels from their shells, discarding any that have not opened.
9. Pour the mussels and cooking juices into the couscous.
10. Stir through the citrus juice and zest and season with salt and pepper.
11. Serve immediately

Or if you decided not to do the couscous you could do

Linguine with Mussels and Walnut Parsley Pesto

2 lb (900 g) mussels, cleaned and prepared
6 oz (175 g) linguine or other pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
6 fl oz (175 ml) dry white wine
salt and freshly milled black pepper

For the pesto:
½ oz (10 g) walnuts, chopped
1 oz (25 g) fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic
salt and freshly milled black pepper

To serve:
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

First prepare the pesto: select a large pan that will hold the mussels comfortably, then in it heat a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the walnuts in the hot oil to get them nicely toasted on all sides – this will take 1-2 minutes. Place the walnuts and any oil left in the pan into a blender or food processor, add the parsley and garlic, the remaining tablespoon of oil and seasoning, then blend everything to make a purée. Next, you need to deal with the mussels: heat the olive oil in the same pan that you sautéed the walnuts in, add the shallot and chopped garlic and cook these over a medium heat for about 5 minutes or until they’re just soft. Now turn the heat up high, tip in the prepared mussels and add the wine and some salt and pepper. Put on a close-fitting lid, turn the heat down to medium and cook the mussels for about 5 minutes, shaking the pan once or twice or until they have all opened. Discard any that remain closed.

During those 5 minutes bring another large pan of salted water up to the boil. Then, when the mussels are cooked, remove them from the heat and transfer them to a warm bowl using a slotted spoon and shaking each one well, so that no juice is left inside. Keep 8 mussels aside still in their shells, for a garnish. Then remove the rest from their shells and keep them warm, covered with foil in a low oven. Then place a sieve lined with muslin or gauze over a bowl and strain the mussel liquor through it. This is very important as it removes any bits of sand or grit that get lodged in the mussel shells.

Now it’s time to pop the pasta into the boiling water and put a timer on for 8 minutes (some pasta might need 10 minutes, so follow the instructions on the packet). Then pour the strained mussel liquor back into the original saucepan and fast-boil to reduce it by about one-third. After that turn the heat to low and stir in the pesto. Now add the shelled mussels to the pesto sauce and remove it from the heat. As soon as the pasta is cooked, quickly strain it in a colander and divide it between two hot pasta bowls. Spoon the mussels and pesto over each portion, add the mussels in their shells and scatter over the parsley. Serve absolutely immediately with some well chilled white wine. Yummy!

Good luck hope it all go’s well