Mujudara is a hearty Lebanese dish of rice and lentils tossed with crisp, slow-cooked onions. Cook it up for a weekend dinner and top with whatever you fancy - smoked trout (as in Jill Dupleix's recipe) or salmon, or a quick grill of lamb, sausages or zucchini.

Cooling weather is a great excuse to get baking. Grab a bag of plums (going cheap) and use them in a lovely semolina and almond cake.

Neil Perry has a mid-week dinner idea on Thursday featuring capers, chicken and orzo pasta; not quite a risotto but just as tasty.