While we attempt to stay warm with blankets, hot water bottles and portable heaters during this particularly biting chill, the motivation to get up out of the warmth and cook something for dinner can dwindle by the hour. However, with Ryan Riley’s new cookbook, Small Pleasures: Joyful Recipes For Difficult Times, you can make your dinners delicious and warming.

So, if you’re looking to use up some vegetables in the fridge for a stew or fancy a nourishing, tasty curry for your Friday night on the sofa, this cookbook has it all, and we’ve picked out our three favourites to keep you warm and full this January.

Riley says: “Restoration and broth go hand in glove, just like hot and sour. This is a powerful bowl of goodness that will instantly lift your spirits.”

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 400ml dashi stock
• 2cm ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 long red (Thai) chilli, finely chopped (deseeded if you want less heat)
• ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 broccoli head, florets separated
• 10 shelled large king prawns
• 100g dried vermicelli noodles
• 2 large eggs
• a few coriander sprigs, leaves picked
• lime wedges, to serve

Method

Pour the dashi stock into a large saucepan, then add the ginger, garlic, chilli and white pepper. Place the pan over a low heat and bring the seasoned stock to a simmer.

Leave to simmer for 10 minutes, then add the dried mushrooms, sesame oil, soy sauce and vinegar.

Simmer for five minutes more, or until the mushrooms are fully rehydrated and soft. Add the broccoli florets and king prawns and continue to simmer gently for six to eight minutes, until the prawns are pink and cooked through.

Add the noodles, breaking them up with a wooden spoon, if you like, and then crack in both eggs, stirring them through the broth so that the eggs break up into small pieces.

Scatter over the coriander leaves, and serve with lime wedges for squeezing in to taste.

Riley says: “Umami really comes out to play in this quick but rich stew, with coconut milk, tomatoes and soy and fish sauces all providing savoury synergy. Thai basil is a favourite of mine and here it brings vibrancy, while the spices add a darting lift. This is a 30-minute midweek meal that doesn’t hold back when it comes to warming, satisfying flavour explosion.”

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 6 boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 tablespoons garlic paste
• 4 tablespoons ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper, plus extra to season
• ½ teaspoon salt, plus extra to season
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 3 long red (Thai) chillies, finely chopped with seeds (keep back a few slices to garnish)
• 100g Thai basil leaves, finely chopped, plus extra to garnish
• 1 × 400g tin of full-fat coconut milk
• 300ml chicken stock
• 10 mixed-colour cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon light brown soft sugar
• steamed vegetables and boiled jasmine rice, to serve

Method

Place the diced chicken into a bowl and add the garlic, ginger, ground coriander, white pepper and salt and mix well. Leave to marinate overnight if you have time, but for at least 10 minutes.

When you’re ready to cook, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium–high heat. Add in the marinated chicken and fry it for five to six minutes, turning, until the chicken begins to brown. Add

the chillies and half of the basil, followed by the coconut milk and chicken stock.

Simmer for 15 minutes, then add the cherry tomatoes, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar, and simmer for a further five minutes, until the tomatoes are just softened and the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the stew from the heat, season with salt and extra white pepper, and stir through the

remainder of the basil. Scatter over the extra basil leaves and the chilli slices to garnish. Serve with steamed vegetables and cooked jasmine rice.

Riley says: “Never underestimate the simple, restorative power of a curry. This cauliflower and coconut version sings with fresh flavours for an instant pick-me-up, without detracting from everything that is welcoming and familiar in a bowl of warm curry deliciousness.”

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 shallots, finely diced
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 lime, zested and quartered
• 2cm piece of ginger root, peeled
• 1 long red (Thai) chilli, destemmed, plus optional extra slivers to serve
• 1 long green (Thai) chilli, destemmed
• 1½ tablespoons garam masala
• 1 tablespoon medium curry powder
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 cinnamon stick (about 10cm long)
• 1 × 400g tin of full-fat coconut milk
• 1 large potato (I like Maris Piper), peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 cauliflower, florets separated
• 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 100g coriander, finely chopped
• salt
• boiled jasmine rice, to serve

Method

Put the shallots, garlic, lime zest, ginger, both chillies, garam masala, curry powder, oil, ground coriander and a sprinkle of salt into a food processor and blitz until completely smooth. Place the mixture into a large saucepan and add the cinnamon stick. Give everything a stir to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and then place the pan over a low heat for about 20 minutes, until the mixture smells sweet and aromatic.

Remove the cinnamon stick and then add the coconut milk and about 100ml of water and stir to combine. Add the potato, simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes, then add the cauliflower. Stir well and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Finally, stir in the peanut butter and mix well until the sauce is combined. Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir half the chopped coriander through the curry, then ladle it into bowls and sprinkle with the remaining coriander to serve. Serve with boiled jasmine rice, the lime wedges for squeezing over, and sprinkled with slivers of extra red chilli, if you wish.

Small Pleasures: Joyful Recipes For Difficult Times by Ryan Riley (Bloomsbury Publishing, Hardback, £22) is out now

Photography: Craig Robertson