Week 2 Day 1: Wholewheat lemon spaghetti with courgettes and lemon

Day 1...

I always used to be a morning person, waking up before my alarm even began to sound. This no longer seems to be the case. I now rely on three alarms to wake me up (I have an uncanny knack of turning them off in my sleep, so I'm no longer taking any chances). This may seem entirely irrelevant, but I do have a point... somewhere. What I'm trying to demonstrate is that, with mornings being a wee bit of a struggle, the idea of cooking lunch before an 8am shift would be the stuff of nightmares. However, even I found it bearable with a recipe as quick as this one - you can put it together in ten minutes flat... perfect if, like me, you woke up kicking yourself for putting off the task the night before.

So, as for the recipe, it's incredibly cheap, very healthy and easy to transport... so you can just throw it into a lunch box and be off on your way. The addition of a bit of sweet chilli sauce is a bonus if you find some lurking at the back of the fridge (check for dubious dates though, all sorts of things seem to find themselves in hidden cupboard corners - when the back of a cereal packet is advertising a calendar for the previous year, do not eat it... yes, that little  gem of advice is coming from experience!)... so yes, if you're out of chilli or it looks a bit suspect, don't buy any especially as it tastes plenty flavoursome enough without.

Ingredients:

About 100g wholewheat spaghetti
2 courgettes, peeled into ribbons (discarding the seedy centre)
Zest of 1 lemon and the juice of a quarter of a lemon
Olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
A few walnuts, crushed into small pieces

... I personally didn't have a peeler or a zester for most of my time at the staff house, so I just used a very sharp serrated knife to slice the courgettes thinly. For the lemon, I carefully removed (with the serrated knife) strips of the outer rind (do not remove any of the white pith, this is bitter) and then chopped it as finely as  I could.

Method:

• Cook spaghetti according to pack instructions
• Meanwhile, heat a frying pan to a high heat
• Combine the courgette ribbons, chopped garlic and a couple of tbsp. olive oil
• Throw this mixture into the hot pan and toss for a mere minute to slightly soften the courgettes, but don't let them loose their colour
• Drain the pasta and combine with the courgettes
• Add the juice and zest of the lemon and an extra tbsp. olive oil
• Serve with a scattering of crushed walnuts