This panko chicken and mushrooms with udon noodles is another one of the fusion dishes that arose from Japanese culture in California, Mexico and Hawaii. Pure comfort food, it's easy to whip up with relatively little effort.

This dish of pasta with celery and basil sauce, served here with broad beans, is an amalgam of a fondly remembered dish from childhood via what happens when you start nosing around in the British Library. Highfalutin bibliographic japes aside, it's also easy to cook.

This celeriac and beef carbonnade from Arras in the north of France is a slow-cooked delight that takes some time, but is actually very easy to cook. A hearty warmer as the nights start to draw in...

Child-friendly, this sausage and bacon stew is truly a fusion dish. Usually made with meat, it's easily adapted to be 100% vegan.

An incredibly quick and easy dish, sausage with tangy fruit sauce, is my nod to some of the Baltic flavours I love without in any way...

A fricassée with dumplings; fresh green flavours. Quick and ideal for mixed groups of diners—vegans, vegetarians and carnivores

Zero-fat vegetarian chilli served with rice or tortillas, easily adapted to serve with chicken

This Keralan curry with coconut and lime is an adaptable dish—a vegan baseline, but easily adapted for chicken or seafood versions

My Flemish waterzooi unapologetically takes it back to its fishy roots and a Scottish influence in the choice of fish and root vegetables

Celery is a great building block to add depth of flavour to dishes and an invaluable substitute when cooking for those intolerant of onions