This linguine with crab, peas and lemon, and more besides, is the perfect dish for hot weather. With its notes of fresh herbs and healthy ingredients, it's fully satisfying yet easily digested. And, it is also both quick and easy to make when temperatures mean the last thing you want is to spend time slaving over a hot stove.

This prawns in tomato and artichoke sauce is a simple—optionally quick—dish from the South of France near to the Italian border, and the culinary influences of both countries are evident. The flavour of sun-drenched tomatoes and red peppers shine through, both in the main seafood dish and side dish of pan roasted vegetables. A perfect lighter meal for warmer weather.

This lactovegetarian butternut squash and sweet potato tart was one of the first recipes I ever created, way back in the Dark Ages when I was still a teenager. With its creamy, slightly sweet filling balanced with herby onions, peppers and black olives, it immediately proved a crowdpleaser that I've dished up to successive generations of plant-based dinner guests.

My father chanced upon this spicy Sicilian spaghetti with scallops in Palermo in the 1960s and it's been a family favourite ever since. It's brimming with flavours—scallops, anchovies, peperoncino, capers, shallots, and more—but takes less than 30 minutes to make. Above all, good quality olive oil is the star. It's a healthy, easy option perfect for hot weather.

Indian methi chicken curry—chicken with fresh fenugreek leaves—is a dish traditional to a number of regions of India, each with their own take on it. It's not really a "curry" in the popular sense, in that the spices are mild and relatively minimal and the gravy lighter and less complicated to make than better-known Indian dishes. Yes, it's very easy to cook.

This Cape Malay seafood curry—technically it's fish and seafood—is a mild curry that is easy to make. It's less well-known than the famous lamb curries from the region, perhaps ironic given that it is more in keeping with the history of fishing at the Cape and today's healthier eating habits than lamb. It's relatively low in fat and brimming with vegetables too.

This recipe for pasta with kale and pancetta sauce comes from Castelfranco Emelia in Italy's Modena Province. It's a combination of the deeper flavours of onions cooked in white wine, pancetta and cream and the green flavours of kale and basil. Given its particular cooking method, it can be turned into a lactovegetarian dish with no effort at all.

Thai red curry is one of the best-known Thai dishes around the world. One of the four in the quartet of Thailand's most successful culinary exports, it can be vegan, pescatarian or carnivore. More importantly, if you use this recipe based on how street vendors produce it, it's easily adaptable to the needs of dining parties with different requirements.

My Dublin coddle recipe is a personal take on a dishes considered their signature dish by many natives of the capital of the Republic of Ireland. Like so much in Irish culture, its story is complex. Nonetheless, its core ingredients of carrots, potatoes, bacon and sausages are the stuff of comfort food in many cultures. Easy-to-cook, I have alway found it a crowd-pleaser, particularly among crowds of diminutives. Yes, kids like it.

Italian mascarpone cake is a personal favourite. It's flexible and the perfect option for those who don't like overly sweet things. Easy-to-make, it can be made with many different combinations of berries, citrus zest and spices. I'm doing it here with my favourite combination—blueberries, orange zest and nutmeg—but you can adapt it to your own personal preferences.

This easy yakisoba can be made with pork, chicken, seafood or tofu—or a combination thereof— and is a mix of noodles, vegetables and a cooking sauce that gives the dish its name. It’s the perfect, quick meal to put together when you don’t have a lot of time to spare.

Recently, people have asked me if I have any child-friendly recipes. This chicken, bacon, mushroom and asparagus bake takes me back to when I had to think up healthy dishes that would go down with kids of differing preparedness to try anything adventurous. This easy recipe has consistently proved popular with kids and adults alike.

This recipe for pasta with pumpkin, spinach and thyme sauce takes barely 30 minutes to prepare and is surprisingly delicious for something that is so easy to cook with relatively few ingredients. Ideal for when you need to pull something impressive together with little time on your hands.

This Lebanese white fish en papillote (i.e. cooked in paper) is a very easy recipe that, with the right side dishes, creates a very interesting meal, no mean feat if you also want to keep it very low-fat, as it is here. Rich, deeply flavoured regional grains and a succulent side salad offset the simple, delicate flavours of the fish.

A recipe for pasta with creamy sweet pepper and pancetta sauce with notes of fresh basil from Genoa. It is simple and fairly quick to make, but delivers way beyond expectations if you pay attention to a few small details.

A spicy Malaysian seafood noodles dish likely to appeal to anyone who enjoys laksa. But, whereas most laksas are more like a spicy soup with noodles, this dish has a thicker sauce coating the noodles, revealing delicious vegetables and seafood.

This Cantonese chicken with mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and a lot of other tasty ingredients was a dish my father learned in Hong Kong in the 1960s . It was one of the first Chinese recipes he taught me. Thus, it occupies a special place in my heart and memory. An easy, no-fuss wok meal. it's simple to knock up in practically no time at all.

A Japanese chicken stir-fry dish, this easy yaki udon, takes less than 30mins to make, including the prep time. So, obviously it's become a weekday favourite that is both delicious and easy to chuck together when you're a bit worn out by a gruelling day.

This Malaysian prawn curry is another of the dishes from my father's travels in Asia in the 1960s recorded in his personal journals. It's quick, easy and delicious and easily adapted if you prefer chicken to seafood or want a vegan option.

Coronation Chicken Korma is my take on a Diasporan curry house favourite; that rich and mild curry beloved of millions around the world who may never experience an authentic version of this dish invented in the kitchens of Mughal palaces in the 16th century. No, not the authentic dish, but most certainly an authentic curry house version that took the world by storm in the 1970s.