Laura Dugdale serves up cooking solutions for faddy teenagers.

Meal time again and that sinking sensation. Once again four separate meals have to be cooked - each needing at least three saucepans and most of the utensils in the kitchen. My three teenage daughters have become increasingly faddy. One only likes pasta, another won't eat eggs and the third has forsworn red meat and seems to live exclusively on tuna and chicken breasts. My carnivorous son likes fillet steak-and in huge quantities. In between each vampire act (he likes it blue), he'll eat at least five snacks from the fridge. These range from enormous fry-ups to very elaborate sandwiches that usually involve the crucial ingredients for the next family meal so that when Mother Hubbard arrives at her cupboard, it is always bare.

Desperate measures are called for to call a halt to this domestic slavery and impending bankruptcy, as none of this is cheap. A visit to the local cookbook shop to do some research was not much help. Books on teenage meals shared a shelf with those on whisky. The shop had obviously bowed to the inevitable and realised that teenagers were more likely to be interested in the latter than the former.

So I decided on becoming the mother of invention, finding a way to satisfy everyone with one dish.

The method? The food must have strong flavour and involve a little of what everyone likes.

The result? The following three recipes are the unanimous choice of my children while I have ceased to be a permanent scullery maid with yellow rubber extensions to my arms.

Chicken Marbella
8 chicken breasts
4 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt & pepper
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons olive oil
16 chopped pitted prunes
10 chopped pitted olives
2 tablespoons capers with a bit of juice
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 glasses white wine

1 Mix up all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl: garlic, vinegar,
olive oil, salt & pepper, prunes, olives, capers and juice and bay leaves. Add the chicken breasts and ensure they are well coated. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
2 Pre-heat oven to 180C, gas mark 4.
3 Put chicken in single layer in a shallow ovenproof dish. Spoon remaining
marinade over them. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pour on the wine.
4 Bake for 40 mins, basting frequently with pan juices. Chicken is done when juices run clear. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
5 This can also be served cold - but not straight from the fridge.
Allow to return to room temperature.

Tacchino Tonnato
This is an adaptation of the Italian classic Vitello Tonnato, which panders to the tastes of the Second Daughter.

8 turkey breasts
Olive oil
Crème fraiche
For the sauce:
Large tin tuna (400 g)
4oz capers
4 anchovy fillets
2 hardboiled egg yolks
400 ml olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Pre-heat oven 180C, gas mark 4

1 Place turkey breasts in ovenproof dish. Smear lightly with crème fraiche to prevent drying out. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil and bake in oven until juices run clear (approx 25 mins)
2 Remove from oven and cool.
3 Sauce: Put drained tuna, capers, anchovies, hard-boiled egg yolks, pepper in the food processor and whizz. Anchovies are quite salty so no extra salt.
4 Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Whizz. 5 Add the remaining oil - rather like making mayonnaise. If sauce is too thick, add a bit more oil. Then add lemon juice. Whizz thoroughly.
7 Pour the sauce like thick cream over the cold turkey breasts and leave to
chill in fridge for a few hours before serving.

Sausage Stew
Full of flavour and can be served with pasta (tagliatelle) so hits the spot with Third Daughter

18 Toulouse sausages (mixed varieties of other strongly flavoured sausages like Sainsbury's Sicilian are just as good)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion
3 garlic cloves
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 jar spicy tomato sauce (puttanesca or with chilli or garlic is ideal)
2 glasses red wine
Salt, pepper and parsley

1 Cut sausages into pieces about 1 inch long - easiest with scissors. Place in casserole dish and fry in oil until well browned.
2 Add onion and garlic and continue cooking for 5 mins.
3 Add tins of tomato, spicy sauce, wine, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well.
4 Put covered dish into pre-heated oven at 180C, gas mark 4 for 45 mins. Remove lid and finish uncovered for a further 15 mins or so. Check liquid levels and if in danger of sticking add more red wine.
5 Check seasoning and serve with tagliatelle and a green vegetable.

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