Man cannot live on tea and cake alone

I tried my best, but it turns out lemon cake and a pot of Earl Grey for lunch just won't cut it. (Even when it's the most deliciously moist lemon cake I have ever tasted from the V&A's beautiful café.) Savoury snacks have always been a problem for me; the only things I can think of are inevitably pastry based (which, of course, there's nothing essentially wrong with, but if I gave in to all my pork pie-based whims, I would probably have had a heart attack by now.) If I had a fridge full of useful ingredients, I could make sandwiches (like in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. There are better reasons to read Steig Larsson's excellent books, but the descriptions of delicious-sounding sandwiches of smoked fish and pickles are certainly up there for me.) Unfortunately, I'm not yet grown up enough to have a well-stocked fridge; there are three types of mustard and sometimes the odd bit of cheese, but that's about it. And when it comes to a mid-afternoon, post-tea-and-cake snack, pork pie is always going to trump cheese and mustard sandwiches.

For dinner: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Thai-Style Chicken Soup with Lime. It's the sort of warming bowl of goodness that feels healthy enough to make up for any number of pie-and-cake-based lunches, while at the same time making you forget that it's February and it's been dark since 4pm.