I’ll be the first to admit that when I heard about this summer’s trend prediction of mermaidcore, I was skeptical. Like most of the crazes that come in and out of the zeitgeist — cottagecore, fairycore, even coastal grandmother — this summer’s impending mermaidcore fashion aesthetic sounded more like a fleeting fad than an authentic style choice. That is, until I let go of my initial judgment and started digging into some of the beauty inspiration.

If you are after simple, filling meals that require very little washing up… you are in the right place. As part of our Budget Bites column – where we’ve teamed up with Sorted Food to bring you easy, affordable, quick and (most importantly) tasty recipes once a month – we’ve brought you three one-pan dishes that maximise on taste, and minimise on mess. They also make the most of your staple ingredients while keeping your fresh shopping list minimal. We’ve also provided a handy shopping list for the ingredients (though hopefully most of it will be knocking about already), which are used across all recipes to ensure minimal food waste. You just need to decide where to shop, whether it’s locally or online. Shopping list 3 clove garlic 1 small butternut squash 2 lemons 200g fresh spinach 10g fresh basil 1 aubergine 200g cherry tomatoes 20g fresh basil 1 small broccoli 250g mascarpone 50g hard Italian cheese 280g extra firm tofu 50g black olives 2 tbsp capers 500g pre-cooked gnocchi 150g couscous 200g orzo Olive oil 1 vegetable stock cube cube Roast broccoli and orzo traybake This recipe also works well with diced courgette instead of broccoli. Serves: 2 Ingredients: 4 tbsp olive oil 1 broccoli (small) 200g orzo 2 cloves garlic 1 vegetable stock cube cube 100g mascarpone 1 lemon Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 220C, then fill the kettle with water and get it on to boil - this will be for the tray bake. 2. Cut small florets from the stalk of 1 small head of broccoli. Finely mince the stalk. 3. Toss the prepped broccoli with 2 tbsp of oil and a generous pinch of salt in a large roasting tray. Spread it out into 1 even layer. 4. Roast for 10-12 minutes, until golden in places. Crack on with a bit of washing up while you wait. 5. Once the broccoli is ready, add 200g of orzo to the tray, then finely grate in 2 peeled cloves of garlic. 6. Crumble over 1 stock cube, tip in 500ml of boiling water, give everything a quick stir, and cover with tin foil tightly. 7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the orzo is nearly soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed. 8. Once the orzo is nearly soft and nearly all the water has been absorbed, remove the foil and bake again for 5-6 minutes, until the orzo is soft and all the liquid has been absorbed. 9. Give the orzo a quick stir once ready, and season to taste with salt and pepper. 10. Add blobs from 100g of mascarpone, then finely grate over the zest from 1 lemon and squeeze over its juice. Drizzle over the remaining 2 tbsp of oil and serve. One-tray tofu caponata-style couscous If you aren’t a tofu fan, feel free to sub it out for another aubergine. Serves: 2 Ingredients: 280g extra firm tofu 1 aubergine 5 tbsp olive oil 200g cherry tomatoes 20g fresh basil 1 clove garlic 150g couscous 50g black olives 2 tbsp capers Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 220C - this will be for the tray bake later. 2. Cut 1 280g block of tofu into around 9-12 bite-sized chunks, then remove the green stalk from 1aubergine and cut the flesh into similar-sized chunks. 3. Toss the tofu and aubergine with 3 tbsp of oil and a generous pinch of salt in a large roasting tray. Spread everything out into 1 even layer. 4. Roast for 10-12 minutes, until golden in places. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait. 5. Add 200g of cherry tomatoes to a large measuring jug, along with 20g of basil, 1 peeled clove of garlic, 2 tbsp of oil, and a generous pinch of salt. 6. Blitz with a hand blender, until smooth - we will use this to cook the couscous in the next steps. 7. Once the tofu and aubergine are ready. Add 150g of couscous to the tray along with the cherry tomato broth. Give everything a quick stir and spread into 1 even layer. 8. Cover the tray tightly with tin foil. 9. Return to the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until the grains of couscous are soft and have absorbed all the liquid. Get on with the rest of the dish in the next steps while you wait. 10. Slice 50g of pitted olives crossways. Crack on with a bit of washing up while you wait for the couscous. 11. Once the couscous is ready, uncover the tray, and fluff the grains with a fork. Top with the olives, 2 tbsp of capers, and serve. Creamy roast squash gnocchi traybake If you can’t get your hands on mascarpone, try making this recipe with cream cheese instead. Serves: 2 Ingredients: 1 butternut squash (small) 3 tbsp olive oil 150g mascarpone 1 lemon 500g pre-cooked gnocchi 200g fresh spinach 50g hard Italian cheese 10g fresh basil Method: 1. Preheat the oven to 220C - this will be for the squash in the next steps. 2. Peel 1 small squash, cut it in half lengthways, scoop the seeds from the centre, then cut the flesh into bite-sized chunks. 3. Toss the chunks with 3 tbsp of oil and a generous pinch of salt in a large roasting tray. Spread everything out into 1 even layer in the tray. 4. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until completely soft and golden in places. Crack on with a bit of washing up while you wait. 5. Once the squash is ready, add 150g of mascarpone to the tray. Finely grate over the zest from 1 lemon, squeeze in its juice, then mash everything together with a potato masher until semi-smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 6. Add 500g of gnocchi to the tray along with 200g of spinach. Give everything a good mix, then spread out into 1 even layer. 7. Finely grate over 50g of cheese. 8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden, bubbling, and piping hot. Get on with the rest of the washing up while you wait. 9. Mix, top with leaves from 10g of basil, and serve straight from the tray! In response to the rising cost of living, we have teamed up with Sorted Food to bring you easy, affordable, quick and (most importantly) tasty recipes once a month. Find out more about Sorted and their nifty meal-planning app Sidekick at sortedfood.com/sidekick. Read More Spirit of Sugarlandia: Why Filipino rum Don Papa is one to watch Diana Henry: ‘After a near-death experience, I saw the world differently’ Five easy recipes to cook with your kids How to cook to keep your gut healthy After Le Gavroche, Michel Roux is taking his cooking back to basics Three recipes from Michel Roux’s new fuss-free French cookbook

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Anyone who grew up in a Christian household knows two truths: One, you can learn

By Adam Makary and Dina Sakr CAIRO Since fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15, Khartoum resident

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A U.K.-based tour operator says three British nationals who went missing after a scuba diving boat they were cruising in caught fire in the Red Sea off the Egyptian coast have died

When it comes to summer fabrics, linen is a bonafide MVP. The flax-derived material is lightweight, natural, airy, and perfectly suited for muggy weather. Linen actually pulls away from sweaty skin rather than sticking to it — a unicorn fabric when it comes to summer apparel. The cons, of course, are that linen dresses can often be rough to the touch, prone to wrinkles, and expensive.

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Back in May, Jenna Lyons, the former J.Crew designer and new cast member of The Real Housewives of New York, wore an outfit I haven’t stopped thinking about since. At first glance, it was a simple summer outfit idea: a tuxedo-style black blazer, white T-shirt and pumps, and knee-length shorts. But, these weren’t any Bermuda shorts. With a baggy fit, two thick black lines on the sides, and an elastic band, these were, as a friend pointed out when posting the outfit to Instagram stories, reminiscent of basketball shorts. And while, from photos alone, it’s unclear if they actually were, their resemblance to the styles spotted at WNBA games was enough to kick-start my summer obsession.

Knowing her limits is a “revelation”, says Dawn O’Porter, something she discovered in her mid-40s. For the former TV presenter and author – her latest book, Cat Lady, which was released in October last year – it’s something she’s had to learn. “I love drinking booze and eating really indulgent food, but I’m also really into health stuff as well,” she says. “I’m one of those people that’s really good – if I go to a party and it gets to 10:30pm [and] I’m not really feeling the booze, I just stop drinking – but I can stay out until two in the morning. I’m able to turn it off, and I don’t overindulge when I’m done – which I think is a real mid-40s revelation. “I know my limits – I go to everything, I do everything, I just stop when I know I’m done.” For O’Porter, 44, who shares two sons, Art, eight, and Valentine, six, with actor husband Chris O’Dowd, becoming a mother helped shift her perspective. “Since I’ve had kids, I know that I’m going to get woken up at six o’clock in the morning – you’ve got to make better decisions,” she says. “Like everybody, if I don’t do the work, I don’t get paid – and I don’t have the luxury where I can’t get paid. I have to be at my desk at 10 o’clock in the morning, and before I’ve got to my desk I’ve had to feed two humans, get them dressed, get them to school, walk two dogs, pull the house together and do all this stuff. “I know now that when I go on a big night out – which I do all the time, I love it – the next day is a write-off, so I can only do that once a week. It used to be three or four times a week, and it didn’t affect me in the same way. “I definitely feel like it’s a great thing to get to an age when you know what you can and can’t handle.” This “willpower” is something she admits she “didn’t used to have”. But dedicating time to her wellbeing is important, as being in your 40s is a “weird time”, she admits. “You know what’s coming – menopause is coming. What are we in for? So I feel like I’m going to do my very best for myself until that happens. It might be fine, it might not – I don’t know.” O’Porter adds: “It feels nice to go into it in the best health you can be. I’m not an exercise person – I get really into Pilates for two months and never do it again – so I’m consistent about healthy food and skincare and all that kind of stuff.” She’s reminded of a speech Kristin Scott Thomas makes about menopause in the BBC black comedy Fleabag, where she says: “It is horrendous, but then it’s magnificent – something to look forward to.” O’Porter adds: “As someone who has had cramps and really suffered for so much of my life, I fantasise about the other side of menopause – it’s like this giant mountain you have to get over. “I might smooth through it and not even know it’s happening, or I might be one of those people who has a very difficult time – I’ve got no idea. I just want to feel good when I go into it. “I do feel like there’s this freedom on the other side – I’ll be rid of all the things that have weighed me down physically for so many years, and be pain-free and happy.” A healthy diet is particularly important for O’Porter, who can’t eat gluten because it causes her “quite severe pain”. She says: “I have to think about food a lot more than people who can eat gluten – I really read packages and all that stuff. And I’m obsessed with my skin – I really try and eat food that’s really, really good for my skin.” Other aspects of her self-care routine include taking supplements (“If somebody says it stimulates collagen, I’ll literally buy 10 of it!”), taking Epsom salt baths and carving out the time to read before bed. “I think that’s really looking after myself, [so] when I have nights where I’m completely hedonistic and start drinking at 10 o’clock in the morning and don’t get home until four, that’s fine. Because I take care of myself the rest of the time, I think my face survives the hangovers and the dehydration.” After 15 years living in America, in June this year, O’Porter and her family moved from Los Angeles to London – and she couldn’t be happier to be back. “There’s quite a transient vibe to LA, because very few people are born and bred there – there are some, obviously, but most people have come out for some sort of work experience they’re having. They either stay or go, and there’s this constant movement of people. “It was hard to imagine getting older there and settling, there was always this feeling of no matter who we’ve got in our lives, they will come and go – and that unsettled me in the last few years.” Back in London, “Everything I do is an investment in the future of living here, which feels really lovely,” O’Porter enthuses. “Every relationship I make – all my girlfriends or my mum friends – everybody is here for keeps.” She’s particularly looking forward to spending Christmas on this side of the world. “I started planning Christmas months ago – where we’re going to be, what we’re going to do, because ultimately, I love hosting it. I love doing the whole thing myself.” She’s hoping to host this year, and foresees absolutely no festive pressures, saying: “It doesn’t stress me out at all, I’d say it’s me at my absolute best. “I cook like Christmas Day on every Sunday for lots of people, I love it so much. I get really into it and I start drinking about 10 in the morning – it makes it more fun – we play Christmas songs and get the wine going early and cook all day.” Plus O’Porter – who is offering shopping consultations in collaboration with Etsy ahead of Christmas – is extremely easy to buy for. “I’m really easy. I genuinely say this from the bottom of my heart – go on Etsy and put in ‘cat’ and you can get me anything, any handmade anything – if it’s got my name on it, even better, with a cat on it. I am so simple.” To find thoughtful gifts for loved ones this Christmas and beyond, head to etsy.com/uk. Read More Everything you need to know about bedbugs as increase in numbers is predicted PE ‘enjoyment gap’ widens for girls: Why it matters and how we can help The psychology of Big Brother: How to survive in the house How to support someone coming out in their 30s and beyond Israel-Hamas conflict: How to talk to teenagers about distressing news stories Autumn décor ideas for a seasonal refresh

UPDATE: Jul. 21, 2023, 5:00 a.m. EDT This article has been updated to reflect the