Celebrity chef Donal Skehan is keeping busy. Not only has he recently relocated to Los Angeles, he also has a brand new six-part series on RTE One called Donal's Meals In Minutes, the first episode of which aired on Tuesday night.
The idea behind the series came when Donal was trying to find a place to live in LA, when he recognised a need to cook meals quickly and easily for those with little time.
"Not everyone has a large amount of kitchen equipment or a large store cupboard of ingredients. It was coming up with recipes that could be done really quickly using minimal ingredients and equipment," he told Matt on The Last Word.
"I just started realising how limited some of the kitchens out there were. I've been cooking on TV for the last eight or nine years, and with this series it was about speaking to the audience out there who are looking for recipes that come quickly and that can produce a great meal at the end of the day."
Here's a sample of Donal's quick and easy cooking from his YouTube channel:
You don't have to be a brilliant cook to get something out of the series - as Donal explained, even novices can still create something good.
"Even if you're struggling and you've never cooked before, you can do it with one pan, and I hope that we've proved it in the first episode."
Since first coming to prominence with his food blog, Good Mood Foods, Donal now balances writing for the Irish Times with TV work in Ireland, the UK and US - including appearances on BBC's Saturday Kitchen and presenting shows for the Food Network and the Cooking Channel. He has also written seven books. Despite this heavy workload, he still gets the chance to cook for enjoyment.
"I get the opportunity to cook at home and test recipes. I think it's all about balance. I'm a real food lover."
He feels it's important to plan ahead when it comes to cooking, and to be aware of exactly what we're consuming on a daily basis: "It's a case of eating what you want, but really keeping conscious of what's going into your body. Coming up with a weekly meal plan, you can make better food choices."
Donal is also social media savvy and has a successful YouTube channel. He has collaborated on videos with fellow chefs Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Genaro Contaldo. He is excited about the future possibilities platforms like YouTube will provide for cooking enthusiasts.
"We have half a million subscribers on our channel. It is something we've taken to, and possibly the reason we've moved to the States, because it tends to be that a lot of creators end up out here."
"When you look at how it's growing, people are having the opportunity to choose the content that they view. That's what's exciting about these other aspects of media, especially when it comes to food."
