Quick and easy

Rice Paper Dumplings

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Everyone loves a dumpling and these are quick and easy.  They are a little fiddly to make at first, but once you’ve made a couple you’ll get the hang of it.

I used pork mince these but you can swap this for crumbled tofu if you’re vegetarian or vegan.  I also used shop bought stir fry vegetable mix, which makes this even quicker and easier.  The filling can also be used for rice bowls, and wraps

Ingredients

For the filling

250 Grammes Pork Mince

250 Grammes Stir fry vegetable mix

1 Red chilli (finely chopped)

2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped

2 Teaspoons Grated ginger

2 Teaspoons Soy sauce

2 Teaspoons Rice wine vinegar (white wine vinegar will do if you don’t have this)

2 Teaspoons Sesame oil

For the dipping sauce

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

1 Teaspoon Honey or maple syrup

1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Siraccha

For the dumplings

Rice paper sheets

Method

  • Heat a large wok or non stick frying pan and add the pork to the pan, use a spatula to break down and crumble the pork, stirring until its brown
  • Add the pre chopped vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes, before adding the rest of the ingredients (except to the sesame oil, add this at the very end), cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool
  • To make the dipping sauce, add the peanut butter and honey/ syrup to a bowl and pour in 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir until you have a smooth sauce.  Add the other ingredients a little at a time (taste as you go to check you’re happy with the flavour)
  • To make the dumplings soak rice paper sheets in water.  I soak them one at a time in a flat wide dish and as I lift out one sheet to fill, I add another sheet to the water so it can soften while you’re making the dumpling.
  • Soak the sheet for about a minute, I think it works best when it’s the consistency of cellophane.  If you soak the rice paper for too long it will get too soft and be difficult to use.
  • When you lift out the sheet, put a dessert spoon of the cooled filling  in the centre of the rice paper.  Fold the two sides of rice paper together and then fold the top and bottom of the rice paper towards the centre (the rice paper should stick to itself).  This will create a little square dumpling
  • Heat a light drizzle of oil in a large frying pan. Cook the dumplings in batches, being careful to leave space between them or else will be assholes and stick to each other
  • Fry for 2-3 minutes each side, and serve immediately along with dipping sauce

Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry

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Quick, tasty and easy weeknight night dinners are the best and this is ready in 15 minutes.  It’s also pretty healthy and is packed with vegetables (especially if you’re trying to “eat the rainbow” which is essential for good nutrition).

Pork sometimes gets a bad reputation, but lean pork mince is full of protein and has a good amount of iron.

Serves 4

500 Grams Lean pork mince

1 Red pepper (finely sliced)

1 yellow pepper (finely sliced)

1 Red onion (finely sliced)

Half a small white cabbage (finely sliced)

Handful of sugar snap peas or mange tout

2-3 Cloves of garlic (finely sliced)

4-5 Tbsp Hoi Sin Sauce

Method

  • Heat a large wok or high sided frying pan over a high heat
  • Add the pork mince to the pan (there should be enough fat in the meant to stop it sticking even though it’s lean, but you can add a tablespoon of oil if you think you need to). Stir the meat quick to break it up until it’s mainly brown
  • Add all the veggies to the pan and stir often for 2-3 minutes
  • Stir in the garlic, and Hoi Sin sauce and half a cup of boiling water.  Stir well and let the sauce thicken for another minute until everything is well coated
  • Serve with rice or noodles

Sausage and Courgette/Zucchini Pasta

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Quick, cheap and easy weeknight dinners are the best.

I had forgotten to go food shopping and whisked this up with some sausages that needed to be eaten before their use by date and a big courgette that was hanging about the fridge.

Serves 2

100 Grams Dried pasta (or more or less depending on how hungry you are)

4 Pork sausages (skins removed)

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Large courgette (grated and as much water as possible squeezed out of the grated courgettes)

2 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

1/2 Tbsp Rosemary (finely chopped)

Salt and pepper

Grated parmasan to serve

Method

  • Cook the pasta as directed on the  packet until al dente
  • Heat the oil in a large pan before adding the sausages.  Break the sausages up with a spatula into small pieces and cook until it starts to brown
  • Add the grated courgette to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  The courgette will start to breakdown becoming creamy, and when this starts to happen add the rosemary, garlic and a ladle full of the starchy water the pasta is cooking in to the frying pan and cook for another 1-2 minutes, the courgettes will have soften into sauce like consistency
  • Drain the cooked pasta, and to the pan, stir into the courgettes and sausages
  • Check the seasoning and add salt and black pepper if you think it needs it.
  • Sprinkle wth parmasan before serving

Creamy Lemon Spaghetti

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Everyone needs a couple of different quick and easy pasta recipes.

This is great for lunch, or if you want it for dinner you can add some prawns or cooked chicken to make it more substantial

Serves 2

200 Grams Dried Spaghetti or other pasta (you can increase/decrease depending on how hungry you are)

1 Lemon (zest and juice)

1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)

Salt and pepper

50 Mil Double/heavy cream

Knob of butter or tablespoon of olive oil

1 Tbsp Chopped herbs (I used basil, but parsley or tarragon also works well)

Grated parmasan to serve (optional)

Method

  • Fill a large pot with boiling salted water and cook your pasta according to the instructions on the packet
  • In a large pan, heat the butter/oil and gently fry the garlic making sure not to let it brown
  • Add the lemon juice and zest to the pan and cook over a gentle heat for 1 minute, add the cream and increase the heat until the cream starts to reduce
  • Take a ladle full of the water the pasta is cooking in and add it to the sauce (the starchiness in the water will help the sauce stick to the pasta), continue cooking until you are happy with the thickness of the sauce
  • Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce along with the chopped herbs and stir well.  Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if you think it needs it
  • Transfer to plates and sprinkle with grated cheese

Courgettes/Zuchinni stuffed with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

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Courgettes can be pretty boring, and during Summer they are cheap snd plentiful.  I found myself with a couple of largish courgettes and these can often be watery and tasteless.

I decided to try pimping them up with some some dried tomatoes and feta, and they were yummy.  This makes a good lunch dish or you could serve them as a side dish and is fairly quick and easy.

Serves 2

2 Large courgettes

100 Grams Breadcrumbs

100 Grams Feta Cheese (crumbled into 1-2cm lumps

50 Grams Sun dried tomatoes in oil (roughly chopped)

1 Tsp Fresh oregano, or 1/2 tsp of dried (you can use any herbs you have, rosemary also works well, but use a bit less as it’s stronger)

1 Clove of garlic (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes

A little extra oil for brushing the courgettes with

Combine the stuffing ingredients in a large bowl

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  • Trim the top and bottom of the courgettes and cut in half length ways, use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds in the centre of the courgettes
  • Brush with oil and place cut side down in a baking dish, and bake for 10 minutes
  • In a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients
  • Remove the courgettes from the oven and over to the cut side with a spatula
  • Fill the scooped out centre of the courgettes with the filling before returning to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes until the filling is golden brown

3 Minute Tortolini Soup

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It’s January and everyone is broke, so we’re all back to bringing lunch from home.

Generally, I find sandwiches pretty boring, and I always try to find different lunch ideas, and love this. It takes 5 minutes to assemble the ingredients at home and when you’re ready to eat just top up your container with freshly boiled water. Just make sure you use a jar or container that can handle boiling water. Mason jars are ideal, but I’ve also repurposed the plastic containers that you buy ready made soups or stews in.

I used spinach and peas but you can swap out the vegetables you use, for things like kale, this might need to be chopped finely as it has a tougher leaf than spinach. I used normal shop bought tortolini and just use the filling you enjoy. I have listed the ingredients for 1 portion, but you can scale up the amounts for this soup and make it in a pot.

Makes enough for 1

Ingredients

4-5 Pieces of tortolini

Small handful of spinach

2-3 Tbsp frozen peas

1-2 Scallions/spring onions (finely chopped)

1 Tsp Pesto (just use the stuff from a jar)

1/2 Stock cube or 1 teaspoon of bullion powder

Method

  • Add all ingredients to a mason jar or heatproof container (this can live in the fridge for 2-3 days
  • When you’re ready for lunch top up the container with freshly boiled water and cover 3 minutes
  • Stir well and transfer to a bowl (the jar or contain will be really hot, so be careful), or you can eat it straight from the jar if no one is around and you don’t want the washing up

Easy Roast Vegetable and Feta Pasta

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Some evenings after work you just want something quick and tasty, and this is fairly healthy too.

Any leftovers are good to take to work for lunch the next day.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Feta cheese

350 Grams Cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

1 Courgette/zucchini

1 Red onion (cut into 1/2 cm slices)

2-3 Cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)

3-4 Sprigs of thyme, 1 teaspoon of dried thyme

2-3 Tbsp Olive oil

Black pepper

Enough pasta for 4 people

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  • Put the block of feta in a large baking dish and surround with the chopped vegetables, garlic and herbs
  • Drizzle the cheese and vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper.
  • Bake for 30 minutes
  • 10 minutes before the baking dish is due to come out of the oven, put your pasta on to cook (cook according to instructions on the packet)
  • After 30 minutes remove the dish from the oven, a mash the feta cheese with back of large spoon. Take 1/2 a cup of the starchy water the pasta was cooking in and add this to the cheese and vegetables and stir well until until this creates a creamy sauce (add more water if you think it needs it.
  • Drain the pasta and stir through the sauce before serving

Prawn, Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

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It’s Valentine’s today, and if you want to make something a little lighter and healthier for your special person this salad is perfect. It’s also quick and easy. I prefer to use pink grapefruit as its less sharp than regular ones.

I have shown the quantities for 2 people. It makes a great lunch dish served with wheaten bread, or reduce the quantities for a refreshing starter.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2-3 Handfuls of rocket or mixed salad leaves

1 Pink Grapefruit (cut into segments), and juice set to one side)

1 Avocado (sliced or cubed)

250 Grams Frozen prawns (thawed)

2 Spring onions/scallions (finely sliced)

1 Tbsp Olive or rapeseed oil

Method

  • Add the salad leaves to a large bowl and drizzle with oil and the remaining grapefruit juice and mix well
  • Divide the salad leaves between 2 plates
  • Scatter the rest of the ingredients across the ingredients and enjoy.

Chicken and Gnocchi Traybake

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On cold days you want eat something wholesome and delicious with very little effort, and this is perfect. Roast chicken veggies and potato dumplings mmm.

What’s even better is that everything is cooked in the same tray, so you have fewer dishes to wash.

I use shop bought gnocchi, as most of us don’t have time to make them. This helps make this a really easy dish, that just needs to be assembled and then the oven does the work.

Ingredients

8 Small or 4 large chicken thighs

1 Leek (cut into chunks)

1 Red pepper (cut into chunks)

100 Grams Spinach

1 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp White wine or cider vinegar (I promise you won’t taste vinegar, but it will help bring out the flavours)

500 Grams Bag of Gnocchi

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius)
  2. Sprinkle the olive oil on the base of a large roasting tray
  3. Place the chicken, Leeks, peppers and gnocchi in the tray and sprinkle with smoked paprika, salt and pepper
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, and remove from the oven. Sprinkle the vinegar over vegetables and add the spinach and mix through the contents of the tray
  5. Bake for a another 15 minutes and the serve. Double check that the chicken is cooked (the juices should run clear, cook for longer if they aren’t)

Michael’s Easy Cannelini Bean Soup

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My brother made this soup for me and I loved it.  He only gave me the recipe on condition of a name check, so thanks Michael.

This is proper comfort food, and while the recipe is Vegan friendly it’s a really hearty stick to your ribs meal in a bowl.

I’m not vegetarian, so I topped the soup with some bacon I had left.  But in fairness it’s equally delicious with out it.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

400 Gram Tin of cannelini beans

2 Stalks of celery (fine chopped)

2 Carrots (grated)

1 Onion (finely chopped)

1 Vegetable stock cube (or tablespoon of buillion powder)

2 Cloves of garlic (crushed or very finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Oil

500 ml Boiling water

Method

  1. Add the oil to a deep sauce pan and heat over a medium heat
  2. Add the onion and fry gently for 5 minutes until the onion softens but doesn’t colour
  3. Then add the carrot and celery and cook gently for an other 10 minutes
  4. Stir in the garlic and beans (including half the water they came in), crumble in the stock cube, add the boiling water and stir well.  Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper if you feel it needs it
  5. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the the vegetables are soft and then serve with crusty bread