I haven’t done a recipe post in a very, very long time- but recently I’ve been really trying to cook from scratch more often, so I have control over the amount of salt, sugar etc that’s going into my meals. Here’s a few quick and easy recipes that I’ve been making over the last couple of months:
Mixed bean chilli soup with homemade guacamole
This is based on this BBC recipe for Mexican bean soup with guacamole.
Ingredients: 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 red pepper, 1 red chilli, tin of chopped tomatoes, tin of Tesco’s taco mixed beans, veg stock, chilli powder, coriander and cumin. Avocado and lime to make the guacamole.
Method
- Chop up the onion, garlic clove, red pepper and 1/2 the red chilli, fry in a drop of oil
- Once they’re starting to soften up (about 3-5 minutes) add a bit of chilli powder, coriander and cumin
- Then add the chopped tomatoes, the tin of taco mixed beans and 200-300ml of vegetable stock
- Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes
- To make the guacamole: One chopped avocado, with quarter of a chopped red onion, the other half of the red chilli, a sprinkle of coriander and the juice of a lime – mash it all up!
Pad Thai
Adapted from Miguel Barclay’s ‘One Pound Meals: Fast & Fresh’.
Ingredients: Flat rice noodles, sesame oil, garlic clove, chilli flakes, red onion, stir fry veg (or other chopped veg – carrots etc), 3-4 spring onions, cooked and frozen prawns, crunchy peanut butter, 1 egg and soy sauce.
Method
- Cook the rice noodles according to the packet’s instructions
- Heat some sesame oil up in a frying pan, add a couple of pinches of chilli flakes, the red onion, garlic and whatever veg you’re using
- Stir fry for a few minutes, then add the prawns and 2-3 tbsp of peanut butter
- I also added a dash of fish sauce at this point
- Move the veg to one side in the pan, crack the egg in the other side. Let it start cooking, and then scramble it up as it starts to fry and mix it with the veg.
- Add in the noodles, pour on some soy sauce and mix it all up.
Chorizo and butterbean stew
Ingredients: 220g chorizo sausage, garlic clove, 1 tin of butter beans, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 1 red onion, tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and paprika.
Method
- Chop up the chorizo into slices and then half or quarter the slices. Stick in the frying pan with the chopped red pepper, green pepper, red onion and garlic.
- Leave it fry and sweat for a good five minutes, adding some paprkia to taste as you go.
- Add in the tomato puree and 2 tbsp of green pesto, cook for another couple of minutes
- Add in the chopped tomatoe and the butter beans. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- We ate it with skin on garlic mash on the side, which was delightful.
Red Thai prawn fried rice
This one makes a massive amount of food, and is great for another round of leftovers the next day. I followed this BBC recipe: Thai prawn fried rice.
Ingredients: 275g uncooked rice, 2 eggs, 300g frozen prawns (I use slightly less), 1 tin of cooked green beans, 1 lime, fish sauce, red Thai curry paste
Method
- Cook the rice as normal and set aside
- Pour two beaten eggs into a frying pan, move the pan to form a thin omelette and cook until it sets (about 1 minute).
- Roll the omelette up and slice into thin strips
- Heat 1-2 tbsp of red Thai curry paste in a big pan, with a drop of water and then mix in the rice to coat it.
- Add the prawns and the green beans and heat through
- Pour in 1 tbsp of fish sauce (I add a little more), and the juice of 1 lime, mix in the egg strips.
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