Spanish holiday- what would you cook for dinner?

[quirkyquerty]

Trying to save a bit of money and do a few meals in on our holiday. What would you cook if you had a Spanish super market and a kitchen for a family of four with two kids- trying to stay away from pasta as ds have had lots of it on kids menus'. Thanks!

Ds are 2 and 4

We were in Spain recently and had salads and potatoes with fish/sausages/BBQ meat a few nights

We had a few bbqs so had burgers and chicken and sausages. We also bought pizza a couple of times. What would you make at home?

Spanish omelette - onions, potatoes and eggs, plus a salad.

Probably a salad and breads for the adults. Some lovely hams. I’ve been in Spanish supermarkets and can’t remember if they do things like pizza/oven chips what I’d call kiddie fod, something familiar- obviously something healthier if you wanted there’s lots of fruit and vegetables and cheese for the children.I’d want to do something easy if I were on holiday. Must admit I only go somewhere that’s half board and haven’t attempted to cook. Can’t think I’d want to do anything complicated.
Fish usually good too. Access to a bbq might help.

Same as you do at home, they have pretty much all the same things!

Reposting from another thread last night, but chickpea salad is a lovely Spanish dinner and you can’t beat the local ingredients, doesn’t taste the same abroad.

Glass jar/s of cooked chickpeas - standard in any supermarket - drain these
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Add spring onions / sweetcorn if you like
Sprinkle of salt
Olive oil

Ready in less than 5 minutes and so fresh and delicious

Lovely deli meats and cheeses and olives and crusty bread, tortilla, chorizo in the pan, prawns in garlic and chilli with lemon!

We lived in Spain for 5 years and often had simple dinners of tortilla, Russian salad (insalada Rusa), tomatoes, manchego, jamon iberico, bread. There are usually wonderful veggies in Spanish supermarkets, great sliced cold meats, cheese, bread and prepared salads. Depending on where you are, some supermarkets have fresh food counters where you can get portions of paella, and other seasonal dishes cheaply. Enjoy!

I spend a lot of time self catering in Spain. Spanish supermarkets are fantastic- we like Mercadona best.
Because it's hot and I'm on holiday, we tend to eat barbecued meats with salads a lot. Ready made meatballs (albondigas) are also lovely with some passata and peppers and onions.
I also do lots of picky type meals- bread, sliced meats, salad, olives etc.
This year I noticed a real increase in ready meal type food available in the supermarket. Previously, there has been hardly any. We don't tend to buy or eat these but I did get a ready made Spanish omelette which was lovely and also some pre done patatas bravas which were good too.

Spanish chickpeas would be a good one.

Start with softening and colouring onion. Add plenty of grated garlic in the last minute. At the same time boil some diced carrots until just about cooked. Drain and add to the onion and garlic. Add plenty of passata, some water some smoked paprika, a can of two of chickpeas and season. bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until thickened slightly.

At the end add some chopped fresh coriander and a dollop of creme freche. You could add some cooked Green beans at this stage too.

Serve with crusty bread to mop up.

Alternatively, do a tapas board. Dips, manchego drizzled in honey or the molasses you can get in Spain. Crusty bread, a simple salad of tomatoes and onion doused in olive oil and seasoned. Yum.

We generally have a villa so eat in for lunch and 2/3 nights of the holiday.
Generally cold meats and cheeses for lunch. Bread, sliced tomatoes,olives etc.
Sometimes omelettes. Tuna and egg salad sort of dishes.
Must have a tub of this!

https://www.chovi.com/en/productos/alioli/alioli-clasico/
Another holiday tradition is making holiday croutons with leftover bread.
Often use these type of recipes

https://www.lordlucy.com/recipes/categories/lunch-and-dinner
For evenings Bbq, fish, steak, kebabs etc
In the chiller section they often have nice salads and dressings.
Yum, can't wait until next week when we go away!

You can often also buy rotisserie chicken from some supermarkets and have with salad, bread or potatoes in herb and olive oil
Also been known to take a few sachets similar to these.
https://www.herbandspiceco.co.uk/collections/recipe-sachets

https://jdseasonings.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn-3V17bS-QIVVe7tCh0smgYnEAMYASAAEgIJRfD_BwE

I'd be raiding the deli aisle and pre made tapas

Also if you like curry and you fancy a change and are chorizo'd out you could take a pot/ jar of something like tikka paste. Just add chicken and you have got a really easy meal.
Easy chicken dippers as well

https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/cornflake-chicken-tenders/

I wouldn't be cooking that much. It's a hot country and you certainly don't want the oven blasting. I would probably make a big Spanish omelette one day which could be served cold on following days. Salads with the lovely fresh tomatoes and onions, cold meats, cheeses. As pp said you can get big jars of chick peas and beans which are pre soaked and really easy to use cold or warm. Lots of fruit for snacks. Watermelon takes up a lot of fridge space but it's so refreshing and thirst quenching on really hot days.

I love Spanish food and try not to eat anything else when in Spain.

I like the ready made omelettes, best warmed up in the oven, but you could make your own.

Bread, cheese, olives, ham, crisps.

Gambas a pil pil (prawns with garlic, olive oil and paprika) with nice bread because it's so quick and easy.

Tuna and olive salad with whatever other bits you like.

Marinaded chicken or pork with bread, salad, potatoes of some sort. Look for pinchito spice mix.

Thick hot chocolate with churros

Ready made pizza.

Allioli in the yellow tub,

Chorizo, chick pea and tomatoey/peppery stew.

Paella

But I realise the above might not suit young DC who won't eat anything unfamiliar, but I also don't think any of the above is particularly 'out there' if you use boneless/shelled meat and seafood in the paella.

With children that small, I'd stick with similar to what you have at home. Definitely take advantage of local specialties for the adults, and offer the children a spoonful to see if anything works.

If you're there while it's still very hot, take advantage of the cartons of chilled soup you find everywhere - gazpacho, samorejo, ajo blanco, etc. Works very well to pull a meal together from sandwiches, salad, picnic supplies, etc. Depending on where you are you may find other chilled vegetable soups, sometimes even prepared in-house by the supermarket or from a local supplier: I've had sweetcorn, artichoke, spiced carrot, celery, crema poblano, etc.

Mercadona have got a great deli section where you can buy portions of paella, tortilla, fideus etc.

Other than that empanada is a good call for kids and queso fresco is a nice kid friendly cheese.

Generally speaking ready/microwave meals in Spain are pretty dire, so I would stay away from them.

Mostly when we are on holiday we do cold deli spread - crusty bread, cheese, meats, the pre-made Spanish omelettes, olives and salads - fresh salad stuff is always lovely and I like the pre-made Russian salad .

We also buy frozen pizzas - although every year I resolve not to do it again as I'm used to a gas oven and holiday lets always have electric which seem to result in either undercooked or burnt (I accept this is down to me though)

Our BBQs haven't been very successful either - nobody has ever liked the burgers / sausages and the year I bought a couple of frozen ready meals - not to be repeated .

So for us it's definitely pasta or cold spreads .