What's your *not* secret recipe?

[MooseBreath]

Like pretty much every mum, I am bored of my usual meals on rotation.

Everybody seems to make food in their own style, which is such an interesting concept. I like my cooking, but I feel like I should branch out and try things differently. Cook books are fine, but are filled with recipes I don't care about amongst the gems. Pinterest is a minefield of crap.

So just for fun, I am including my favourite recipe and ask that posters leave theirs! Bog standard is totally fine (the easier the better), but a different style could change things up!

Mediterranean Pasta (serves 4)
15 minutes!
Ingredients
350g Penne pasta
2 chicken breasts
Chilli pepper
Red pepper
1/2 Red onion
75g Baby spinach
10 Kalamata olives
3 Garlic cloves
Feta cheese (to taste)
Pine nuts (to taste)
Chilli flakes (to taste)
4tbsp Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. Boil pasta
2. Flatten and grill chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper
3. Chop onion, peppers, olives, and mince garlic
4. In a large skillet, heat oil
5. Fry onion, peppers, garlic, and chilli flakes for 5 minutes
6. Drain pasta
7. Add pasta, spinach, and olives to skillet. Mix well and heat until spinach wilts
8. Season with salt and pepper
9. Dish up. Crumble feta on top as desired, add pine nuts as desired. Top with 1/2 a chicken breast per dish.

*Inspired by lazycatkitchen

I hope this helps someone with the monotony of meal planning!

That sounds nice!

here are two very very easy lunches;

grill blue cheese on whole meal pita bread, sprinkle with walnuts, garnish with rosemary (optional) with halved black grapes on the side.

cook farfalle pasta, stir in coriander pesto to taste, add in toasted pine nuts (and optionally some pitted black olives). Eat with side salad.

Peanut butter cookies - tub of peanut butter, about 120g sugar and one egg- mix and cook for 10 mins at 180. Add chocolate if desired.

We’re having jacket potato with chicken and Mediterranean veg later- I’ve been doing the jackets by microwaving for 10, then squashing down before adding oil and herbs - 35 in oven then adding cheese for 10 minutes in oven.

Will add herbs to chicken and maybe breadcrumbs, garlic to tomatoes and onions - all takes about an hour in stages

This is an incredibly easy meal.

One chicken breast per person in an oven dish.

Tip over a jar of any tomato based pasta sauce and a splash of water.

Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes. Then remove foil and top with a sliced up ball of mozzarella or any cheese. Back in oven till melted...five/ten minutes.

Serve with pasta

Good thread! I've got another pasta dish to contribute:

Onion
Bacon
Courgettes
Mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes
Tomato puree
Pesto
Pasta (we like fusilli with this, or bows)

Chop all of the ingredients and fry them all together until the vegetables are mushing down a little bit.

Cook the pasta, drain and stir the sauce and pasta together, maybe with a little pasta water to loose it slightly.

Sprinkle with cheese and / or pine nuts.

I like the peanut butter cookie idea. How much is the tub you use?

I bought a cheap version and it's not great, so this may be a good way to use it up. I have been giving my dogs a spoonful as a treat every now and then, but this would be a much better way to use it up.

*As in quantity in the tub.

Fish in tahini:

Frozen white fish fillets (the cuboid ones are perfect because they are even-sized)
Raw tahini
Lemon
Fresh herbs of choice
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Brush a glass dish with olive oil.

Lay down fish with a small gap between portions. Top with fresh herbs, a thin slice or two of lemon, and black pepper.

Stir up the tahini if the oil has separated. Cover with fish with tahini. Sprinkle salt.

Bake at 180C for about 20-30 minutes, depending on thickness of fish and fullness of dish.

The tahini makes it quite rich, so pair with simple foods such as boiled potatoes or rice, and salad or simply-cooked veg.

Chicken in mushroom creamy sauce.

I do this in my small slow cooker but it works on the hob or in the oven.

2 chicken breasts or 4 thighs or chopped chicken
A few mushrooms sliced
1 tub creme fraiche
1 can campbell's condensed mushroom soup
Season to taste, add optional sliced leeks

Serve with rice or crunchy potatoes.

If you don't eat it all get some pre rolled puff pastry, put the chicken mixture in a pie dish (I tend to use a foil one) put the pastry on top and freeze for another day.

It takes 30-35 mins to cook through from frozen.

@Hedonism Ooh that sounds delicious!

We often have a ridiculously easy Spanish chicken bake (can easily do a vegetarian version too)

Chicken drumsticks or thighs - skin on
Baby new potatoes
2 red peppers
Olives
2 quartered red onions
Cloves of garlic in skin - to taste
Courgettes of aubergines in generous chunks

Toss in olive oil, sweet paprika, plenty of salt and pepper and fresh or dried herbs.

Roast in a hot oven for approx 45 minutes

I season cubed chicken breast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, paprika and cumin.
Pan fry in generous amount of olive oil and your biggest frying pan or wok large based pan
Take chicken out and fry onion and garlic in same oil.
add some rice
add any veg you like,
add more seasoning,
add water,
then boil the water off, put a lid on and leave on low heat for 10 mins til rice is cooked.

Water to rice ratio is double usually but check on rice packet.

@isthismylifenow

This is the recipe I use
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/peanut-butter-cookies

I think cheaper peanut butter is better; if you have a fancy one with oil and stuff then it doesn’t form together the same

I love threads like this!

My go to easy peasy meal is creamy mushroom & bacon pasta.

Just fry an chopped onion with chopped bacon, add some tomato puree & sliced mushrooms, fry a bit longer then veg or beef stock. Bring to boil - make sure mushrooms are cooked.

Then add some cream, wholegrain mustard and English mustard season.

Then mix in cooked pasta and serve! Goes well with a salad!

Thank you so much.

I am going to make these today.

Chop an aubergine, two red bell peppers and a red onion into chunky chunks. Put in a roasting tea and drizzle generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then roast for 25 mins at 180°c (fan oven). Fry some halloumi to serve with it.

I like to eat the above with tzatziki and Greek flatbreads. It’s very easy, and very delicious.

@isthismylifenow

No problem, I might make some too!

Roasting TRAY* (not roasting tea)

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chorizo-new-potato-haddock-one-pot

this is an easy, one pot meal

This is also a family favourite - I do it in the pressure cooker (with 5-10min prep).

https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/campfire-stew/

(link!)

Chicken & sausage traybake

Brown some skin on chicken pieces and sausages in fry pan
Take out, throw in some frozen garlic, a can of chopped tomatoes, a glug of balsamic and chickpeas and simmer a few minutes
Put tomato mix in a casserole tray and add in veg of choice (eg sliced red onion, diced sweet potato, broccoli, courgette)
Put sausages and chicken on top
Oven at 180 deg for 25-30 minutes til browned.

Leftover roast or bbq chicken shredded
mushrooms sliced about 1-1 1/2 cups
onion chopped
lemon pepper
white wine ( I use Chardonnay) 3/4 cup
cream
pasta
olive oil
butter
cook pasta according to instructions
melt butter ( about 1 tbsp) and add oil to pan
cook chopped onion until translucent
add mushrooms and cook 3-5 minutes
add shredded chicken
add about 3/4 cup white wine
add lemon pepper to taste
bring to boil and simmer until pasta is cooked
add cream to chicken mixture maybe 100-150 mls and heat through
drain pasta combine with chicken sauce and serve.
i serve with garlic bread and garden salad

looking forward to trying the peanut butter biscuits

Such an amazing thread, thank you everyone who posted so far!

Creamy chicken
Soften a diced red onion and some mushrooms. Set aside. Blend if children are suspicious of vegetables.
Cut up three chicken breasts and coat with flour and seasoning. Fry. Set aside
Make up 400 ml chicken stock and boil in the pan with six garlic cloves and a hearty splash of white wine.
When the stock has reduced, add two table spoons of mustard and half a cup of double cream.
As sauce thickens, add a large handful of grated cheese.
Return the chicken, mushroom and onion to the sauce and stir through.
Serve with rice or mashed potato as a pie, cauliflower, broccoli and crusty bread.

For some reason I do meringue nests with the rest of the cream for pudding, with a chocolate flake crumbled over them.

This is not so much a recipe but just a style of cooking as I find that lots of people tend to overcook chicken breasts.

I call it 'no peek chicken'.

Get a large frying pan with lid, heat up pan with a teaspoon of butter (or fry light).

Quickly sear the chicken breasts on both sides, add whatever spices you have in mind (garlic/salt etc) and then put the lid on the pan and turn down the heat as low as it can possibly go.

Allow it to cook for 20 minutes and then switch off the heat and allow it to cook in the steam for another 20 minutes.

It's tempting at that stage to 'peek' by taking off the lid but that's why it's called 'no peek chicken'. Resist the temptation to spoil it by letting out the heat.

It works every time - perfectly cooked, moist chicken which you can then serve with a sauce or add whatever else you'd planned.