A thread of genuinely easy, quick, non-UPF recipes

[MaryMaryVeryContrary]

Anyone up for it?

Stipulations being:
5 ingredients max. No ‘just add 6 herbs and spices..’
Quick - on the table in 30 minutes or less
No or minimal UPF ingredients
Preferably something kids won’t moan about too much!
Bonus points if it’s one pot or similar - who needs extra washing up!

Ooh that sounds nice. I've never made a cheese sauce that way.

Tray bake of chicken thighs, plum tomatoes, baby new potatoes, green beans and rosemary.

I’ve started to keep some Merchant Gourmet lentil/bean pouches in the cupboard - they're great for a quick meal with some baked fish and maybe extra brocoli or something on the side.

Omlette and salad.

Quick fry steaks/sausages/burgers with a homemade slaw and (sweet or normal) potato wedges.

Prawn risotto - similar to the prawn orzo above.

defrost frozen prawns (I do this the speedy way by standing them in cool water whilst the rice cooks, but you can defrost earlier if you want)

Fry onion (I dump in a frozen ready chopped one) and chopped garlic, add the risotto rice and veggie stock a bit at a time. Near the end, add frozen peas, lemon juice and the defrosted prawns to cook through.

Add mushrooms or other veggies like green beans along the way, if you want.

'Pink pasta' - blend 350 g cooked beetroot with 2 tbsp olive oil, 100 g feta, 50 g sun-dried tomatoes and the zest and juice of a lemon. Thin with water if needed. Heat and serve with cooked pasta. Even more delicious with some pesto drizzled over but that violates the 5 ingredients rule 🙂

Chicken thighs, a few veg of your choice (I use peppers, red onion, tomatoes, courgettes etc) rubbed with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil, bake on a tray. I'm counting the veg as one ingredient 😂

Chicken traybake. Slightly more than 5 ingredients and probably more like 40 minutes but so easy and tasty. Chicken thighs, chunks of yellow pepper, shallots or onion wedges, lime wedges and whole cloves of garlic. Mix with olive oil and honey and chuck in the oven. Delicious with potatoes or cous cous.

400g new potatoes, cut into wedges, three tomatoes cut into wedges, one onion, cut into wedges. Toss in a little olive oil and lemon juice and roast in air fryer for 20 minues. Lay 2 hake fillets on top, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and bake for a further 10 mins. Serves 2

@Wheeeeee pink pasta sounds amazing!

Carrots, sweet potato, red onion all chopped and slightly softened in oil, add a carton of passata and some veg stock and let simmer for half an hour. Blend into a soup - add a can of coconut milk if you like. Fabulous soup, very nutritious and easy to do.

Saturday DH had steak and DD and I had fish with airfryer chips & salad. Think the UPF free chips were Aldi steak ones with just sunflower oil, but McCain naked chips are also OK.

Yesterday we had lasagne so I made enough ragu to freeze 2 extra portions. Needs pasta & white sauce - my quick version is crème fraiche & grated cheese - but Waitrose do a non-uPF jar of bechemal if you are really short on time.

Today we are having a mini roast traybake; chicken legs, potato wedges, carrots and steamed green veg.

I will cook a tortilla / frittata thing at the same time with potatoes and peppers to have with salad tomorrow.

Wednesday - salmon fish finger wraps. Coat salmon in Boursin or plain cream cheese (check pack but most OK), dip in breadcrumbs and air fry. Eat with crosta & mollica wraps.

Thursday. Bake Mediterranean veg with a block of feta cheese to make a sauce for pasta.

Friday. Paella, made with fish pie mix as DH is allergic to prawns.

Should add even though I try to be as UPF free as possible, i'm still into shortcuts.

My freezer is stocked with chopped onions, garlic, ginger, butternut squash, Mediterranean-vegetables, chicken chunks and fish and my cupboard has plenty of tinned tomatoes and pulses.

It's a lot easier to put a meal together if some of the preparation is already done.

Turkey rolls with tenderstem and green beans

Take half a bag of spinach leaves and mix with a couple of tablespoons of full fat cream cheese. Spread a quarter of the mix over each of 4 turkey steaks. Roll up, then wrap each in foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with lightly boiled tnederstem broccoli and green beans.