To ask your fastest ever dinners (15 mins and less)

[Littleonesgettingbigger]

I have started batch cooking but would like to alternate these with fast meals on other nights so I don't use up 7 batched cooked meals a week! So far I have jacket potato done in microwave with beans, stir fry.......

What else is super fast to cook (15 mins or less)?

Jamie Oliver's 15 minute Prawn Linguini. So easy and really delicious. You can google it, but from memory it contains prawns, garlic, red chilli, baby tomatoes, olive oil linguini and basil. That's it. If you keep a bag of prawns in the freezer, you often have the ingredients in the fridge anyway.

Oh and a tip, I grow a few chilli plants in summer and they produce tonnes of chillies so freeze them. If you take them out frozen, and just give them the quickest rinse under the cold tap, they chop beautifully becuase they are a bit crispy. They defrost immediately and retain their colour.

Salmon veggies and jacket potatoes.

Turn on oven to 180c
Put potatoes in microwave for 5 mins.
Put salmon, butter, seasoning and frozen veggies in tin foil.
Put in oven with potatoes.
Go off and do something else, come back in about 20 minutes. Easy.

Ramen noodles

• Chop/shred whatever veg you have to hand (or just use frozen). Broccoli, sweetcorn, courgettes, carrots, peas, edamame, spring onions and greens all work well.
• Boil the kettle. Stick a stock cube (half a cube per person) and/or miso paste into a pan and dissolve.
• Pop in noodles and veg and simmer for 5 mins until noodles are soft.
• Add anything else you want - soft boiled egg, tofu, gyoza, cooked chicken/pork/beef/prawns.

Ta-da! Healthy and super easy. Makes a change from stir fry.

Pesto pollock with kale and butter beans

• Take a fillet of fish (any will do, I use pollock) and top with pesto.
• Wrap each fillet in foil and pop in oven with some cherry tomatoes.
• Take bag of kale, stir fry with garlic and onion, chuck in a can of drained butter beans and some Philadelphia or crème fraiche.
• Remove fish from oven and serve over the kale.

Halloumi burgers and salad

Pasta pesto.

Salad with lots of interesting bits - so a bit of lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, cous cous (homemade or shop bought), grated carrots, served with cold ham, smoked salmon or quiche and some haloumi or feta cheese.

As a good side dish, boil some rice and chuck in frozen peas as well while it is cooking.

*VikingLady
*
Do you have a recipe? That sounds lush!!

Another vote for pasta dishes - pre cooked or leftover roast chicken with pesto, carbenara, mixed veg with cream/canned tomatoes added, prawns/fish with chopped tomatoes and some veg etc.

or substantial sandwiches if you don't feel like cooking. Sliced chicken/ fish/leftover meat from another meal, sliced avocados, lettuce, thinly sliced, or even roasted, veg.

things on toast, scrambled eggs, ham/bacon, grilled tomatoes/sauté mushrooms.

Creamy bacon and pasta is something I do for a quick meal.

Boil kettle, boiling water into pan and put in dried pasta (any type). Cut up packet of bacon with scissors and put in large pan to fry, cut two courgettes into batons and add to cooked bacon, crumble in one packet of Boursin cheese and stir, once cheese is melted add as much double cream as you want to make the sauce the consistency you like, stir until warm, drain pasta and serve with sauce.

A bit high in salt and fat for an everyday meal but is quick and tastes great. You could always serve it with salad if you want to be a rabbit healthy.

Put pasta on to boil, chop sausages, garlic, red pepper and onion and fry off. Drain pasta and mix with fried ingredients. Add ricotta and red pepper pesto (Asda do a good one). Sprinkle with parmesan.

Bag of salad, chop some other salad bits. Wrap large wholemeal pittas in foil and put in oven to warm through. Get the pre-cooked whole roast chicken out the fridge and tear apart with your bare hands. Add to that a tub of naice coleslaw and it's a really yummy dinner in 10 mins (with tinned pears and ice-cream for pudding). We had it last night when having the DN's over for tea and babysitting, they love the whole stuffing their pittas and eating cold chicken drumsticks with their hands.

Tuna melt - nicest on a baguette (I keep those part-baked vacuum pack ones in the store cupboard), but could use any old bread really. For 2 people, tin of tuna in bowl, add some mayo/plain yogurt, finely chopped onion or leek, peppers, mix it all up (should be a creamy type mixture, add paprika, spread on toasted bread or fresh-baked bread, decorate with olives and grated cheese. Under the grill for 5 mins or so until cheese is melted. Eat with salad.

Bolognese in a pitta bread
Pasta with fried bacon bits, pesto and cream.
Beans on (kind of) toast with a spoon of curry paste served on Naan Bread (and chopped tomatoes & coriander for those who can bear it)