30 Minute Meals

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So I got this from the library the other day and whilst it LOOKS great, I'm not terribly impressed by it. He seems to prepare things in what I feel to be an odd order and he re-uses certain (strange) ingredients (fennel seeds/anchovies) over and over again. Having said that, some of the salads look great.

My biggest grioe is that there are v v few veggie meals in there (glad I didn't pay for it!). SO my questions are-

*has anybody done the veggie jalfrezi and is it nice?
*are the Portuguese tarts easy and good?
*could I make the pasta dish involving almonds but leave out the anchovies?
*Is there anything I should deffo try?

Oh and WHY would you spend all that money buying fresh lasagne, only to cut it up to make ribbons? V odd.

bought it and regret it -- always takes me way longer than 30 mins!

Thanks - Have you made anything that was a) veggie and b) worth making from it?

Just checked and it is a rogan josh not a jalfrezi - has anybody made it?

Awwww come on - SOMEBODY must be able to inspire me re: this book!

I love the book, but havent tried the specific recipies you're asking about - prawn curry was good if you eat fish.

There's other threads on here, bt if you do the whole meal it is going to take more than 30 mins and that's presuming you have a big kitchen, don't clean as you go and have all the equipment. I dont use it to try and do in 30 mins but like the recipies and meal ideas...

Thanks. Have had another good look through it and, whilst some of the food does look good (lots of lovely salads), I really don't like the way that he doesn't give timings for anything. Eg: put the noodles on and peel and chop the mango etc - depending on who is doing the chopping etc the noodles could be cooking for anything from 2 to 10 minutes!

I don't try and do them in 30 minutes at all, usually about 50 but for 3 courses that's great. The Veggi Jelfrazi is lovely and I love the cauliflower macaroni and cheese!

Thanks Katie - I will deffo try the curry. I love macaroni cheese and I love cauliflower cheese but the idea of mixing them doesn't appeal, for some reason!

Oh, I was the same!!! But it really, really works, and it gets DD to eat her cauli!!! Nom, nom, nom, off to supermarket, just realised what we are having for tea :)

:) Thanks again.

The whole 30 minute concept annoys me as it's not the cooking itself that's the pita, it's having the bloody ingredients in the house in the first place

30 minutes meals and 2 hours clearing up !

I'd certainly look at this new book Prepped .. it's had a really good review on amazon & is written by a working mum.

QUOTE FROM AMAZON "A fabulous gem of a book that dares to be different from the run-of-the-mill food drivel from someone with a background in food - not media!
Minimum washing up, ingredients that you have at home, uncomplicated instructions and fantastic results.
The recipes, unlike a lot of cookery books have actually been tested by real people and actually work.
Each chapter is based around a flavour and every recipe is linked so that when you have made one meal - you've made most of the next and the two are completely different. "

I have the book and tried a few of the recipes. If i have everything prepared in advance then i have done it in 30 mins, but mostly i just do it at a slower pace as i am not in a hurry.

The Portuguese tarts are lovely and easy to make, we had that meal a few weeks ago.

It's the tray bake chicken tonight, which i have done before, and will be trying the duck salad one tomorrow.

Sometimes i just do one or 2 of the dishes to go with a non JO recipe.

I definitely think his stuff is v tasty though

I have to agree that this concept sucks. This whole idea of this much washing up and clearing up does my head in especially with the kids and all the other things I need to do !!

Thanks Lou - I will deffo try the tarts.

Agree re the washing up - at least one of his meals requires you to wash the food processor half way through and then use it again, probably whilst tossing a salad and bashing the hell out of a piece of steak or something.

I got a really lovely veggie book from the library yesterday and actually want to eat nearly everything in it.