What dinners do you and your family have that are 1. simple 2. quick 3. healthy?????

[Lauraa83]

Ideally I need things that are vegetarian with beans, lentils etc... but we do eat meat just not that often...so anything will do really

It's just that everytime I follow a recipe from Annabel Karmel etc.. it just seems to take ages!

I will put some of mine on too!

TIA

I invented a sort of bean stew based on a Delia recipe a while ago, it did have a bit of bacon in for flavour. Most of my stuff is easy but not quick, i.e. cooks slowly but doesn't involve too much prep. Oooh, apart from fisherman's pot, I've posted that before so will try and find a link.

really great way to eat peppers(my kids prefer red or yellow)

cut in half put garlic slices chopped baby tomatoes ,sprinkle with olive oil.

put in roasting dish ,in oven at 200 for about 20-30 minutes.

Add chicken pieces and other veg aswell and serve with couscous /bulger wheat or rice.

my two love it

Cheesy cod fillets - this serves me, dp and ds (20months)

I buy a bag of Young's frozen cod fillets (about £3.49 for 5) loads cheaper then fresh but still tastes as good ...
Put a baking tray in the grill and melt 2 dessert spoons of butter in it, add fillets and brush with the melted butter. Grill until nearly done then...
Beat 2 eggs together with a pinch of mustard, salt, pepper and about 4 handfuls of grated cheese and spoon this mixture on top of each fillet and grill until golden (that sounds professional!)

We have it with peas, sweetcorn and oven chips.

Ds loves it! Dp did too which was suprising

This thread has the recipe in. Yum!

Root vegetable casserole, with Yorkshire pudding.

Casseroles of all types play a big part in our winter time menu planning

cowboy hotpot
(a big family favourite)

1 onion, sliced
1-2 red peppers, sliced
2 carrots, chopped
green beans, chopped
1 can baked beans
1 small can sweetcorn, undrained
1 tablespoon tomato puree
salt & pepper
cheese, cubed
couple of potatoes, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
american bbq spice (original recipe suggests 1 tbsp, we add about 3)

1. fry the onion. add red pepper, green beans and carrots

2. when those are softened, add baked beans, sweetcorn with liquid, tomato paste and season with salt & pepper. bring to the boil, then simmer for five minutes.

3. transfer the vegetables to a ovenproof casserole dish, and scatter the cubed cheese on top.

4. cover with the sliced potatoes, brush with melted butter and bake until potatoes are cooked and golden brown on top.

i parboil the potato slices in my steamer. and i use a wok for the vegetables. we particularly like this recipe because it doesn't involve any quorn or tofu and it freezes really well.

forgot to mention to add the BBQ spice in when putting in the beans, sweetcorn and tomato paste.

Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese

I use wholewheat spaghetti, quorn mince (frozen), and a jar of Ragu the 'Traditional' one. It's the only jar one I've found with normal 'food' ingredients - which I think is healthy???

Then I sprinkle grated cheese on top.

Don't think I need to say how to cook this one but it only takes about 15-20mins including waiting for the water to boil!

Just one thing though, I've tried a bit of oil in the water which makes it a bit better but how do you stop spaghetti sticking together?

brown off pork strips
chop wafer thin ha, chop mushrooms, fry off. Add tin of condensed mushroom soup and thin with 2 tbsp milk. Cook through. Serve salad and rice

pasta with loads of veg, bit of mayo, sprinkle of cheese, or pasta and homemade/jar of tomato/veg sauce plus cheese. Very quick and healthy. Omelettes are also simple, quick and healthy.

Thanks for all the replies so far I'm saving them all on my computer

Just like to say how much I love the 'Cowboy hot pot' I think lilac must have posted it when i was looking for vege recipes. YUM

Will definitely be trying all of these!
In Morrisons today I found some cauldron falafel which have quite good ingredients so I'm gonna have them with salad (not sure what they are exactly - haven't heard of them before!) and also found some vege organic meals in the fridge section like 'lentil and winter vegetable stew' and 'mixed bean chilli' they are both organic and again have good ingredients.

By good ingredients, I mean stuff I'd be happy to give my toddler, no e-numbers, preservatives etc... all ingredients are actual food not stuff like hydrogenised vegetable oil and modified maize starch!

Hi there all and to lilaclotus

I have just been to the shops to get the ingredients for cowboy hotpot looking forward to making that tonight or tomorrow evening. Getting fed up with the same things all the time, and I want to try to cook from scratch most evenings, I am a stay at home mum so its really something I should be doing !

1 avacado cubed
2 tablespoons creme fraishe
dash olive oil
pack linguini
150g smoke ham / wafter thin ham
2 shallots
1 lemon rind
couple springs rosemary

Boil water and add linguini to cook
In frying pan, heat olive oil. Brown shallots. Add avacado, creme fraishe, ham, lemon rind and rosemary. Cook til heated. Drain linguini, put back in saucepan. Add items from frying pan, stir well. Dish up, enjoy. Takes about 10-15 mins depending how fast your pasta is

Also,
4 x 175g (6oz) pieces of cod fillet, skinned
1 lemon, rind and juice of
50g (1¾ oz) butter, melted
75g (2¾ oz) fresh white breadcrumbs
6 x 15ml spn (6 tbsp) finely chopped fresh parsley
700g (1lb 9oz) King Edward potatoes, peeled and
cut into chunks
150ml (¼ pt) milk

Place the fish in a shallow ovenproof dish and pour over the lemon juice
Mix together the breadcrumbs with half of the parsley, lemon rind and seasoning. Stir in the melted butter.
Press the bread crumbed mixture over the fish to form a crust, preheat oven at 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 and cook for 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the potatoes in a pan of lightly
salted boiling water for 20 minutes or until
tender then drain.
Heat the milk to boiling point then pour over the potatoes and mash until smooth.
Stir in the remaining parsley and lemon rind and season to taste.
Serve the fish on the mash immediately.
Tried that from Tesco the other day, lovely.

Stir fries are also excellent, v fast and simple. Bung all veggies / beansprouts / noodles into wok, stir fry, add sauce and meat if wanted and serve.

lilacbump could you use anything else in your cowboy hot pot bar baked beans? Can't stnad them!

laura, if the falafel is a success, here is a recipe to make your own:

I tin chickpeas, drained
2-3 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp fresh herbs such as parsley/coriander

Whizz it all up in a food processor. add in 1 tbsp flour, mix and form into patties. Fry for a few minutes in veg oil.

Grilled salmon steaks. Serve with boiled potatoes which are then fried in a little butter and flat leave parsley till crispy brown. Yummy.

Dhal and naan bread?