Weekly new recipe thread

[SarahJessicaParkin]

I've decided to try out a brand new recipe every week this year. I seem to make the same things on rotation all the time, so hope this will drag me out of my recipe rut and improve my not great cooking skills!

Would anyone like to join me?

Might be harsh, but if he is fussy and unwilling to try new things, could you just cook for yourself a couple of nights a week and leave him to fend for himself? Or maybe try something which is a bit out of his comfort zone but not too out there. I find a lot of Levantine food is very accessible but still interesting and delicious.

I do this every week anyway but that's because (a) I find cooking / reading recipes very relaxing and (slightly more weirdly) I adore finding delicious recipes for my dietary restricted / picky friends and family. Very happy to share my vast array of recipes!

realised I ballsed up buy last post and forgot the link, so here it is Black Stone Flower Lamb Chops

@sandwiches77 might be worth scrolling through the previous posts, there have been over 100 now as this has been going since new year with us trying to push ourselves to try something new each week - in many posts a recipe is linked and the poster comments on how successful they feel the meal was. I concur with @toastofthetown with regards to setting aside a night or two a week where you can have something more appealing to you. I would be more than happy to say to my DH "on Tuesday I will be making X, if you want to join me in having that great let me know. Otherwise you will have to sort yourself out" if it's clear in advance what the situation is there is no problem.

@AnnieKenney I'm always up for new recipes, if you'd be happy to share some of your top hits that would be great!

Tequila and Lime Chicken, Nigella Lawson
This was ok, but nothing special, I was a little underwhelmed, I won’t be rushing to make it again. Next time I would give a longer marination period (I only did 40 minutes), a bigger kick of chilli, and cook for more browning/caramelisation. Finally, I used boneless skinless thighs, but perhaps I would get a better result with bone in and skin on cuts, though I can't see her specify this.

sorry, another consecutive post from me.

Masala Cheese Laccha Partha, Monica Haldar via ShikShak
I’m normally stick to basic flatbreads during the week but felt like something more interesting today, and these did not disappoint at all. So full of flavour, beautiful texture, all ingredients cupboard/larder/fridge staples, and while more steps involved than a chapati it was not difficult - and the extra effort was 100% worth it. This is the process of making the breads, only instead of spreading melted butter/ghee before folding you spread a spiced garlic and coriander butter and sprinkle with cheese.

@SummaLuvin those Partha sound delicious. What spices did you put on and what did you serve them with?
We had this tonight, simple and fresh for a warm day. Also good for using up cucumber since I accidentally bought two! www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/five-spice-salmon-tacos/

@Savemesome I used smoked paprika, chilli (fresh and Kashmiri powder), turmeric, black pepper, and salt. Next time I might add some crushed coriander seed too as I love the flavour. I served with Dishooms chilli broccoli salad and Meera Sodhas oven roasted chicken tikka, and that worked. The breads are so flavour packed I don't think they would work well dunked in a curry, like a classic paratha might. In future I might just have them a snack/lunch with coriander chutney as I don't think they need much.

Also, I love tacos and have some cucumber sitting around, so might be making that recipe you linked.

A new dessert recipe in our house tonight. Sainsburys Rhubarb ginger and Greek yogurt fool. So easy and blumming delicious!
recipes.sainsburys.co.uk/recipes/rhubarb-ginger-and-yogurt-fool

I'm trying to increase the number of vegan recipes in my rotation so I tried this Persian stew last night with some brown rice (also trying to have a more diabetic-friendly diet). It made a HUGE quantity so I've ended up freezing the leftovers for another time. It was yum though.

One of my favourite lunches

I tend to seve it with a Low cal coleslaw

(I do tend to favour chickpeas amongst pulses but I love pulses in general for their slow release carbs and fiber. This means you can eat some and feel fuller for longer without spiking blood sugar - a diabetes no-no)

Those chickpea patties sound nice, might try that if I remember it.
I made 'cheesy greens' out of MOB cookbook, roasted broccoli and cabbage, with kale and peas in a Gruyère cheese sauce, it was delicious. Why didn't I think of putting something other than cauliflower in cheese sauce!

This is my other new lunch recipe.

Bookmarked the tuna salad & Dishoom broccoli salad!

Made Roasted Tofu, Beans & Mushrooms with sticky orange sauce from the Joe Wicks cookbook last night. A slightly adapted version as had no dates so used prunes instead & not enough firm tofu so chucked in a pack of marinated Cauldron stuff at the end to make it up a bit. It was nice but a bit too sweet for me - that could have been the subs though I would expect dates to be as sweet. I had used clementines instead of oranges too so maybe they were also not as sharp... The panko topping didn't really stick to my tofu - i think it could have done with a bit of oil / soy or something to moisten first. Really liked the soy roasted mushrooms! Served with Wagamama style wok fried greens which seem to have become a weekly staple here! Everyone else enjoyed so I will probably make some sort of slightly less sweet adaptation of this again.

Also tried Nadiyas Spinach & paneer kathi rolls earlier this week https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spinachanddpaneerkatii26860. Easy & tasty, served with tomato & onion salad - will add this to the midweek meals.

Just remembered we also had the spicy 'shroom & lentil tacos from the Joe Wicks book - really enjoyed these too, they are served with a charred pineapple & tomato salsa which worked really well.

I really like this cookbook so far (it's the Feel Good Food one) - I've cooked quite a bit from it in the month or so since I bought it - nothing wildly unusual but it's all worked well & good for simple midweek meals.

I think I forgot to update last week so here's my recipes from this week and last. I love the sound of the Persian stew upthread, will definitely be trying that out!

Sweet Potato Cakes - Meera Sodha, East
These were tasty which wasn’t a surprise as I love sweet potatoes, sweetcorn, coriander and chilli. I didn’t entirely agree with the method thought and if I were remaking it, I’d bake the potatoes in their skins then scoop out the flesh, rather than roasting in chunks. I also found that there wasn’t quite enough sweet potato to bind together all the inclusions, so would increase that too. The recipe calls for kimchi mayonnaise, which I skipped as I didn’t have any mayo in and I don’t like kimchi enough to buy it, but I can see why that would well.

Chorizo & Sweet Potato Quesadillas With Salsa
Another delicious but not surprised as I love all of the ingredients. As I’m veggie I added smoked paprika instead of chorizo but I didn’t feel anything was missing.

Harissa Lentil Ragù With Herby Greek Cheese Mash
This was in the low effort, but fine category for me. I was a bit disappointed as I expected to really love it as I love the core ingredients and the mash was very good. I think this has potential, so I’ll be tweaking it to see if I can improve it a little.

We had Meera Sodha's shredded roti & red cabbage the other day (I think someone else had posted about this a while back?). 2 out of 3 of us enjoyed it - no surprise that teen DS wasn't keen as there was no meat involved... I did have to add a bit of liquid to stop it catching, I'd doubled the recipe though so maybe I messed up on quantities somewhere along the line! medium.com/@plansvegan/shredded-roti-with-red-cabbage-carrot-3ccb56593db

Also a Gousto recipe - www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook/recipes/all-in-one-honey-baked-salad-cheese-crispy-gnocchi. This was really tasty. I split into 2 tins & did half with vegan feta for DP - that half didn't really look as good as the 'cheese' melted away into nothing! He assured me it tasted good though 😂

I think I've made those quesadillas before too @toastofthetown - I also love sweet potato & smoky type flavours (I often do a sweet potato, black bean & chipotle enchilada type thing). I actually made quesadillas at the weekend too for the first time in ages! Roast veg, pesto & sun-dried tomatoes / they were really good though not in the slightest bit authentic.

Those quesadillas (with the chorizo) are a favourite in this household. I love serving with a sweetcorn/pineapple pico de gallo. I have considered assembling them then freezing, I think they would probably freeze well and even cook from frozen. Does anyone have experience/advice/opinions with this?

Chicken Shawarma, Nadiya Hussain
This was mentioned by another poster and I thought it sounded great so bookmarked the recipe to try. It was fantastic, the chicken really delicious and the broccoli slaw was also a hit (I added some mint, cucumber, and chilli). Served with homemade flatbreads and was very happy with the whole meal. Will be making this again.

Pistachio, Pea, and Mint Soba Noodles, Meera Sodha, East
Light, summery, fresh, and with noodles as a base (a favourite of mine). Really enjoyed this, though I think Meeras serving size is a bit off here, it was far too large.

Egg and Bacon Croissant Brunch Bake, Sainsburys Magazine
I had guests over and made this as an alternative to a cooked breakfast. The only changes I made were halving the recipe, and using 3 good quality bakery croissants instead of supermarket ones. It went down really well, was really easy, and not too much washing up. Can easily be adapted for vegetarians if needed. I will definitely make this again.

Rum and Raisin Cake with Rum Caramel Icing, Yotam Ottolenghi, Sweet
Absolutely delicious. The sponge is soft and warming with cinnamon and rum. The icing smooth and sweet, I added a pinch of salt to help balance this, I think it would work with other sponges too.

Definitely gonna try the schwarma and the Ottolenghi cake! May I ask what flatbread recipe you use?

Can't recall where I first saw the recipe, but for flatbreads I do 1 part full fat yogurt (natural or greek), 2 parts plain flour, pinch of salt. Knead together until smooth, adding a touch of flour if too wet or water if too dry. Rest for 15 minutes. Split into portions, roll out, and dry fry over high heat. Keep warm in a tea towel.

Sausage Kale & Tortellini bake - cobbled together with elements of www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook/recipes/spicy-sausage-creamy-tomato-sauce-with-mushroom-tortelloni & www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook/recipes/spicy-sausage-creamy-tomato-sauce-with-mushroom-tortelloni . Plus some kale. Made with spinach & ricotta tortellini as couldn't find mushroom anywhere. Why have I never thought of baking tortellini??? I'd only ever served as a quick fix really but I really enjoyed this. Still very easy for a weeknight dinner but a bit more exciting than boiled pasta with tomato sauce!

Vegetable pakora thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/spinach-squash-and-sweet-potato-dhal-with-cauliflower-and-spinach-pakora/ (making the dhal later this week) - these were quite nice but I tried cooking them in the air fryer & the texture wasn't quite right.

Tried this today www.eatingwell.com/recipe/248428/sweet-potato-corn-black-bean-hash. Timings are way off unless you mince your sweet potato into the tiniest pieces. I used corn removed from the cob instead of tinned so cooked that for a bit longer and added red peppers. Pretty hearty, I think substituting smoked paprika would be a good alternative option for cumin although there was nothing wrong with cumin. The lime is essential.

Last night's (veggie) dinner: Sheet Pan Halloumi with Burst Tomatoes, Summer Squash, Preserved Lemon, and Mint I served it with some bulgur wheat made with stock rather than water.

Quick and easy to prepare and low on the washing up.

Our two go to recipes at the moment are:
Nadyia's beetroot pasta, so lovely but be careful with the garlic, she uses a lot I use two bulbs

And a funny recipe I found in one of those supermarket cards, Coop, green noodle soup with prawns (My DH doesn't eat meat but can be replaced with any protein I guess)

Love this thread and getting very hungry