Spanish holiday meal ideas

[thinkfast]

We are going to Spain in a couple of weeks. Self catering. We go every year and normally we would eat out a lot, but this time we'd prefer to cook at home more to save some money. I've run out of ideas/ inspiration of easy lunches and dinners to make. Preferably something easy that doesn't involve a ton of cleaning up. We have excellent supermarkets nearby.

Requirements are:
DH - eats anything. Loves meat.
DS11 - eats most things. Not overly keen on veg and gets very disappointed if he doesn't get meat or fish with dinner
Me - pescatarian, but prefer vegetarian food
Dd 8 - dislikes meat, usually loves chicken, but the last couple of days has said she wants to be pescatarian too. Hates pizza. Hates anything too chewy.

Last year we made:-
Spanish chicken wings. A hit at the time, but I expect DD won't eat them now.
Spanish chickpeas with spinach (no one except me really liked it).
Pasta and sauce (boring and not very healthy)
Ready made pizzas or tortillas with salad. Ds not keen on tortillas.
And we mainly had bread and cheese or cured meats for lunch.

Can anyone please suggest some meal ideas or recipes to help us enjoy our holiday more?

I do a really easy baked rice dish, cup of rice, cup of water, tin of tomato plus stock cube and what ever herbs/spices you can find. Then you can add any grilled meat or fish plus salad.

grilled/ fried chicken, chips and salad

ummm it’s not easy

I live in Spain. Spain has amazing rotissary chickens to take away. One of those with some salad and nice bread with alioli to dip

Fish is abundant make a paella you can get all the ingredients in the local supermarket and it's fun to make together

Tortilla con cebella (available everywhere). Nicer warmed very cheap for a nice lunch with some pan con tomate ( toasted bread, rub garlic gloves over it and rub half a tomato on. Add salt and olive oil )

Pick up bread every day. There aren't any preservatives in fresh bread so it lasts only a day (unless you get packet bread and that lasts for weeks. don't get that)

Thanks for the suggestions! DH and DS love the rotisserie chickens but I expect DD won't eat them any more.... chicken was her favourite food but now she feels too sorry for the chickens to eat them.

The kids won't eat risotto or any kind of mushy rice...

It's driving me crazy that the only meal I can think of that we actually all like is fish and chips or salmon fillets and veg.

I just realised my "mushy rice" comment might have sounded rude! Apologies!!! It's how the kids describe any rice other then plain basmati rice.

Do they eat pasta?

Yes the both love pasta

Just let them eat chips and you have the rice then. It's a holiday.

Steak and fish with salad and chips.
Fish or steak tacos
Nachos and veggie chilli
Pizzas with salad
Burritos
Chicken/tuna Caesar salad

Carbonara would be easy and quick
Pasta alla Norma (aubergine and tomato) or puttanesca (anchovy, tomato, olives, capers) - sure you'd be able to get all the ingredients at the local supermarket

Fried potatoes with fish and salad

You weren't rude. Don't worry :)

Maybe stick to different fish and salad /veg every day?

make your own tapas? Meatballs in tomato sauce , calamari rings (you can buy it battered frozen ). Very cheap too !
Croquettas? Deep fry
Meats and cheese platters

Carbonara
Sprinkle fried bacon bits on for the meat eaters at the end

Club sandwiches - toasted and chips

Would they eat a Spanish fish soup, usually has potatoes & tomatoes in. You can get cartons of it I'm sure. You could add extra vegetables such as peas, courgette or green beans.

Or another thought is gazpacho, you will find that in cartons, serve it with bowls of chopped vegetables, sliced hard boiled egg, chopped ham or sausage, so everyone adds their own garnish. Serve with garlic bread.

Frittata is great for a quick lunch. Or Salade Niçoise...You could serve the ingredients on a large platter for everyone to help themselves to their own selection.

I'd just organise cold platters every day of bread ham cheese veggies and fruit

We had BBQ most eves with different meats and fish and varying salads and veg. Nothing complicated- just whatever we fancied from
the shop chucked on the grill.

Lunches were often fresh bread, cured meat, cheese, salad or tapas

We did buy the frozen paella and pizza a few times too.

We also ate out for lunch some days as found that cheaper and far easier than dinner with DD as she’s not yet 4. Then we had a lighter dinner at the villa.

We like self catering but we don’t spend much time on cooking, and avoid the things we would have at home.

What about chorizo sausage sliced and in the oven for a short while , tuna or similar - both in separate bowls and then make a big bowl of pasta with a bit of butter / olive oil / pepper & everyone can mix in what they like & yes I agree with the pan con tomate - that could go with it

Some great suggestions thank you.

We've been going there for more than 20 years, but would usually eat out every other night (or more). We can't really afford that this year so I just felt stumped by this - especially as there's less convenience food in the supermarkets in Spain and now we all want something different.

I've been finding it tough to think of meals at home, so this seems like a challenge. At a restaurant there's no problem as everyone can order something different, but DH and I don't fancy cooking different meals every night. I'm quite fussy about fish. I like eating it, if someone else has cooked it but not too keen on cooking it myself.

TBF If your not looking for somewhere fancy to eat you might be better eating out at least a few times. A menu del dia (depending on where you are) can be as low as €8. At my local restaurant (nothing fancy!) I had a starter , steak and chips with a peppercorn. Sauce and a desert and a glass of wine for €8.50 just don't go to tourist places. Go to the back of the town whete locals eat. It'll be better food too

Maddy70 we used to be able to do that but a menu del dia is €20 plus at most places now and it's just too expensive really

Linguini with fresh prawns, chilli, cherry tomatoes, plenty of garlic and fresh parsley.
Paprika coated cod tacos
Proper nicois with tuna steaks.
Have you looked at fish tray bakes? Just put your choice of fish in a roasting tray with new potatoes (or gnocchi is also really good) with some veg and add herbs, spices or seasonings to taste and pop in the oven.

If you have a Mercadona local to you I'd just live off their fresh food counter 😂
Also take advantage of Spanish pork, the absolute best pork on the planet ranging from beautiful reasonably priced pork medallions in a nice mushroom and crème freche sauce to secreto iberico fillet that will beat any fillet steak hands down!

As a PP said, linguine with fresh prawns garlic and chilli.
I love prepping the raw prawns!
Also almejas (clams) or mussels just steamed in wine and butter.
I'm getting hungry now!!