For me easy is about having the stuff in at all times and not thinking ‘shit no protein!’ Also not having to go to the shop to get whatever means I don’t impulse buy. So I bulk buy chicken fish and mince and leave it out the night before.
BLTs with a bit of leftover roast chicken, ekes it out. Or get a ready roasted one. Buying nice bread makes all the difference. Or if the oven is on for something else I do the bacon and then it’s already cooked for the following day.
pizzas made with M&S sundried tomato puree and flour tortillas as the base. Any old crap you want on top, bag of grated cheese, done!
steak burgers are a piece of piss, make my own so I know it’s 100% beef. I use Parmesan in place of breadcrumbs and mustard and ketchup to bind them. Pan fry to brown then into the oven with the chips to cook through. We bulk buy brioche buns from Costco. They also make lovely french toast if the date is running down.
homemade minestrone. I always have frozen Mirepoix, and that, some easy garlic, frozen peas, passata, boiling water and a stock cube, leave them to get on with it in the pot. Can use up the little leftover handfuls of pasta in the bottom of the bag.
As well as loads of stock cubes of all different flavours, we also always have mascarpone in, amazing what it can do to a sauce or a soup.
Vacuum packed serrano or Parma ham lasts forever and can also be added to pasta or soup, can go in an omelette. Could use it instead of bacon as well. Stronger flavour and cooks faster, with less mess.
if you fancy a change from ordinary potatoes, patatas bravas is nice with a chicken leg or sausages or whatever. Can use mini roasties, the sauce I use is a combination of tinned tomatoes, paprika and chilli flakes, sprinkle of chicken stock and when it’s thickened and slightly cooled, I squirt
in some mayo. Spaniards may well have a lot of notes but it came, loosely, from a Delia cheat book I got years ago 😂slop
it over the crispy potatoes, add broccoli or salad and you’re away.
I serve grilled pineapple with salmon, flash-cooked in the pan after the salmon has come out - not for everyone but makes it feel a bit more fancy. Just have rice and mixed veg.
breakfast for dinner but put the emphasis on the veg, not the processed meat, I do a lot of mushrooms and scorched tomatoes and avocado on the side. Jamie has a one pan breakfast recipe that’s hard to beat although I do the eggs separately cos we don’t all eat them.
Poach some smoked haddock in milk, take out the fish and skim off the scum, add stock made with a fish cube, diced onion, crushed up tinned value boiled potatoes. Add the fish back in at the end when it’s looking soupy. Fresh parsley, black pepper, unbeatable. Does make the house stink!
Old Bay seasoning can be used on just about anything short of dessert 😂
endless pots of chilli. I use tinned mixed beans to eke it out. Suppose sometimes slow is easy and other times it’s about speed.
love this thread!