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FAST FOOD - THE DELICIOUS WAY
Conjuring up a delicious nutritious family meal after a hard day at the office can be a chore, but delicious magazine has come to the rescue with new book 5 Nights A Week - a collection of easy recipes that will help you break from your daily kitchen routine.
Its all very well promising to wean yourself off ready-meals, takeaways or those routine recipes that you churn out week after week, but all too often that resolve crumbles when you get home at the end of a long day.
Dont beat yourself up over this. Three lethal ingredients - TCH (tired, cold and hungry) - combine to deal killer blows to good intentions, especially when you and the family want food, and want it NOW!
Thankfully, chef Valli Little, food director of magazine delicious, perfectly understands how we all feel and has raided the publications huge collection of recipes to reveal meals that can be made in minutes
and taste great.
Theyve now been published in a new book, Delicious - 5 Nights A Week. Valli says: With the busy lives we lead, theres less and less time for planning, shopping and preparing weeknight meals.
Not to mention the fact that it can be hard to come up with new and exciting ideas for dinner which wont take hours in the kitchen.
Shes grouped recipes in easy-to-use sections including Soups, Salads, Something On Toast, Vegetarian and by ingredients such as Sausages, Mince, or by country, Moroccan, Indian and Thai.
Other handy ones for desperate mums are Kids Favourites with recipes for Cheesy Spaghetti with Bacon & Peas or Chicken Dippers, right through to Mid-Week Entertaining with stress-free but interesting treats such as Warm Duck Salad with Beetroot & Pomegranate or Veal Saltimbocca.
Her top tip for making the whole meal-time process easier and still producing impressive meals, is to keep a well-stocked store cupboard. Identify the staples that you need, add some favourites, and invest in things like onion marmalade, tapenade, quince paste and aioli which are readily available and, believe me, can turn a simple meal into something quite special.
Vallis picked two dishes to save you from disgrace - Spicy Stuffed Sausage & Cheese Croissants and Cinnamon Chicken with Bean Salad. So, go on, give that take-away or microwave meal the heave-ho and whip up a feast!
SPICY STUFFED SAUSAGE AND CHEESE CROISSANTS
(Serves 4)
20ml olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
350g spicy sausages (such as chorizo), meat removed from casings
200g button mushrooms, chopped
1 heaped tbsp tomato paste
100ml red wine
410g canned chopped tomatoes
75g semi-dried tomatoes
4 large croissants
80g grated Cheddar
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the onion and cook for two to three minutes to soften. Add the sausage meat and mushrooms and cook for five minutes, breaking up the meat.
Add the tomato paste and wine and cook for two to three minutes, until most of the wine has evaporated. Add all the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for five to six minutes until very little of the liquid
remains.
Cut deep slashes in the top of the croissants. Fill with the mixture. Place on a baking tray, top with cheese and bake for five to six minutes, until the croissants are hot and the cheese has melted.
CINNAMON CHICKEN WITH BEAN SALAD
(Serves 4)
1tsp ground cinnamon
2 heaped tbsp brown sugar
80ml dry sherry
80ml olive oil
4 chicken breast fillets (with skin and wing bone attached, optional)
20ml balsamic vinegar
1tsp Dijon mustard
200g thin green beans
2x 420g cans three-bean mix, rinsed and drained
2 heaped tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Beetroot relish (available from delis), to serve
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Mix the cinnamon, sugar, sherry and half the oil. Season, toss with the chicken and marinate for 15 minutes
Meanwhile, combine the balsamic vinegar, mustard and remaining oil in a large bowl, then season. Blanch the green beans in boiling water for two minutes, then drain and refresh in cold water. Toss with the dressing, parsley and canned beans.
Heat an oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the chicken, skin-side down, for two minutes, or until golden. Turn and cook for one minute, then place in the oven for 12 minutes, or until cooked through.
Serve the chicken on the salad, topped with beetroot relish.
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