Derval O'Rourke: My slow-cooked beef and bean curry recipe is perfect for weekend cooking

Plus: is there such a thing as the ‘ideal week’?

Picture: Miki Barlok

Recently I was going for a walk after doing the school drop with the kids, happily listening to a podcast when this question arose about the ideal week. 

It made me think about what my ideal week is, from kids' activities to work commitments and trying to stay fit and healthy.

This week I’ll chat about the ‘ideal ordinary week’ as described by Ali Adbaal and for my recipe, I have a gorgeous slow cooker curry.

The podcast I was listening to is called ‘The High Performance Podcast’ by Jake Humphreys and Professor Damian Hughes. 

Their guest was Ali Adbaal, a former NHS doctor who now gives advice on productivity and study tips. 

His work is really worth looking into as he is the world’s most-followed productivity expert.

Last September, before the kids went back to school, I bought a whiteboard with the days of the week and columns marked on it. 

This started a habit of writing out how the week ahead looked for everyone in the house each Sunday evening. 

I noticed how quickly the days started to fill in and just how busy we were as a household.

When I heard Ali Abdaal discuss ‘the ideal ordinary week’ it really resonated with me. 

His focus on how doing this type of task helps a person to be intentional with their time is really interesting and may be helpful if you find the week gets away from you or that you are not achieving what you would like each week.

Tips on creating the ideal ordinary week

Abdaal’s approach is simple: “Imagine your ideal week, with all the activities you would make time for - work, exercise, time with family, hobbies. Then create a blank Google calendar and block out reasonable times for your top priorities. For example, 8am to 9am every Tuesday and Thursday for exercise; 6pm to 8pm every day for family time; and 30 minutes of reading each night, and lights off at 11pm.”

Doing this task while accounting for all the ‘constraints’ in your life will mean that you will end up with a fairly full calendar. Very quickly you might notice that you simply don’t have space for adding in something that you might think was doable. Abdaal suggests two phases, doing your ideal ordinary week right now and then doing your ideal ordinary week in the future.

According to Abdaal doing both may help you to nudge towards where you want to get to with how you spend your time. Having both weeks as a comparison is really helpful.

I share some similarities with Abdaal in how I organise my week and I’ve found them really helpful.

• The practicalities of how long activities really take. I factor in travel time to and from various activities; seeing this in writing shows that a ‘one-hour’ activity is far more likely to be a minimum of two hours, which impacts being able to do other things.
• Protecting my time. When I say ‘yes’ to something it means I’m not doing something else by planning out the week. I protect my time for what is important.

Whether you plot out your ‘ideal ordinary week’, ‘future ideal ordinary week’ or simply consume some of Ali Adbaal’s content, hopefully, you will start to see where your week can be improved a little and ways to do it.

Pic: iStock

Wellness Tip: 

Your ideal week is different from anybody else's, consider what you need to do and what you want to do each week.

Fitness Tip:

It’s a great time of year to sign up to an event or challenge that will motivate you. Ask a friend to join you.

Slow-Cooked Beef & Bean Curry

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

This recipe is perfect weekend cooking.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 2 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 45 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil

• 400g beef pieces

• 1 tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed

• 2 onions, thinly sliced

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 2-inch piece of ginger, grated

• 3 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

• ½ tsp cayenne pepper

• 2 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 tsp turmeric

• 2 tsp cumin

• 2 tsp salt

• 500ml vegetable stock

• To serve:

• 4-5tbsp natural yoghurt

• Small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

• Sliced almonds

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the beef and cook until lightly browned.

2. Add the onion and fry until it starts to brown.

3. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a further 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the tomato paste, tinned tomatoes and spices to the pot, along with the stock.

5. Bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer on a low heat for 2 hours.

6. 10 minutes before removing from the heat add the tin of mixed beans.

7. Once cooked, transfer to warmed serving bowls and top with the coriander, yoghurt and almonds. Serve with rice or naan bread.