Midweek meals: five quick easy and healthy dinners to feed your family 

Stir-fries, spaghettis and the best potato cakes - these recipes are fast family-friendly fixes for when time is not your friend

Dinners that will be ready in under half an hour to cook this week.

Red pepper and cherry tomato linguine

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Peppers, chillies and cherry tomatoes collide to make a quick, easy and delicious dinner

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 3 large bell peppers, one of each colour except for green

• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced

• 1 red chilli, finely diced

• big handful or two of cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

• large handful of chopped parsley

• juice of 1 lemon

• 280g Linguine

• 2 tbsp good olive oil

• 100g Parmesan, grated

Method

1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions in generously salted water, until al dente.

2. Remove the stalks and seeds from the bell peppers and chop the flesh into a fine dice.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the oil on a medium high heat and add the diced peppers, chilli and garlic. Sautee for 6-8 minutes, stirring regularly until the ingredients are fragrant and softened. Be careful not to let the garlic burn.

4. Next, add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook on a medium heat for another 3-5 minutes.

5. Add a little pasta water to make it runnier if you wish before adding the drained pasta, stirring it well into the sauce. Mix through the lemon juice, Parmesan and chopped parsley, check for seasoning and serve.

Ginger and pork noodles

recipe by:Darina Allen

For a sticky stir fried pork and ginger noodle dish with a sprinkle of peanuts for added texture, try this delectable dish for sharing

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Chinese

Ingredients

• 200g egg noodles

• 1 tbsp olive oil 

• 450g pork fillet, cut into strips

• 2cm of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely grated

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and freshly grated

• 1 tbsp shrimp paste

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• D1 tbsp fish sauce

• 2-3 tbsp water

• salt

• black pepper

• 60g toasted peanuts 

• 1 carrot, cut into fine julienne

• 2 spring onions sliced at an angle into ‘horses ears’

• 1-2 tsps Chinese sesame oil

Method

1. First, prepare the carrots and onions. Then cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, they should still have a slight bite.

2. Line up all the ingredients beside the cooker. Heat a wok over a medium/ high heat. Add a dash of oil and the pork strips. Stir and fry for a minute or two, careful it’s really easy to overcook the pork. Turn out onto a plate.

3. Increase the heat, add another dash of oil if necessary, Toss in the peanuts, ginger and garlic, stir and fry for 20-30 seconds. Next, add the shrimp paste, stir and fry for another 30 seconds until aromatic, then add the soy and fish sauces and a couple of tablespoons of water to create steam.

4. Toss in the well-drained noodles and pork. Toss to coat, sprinkle over the sesame oil. Season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper, taste and correct if necessary.

5. Turn out onto a hot serving plate or plates. Sprinkle with some grated carrot julienne and spring onions. Serve immediately.