Midweek Meals: Five family-friendly dinners that are ready in under thirty minutes

Crispy chicken in the air fryer, a quick curry and pasta in a flash

Quick easy and delicious family dinner ideas.

Crispy Air Fryer Chicken with quick and easy Flatbreads

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Once you make these wraps you'll never want a chicken fillet roll again

Servings

4

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the flatbreads:

• 500g flour

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1 tbsp flaky sea salt

• 7g active dried yeast

• 30ml olive oil

• 180g Greek yoghurt

• 15g parsley, chopped

• 250ml lukewarm water

• For the chicken:

• 4 chicken breasts 

• 12 tbsp panko breadcrumbs

• ½ tsp garlic salt

• ½ tsp cumin 

• salt and pepper 

• 4 eggs, beaten 

• To serve:

• iceberg lettuce

• Mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce 

Method

1. nto the bowl of a food mixer with the dough hook attached, put your dry ingredients. Pulse to combine and add the olive oil and yoghurt, and water and the parsley. Knead for five minutes until it starts to come away from the sides of the bowl. This quite a wet dough, do not worry. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead for a minute until it comes together. Knead into a sausage shape, cover with cling film and leave to rest for fifteen minutes.

2. For the chicken, mix the breadcrumbs and spices. Drop the chicken into the egg and then the breadcrumbs, pressing it in so that it’s well coated. Put it into the basket of your air fryer and cook for 20 minutes at 180°C. If you are cooking in the oven, cook it at 180°C for thirty minutes. 

3. To cook your flatbreads, cut the dough into four and roll out into a circular shape. Cook on a dry frying pan for two minutes on each side, until it puffs up and has char marks on the bottom. 

4. To serve, slice the chicken and serve with iceberg lettuce, mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce. 

Coconut chicken with spices and herbs

recipe by:Darina Allen

This deeply flavoured is rich and silky smooth, with tender chicken bites and is ready in less than half an hour

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp coriander seeds

• 4 cardamom pods (optional)

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 1 celery stick, finely chopped

• thumb size of grated ginger

• 4 garlic cloves

• 2 limes — one for zest and juice, the other for serving

• 1 chilli, finely chopped, or use a dried chilli that has been soaked in boiling water

• big bunch of coriander (or parsley); separate the stalks from the leaves and chop the stalks finely

• salt

• pepper

• 1 tin of coconut milk

• coriander or parsley leaves, lightly chopped

• 400g chicken, picked from the leftover roast chicken

• 1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped (optional)

• 500g cooked rice

• Equipment:

• wok, saucepan, or big frying pan

Method

1. Heat the wok and toast the cumin, coriander and cardamom for a couple of minutes. Next add a little oil to the toasted spices and add the onions, celery, ginger, lime zest, chilli and herb stalks, season with salt and pepper and soften over a low heat for about five minutes. You might need a little more oil but make sure you do not brown the vegetables.

2. Add the coconut milk, bring to the boil and let it simmer for a few minutes. Finally add the chicken and let it warm through without letting it boil. Add the lime juice and sprinkle the top with the chopped coriander leaves and spring onions.

3. Reheat the rice by heating a pan to very hot and adding a drop of oil to coat the bottom. Stir fry the rice until very hot. Serve with segments of lime. This is a great way to use up bits of odd vegetables that are hanging around in your fridge. To bulk it out, add a bag of frozen spinach (defrosted) towards the end or serve spinach separately with a good squeeze of lemon juice.

Mussels in white wine sauce

recipe by:Darina Allen

The original fast food, serve these finger lickin' mussels with some crispy chips to make moules frites

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 5 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 French

Ingredients

• 1.8kg (4 lbs) scrubbed mussels, weighed in their shells

• 2 tsp chopped parsley

• 2 tsp chopped spring onions

• 1 tsp chopped thyme leaves

• 1 tsp chopped chives

• 2 tsp chopped fennel

• 225ml dry white wine

Method

1. Check that all the mussels are tightly closed and wash well in several changes of water. Steam open on a medium heat with the wine, herbs and spring onions.

2. Take the mussels out of the pan just as soon as the shells open. Remove the 'beard' and one shell from each.

3. Serve with crispy chips and a green salad.

4. Note: They can be kept at this stage for some time, even for a day or two in the fridge, as long as they sit in the cooking liquid.

Creamy mushroom pasta

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

This garlicky, creamy mushroom sauce with herbs and grated Parmesan is ready in the time it takes to cook your pasta

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

• 2 shallots or one onion, sliced thinly

• 600g chestnut mushrooms, stalks removed, sliced thinly

• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped

• black pepper and sea salt

• 150g Parmesan

• olive oil

• 100ml cream

• 50ml white wine

• 450g pappardelle, tagliatelle or even linguine

• 100g butter

Method

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente.

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a little olive oil and add the butter until melted. Add the garlic and shallots and cook until just starting to soften. 

3. Add the sliced chestnut mushrooms next, season well and cook down until soft and starting almost caramelise, for around 5 minutes. 

4. Next add the white wine, cooking down until the smell of alcohol has burned off and the sauce has started to thicken.  

5. Add the cream, Parmesan and parsley last and cook for just a minute longer. Toss the pasta through the mushrooms with a few tablespoons of pasta water and serve. 

Saucepan sausage stew with fennel and lentils

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Lentils are a fabulous addition to this quick stew

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• dash of rapeseed oil

• 400g good quality banger style sausages, chopped into bite size pieces 

• 2 onions, finely chopped 

• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

• 1 medium sized fennel bulb, sliced 

• 2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted 

• 1 tsp chilli flakes 

• 200g puy lentils 

• 300ml stock 

• 100ml white wine 

Method

1. Heat your oil in a heavy saucepan, and sauté the onion until completely soft.

2. Add the sausages and garlic and fry until the sausage pieces have browned all over. Stir in the fennel.

3. Now add the fennel seeds, chilli flakes, wine, stock and lentils.

4. Bring to a gentle boil and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes until the sausages are cooked through.

5. Taste and season.