Midweek Meals: Five main dishes in twenty minutes or less

Main meals made quick and easy, perfect for busy houses - plus a great lentil dahl for veggies and vegans

Thai-style chicken noodles with green beans - one of five fast faves we're serving up today

Thai-Style chicken noodles with green beans

recipe by:Neven Maguire

Straight-to-wok noodles are a brilliant shortcut if you’re in a hurry and want to save on washing up, perfect to enjoy with chicken and chilli sauce

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla) 

• 2 tbsp clear honey 

• 2 tsp light muscovado sugar 

• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil 2 large shallots, thinly sliced 

• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 

• 1 fresh long red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced into rings 

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces 

• 200g fine green beans, trimmed and cut in half 

• juice of 1 lime 

• 2 × 150g packets of straight-to-wok noodles 

• 50g fresh bean sprouts, trimmed 

• To garnish:

• fresh coriander leaves

Method

1. Place the soy sauce in a small bowl and stir in the fish sauce, honey and sugar. Set aside until needed.

2. Heat a wok until smoking hot. Add the oil and swirl it up the sides, then tip in the shallots, garlic and chilli. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, until sizzling.

3. Tip the chicken into the wok and continue to stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until sealed. Drizzle over the soy sauce mixture and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is nicely glazed.

4. Add the green beans to the chicken mixture, then sprinkle over the lime juice and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes, until the green beans are cooked through but still have a little bite. Fold in the noodles and allow to just warm through. Add the bean sprouts and cook for 30 seconds or so to keep them crisp.

5. Arrange in warmed bowls and scatter over the coriander leaves to serve.

Pasta puttanesca

recipe by:Currabinny Cooks

Whatever the true origins of puttanesca, it is one of the most flavoursome and lip-smacking sauces made almost entirely from store cupboard ingredients.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 17 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 8 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed

• Good pinch or two of chilli flakes

• 1 tin of plum tomatoes

• 2 tablespoons of capers

• Handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

• 200g of pitted Kalamata olives

• Olive oil

• Sea salt and black pepper

• 500g dried pasta ( fusilli or penne)

Method

1. Put the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water over medium heat. While the pasta cooks, heat some oil in a large frying pan over medium low heat.

2. Add the anchovies, garlic and chilli flakes, cooking for a few minutes until everything is bubbling and fragrant. Add a spoonful of pasta water to the pan and turn up the heat slightly. Add the olives, capers and tin of plum tomatoes. Let the contents of the pan bubble away, stirring everything together until well combined.

3. When the pasta is al dente, drain and set aside. Leave the sauce to bubble away for 10 minutes until slightly thickened and the plum tomatoes start to pop and fall apart. Season with sea salt and plenty of black pepper. tip the pasta into the sauce and toss well so that the pasta is well coated in sauce. Scatter the chopped parsley over and serve.

Red lentil dahl

recipe by:Derval O'Rourke

This recipe will be deliciously rich the following day as the flavours come out even more so try to make enough for a few meals!

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Indian

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil

• ½ onion, finely diced

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 thumb-size piece of ginger, grated

• 1 medium red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped

• 3 tsp cumin

• 1 tbsp medium curry powder

• 200g red lentils washed and drained

• juice of 2 limes

• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

• 500ml boiling water

• bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Method

1. In a large pot melt the coconut oil. Add the vegetables and sweat off gently on a low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the dried spices and cook for roughly another 2 minutes.

2. Stir in your lentils, lime juice and chopped tomatoes. Add the water and bring to a gentle simmer. Continue to simmer for another 15- 20 minutes, adding more water if necessary.

3. Serve topped with heaps of fresh coriander and a good dollop of natural yoghurt!

Fast fakeaway fried rice

Ideal for days when the fridge needs a clear out, use whatever vegetables you have

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 17 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1 onion- red/white/scallion/shallot

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 red chilli or chilli flakes or chilli powder

• 200g leftover protein bits- chicken/tofu/veg/prawns

• Soy sauce

• Honey

• 1 tablespoons fish sauce or shrimp paste(optional)

• 200g cooked cold rice (it is truly best to use less fresh rice)

• 100g of empty the fridge veg- scallions, peas, cubed carrots, pak choi

• 1 tomato or a few cherry tomatoes

• Salt and pepper

• Oil for frying

Method

1. Fry your onions in some oil over a hot heat for a few minutes and then add your garlic and chilli.

2. Season the onions, garlic and chilli with some salt. Fry for a further 3-4 minutes.

3. Now add in your strips of chicken/tofu/veg/prawns and fry for at least 5 more minutes or until a little golden. If raw, be sure to cool them through.

4. In a little dish, you can mix up your soy sauce, honey, and fish sauce or shrimp paste.

5. Add your rice, any extra veg, tomato and your sauce to the pan. Stir it all together and fry for another minute or two until everything is cooked and piping hot. Taste and add seasoning as desired.

6. Serve with a freshly fried crispy egg.
   
   Photo by Momo King from Pexels

Quick corn noodle soup

This quick and easy corn noodle soup feels hearty and comforting

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 15 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Irish

Ingredients

• 400ml hot vegetable stock

• 1 tsp ginger and garlic paste

• 150g frozen sweetcorn

• 100g fine egg noodles

• 50g frozen peas

• To serve: 

• Dried chilli flakes

• Spring onions

• Soy sauce

Method

1. Put a large pot on a medium heat, fill with hot stock and bring to a slow simmer. Spoon in the ginger and garlic paste (found in a jar in many Asian food stores and grocers). Stir the sweetcorn into the hot stock and stir well until they are defrosted completely.

2. Remove the pot from the heat and carefully immerse the head of the stick blender. Pulse until the sweetcorn is mixed into the stock. It will foam on top, don’t worry that will disappear later. I like to leave my corn with some texture.

3. Return the pot to the heat and break in the egg noodles. Simmer for 5 minutes until the noodles are cooked, then stir in the frozen peas. They will thaw immediately in the hot soup.

4. Serve once the peas are hot through (about 2 minutes) and sprinkle with dried chilli if you’re a heat fiend. Drizzle soy sauce on top to season if you like and scatter with finely sliced spring onion. Do bear in mind though that if you’ve used a stock cube for the base, then it will be salty already.