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.