Midweek Meals: Five easy and comfy meals for gloomy days

Pies, chillies, noodles, soup - and of course, a stirfry for the vegans at the table

Feed the whole gang with this chilli con carne

Slow cooker vegetable soup

Good food doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 3 hours 0 mins

Total Time

 3 hours 15 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, peeled and sliced

• 4 large carrots, peeled and chopped

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

• 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped

• 1 half head of cauliflower, chopped

• 1.5l vegetable stock (made with a stock cube is fine)

Method

1. Slow Cooker Method: Put the onions into a covered dish and microwave for 1 minute on high. This is to take the astringency from the onions and stop the flavour from being raw and overwhelming the slow cooker soup.

2. Once finished in the microwave, empty the dish into the slow cooker. Add all the other ingredients and pour over the vegetable stock. Cover the slow cooker and turn to high. Cook on high for 3 hours, then mash a little using a potato masher. Serve immediately with fresh chopped parsley if you like a ‘chunky’ soup. If not, blitz using a hand blender before serving.

3. Hob Method: Sauté the onions in a little oil in a large saucepan until translucent. Stir in the potatoes with the onions and allow to cook a little in the oil. Add all the other ingredients and stir well. Pour in the vegetable stock. Cover the saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer the ingredients until everything is tender. Turn off the hob, use a potato masher to mash the soup a little before serving, or use a stick blender for a smoother texture.

Nathan Anthony’s slow cooker steak and Guinness pie

This rich pie is perfect on a cold day.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 8 hours 25 mins

Total Time

 8 hours 35 mins

Course

 IEC-recipe-root

Ingredients

• 800g beef steak or rump (or 1kg brisket), chopped

• 440ml can of Guinness

• 200ml beef stock

• 1tbsp tomato purée

• 1tsp dried rosemary

• 1tsp dried thyme

• 1tsp dried oregano

• 1 bay leaf

• 1tbsp brown sugar

• 2 carrots, roughly chopped

• 1 red onion, chopped

• 1 celery stick, chopped

• 1 heaped tbsp cornflour

• 3 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry

• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze the pastry

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• Tenderstem broccoli, and carrot and parsnip mash, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Throw all the ingredients, except the pastry and egg, in the slow cooker.

2. Cook on high for four hours or low for seven to eight hours. Discard the bay leaf.

3. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Top the beef filling with the puff pastry, tuck it round the pie, then brush with the beaten egg.

4. Pop the ovenproof slow-cooker pot (without the lid) into the oven for 25 minutes until golden and crisp. If your slow-cooker pot isn’t oven-safe, decant the filling into an ovenproof pot, cover with the pastry, brush with the egg and bake as above.

5. Serve with Tenderstem broccoli, and carrot and parsnip mash, if you like.

6. Tip: To get the pastry the right size, put your slow cooker lid on top of your puff pastry sheet and cut round it before adding to the slow cooker.

Money-saving pimped packet ramen recipe

You can easily customise this meal to your suit your preferences.

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 7 mins

Total Time

 12 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• For the base:

• 2tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 spring onion (white bulb discarded), snipped

• 1tsp garlic purée

• 2 mugs of boiling water

• 2 packets of ramen noodles (or any other instant noodles)

• OR

• 300g ready cooked noodles and 1 chicken stock cube, crumbled

• OR

• 300g ready cooked noodles and 2 sachets of miso soup mix

• For the protein (choose from):

• 1 mug of frozen, fresh or cooked chicken strips

• 1 mug of frozen, fresh or cooked seafood

• 1 mug of frozen or fresh gyoza dumplings

• ½ block of firm tofu, broken into smaller pieces

• For the veg:

• 250g packet of pak choi, leaves separated

• ½ mug of frozen vegetables

• Toppers (choose as many as you like):

• Soft-boiled egg halves

• Drizzles of chilli oil

• 1tbsp sesame seeds

• Fresh coriander sprigs

• Fresh chillies

• Kimchi

• Drizzles of Sriracha

Method

1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan over a medium heat and cook the spring onion and garlic purée for a couple minutes, stirring often until aromatic.

2. Add the boiling water, along with the dried noodles and their flavour sachets, or the cooked noodles with the crumbled stock cube or the miso soup sachets. Stir together and cook for a minute or two until the liquid is mostly absorbed.

3. Add your chosen protein and the veg and cook until the protein is just cooked through, about five minutes or so. If you are using fresh chicken or seafood it will take less time. If using tofu, add in the last few minutes so it doesn’t disintegrate.

4. Serve into bowls and go crazy with the toppers.

Money-saving chilli con carne

This speedy meal for four uses storecupboard ingredients.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 5 mins

Cooking Time

 50 mins

Total Time

 55 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 1tsp vegetable or olive oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 2 green chillies, finely chopped, plus 1 to serve

• 500g minced beef

• 41g packet of chilli con carne seasoning

• 400g tin chopped tomatoes

• 130g tin kidney beans, drained

• 300ml beef stock (made with a stock cube)

• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Put a pan on a medium heat and add the oil and the onion and soften for three to four minutes. Add the garlic and chillies and continue to cook for a further two minutes. If you’re not keen on a lot of spice just use one chilli and remove the seeds.

2. Add the mince and break it up with the back of a spoon, ensuring that there’s no big lumps. Cook the meat until it’s nice and brown. Be generous with the salt and pepper and then add the chilli con carne seasoning. Mix well.

3. Add the tomatoes and kidney beans and stir. Then pour in the beef stock and simmer for 30 minutes. The simmering is very important (it’s like a fine wine that gets better with age).

4. Serve with sliced chilli.

Colm O'Gorman's Korean stir-fried aubergine

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

This recipe serves two people as a main, or four as a side dish.

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 10 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Korean

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines, about 500g in total

• 2-3 green chilis 

• 3 spring onions

• 3 cloves garlic

• 1 tbsp gochujang

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp rice wine or sherry

• 2 tsp dark brown sugar

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

Method

1. Wash the aubergines and remove the stalks. Slice them in half lengthways and then into quarters, before cutting them into large chunks, about 5-6 cm long is perfect.

2. Wash the chillies before deseeding and roughly chopping them. Peel and grate the garlic. Wash the spring onions and chop the white sections, setting aside the greener stalks for now.

3. Pop the grated garlic, gochujang, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar and toasted sesame oil into a bowl and stir to combine.

4. Heat another tablespoon of sesame oil in a wok over a high heat. When the oil just begins to smoke, reduce the heat to medium and add the aubergine. Str fry for three to four minutes until the aubergine begins to soften and brown. Add the chopped chilli and stir fry for another two to three minutes.

5. Next, add the sauce, stir frying constantly to ensure that the aubergine is well coated. Continue to cook until the aubergine is soft and cooked through and glazed in the sticky sauce. If the wok begins to dry out as you cook, add a splash of water. Once the aubergine is cooked through, taste and add more seasoning if required.

6. Finally, thinly slice the remaining spring onion, I like to cut them into long strips on the diagonal as I love how that looks. Serve the aubergine on a warm platter with lots of fresh spring onion scattered across the top.