I don't really like cooking and my kitchen is always a mess. So here are some easy recipes that make up most of what I eat. I get all this stuff at Tesco, other shops may vary. Please try and get free range/organic meat and eggs if you can afford it!
| Breakfasts | Lunches | Dinners |
Ingredients: porridge oats, soy milk, banana, cinnamon, Nutella, whatever you want
I like soy milk a lot better than real milk and if you get the regular Alpro it has a nice vanilla-y flavor.
Put a bit less than half a cup of oats in a biggish cereal bowl (must be big enough or the porridge may overflow). Add a cup of soy milk. Stir.
Put the bowl in the microwave at 850w for 2 minutes. Stir. If it still looks pretty milky, do for another 30 seconds.
Add chopped banana and cinnamon, or a tsp of Nutella, or whatever toppings you want.
Ingredients: porridge oats, soy milk, toppings, protein powder if you want it
Put a half cup of oats and half cup of soy milk in a glass. Actually I like to use slightly less milk to make a really thick gloopy consistency. Add some protein powder or Nutella/cinnamon/other flavoring at this stage and stir. If you have frozen fruit you can put it on top now.
I used to use chocolate protein powder and frozen raspberries until Tesco stopped selling frozen raspberries. It was awesome though.
Leave overnight in the fridge.
Add fresh fruit toppings or nuts etc.
Good combos: Nutella/peanut butter and banana, cinnamon and banana, chocolate and raspberries/strawberries, cocoa powder and hazelnuts
Ingredients: tomatoes (I like baby plum), cucumber, salad leaves, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, green pesto, bread (I like bake-at-home sourdough baguettes)
Chop the tomatoes and cucumber into bitesize pieces.
In a small bowl, mix a spoonful of pesto, enough olive oil to thin it, a splash of balsamic, and salt.
In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber and salad leaves.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Eat with the bread (and I just use my hands to eat this TBH!)
Ingredients: bagel (whatever you like, red onion & chive is pretty good), breaded chicken steak (not a breaded chicken breast, it'll be too thick and uneven), rocket, chutney (preferably plum, mango or tomato - must be sweet and fruity), smoked cheese (preferably round shaped)
Cook the chicken steak according to instructions. Slice & toast the bagel. Put the cheese on the bottom of the bagel, then the chicken, then a good coating of chutney, then a generous pinch of salt, then a handful of rocket. Put the top on the bagel. Admire your creation.
Ingredients: flatbreads, red onion, tomatoes (I like baby plum), white wine vinegar, a lime, garlic, coriander, chicken breast/halloumi
This'll do a couple of lunches.
Chop 1/2 red onion into half-moons. Chop the tomatoes into bitesize pieces. Combine in a bowl with a splash of white wine vinegar, juice of 1/2 lime (or more if you're me), a pressed garlic clove (get a garlic press if you're still chopping garlic like a scrub), and a ton of coriander. Leave to sit in the fridge for a bit.
Chop halloumi into thickish pieces. Heat a dry pan for a bit then drop the halloumi slices in. They should sizzle a bit. Liquid will come out. Once the liquid dries up, flip 'em. They should be golden brown.
Fill flatbreads with salsa and halloumi. I also like to add roasted red pepper or some cucumber.
Ingredients: gnocchi, pesto, salad leaves
Just combine those things. Damn it's so easy!!
This is really hard to get because nobody seems to sell membrillo (quince cheese). I think maybe Waitrose does. If you can find it, damson cheese is even better. Anyway, get manchego, membrillo and some water biscuits and go nuts. This owns.
Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs with skin on (bone is ok), honey, wholegrain mustard, garlic, lemon, new potatoes, olive oil, frozen peas, spinach. Serves 2.
In a small bowl, mix 1tbsp honey, 1tbsp wholegrain mustard, 1 or 2 pressed garlic cloves, zest and juice of lemon. Adjust however you want, I normally end up putting more honey or mustard.
Debone the thighs if you can be bothered for a better result. Put thighs skin-side up in a baking tray.
Cut new potatoes in halves/smaller depending on how big they are. They gotta be pretty small to cook through. Arrange the potatoes inbetween the thighs.
Put the honey mustard dressing on the thighs. Sprinkle sea salt (Maldon, m8) all over everything.
Cook at 180C fan for 35 minutes with no cover.
Add some good handfuls of spinach (this will shrivel up a lot so put more than you think) and frozen peas after the 35 minutes. Put back in the oven for 2-5 minutes.
Ingredients: good Japanese rice (short-grain 'sushi' rice), minced beef (500g), frozen peas, eggs, good miso paste (ideally from a Japanese store - dashi miso is ideal), soy sauce (better be Kikkoman), a whole bunch of pans/hob space (2 saucepans, 2 frying pans). Serves 3 - 4.
Cook the rice. If you don't know how to cook Japanese rice, look to the section below. While the rice is resting:
Fry the mince until starting to brown. Then put a generous amount of miso paste, about 2-3 tablespoons. Fry til done. Add a splash of soy sauce if it looks dry.
In another pan, scramble 2 or 3 eggs. I normally like wet scrambled eggs but these should be done until quite dry.
In a saucepan, cook the frozen peas.
That's it! Get a bowl, put the rice first, and if you want it to look nice, arrange the mince, eggs and peas in thirds on top of the rice. I also like to add some pickled vegetables.
Every British person knows how to do this already. Get outta here.
Ingredients: salmon fillets, packet of those straight-to-wok udon noodles, soy sauce or packet of stirfry sauce, package of stirfry veg, lemon/lime, frozen ginger, garlic.
This one's super lazy. Wrap the salmon in silver foil and cook in the oven according to instructions (takes about 20 minutes). Just before it's done, put the stirfry veg, a bunch of soy sauce, some garlic and grated ginger, and the noodles in a wok. Top with the salmon fillets. Squeeze the lemon juice over.
If you can get a salmon packet with included soy&ginger sauce then even better.
Get a pan with a tight lid, and a bowl.
Into the bowl, measure out about 2/3 of a cup of rice for 2 people. Fill the bowl with cold water and move the rice around with your fingers for a bit. The water will go white. Drain, refill, repeat until the water is pretty clear. Let the rice sit in the water for 10-30 minutes.
Drain the rice well in a sieve. Chuck the rice into the pan. Measure out about a cup of cold water. You may need more or less depending on the specific rice, e.g. Yutaka sushi rice seems to need almost 1:1 ratio rather than 1:1.3. Put the water in the pan and swirl it a bit so it covers the rice evenly.
Put the lid on tightly and set to high heat. Wait until it begins to boil (you can take quick peeks), then move to the smallest burner on the lowest heat. Leave for 10 minutes without opening the lid. Turn off heat and leave to sit for 15 minutes without opening the lid. Use a silicon spatula to peel the rice up when it's done, super satisfying.
If the rice is stuck to the bottom - use more water next time or check your lid is tight enough. If the rice is soggy - use less water next time. If it's not cooked all the way through - soak for longer next time.