If you're anything like me, it can be a real struggle to decide what to cook during the week.
The weekends are a bit easier - you can choose to make something from scratch that needs a little more time and attention, and can leave a pot of deliciousness bubbling away on the hob for several hours for the flavours and tastes to develop. But when it's 8.00pm on a Thursday evening, you've spent the whole day working and you're starving, the last thing you want is something that takes an hour to prepare. I can't be the only one who experiences hanger...?
It's easy to get into a lazy routine; Mr MM and I can very quickly persuade the other one that we deserve a takeaway pizza or curry after a long day. But when you're both busy, these choices can become more and more frequent until you realise you haven't cooked something nourishing for a while.
Surprisingly, our eating habits changed for the better at the start of the pandemic. We started keeping ourselves at home just before lockdown officially kicked in due to Baby Maggie May and decided that we would need to start planning our meals more efficiently so we could limit trips to the supermarket. I was also keen to start eating healthier foods since my hyperemesis had improved, and I began fancying dinners that weren't just beige...!
Being our usual geeky selves, we have a spreadsheet that we fill out every fortnight to see what we have in our fridge, freezer and cupboards, so we can be sure to make use of the various ingredients in the kitchen and avoid things going to waste. We also have a meal planner pad on the door of the fridge, where I write down a flexible plan for our suppers for the next couple of weeks. If you'd be interested in a post about how we meal plan and reduce food waste, let me know in the comments! I won't rush to write it as I appreciate that not many people may be as weird and freaky as me...
As a result of the planning, we've resurrected some of our favourite suppers to cook and eat, as well as discovered new dishes both online and in our collection of recipe books. And it's been so great! We're both really enjoying taking it in turns to cook a variety of different things - but do you know what they all have in common? They're simple. They're easy. And they're all utterly delicious.
Some things we've tried haven't quite gone to plan {let's not talk about the veggie 'meatballs' made from aubergine that disintegrated into mush} but I've built up a nice little collection of the things that have worked, and am excited to share some of these with you below. And if you have any great weekday supper recommendations, I'd love to hear them so I can add them to my Pinterest board! You can tweet me or comment below - I'm sure my readers would be interested too.
S I M P L E W E E K D A Y S U P P E R S
Deliciously Ella's baked sweet potatoes from her book Deliciously Ella Every Day*
Quorn Vegan Hot & Spicy Burgers {from the frozen aisle} - in buns with sweet potato fries, or with couscous and salad
Delicious magazine's cheese, tomato and gnocchi bake
Chilli con carne - we make up the recipe each time {!} but BBC Good Food have a classic recipe
Yorkshire Provender Rustic Vegetable Broth with Kale, Lentils & Quinoa {find it in the chilled aisle with the soups - it's lovely!}
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with peppers and ricotta from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with peppers and ricotta from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
Deliciously Ella's classic stir fry from her book Deliciously Ella*
Jamie Oliver's roasted vegetables and halloumi traybake
Jamie Oliver's roasted vegetables and halloumi traybake
Anna Jones' carrot dahl from her book The Modern Cook's Year*
My parsnip and sweet potato soup, pictured above
Pasta with green pesto, frozen peas and broad beans {similar recipe here}
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with mushrooms and butternut squash from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
BBC Good Food's butternut squash and sage risotto
Rukmini Iyer's crispy gnocchi with mushrooms and butternut squash from her book The Green Roasting Tin*
BBC Good Food's butternut squash and sage risotto
Phil Vickery's French onion soup
Black bean tacos - lots of great recipes online; this one is a good starting point
The Londoner's Swedish meatballs
Jack Monroe's mixed bean goulash from her book A Girl Called Jack*
Dr Oetker's Ristorante Funghi pizza {because we love pizza as a treat!}
Madeleine Shaw's butter bean and cauliflower soup, from her book A Year of Beautiful Eating* {I can't find the recipe online for that one frustratingly, but let me know if you'd like it and I can post on here!}
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I hope you find something in the collection above that tempts you!
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