Tired from work? Bored of cooking for one? Looking for something
quick, cheap and easy (a meal I mean!)?
If you’re anything like me (always hungry), having walked
two miles home from work in the cold, tired and fed up, you just want a quick healthy
fix to feed you up. You want it to be
tasty and you aren’t too fussed what it looks like.
Here are a few fast meals I like after work. You don’t need many ingredients. Each dish costs less than £2 to make. Bulk ingredients can be used for more than
one meal. AND they all count towards
your FIVE A DAY!
Ham, Cheese and
Onion Omelette with Salad (Monday)
Ingredients:
2 medium free range eggs
2 slices or a handful or grated cheese (any you like really
but something which doesn’t take too long to melt, a mild cheddar maybe)
½ medium onion (sliced)
1 slice of cooked Ham roughly cut into chunky pieces (I like
a good slice of honey cured or breaded ham from a deli or butcher but packet
ham will do just fine too)
1 salad tomato
Salad leaves
Tbsp of olive oil and a little to drizzle on your salad
Salt and pepper
Option: low fat coleslaw
Method:
1)
Mix the eggs in a bowl or cup to combine them.
2)
Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium to high
heat. When the oil is hot put the sliced
onion into the pan and fry until beginning to soften. Put the onions to one side.
3)
Pour the eggs into the frying pan covering as
much of the base of the pan as possible without leaving gaps in the egg. Turn the heat down to medium.
4)
Leave the egg to cook for a minute or so until
there is a small area still uncooked in the middle of the omelette.
5)
Whilst the egg is cooking put a handful of salad
leaves and the tomato (cut into 6 or 8 pieces) onto one side of a plate and
drizzle with olive oil. (Option: pop
your coleslaw on the side if you want it too)
6)
Scatter the onion and ham around the omelette
and sprinkle over the grated cheese or place the cheese slices on opposite
sides of the omelette.
7)
As the cheese starts to melt use a spatula to
fold one side of the omelette onto the other so you are left with a half-moon
shape.
8)
Serve immediately with your side of salad.
Chorizo and
Pancetta Egg Fried Rice (Tuesday)
Ingredients:
70g of sliced chorizo roughly cut into chunks
2 slices of pancetta, prosciutto or bacon
2 medium free range eggs
½ a can of petit pois
½ a can of sweetcorn
½ a medium onion (sliced)
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp of olive oil
Soy sauce or hot sauce
Method:
1)
Place your rice in a saucepan over a
medium to high heat. Bring the rice to
boil then turn down the heat and let it simmer for around 10 minutes (the rice packet should guide you here).
2)
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan
on a medium to high heat. When the oil
is hot, fry the onion until almost softened.
Crush in the clove of garlic and cook until the garlic is fragrant.
3)
Add the petit pois and sweetcorn to the pan and
stir.
4)
Push the vegetables to one side in the pan and
crack one egg onto the clear side. Stir
it quickly to combine the white and the yolk and allow it to scramble. Once scrambled, stir the egg and vegetables
to combine.
5)
Reduce the heat to medium and add in the chopped
chorizo. Stir so that everything is
evenly combined.
6)
Now heat the remaining oil in another frying
pan. When sizzlingly hot, crack in one
egg for frying. Flip the hot oil over
the egg with a spatula. Add the two
slices of pancetta and leave both to fry.
7)
When the rice is cooked, drain and add it to the
frying pan with the vegetables, stirring to bring everything together.
8)
Once combined, put the fried rice on your plate
and top with the fried egg and pancetta.
9)
Pop a little soy sauce or hot sauce on the rice
to your taste.
Chorizo and Black
Olive Noodles (Wednesday)
Ingredients:
(At least) 70g of sliced chorizo
1 pepper (or the equivalent made up of yellow, red and green
peppers)
12-15 black pitted olives
Tsp Oregano
Tsp Basil
400g (1 can) of chopped tomatoes (buy these ready mixed with
herbs to avoid having to add the oregano and basil they’ll still taste good)
1 nest of egg noodles (I use these because they’re lighter
on the stomach than pasta and they cook much more quickly but spaghetti will
work great!)
Salt and pepper
Method:
1)
Bring the noodles to boil in a pan of salt water
(just a pinch of salt). Allow to simmer
for 4-5 minutes (don’t let them get soggy or sticky).
2)
Place a frying pan on medium to high heat and
pop in your sliced pepper(s). You don’t
need oil as there is enough juice in the pepper to prevent it burning but you
can add olive oil if you prefer. Cook
the peppers until they are starting to soften a little.
3)
Cut the olives in half and add them to the
pan.
4)
Add the chopped tomatoes (and herbs if you have
bought separate herbs) and allow the sauce to simmer until the excess juice
from the tomatoes has reduced.
5)
Cut your chorizo slices into chunks and add
them to the sauce. Add salt and pepper
to taste.
6)
Once the noodles have cooked, drain them and
return them to the empty pan. Pour the
sauce over the noodles and stir. Serve
whilst hot.
Sardine Penne
Pasta (Thursday)
Ingredients:
1 can of grilled sardines in brine
12-15 pitted black olives
400g (1 can) of chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Two handfuls of penne pasta (fresh or hard is fine)
Method:
1)
Bring the penne pasta to boil in salt water
(just a pinch of salt) then leave simmering for 8-10 minutes. Remove and drain the pasta when it is just
cooked or to taste.
2)
Cut the olives in half and add to a saucepan on
medium to high heat. Add the tomatoes
and reduce to a nice thick tomato sauce.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3)
Once the sauce and pasta are almost ready add
the sardines to the sauce to allow them to warm through.
4)
Add the drained pasta to the sauce, stir to
cover the pasta and serve.
5)
If you would like a richer sauce, add 2
tbsps of light double cream to the sauce whilst it is simmering.
