Day 1 Sunday Dinner - Finest Roast Lemon and Thyme Chicken Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 KG Chicken
1 Lemon Drizzle of rapeseed oil
6 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
6 Garlic Bulbs Fresh ground black pepper
2 Carrots
1 Onion
100ml Cider or Apple Juice
Method:
Pre-heat the oven 190 ° c
Brush the skin of the chicken with oil.
Season with black pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme.
Rub the zest of a lemon in around the breasts and legs of the chicken.
Cut the remaining lemon into slices and place around the chicken.
Place the garlic bulbs inside the chicken.
Peel the onion and carrots.
Slice carrots and onions in half and place on a tray.
Place the chicken on top of the carrots and onions.
Add cider or apple juice to the base of the tray and place in the oven.
Roast the chicken for 1 hour.
Allow to rest and then slice and serve with the juices from the tray drizzled over the chicken.
Brian's Tip: Roast 2 Chickens and keep one for the coming days for the lunches or dinners at home Monday Lunch: Wrap it Up A healthy Monday lunch option. Remove all the chicken from the carcass keeping the breast meat apart from the leg meat. Highly portable. Wholemeal wraps are delicious.
Brian recommends Caesar Salad Style or Chicken Ranch
Pesto and mayonnaise with crispy lettuce.
I wrap my filled wraps in greaseproof, then tin foil and this keeps them fresh for transit.
Day 2 Monday dinner - Veggie Noodles with Fried Egg Serves 4
5cm piece of fresh ginger
1 carrot peeled and cut into matchstick slices
1 red onion peeled & sliced
3 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
1 Red chilli sliced
1/3 broccoli head cut into florets
Hand full Green beans
4 scallions
2 table spoons toasted sesame seed oil
2 table spoons rapeseed oil
25 ml Soy Sauce
200g Egg Noodle
1 Fresh Lime
4 Eggs Method
For the noodles.
Place in boiling water for 1 minute and turn heat off and allow to sit in the water until stir fry is ready.
Fry 4 eggs and leave aside. Stir Fry: In a wok add the toasted sesame oil and rapeseed oil.
Add on medium heat the crushed garlic, chilli, ginger and fry for one minute.
Add the carrots and toss for a further one minute.
Add the broccoli florets and cook for two minutes then add the sliced red onion, followed after a minute by the green beans.
Add the soy sauce and then the scallions and toss together until satisfied all is cooked but retaining crunch.
Drain the noodles and add to the wok with the vegetables and mix together. Serve in a bowl with a fried egg on top.
Tuesday lunch - Healthy, homemade pot noodle
Add some cooked chicken or cooked sliced ham to the vegetables and noodles, and warm up with some chicken stock 100ml per person to create a nutritious ramen bowl style of lunch. Boil some eggs, cool, shell and quarter. Serve the eggs warm and add into your bowl or cup.
You can sprinkle on some toasted sesame seeds for added flavour. VEGETARIAN OPTION – use vegetable stick instead of chicken or ham. Add cashe nuts instead.
Day 3 Tuesday’s dinner - Slow Braised Beef Serves:6
Ingredients
1kg beef of your choice ( topside, silverside, eye of round, pot roast)
1 onion,
finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 large parsnip, finely chopped
2 Sticks celery washed and diced
2 cloves garlic crushed
6 mushrooms sliced
Drizzle of rapeseed oil
Knob of butter
200ml red wine
50g Tomatoes puree
500ml beef stock
fresh ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
40g plain flour
Few sprigs fresh time
Method
Preheat oven to 160°C.
Heat rapeseed oil in an ovenproof pot brown the beef on all sides.
Add the butter and season the beef with salt and pepper.
Remove the beef and set aside. In the same pot then add in the onions, garlic, bay leaf and thyme.
Sweat for a few minutes then add the celery, leeks, carrots and parsnips.
Sweat for 4-5 minutes stirring all the time then add the red wine and allow the wine to reduce by half.
Stir in the flour followed by the tomato puree and combine.
Then add the warm stock and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the sliced mushroom and return the beef to the pot.
Transfer to the slow cooker and cook 4/5 hours or until meat falls apart.
The beef will fall apart when cooked and a rich sauce will accompany the beef.
Wednesday’s lunch - Beef Bring in Burrito Break up the cooked beef using two forks to pull apart for a pulled beef effect.
Grab some Corn Tortillas, a chipotle sauce or whatever hot sauce you have in the fridge.
Fill the tortilla or corn shells with the beef mixed with the sauce and feel free to add cheddar cheese, lettuce or whatever else you fancy for a power filled lunch.
If having lunch at home grab some nachos chips and warm the beef then scatter over the nachos with grated cheese, sour cream and maybe some chopped chillies.
Pulled beef is also a great filler for a baked potato. Combines brilliantly with lots of different toppings.
Day 4 Wednesday dinner – Pork Meatball Pasta Bake Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp Rapeseed Oil
1 onion, diced
4 Mushrooms sliced
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, chopped
400g Minced Pork
400g tomatoes passata
300ml vegetable stock
200g penne pasta
50g Breadcrumbs
50g Cheese ( of your choice )
Fresh Ground Pepper
Fresh Basil Method
Preheat the oven to 200C
Season the minced pork with pepper and sea salt.
Shape into small meat balls and set aside.
Heat a large frying.
Add the oil.
Sweat the onion and mushroom with thyme & pepper for 3-4 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for two more minutes.Add the pork mince balls to the pan and fry on all sides turning them gently.
Add the tomato Passata and vegetable stock, season with pepper.
Gently simmer for 8 minutes.
Meanwhile cook the penne pasta in boiling water for 8 minutes then drain and add to the simmering tomatoes.
Transfer to an earthenware dish.
Sprinkle with fresh ripped basil.
Mix the grated cheese and breadcrumbs together and lightly layer on top.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Brian’s Tip - Replace with Chicken, Bacon or Seafood for an alternative option. Thursday’s lunch – pasta bake side dish with bruschetta Spice it up by adding some chilli oil drizzled on top. Warm up some pasta bake and serve as small plate style served with toasted bruschetta.
DAY 5 Thursday dinner - Mid Week Lasagne Serves 8
Ingredients sauce:
drizzle rapeseed oil
1 Onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 bay leaf
500g minced beef
350ml Beef Stock
Glass red wine
75g tomato puree
400g chopped tomatoes
2 tsp dried oregano
Fresh ground black Pepper
White sauce:
700ml milk
70g Butter
70g Plain Flour
1 bay leaf
100g Cheddar
ground black pepper
pinch nutmeg
300g Lasagne sheets
30g Parmesan Cheese
Method: Pre heat the oven to 200°C.
Heat a pot and add a drizzle of oil.
Add the beef and brown the meat.
Add the chopped onion, garlic and bay leaf and cook for 4-5 minutes then add the oregano.
Add the wine and allow the wine to reduce by half then add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes.
Season with fresh ground black pepper.
Add the beef stock and allow to simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally.
While it’s simmering make the white sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan and adding the flour.
When you have combined the butter and flour together add the milk, bayleaf, nutmeg and pepper.
Whisk all the time to allow the sauce to thicken on a simmer heat.
Once thickened add half the grated cheddar to the sauce.
Set the sauce aside.
Soak the lasagne sheets in warm water for at least 15 minutes before assembling.
To assemble: Spoon a thin layer of meat sauce into the dish, then a little cheese sauce.
Put a layer of lasagne on top, add more of the meat and cheese sauces, repeat a further layer. Finish with lasagne sheets and cheese sauce
. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Bake for 1 hour
Allow to stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Brians Tip:
Cook some baked potatoes in alongside the lasagne as its cooking. Serve with baked potato and salad Friday’s lunch - Left-over Lasagne Fritters. Great as snacks or centre of the table. Cut the lasagne when cold into squares approximately the size of a nugget. Once cut put them on a tray and freeze for half an hour to firm them up.
Beat 4 eggs and season with pepper. In a separate bowl mix panko breadcrumbs and 60g of grated parmesan cheese.
Heat a deep fat fryer to 190 degrees C.
Place each piece of lasagne inot the egg and straight into the breadcrumbs and cheese to coat each piece. Place on a tray one by one until all the pieces are coated.
Gently drop into the oil and cook until crumb is golden and serve by grating more parmesan on top.
Great as a hand-held snak or with salad and tomato salsa as lunch.
DAY 6 - Friday’s Fish dinner - Pan Fried Hake Serves 4
Ingredients
600g Hake Zest of a Lemon
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Drizzle Rapeseed Oil
Salsa: 1 Red Onion Diced
1 Yellow Pepper Diced
1 Red Pepper Diced
1 Courgette Diced
2 Cloves Garlic Crushed
1 Lemon Zest
4 Small Tomatoes deseeded & diced
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Pinch Seas Salt
1-Tablespoon Rapeseed Oil
6-8 Leaves Fresh Basil
Method
Salsa:
In a pot heat the rapeseed oil for the salsa then add the chopped garlic, red onion and sweat for 2 minutes.
Add the diced peppers, courgette and continue to sweat on a gentle heat for 4-5 minutes.
Now add the fresh ground pepper, sea salt, tomatoes, lemon zest and basil.
Combine and sweat for 2 further minutes and remove from the heat. Fish: Average Portion Size Heat a frying pan and add the oil plus a knob of butter.
Add each piece of hake and cook for 2 minutes then turn each piece and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Squeeze some lemon juice onto the fish and season with black pepper.
Using a tablespoon drizzle the juices in the pan over the fish by tilting the frying pan slightly.
Switch off the heat. Spoon some salsa onto your plate and arrange pieces of the fish on top. Add some further salsa to the top of the fish and serve. Saturday lunch - Fish Cakes with Salsa
Use the same salsa as it will last in the fridge for 5 days.
To make the fish cakes use the cooked fish fillets and add the same quantity of mashed potato to the fish in a bowl.
Gently mix together and combine with a beaten egg.
Add 50g of plain flour and divide the mix into approximately 80g size and shape into round typical style potato cakes
Heat a frying pan and add a drizzle of rapeseed oil and knob of butter.
Dust each fish cake in flour and place in the pan and cook until a golden colour is achieved.
Then turn over and repeat on the other side.
Reduce the heat and once warm serve with the salsa and some salad leaves.
DAY 7 Saturday Fake-away Curry Night dinner - Tikka Masala Serves 4-5
Ingredients
400g chicken breast Cut into Cubes
Marinade
1 fresh red chilli Thumb Size Piece fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 tablespoon Rapeseed Oil
1 pinch paprika
1-tablespoon garam masala
1-teaspoon tomato puree
3-4 sprigs of fresh coriander Sauce:
1 Red onion diced
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground coriander
1 pinch turmeric
1 red pepper Diced
100 ml plain yoghurt
400g tinned tomatoes
50 ml single cream
50g Ground Almonds
Method:
To make the marinade blend the chili, garlic, ginger and half the oil in food processor.
Then add the paprika, garam masala & tomato puree.
Put the paste in a bowl and add the cubed chicken.
Allow to marinade as long as you can or even overnight.
In some oil, fry the onions, peppers and remaining spices cooking gently for about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes and the yoghurt.
Add the chicken pieces and simmer for 12 -15 minutes.
Just before serving add the cream and serve with chopped coriander leaves and ground almonds sprinkled over the curry.
Brian’s Tip - Make the paste in advance or double the recipe for the paste as it keeps for weeks in the fridge.
Fragrant pilau rice
450g Rice 1 onion, finely chopped
20g butter 6 cardamom pods 8 cloves or pinch ground cloves 1 cinnamon stick pinch saffron threads
2 bay leaves
Pinch Salt
600ml/1 pint hot chicken stock,
vegetable stock or water
method.
To make sure you get lovely fluffy rice, wash it in several changes of cold water, then leave to soak for about 10 minutes in fresh cold water.
If you’re in a hurry, place in a sieve and wash under the cold tap for a minute.
Cook the onion in the butter for around 5 minutes until softened.
Add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and saffron with bay leaves and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the rice and stir then add in the stock.
Bring to the boil and then cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn the heat down low and leave to cook for 14 minutes before turning off the heat.
The rice should have absorbed all the water and will just need fluffing up with a fork.
Add a knob of butter before serving.
Refreshing Curry Accompaniment
Ingredients:100g Natural Yoghurt 1 Clove garlic Crushed Half of Cucumber peeled & Chopped 1 Table Spoon Fresh Lemon Juice 5 Chopped Mint Leaves Method: Peel and chop cucumber, mix chopped garlic, lemon juice and yoghurt together then add chopped cucumber and mix. Lastly add in Mint Chopped leaves Sunday lunch – Put it on Pizza
Pitta bread or flatbreads are delicious. Pop them in the toaster to warm them up and then fill them with chicken tikka mix.
Pizza base cover with the tikka sauce and then warm in the grill or oven.
Tikka is also an excellent eat as a lovely filler for breads, rolls and baps.