You may be used to cooking at home, or perhaps not so much as you’re always eating out or going to family meals made by mum or dad.
That’s all about to change however, as now it’s time to improve your cooking skills living independently!
Below are basic but scrumptious recipes to get you started on a taste adventure, that we’ll be adding to every week…
Thai Green Curry
This one is easy peasy to make from scratch and tastes so good.
Using a jarred sauce is always a quick option, but there’s something a lot more satisfying and stimulating to cook your own dish. Also, by buying these ingredients they can last for up to 6 months in your cupboard re-use more than once!
Ingredients:
- LIDL Thai Green Curry paste – 89p
- LIDL Carribean choice coconut milk – 63p
- micro-rice – 50p
- your choice of meat – between £2 and £5 for 2 portions
- peppers – 50p
- garlic – 50p
- lime – 30p
Method:
1. Lightly oil your pan and begin to fry your meat of choice on a medium/high heat.
2. When meat starts to sizzle, add peppers and garlic to the pan to soften whilst your meat finishes browning off.
3. After 2 mins, add full tin of coconut milk and stir.
4. Add 1 heaped teaspoon of curry paste to mixture and stir (if you also wish to add some veg like baby corn and broccoli, do so at this point so it still retains some crunch)
6. Reduce to a low heat
5. Cut a slit in the top of the micro-rice and put in microwave on full power for 1 minute.
6. Take pan off the heat and spoon curry on to a plate with the rice. Garnish with a quarter lime
Mexican stuffed peppers with salad and chips/tortilla chips
Mexican Stuffed Peppers make an incredible dinner any night of the week. Tender and colorful bell peppers are filled with a deliciously seasoned beef and rice filling.
Ingredients:
- 2 bell peppers (either green, red or yellow)
- beef mince
- garlic
- small onion
- chilli powder
- mexican seasoning
- frozen chips (or if perffered tortilla chips)
- tomato sauce
- cheese
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash and seed bell peppers and cut in half from top to bottom. Place in a greased baking dish and set aside.
2. Brown ground beef, onion and garlic. Drain any fat. Stir in chili powder, cumin, diced tomatoes, 2/3 cup of the enchilada sauce. Let simmer 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and stir in cooked rice.
3. Divide beef mixture into the pepper halves. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.
4. Add portion of frozen chips and bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until peppers are cooked and cheese is melted.
5. Top with your favorite taco toppings and serve.
Stir-fry
Stir fry is delicious and can whipped up within a matter of minutes.
Ingredients:
- 4 chicken breasts, sliced into strips
- 300g beansprouts
- 200g mushrooms, any variety, thinly sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- packet of preferred stir fry sauce or soy sauce
- optional: baby corn, cabbage, broccoli, carrots
Method:
1. Heat oil in wok, on a high temp. Add the chicken, stir fry for around 3mins, then add the onion.
2. When the onion has turned golden, add a splash of soy sauce, along with the mushrooms and spring onions.
3. Stir-fry for around 4 mins, till the vegetables have softened, then add the bean sprouts, and another splash of soy sauce.
4. Cook for around 2 mins, before adding the egg noodles (followed by another 2mins of frying).
5. Garnish as necessary whilst serving. Enjoy!
Spaghetti & meatballs
An easy and traditional dish, which can also be turned in to a vegetarian meal by replacing the meatballs with marinated tofu.
Ingredients:
- beef or pork meatballs
- grated cheese or parmesan
- spaghetti
- chopped tomatoes
- onion
- garlic
- beef stock cube
- tomato puree
- bay leaf
Method:
1. Put your pan on a medium/high heat with a tablespoon of vegetable oil
2. Once pan is steaming, add your meatballs to the pan and brown off. Then add chopped onions to soften
3. Put a generous handful of spaghetti in to a separate pan and boil
4. Once meatballs are almost cooked, add chopped tomatoes, garlic and bay leaf. Leave to simmer
5. After 10 minutes, add 2 teaspoons of tomato puree and a beef stock cube then stir
6. Drain spaghetti and plate up
7. Take pan off the heat and serve accordingly with spaghetti
8. Drizzle cheese on top and serve!
Fajitas
Need a simple, vibrant midweek meal that you’ll love? Put together these easy chicken fajitas and people can serve up their own DIY masterpieces
Ingredients:
- tortillas
- red and yellow peppers
- red onion
- chicken breasts
- paprika, chili and garlic powder or fajita seasoning
- chopped tomatoes, garlic clove, chilli flakes, lime juice and corridander
- lettuce and cucumber
- sour cream and lime to taste
Method:
1. Put your pan on a medium/high heat and begin to brown off the chicken chunks, chop and add peppers and onion too as these take a while to soften
2. Add generous amount of fajita seasoning and garlic and stir
3. Grab a second pan to put on a medium heat, and add copped tomatoes, chilli flakes, garlic and half the juice of a lime to simmer. This is your salsa
4. Heat tortillas under the grill or microwave
5. Put pans on a heatproof mat on your table, and serve with your lettuce and cucumber salad, sour cream, salsa and lime. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading, and check back next week for 3 more new recipes for you to try out!
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