Category Archives: Easy Weekday Dinner

Lamb and sweet potato slow cooker casserole

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ingredients

  • 1 x  3 second spray Always Fresh Olive Oil Extra Light Olive Oil Spray
  • 4 large lean lamb leg chop, approx 600g, cut into 4cm cubes
  • 2 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tsp ground coriander seeds
  • 8 whole cardamom pods, split
  • 1 medium sweet potato, cut into large chunks
  • 2 whole stock cube, dissolved in 2 cups hot water

method

  1. Place lamb, onions, garlic, coriander, cardamom, sweet potato and stock in a 5-litre capacity slow cooker. Season well with salt and pepper.
  2. Cover and cook on a low setting for 7 hours.
  3. Serve with steamed green beans or broccoli.

notes

  • Split the cardamom pods down centre (not all way through) with a large sharp knife. This will help cardamom flavour to infuse in casserole. Unfortunately some of the black seeds may come out during the cooking process, so be careful not to eat them. They aren’t at all harmful to your health, just a little full-on in flavour.
  • This casserole will taste even better the next day, after the flavours have had a chance to develop.
  • This will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days, and is suitable to freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
  • This recipe was written by Weight Watchers as part of Kidspot’s Positively Life Changing initiative.
  • Use 3 second spray Always Fresh Olive Oil Extra Light Olive Oil Spray, and lean lamb leg chop, approx 600g, cut into 4cm cubes. Cut sweet potato into large chunks. Dissolve whole stock cubes in hot water.

http://www.kidspot.com.au/kitchen/recipes/lamb-and-sweet-potato-slow-cooker-casserole-1294

SPICY BLACK BEANS & TOMATOES

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INGREDIENTS
  • 1 lb. (2 cups) dry black beans $1.20
  • 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes $0.88
  • 4 cloves garlic $0.18
  • ½ Tbsp cumin $0.05
  • 1 med jalapeno $0.13
  • to taste salt $0.05
  • 5 cups water $0.00
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Sort through your beans to remove any stones or damaged beans. Rinse the beans well to remove any dust. Place the beans in the slow cooker.
  2. Also add to the slow cooker: a can of diced tomatoes (including juices), 4 cloves of garlic (smashed or roughly chopped), one jalapeno (diced and seeds removed), and ½ Tbsp of cumin. Do not add salt at this point. Add 5 cups of water, secure the lid and set the heat to high.
  3. After four hours open the slow cooker and check the beans to make sure they are tender. They should be fully cooked at this point but if they aren’t, simply cook them longer and check again after a couple hours. Season the beans with salt (I used about ½ tsp).
  4. Either serve the beans immediately or divide up and freeze in single or double serving sized portions.
NOTES
Additional options: diced onion, red pepper flakes, bay leaves (1 or 2) or low sodium chicken stock in place of water.

Cabbage, yeah cabbage, but super yum!

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Conny’s Version adds half a cup of barley/DIBKEL, and cumin or Kümell seeds, plus is stewed with 1/2 l water for 3/4 of an hour. We used this time 1 tub of light sour cream and it was de-ee-licious.

Suspiciously delicious cabbage

When you look at the list of ingredients, this dish doesn’t seem like much. But the resulting dish is creamy, infused with the flavours of onion, garlic, and ginger, and amazingly addictive. So very much more than the sum of its parts.

Serves 2-4
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 heaped tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 medium green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
200ml double cream
Salt and black pepper to taste

1 In a very large pan, heat the butter over a medium heat until it is melted and starting to bubble a little. Stir in the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.

2 Stir in the ginger and cook for about a minute. Then, add the cabbage, stirring well to coat it with the butter and other flavours. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes, until the cabbage is soft and caramelised.

3 Turn the heat down to low and stir in the cream, making sure to scrape any browned bits up from the pan bottom. Cover and continue to cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Uncover, add salt and pepper to taste. Then cook for a few more minutes, stirring once or twice, to let some of the liquid evaporate. Adjust the seasonings as desired and serve.

Philly Beef Stroganoff

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http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/ultimate-creamy-beef-stroganoff-121726.aspx

1 tub  (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Spread
2 Tbsp.  milk
1/2 tsp.  garlic powder
1-1/2 lb.  beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1/2 cup  chopped onions
1 Tbsp.  butter
1 pkg.  (8 oz.) sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 tsp.  pepper
1/3 cup  fat-free reduced-sodium beef broth
3 cups  hot cooked noodles
1 Tbsp.  chopped fresh parsley

Cauliflower Gratin

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Ingredients

1 smallish head cauliflower, cut into large florets
25 g butter
25g flour
1 ¾ cups (375 ml) milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 ½ cups tasty cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Steam or microwave the cauliflower until tender. This will take about 6 minutes, covered on high in the microwave.

Make sure any excess moisture is drained off and arrange the florets in individual gratin dishes. Try to keep the “flower” side up where possible.

To make cheese sauce, in a medium saucepan melt butter and add flour over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it gathers into a dough.

Continue to stir for another minute or so. This begins to cook the flour.

Add a little milk – about ¼ cup. This will incorporate fairly quickly into the dough and will once again come away from the sides of the pan. Once this happens you can add another ¼ cup milk and repeat until all the milk has been added.

Stir in mustard, then add one cup of the cheese and stir until it melts. Taste, and season with salt and pepper if required.Pour the cheese sauce over the florets, making sure there are no gaps.

Mix the remaining cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the cauliflower.

Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

 

Fish, Honey Lime Fish

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Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the fish and marinade:
  • 4 (4-5oz) fish fillets (thawed if frozen)
  • Juice and zest of 1 lime
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1½ Tbsp honey
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
For dredging and cooking:
  • ½c flour (I tried both white flour and whole wheat pastry flour with good results)
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. Assemble marinade by combining lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a gallon-sized zip-top bag or shallow container with a lid. Add fish and marinate in the refrigerator anywhere from 1 hour up to 24 hours*.
  2. When ready to cook, combine flour with salt and pepper on a plate. Remove each fish fillet from the marinade and dredge lightly with the flour on both sides (just a light, light coating).
  3. Heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook fillets 2 at a time for 3-4 minutes per side or until opaque and browned (this works best if you don’t disturb the fish much while letting it cook).
  4. Serve with lime wedges or peach salsa.
Notes
*If you want to plan this meal in advance, you can prepare the fish and marinade in a large freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. Move frozen fish and marinade to the refrigerator the morning you plan to serve the fish and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator. It will marinate while it thaws!