3 Easy Suppers To Try Mid-Week
All products on this page have been selected by our editorial team, however we may make commission on some products.
Crispy Garlic Egg-Fried Rice
Egg-fried rice is made about once every two weeks here. It's a meal we know my son Dylan will eat and it's what I crave when I'm not feeling like thinking about food, which is surprisingly often. Here, some crispy garlic adds texture and sweet toasty flavour to the rice. Garlic crisped in oil like this will improve just about any meal, so once you have mastered it you can top all your meals with it (and trust me, you just might). The rice comes with an easy little smacked cucumber and radish salad which lifts and adds crunch. I've kept the rice simple, but if you wanted to you could add some shredded greens or blanched frozen peas as well. If you are vegan, you could add some crumbled soft tofu instead of the eggs.
If you don't have leftover rice, cook around 170g of rice now, to give 500g cooked rice.
With a rolling pin gently smack 1 cucumber and 150g of trimmed radishes so they split but don't break up completely. Chop the cucumber into 2cm pieces and put them into a serving bowl with the radishes. Add 1 tablespoon of crispy chilli oil, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup and the zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lime and mix until everything is coated in the dressing.
Thinly slice 8 peeled cloves of garlic with a knife or very carefully with a mandoline. Put 3 tablespoons of neutral oil into a small frying pan or saucepan and add the sliced garlic and 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds. Put the pan over a medium-low heat and allow everything to cook slowly for 3-5 minutes until the garlic is very lightly golden and crisp. Be careful here to cook until just golden. Taking the garlic too far or too brown will make it bitter, so don't be tempted to cook it on a high heat. Drain the garlic and seeds with a sieve (keeping the oil), then leave to cool on some kitchen paper.
Beat 4 eggs well with another tablespoon of soy sauce. Put the reserved oil in a large wok or frying pan over a high heat, then, once hot, add 500g of cooked jasmine or basmati rice and spread it out in an even layer to heat through for a minute. Now stir until all the rice is coated in a little oil.
Push most of the rice to one side of the pan. Add the beaten egg to the empty side, stir the egg quickly to fry and partly cook it, then stir it into the rice and cook for another minute or two. Take off the heat.
Mix a quarter of the crispy garlic and sesame seeds into the cucumber and radish salad. Divide the rice between four bowls and put some of the salad on the side of each. Finish the rice with the remaining crispy garlic and sesame, and top with 1 bunch of very finely sliced spring onions.
Cauliflower Caponata
Caponata is a masterclass in balancing sweet, sour and salty. It's most often made with aubergine, which you have to fry in lots of olive oil first, making it less of a weeknight situation. This buttery cauliflower version is all done in the oven and to me it's just as good as the aubergine version. It has the texture of a stew and can be eaten warm as an antipasto, as is most common in Italy, or on toast or tossed through pasta.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan. Put a cauliflower, broken into roughly 4cm florets, 3 red onions, peeled and cut into eighths, and 3 sticks of celery, cut into 2cm pieces, into a large, high-sided baking tray with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and a little sea salt and pepper. Toss to coat, then roast for 25 minutes, until everything is slightly charred and starting to soften. Turn the oven down to 200°C/180°C Fan.
Add two 400g tins of plum tomatoes, breaking them in your hands as you do so, along with 100g stone-in green or black olives (stones removed), 3 tablespoons capers and 50g raisins. Give everything a good mix, mashing slightly with a fork, and return to the oven for 40 minutes, or until everything is soft and sticky.
Once ready, and while the mix is still piping hot, add another tablespoon of vinegar, toss through a handful of parsley leaves and serve. Finish with a very generous dousing of extra virgin olive oil to bring it all together.
Traybake Lemon Dal With Pickled Green Chillies
Dal is a staple of our weeknight cooking. It's the dinner I never get bored of. I have a few favourites I make on rotation: coconut, lemon and now this traybaked tomato one. This dal is made in the oven, so it's very hands-off. The tinned tomatoes are roasted first to give a deeper hit of tomato flavour. Serve this with a pot of rice, some parathas, some salted yoghurt and chutney.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan. Add 1 tablespoon of coriander seeds and 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds to a high-sided baking tray and roast in the oven for 2-4 minutes until fragrant, then remove and tip into a pestle and mortar and crush before returning to the tray. Drain two 400g tins of tomatoes and add to the tray. Use a potato masher or the back of a large spoon/fork to crush the tomatoes to release their juice and flatten them a little and spread them evenly over the tray.
Add 2 tablespoons of ghee or oil, then grate in the zest of 1 unwaxed lemon and 1 thumb of ginger and add 8 thinly sliced cloves of garlic. Toss the tomatoes in the spices and roast for 30 minutes until sticky and intensified in flavour.
Once the tomatoes have had their time, remove them from the oven and stir in 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric, a cinnamon stick, 1 tablespoon of Kashmiri chilli powder and 1 tablespoon of yellow mustard seeds. Add 300g of split red lentils and pour over a 400ml tin of coconut milk and 800ml of hot vegetable stock. Cover tightly with foil and return to the oven for another 40 minutes.
After 40 minutes, carefully take the tray out of the oven and remove the foil. Stir the dal, then season well with sea sale. Tear 250g of paneer or firm tofu over the top of the dal and squeeze over the juice of the 2 zested lemons. Return to the oven for a further 15 minutes or until the edges of the paneer are beginning to turn golden, the dal is creamy and the lentils are soft.
Serve with rice, parathas, yoghurt and chutney and the pickled chilli and coriander mixture. Will keep in the fridge for up to seven days.
Easy Wins by Anna Jones is available to buy here
DISCLAIMER: We endeavour to always credit the correct original source of every image we use. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please contact us at info@sheerluxe.com.