Easy to cook meals
I’ve started adding a note about what we ate in our house at the end of most posts partly because I’m always really inspired by whatever other people are making (thanks Libby for your great ‘Beefburgers with secret veggies stashed inside’ recipe this week - see above) but also as I do have a brain like a sieve it may help to remind me of some of the easy, yet tasty & nutritious meals I’ve cooked which everyone in this house has enjoyed.
I’m especially fond of recipes which only require one pan/pot to make as I’m not a huge fan of washing up when I could be reading, playing, gardening, chatting or sleeping instead.
Yesterday we ate (but it seemed inappropriate to add it to the end of a post about over population and scarce resources):
(Kids) Can’t remember (see, I told you I have a terrible memory!) - oh I know they had chocolate cake followed by chocolate krispie cakes as my lovely new friend Denise held a little birthday tea party for me and the kids at her house (and she’s got a 14 week old baby so she is clearly good at multi-tasking!)
(Grown-ups) Really nice mushroom risotto (with added bacon for Bealers who isn’t that fond of risotto)
I discovered while I was suffering from all-day morning sickness for the first 3 months of this year that I could quite happily eat risotto twice a day, every day. They are super easy to make and slightly therapeutic too as you have to watch them and stir in a lazy fashion once in a while.
Finely chop an onion and fry gently in large spoon of butter, add some risotto rice (I’m not one for measuring or being accurate with recipes) - perhaps half a packet, stir to coat the rice in butter, fry finely chopped smoked bacon and thinly sliced field mushroom, add a large glass of fairly nice white wine and let simmer. As the juices get soaked up add a large ladle of veg or chicken stock and keep repeating until the rice is cooked (about 20 mins). I chucked in a small handful of frozen peas near the end for extra colour and veg quota. Just before serving grate a generous handful of fresh Parmesan cheese in and give it a good stir. I serve it the consistency of creamy porridge but I guess some people like it saucier and some like it stodgier.
If you have any left over it’s really nice the next day cooked as little burger shaped patties. They go really crispy on the outside.