Spicy Prawn and Chorizo Rice!

A favourite recipe (in our house) for an easy and tasty one-pot meal. It takes about 40 minutes to make, will serve two generous portions and costs about £2.50 each.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic glove

1 red chilli - seeded and chopped

200g chorizo sausage - skinned and cut into slices

200g rice

1 tsp paprika

2 pints chicken stock - made using a jelly or a cube

100g frozen peas

200g raw shelled tiger prawns - thawed if frozen

100g cherry tomatoes, halved

How to make

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the garlic, onion, chillies and chorizo for a few minutes until the onion has gone soft.

Stir in the rice and paprika, then pour in the stock, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every now and again.

Tip in the peas, season and cook for another 7-10 minutes, stirring until the rice is tender. iIf it gets too dry add some boiling water.

Stir in the prawns and cook for a few minutes until the prawns turn pink.

Check to see if it needs any more seasoning before serving.

Thai Red Chicken Curry with sticky rice!

A tasty curry which is quick and easy and really nice with Thai sticky rice.
This recipe will serve 2, it takes about 25 minutes to make and will cost £2.00 each.

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
2 chicken breasts - skinned and cut into chunks
3 tbsp red curry paste 
180ml coconut milk
2 tsp dried Thai herbs - kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and sweet basil leaves
150g sticky rice

How to make

Heat the oil in a frying pan.

Add the red curry paste and 1 tbsp of the coconut milk and mix together for about 3 minutes.

Add the chicken and stir in to coat the meat with the paste.

Stir in the rest of the coconut milk and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 10 minutes - the sauce shouldn't be too thick.

Meanwhile cook the rice according to the instructions on the pack - you'll need to simmer it for about 15 minutes on the hob.

Add the herbs and continue to simmer for about 4 more minutes.

If you have any coriander and/or red chillies (finely sliced) you can add these to finish off the dish.

Chilli con carne with rice!

A winter warmer that is quick and easy to make - this will serve two people for dinner and there will be enough left to use as a topping for a jacket potato.
This will take about half an hour to make and it'll cost less than £2.00 each.

Ingredients

250g lean minced beef
Tin or pack of chopped tomatoes
Tin of red kidney beans in a chilli sauce
100g mushrooms - chopped into quarters 
1 tsp chilli powder
150 g easy cook rice

How to make

Brown the minced beef in a frying pan until brown.

Add the tomatoes and the kidney beans and mix together.

Taste and if you'd like it to be a bit hotter add the chilli powder and leave to simmer on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and stir well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the rice following the instructions on the pan.

Serve the chilli piled onto the rice - nice with tortilla chips!

Pan Fried Salmon with noodles & veg in a sweet chilli sauce!

This pan fried salmon is quick, easy, tasty and healthy. It only takes about 20 minutes to make and will serve two with generous portions but costs £3.75 each!

Ingredients

2 tbsp of vegetable oil
2 pieces of salmon
1 bag fresh egg noodles
4 tbsps of sweet chilli sauce
Pack of stir-fry veg - mine included red onion, garlic, chilli, mushrooms, mangetout, fine beans, pak choi, tender stem broccoli and coriander 

How to make

Heat half of the oil in a small frying pan and pan fry the salmon steaks for about 5 minutes on each side, half way through cooking pour some of the chilli sauce on top of the salmon and cook on that side to glaze it.

In the meantime heat a large pan or wok and add the oil, when it is hot add all the stir fry veg except for the leaves and the coriander.

Cook for 4 minutes.

Add the noodles, the leaves, the coriander and the sweet chilli sauce and cook for another 3 minutes until everything is hot.

Serve with the salmon on top!

Pork & Pea puff pastry pie!

This is a pie for four people - it's quite tricky to make and took me about 20 minutes to prep everything and a total of 45 minutes to cook. It's good to eat if you've got the time to spend on it and costs less than £2.00 each.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion - finely chopped
1 garlic clove - crushed
2 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
500g smoked bacon joint - trim the fat off and cut it into cubes
20g pack parsley sauce mix
300ml semi-skimmed milk
250g fresh broccoli, cut into small pieces
200g frozen peas
Pack of ready rolled puff pastry
Small egg - beaten

How to make

Preheat the oven to 180 oC, fan 160oC, Gas 4.

In a large pan heat the oil and cook the onion for 5 mins until soft.

Add the garlic, carrots and bacon and cook for a further 5 mins.

Meanwhile make up the parsley sauce following the pack instructions using the milk.

Stir it into the pan with the bacon mix and add the broccoli and peas.

Season with black pepper and pour the mixture into a pie dish.

Unroll the puff pastry and cut into 2cm wide strips - arrange these over the top of the dish and trim any excess.

Brush the beaten egg over the top and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until the pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling.

I had some pastry left over so made some cheese straws - I mixed some grated cheese into the pastry and re-rolled it out and then cut into strips.I brushed them with the left over beaten egg and then twisted the strips and put them on a greased baking tray.
I then put them in the oven with the pie and baked them for 20 mins.