Simple Suppers

This week I've been very busy with my freelance marketing contracts which meant less time to concentrate on the cooking. I needed to come up with a few interesting ideas for tasty suppers that would mean minimal fuss and be ready within 20 minutes. With a big trip to Las Vegas coming up I also thought it would be good idea to opt for a pre-trip cleanse so have restricted myself to low carb (even lower than normal), no meat, no dairy, no caffeine and shock horror – no alcohol.
So how to come up with the weekly plan that would suit both Thomas and I and keep within my restrictions?

Monday – Penne Pasta with Courgette and Fennel
Boil the water, pour it on the pasta, simmer.
Grate 1-2 courgettes, finely dice half an onion, crush 1 clove of garlic and sauté together in a pan add a pinch of fennel seeds then cook with the lid on for 5 minutes. Add some of the pasta cooking water (about 2 ladles) to form a sauce.
Drain the pasta and tip into the courgette sauce, mix, serve.
Hey presto! A tasty healthy supper within 15 minutes!

Tuesday – Salad ; Tomato and avocado, roasted Mediterranean vegetables, red cabbage, carrot and beetroot.
Most of the salad items I have prepared ahead in the ‘fridge. All I needed to do was assemble the ingredients.  In true German style Thomas had sausages and mustard with his!
Simple Supper ready in 10 minutes

Vitamin Power!

Wednesday – Vegetable stir fry with coconut milk & rice noodles
Similar in style to my Asian noodle soup, the longest time is spent chopping the vegetables and making my own spice paste.
Heat a wok, add 1tbls sesame oil, add 1tbls spicy paste, add chopped carrots, chopped red and yellow peppers and broccoli florets. Coat veg in paste then add half a cup of coconut milk and half a cup of water. Simmer or 5 minutes then add chopped bok choi. Thomas had his with the rice noodles and the sauce, I had no noodles and no sauce!
Total prep and cooking time 20 minutes!

Thursday – Spicy Pumpkin Soup and homemade rosemary bread
This seemed like a bit of a cheat – only soup for dinner? But given that Thomas would be coming home late and we were off to our local pub quiz, I needed something superfast and easy to reheat the moment he came in the door. Soup with fresh bread was the perfect solution.  Working from home I was able to bake the bread during the day as it only takes 15 minutes to mix the ingredients and knead the dough, the rest is proving and baking. But the soup took a bit longer than expected given that the gas ran out. Doh! But the lovely delivery guy came by 2 hours later with a new tank and I finished up cooking the soup – voila!
And just so you don’t think I starve the hubby, he was given a packed lunch of lentil lasagne, fruit, veggies and yoghurts whilst I tucked into salads from the fridge.

Meat-free no carb

Friday – Lentil Stuffed Peppers with salads
In the freezer were 2 jars of lentil mix left over from the lasagna made last week, it really does pay to prep extra ahead if you have a busy schedule! Cut 2 peppers in half, fill with lentil mixture, top with mozzarella cheese (for Thomas) and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile prep the salad – we had red cabbage, orange and carrot with walnuts,with orange juice and mustard dressing + tomato, olives, basil and avocado
Total prep and cooking time 20 minutes

Its been a challenging week; swapping out the morning tea for lemon and ginger water, no mid-morning coffee, no butter or cheese on crusty bread and only soda water in the pub (Ah soooo boring!) plus I’ve still managed to fit in 1 short (6km) and 1 long (10km) run.

It was good but now I’m done in and ready for a weekend of gardening, shopping and cooking – oh jeez where’s the wine?