The Week in Recipes: gosh I eat out of bowls a lot

Welcome back to cooking with two lazy cheapskates, where cooking can be easy as sneezing, tasty as gourmet, and within budget of a sinking economy. We still haven’t quite grasped a “theme” week, where we taste culinary delights from mostly one part of the world, but we used up everything in the fridge again and had no waste, which is our aim. Not only does waste suck for the environment but also your wallet, both things I want to protect.

SO, let’s get on with it!

Tuesday

Nana’s “Magic” Soup

My soup did not turn out as smooth and creamy as the picture promised, but I think I know why. I make all my soup in a soup maker – the best kitchen appliance I have ever bought – and for the first time I didn’t boil my stock cube before setting it off, which I think definitely makes the vegetables mushy (easy to blend into smoothness) and makes the soup properly piping hot at the end. I also think I’ll use normal coconut milk next time and not ‘light’ coconut milk as instructed, because there will be a next time! Despite not turning out as expected, I still really enjoyed this. A mouthful of tasty flavours that really compliment each other.

Wednesday

Kale and Walnut Pesto

I found this in Food Lover magazine, it’s so easy it’s criminal. As your cook your spaghetti, take a big handful of kale leaves, a handful of walnuts, a squeeze of lemon, a garlic clove, and a large glug of olive oil. Blend those all together until a paste, add a bit more oil if it’s looking too dry. Drain the spaghetti, mix together, cover with parmesan cheese. Boom. No effort, just throw all the pesto ingredients into the blender and slap it on your pasta.

Thursday

Macaroni Cheese with Bacon and Pine Nuts

I didn’t enjoy this very much, it was too salty and too stodgy, but possibly because Aaron (my partner) added extra bacon, extra cheese, and extra pine nuts, so let’s blame him. The extra pine nuts weren’t really my complaint, but I think if you give this a go, don’t go crazy. Both of us suffered.

Friday

Salmon and Sushi Rice

My dad has made this for years, and it never gets old. Heat the oven to 180̊C (fan oven). Lay  the salmon on a tray lined with a large sheet of foil (you’ll need to make a tent with the foil, so a piece of foil bigger than the tray). Drizzle with lemon, so the salmon stays moist in the oven, and sprinkle with chopped garlic and any other seasoning of your choice. Wrap the excess foil loosely over the top to make a sealed-in, tent-like monstrosity. Bake for 20 mins. Cook whatever kind of rice you want to go with it. Done!

Saturday

Udon Noodle Soup

This was our favourite. This was the best. We loved this so MUCH. Easy. Delicious. Amazing. We probably only used about 150g of spinach though, and not the suggested 200g. I love spinach, but I want to see my noodles, you know?

Sunday

Broccoli and Stilton Soup (and decadence)

I make this soup quite a lot, it’s one of my favourites, considering I don’t like Stilton cheese at any other time. Honestly delicious. Even my grandmama enjoyed this, and she hates Stilton with a passion. We went round to hers on Sunday and had a cheese and port night. I thought I’d make soup as a way to try and balance things out without being too heavy compared to ALL THE CHEESE. Wonderful.

Monday

We had the udon noodle soup again, because the ingredients necessary were technically our leftovers (oh NO!). It was just as good the second time around.

The whole shop was, as promised, cheaper than last week. It came to £35.50, which is £17.75 between two of us. That means our evening meals cost roughly £2.50 each day. Awesome!

Let me know if you make any of these, and what you do or don’t enjoy. Until next Tuesday!