Family meal ideas for quick mid-week dinners

Hi,

I’ve cooked some different dishes recently that have been a hit with everyone, so I thought I’d share them here in case you needed some inspiration.

Most of these recipes include meat and I’m an advocate of eating plenty of veggie dishes and plant-based proteins as well, so these are just some of the meals we have eaten over the last few weeks, mixed in with lentils, tofu, veggie sausages, jacket potato with beans, Quorn chilli, and veggie curries.

My personal preference is to eat more veggie dishes, but my kids and husband do enjoy some meat and all these dishes they really loved. I try to cook a variety, so that over time the kids will learn to love pulses and tofu as much as these dishes :) The red meat here is also a great source of readily available nutrients such as iron, zinc and B12 which is so important for growing bodies.

Buddy’s hidden veggie meat balls

This is a video Jamie Oliver shared on Instagram of his son cooking meatballs with added veg. My husband ended up making these on his own as the kids were exhausted after school, but we all thought the recipe was a good one and it made enough meatballs for 2 meals, so half went in the freezer (always a bonus!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH3A-tz_VN0

See recipe below!

I couldn’t find the quantities written anywhere, so here is my interpretation:

• 400g 5% fat beef mince

• 400g pork mince

• 1 carrot, grated

• 1 courgette, grated

• 1 onion, grated

• 4 mushrooms, grated

• approx. 1/2 cup of wholemeal breadcrumbs (about two slices of bread blitzed)

• 50g parmesan cheese, grated

• 1 egg

• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or crushed

• 500ml passata

• pepper to season

Method:

1. Buddy fries the grated veg for 10 mins before adding to the minced beef and pork, as well as the breadcrumbs, parmesan, and egg and using his hands to mix well.

2. We also added pepper and dried herbs to season.

3. Shape into balls using damp hands (this made 24-28 balls for us)

4. Fry the meatballs until browned all over

5. Push them aside and add the garlic and fry for 2 mins.

6. Tip in the passata and stir well.  You could add fresh or dried herbs or chilli at this point as well for added flavour.

7. Cover and allow to simmer for 30 mins.

Lamb and tomato stew with butter beans and feta

Another hit! I served this with ciabatta on the first night and the kids ate the leftovers with pasta the following night. My daughter liked the butter beans, but my son still prefers baked beans to any other bean!

https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/one-pots/lamb-and-tomato-stew-with-butter-beans-and-feta/

This one takes a little longer to cook, but most of that time it is simply sat in the oven. Prep it before school pick up and it’ll be done for dinner time or cook the day before.

Creamy garlic, lemon and spinach salmon

This one from BBC Good Food

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-garlic-lemon-spinach-salmon

I served it with pasta (again!) as I didn’t have any sweet potato, but it would work with rice, potato, cous cous (whatever you have!). The spinach tasted delicious, so a great one to introduce children to different flavours and spinach.

Chicken pasta bake

Does what is says on the tin :)

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-pasta-bake