Cook At Home Winter Meal Planner 24/11/2022

Brrr! Winter is definitely on the way, so we’ve developed a comforting selection of dishes for this month’s meal planner.

Let a warming winter meal soothe you and your family after a long day in the cold.

Monday

Vegetable Korma with Rice

As promised in our latest ‘Reducing Carbon Emissions this National School Meals Week‘ blog, here’s the recipe for one of our popular, low carbon emission producing meals.

Ingredients

5 ml Oil (vegetable)
75 g Onions
50 g Carrots
90 g Mixed Peppers
50 g Courgettes
10 g Curry Powder
90 ml Water
5 g Bouillon (Vegetable)
0.5 g Garlic Powder
80 ml Coconut milk
40 g Lentils
25 g Sweetcorn
5 g Cornflour
Seasoning

150 g Long Grain Rice
450 ml Boiling water

Method

  1. Dice the onions and sauté in the oil until tender.
  2. Dice the carrots, peppers and courgettes and then add to the onions. Cook for a few minutes.
  3. Once lightly coloured, add curry powder and cook out. Meanwhile, boil the water and make up the stock.
  4. Add the garlic powder and cook for a few minutes.
  5. Add the stock and coconut milk to the vegetables.
  6. Bring to a boil and add lentils and vegetables, then simmer until soft.
  7. In a separate bowl, mix cornflour with a little water and then use to thicken the Korma.
  8. Cook the rice until al dente and fluff with a fork.
  9. Check and add the preferred amount of seasoning.

Tuesday

Tuna & Cheddar Cheese Pasta Bake

Ingredients

100 g Margarine
80 g Plain Flour
160 g Penne Pasta
720 ml Milk
400 g Tuna (tinned)
100 g Sweetcorn
100 g Grated Cheddar Cheese

Method

  1. Melt margarine in a pan.
  2. Stir in the flour until a sand like consistency is achieved.
  3. Slowly add the milk and whisk vigorously to combine.
  4. Add the pasta to the sauce.
  5. Add a little more milk to keep the pasta loose.
  6. When the pasta is almost cooked, add the drained tuna and sweetcorn.
  7. Stir to combine, remove from the heat and place into a suitable oven proof dish/tray.
  8. Top the mixture with cheddar cheese and place in a preheated oven.
  9. Remove from oven when the top has browned.

Wednesday

Quorn Gyros Wrap & Tzatziki

Ingredients

500g Quorn Chunks
Tortilla Wraps
2g Ground Cumin
1g Cinnamon
2g Paprika
2g Garlic powder
5ml Vegetable Oil
75g Natural Yoghurt
25g Cucumber
1g Chopped Fresh Mint
50g Lettuce
1 Lemon

Method

    1. Mix the lemon juice, spices oil together, add the quorn pieces, cover and chill in the fridge.
    2. Prepare the Tzatziki – Grate cucumber, squeeze out excess water.
    3. Mix in a bowl with natural yoghurt, mint and a little garlic powder, cover & refrigerate.
    4. Cook the quorn, either bake in the oven or pan fry.
    5. Place gyros chicken into a paella pan for service, place on an induction hob on low.
    6. Chop lettuce and wash.
    7. To assemble the Quorn, place pieces down the centre of the wrap, add the tzatziki and lettuce, fold to serve.

Thursday

Smoked Beef/Minced Quorn Chilli with Cornbread

Ingredients

340 g Minced Beef or Quorn alternative
75 g Onions
75 g Five Bean Mix (tinned)
3 g Paprika
50 ml BBQ Sauce
25 g Tomato Puree
250 g Tomatoes, Chopped (tinned)

25 g Margarine
38 g Onions
70 g Plain Flour
8 g White Sugar
5 g Baking Powder
275 ml Milk
6 ml Lemon Extract
1 Egg
3 g Bouillon (Vegetable)
125 g Cornmeal (polenta)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 230 C and grease a suitable baking tray.
  2. Melt the margarine in a frying pan and add the onions.
  3. Tip all dry ingredients into a large bowl.
  4. Beat the eggs with the milk and lemon juice.
  5. Stir in the buttered onions.
  6. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, mix until combined and a batter achieved.
  7. Pour the batter into the greased tray and smooth the top over with a knife.
  8. Bake for 25 mins or until a knife comes out clean from the centre.
  9. Cool in the pan, then cut into wedges.
  10. Fry all vegetables in oil.
  11. Add the minced beef/Quorn.
  12. Once cooked, drain the oil off.
  13. Add the spices, followed by the bbq sauce, tomato puree and chopped tomatoes.
  14. Stir in the beans.
  15. Cook slowly until a deep flavour is achieved and the mixture has thickened.

Friday

Yorkshire Pudding Wrap with Beef & Mustard Mayo

Substitute with a vegan/vegetarian meat option if desired – A quick google search will present plenty of pre-made plant based beef alternatives, or try the recipe we found here. 

Ingredients

Giant Yorkshire Puddings
125 ml Boiling water
15 g Gravy Granules
375 g Beef (silverside)
50 ml Mayonnaise
6 ml English Mustard
125 g Carrots
125 g Swede

Method

    1. Place the meat into a roasting tin and top with a little oil.
    2. Bake in a preheated oven until a core temperature of 82 C is reached.
    3. Meanwhile, peel and boil the carrots and swede until soft and then mash with a fork and season.
    4. Slice the beef into portions, make some gravy and place the slices in gravy.
    5. In a mixing bowl, mix the mustard with mayo.
    6. To assemble, place a sheet of foil on a chopping board.
    7. Add the Yorkshire pudding, spread the mustard mayo and add the beef slices, then top with root veg mash.
    8. Ladle in some thick gravy.
    9. Roll the pudding up in the foil and enjoy.
If you fancy taking a look back at last month’s meal planner, you can find it here. You’re sure to find a new favourite winter meal, perfect for the colder season.