Your seven day meal plan:
MONDAY: Spring Vegetable Cobbler
1 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
½ head cauliflower, broken into florets
2 kumara, peeled and diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 cups water
60g red lentils washed
2 courgettes, sliced
250g button mushrooms, halved
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
225g self-raising flour
100g butter
115g grated cheddar
150ml milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
Preheat oven to 180C. Heat oil in pan, cook onions over low heat for 5 minutes. Add cauliflower and kumara and gently fry for another 2-3 minutes. Pour in canned tomatoes, water, lentils, courgettes, mushrooms, and fresh thyme. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until kumara is soft. For the topping, place flour, butter, and cheese into food processor, pulse until resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add milk and egg and pulse until combined. Roll out onto lightly floured surface, to 1 cm thick. Cut into 5 cm rounds. Place cooked vegetable mix into large casserole dish, and arrange dough rounds towards the edge of the dish.
Cook for 10-15 minutes or until dough is golden brown and cooked through.
TUESDAY: Beef Mince Wellington with roast potatoes and seasonal greens
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic, grated
2 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
½ cup frozen peas
3 eggs, lightly beaten
500g beef mince
salt and pepper
500g puff pastry
Preheat oven to 180C
Heat oil in a large saucepan on high heat, add onion, garlic, and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes. Add the frozen peas and cook for a further 2 minutes and set aside to cool.
In a large bowl place 2 eggs, and beef mince and mix well to combine. Add salt and pepper to season. Add vegetables and mix well.
Place your puff pastry onto lightly floured surface and roll approx. 3 mm thick and 30cm by 30cm.
Brush pastry surface with lightly beaten egg, and place mince mixture at the front of the pastry sheet in the shape of a sausage, ensuring that there is space at the ends to squeeze together. Roll mince up in pastry and squeeze the sides together. Brush entire surface with remaining egg mix.
Place on a lined oven tray for an hour or until golden brown.
ROAST POTATOES
1.5kg medium sized agria potatoes
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 200°C
Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the potatoes and bring back to the boil for 10 minutes. Run under cold water and leave until cool enough to peel of skin with small knife. Cut in half.
Place oil into roasting pan and heat for 10 minutes. While oil is heating scrape the potatoes with a folk to create a rough surface.
Place potatoes carefully into roasting pan and gently toss until they are coated on all sides. Sprinkle with salt return to oven and bake for 1 hour or until golden on all sides. Turn 3-4 times.
SEASONAL GREENS (pictured above)
2 heads broccoli
1 cup frozen peas
Cut broccoli into florets and boil in hot water until tender. Add frozen peas and boil for a further 30 seconds. Drain and season with salt and pepper.
WEDNESDAY: Baked Risotto with spinach, pea and parmersan
25g butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, grated
1 cup, arborio rice
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup spinach leaves
½ cup peas
½ cup grated parmesan
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 200C
In a large saucepan, place butter and melt over high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add the rice and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add stock to rice and place into a casserole dish and place in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the spinach, peas, grated parmesan, and season with salt and pepper. Return back to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
THURSDAY: Couscous Salad with lamb, tomato and fresh mint
500g lamb, cut into strips
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cups couscous
20g butter
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
Heat oil in a large saucepan and cook lamb strips to your liking. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, in a medium sized pot bring stock to the boil. Remove from heat and stir in couscous and butter. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes or until liquid has absorbed, fluffing couscous with a fork occasionally.
Add remaining ingredients to couscous and lastly the lamb.
FRIDAY: Sweet and Sour Pork
750G diced pork
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs
salt and pepper
oil for deep-frying
½ fresh pineapple, diced
1 large carrot, diced and blanched
2 cups water
2 tbsp vinegar
3-6 tbsp soya sauce
4 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
3 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp water
Preheat oven to 180C
BATTER
Beat together in a large bowl flour, eggs, and salt and pepper. Add water to create a light batter. Mix pork pieces in batter and coat well.
Place pieces of the pork into hot oil and brown on both sides. Set aside on paper towel to drain. Repeat until all pork has been fried.
In a large casserole dish place the pineapple, and blanched carrot. Add the battered pork to the dish.
SAUCE
In large saucepan place water, vinegar, soya sauce, sugar and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and thicken with cornflour/water mix, stirring constantly as you add this to the sauce.
Pour this sauce over the pork, carrots & pineapple.
Bake for 1 hour. Serve with rice or mashed potato.
SATURDAY: Chicken Curry with Basmati Rice
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 onion diced
1 teaspoon coriander
3 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon chilli powder
1 cinnamon stick
1 large clove garlic crushed
40g fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
4 green chillies, seeded and finely chopped
30 curry Leaves
1x 410 tin coconut milk
1x 410g tin chopped tomatoes
1 lemon zested and juiced
100ml water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
500g chicken pieces, cut into thin stips
1 bunch fresh coriander roughly chopped
Heat oil in a large pot and fry the onions until soft. Add coriander, turmeric, nutmeg, chilli powder, cinnamon stick, garlic, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. Cook for 5-6 minutes.
Add coconut milk, tomatoes, lemon zest and juice water, sugar, salt, and chicken stips. Bring to the boil reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with Basmati Rice.
Serves 4-6.
SUNDAY: Cauliflower and Salmon Pasta Bake
200g dried penne pasta
2 thick slices white bread, crusts removed, roughly torn
60g butter
2 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp mustard powder
2 cups milk
11/2 cups grated cheddar
1 x 425g can salmon in brine, drained, flaked
1 cup cauliflower, chopped into florets, blanched
1 zest of lemon
1 tbsp chopped chives
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cook pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, place the bread in the bowl of a food processor and process until coarsely chopped.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 cup of cheese and stir until melted.
Add cheese sauce mix to pasta as well as the salmon and blanched cauliflower and chives. Mix until well combined. Spoon mixture into a 8 cup capacity ovenproof dish.
Combine the breadcrumbs, remaining cheese, and lemon zest in a bowl and combine. Sprinkle mixture over the pasta mixture and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve with your favourite spring vegetable salad.
By Natalie Oldfield
Natalie Oldfield is the owner of award-winning store Dulcie May Kitchen in Mt Eden, Auckland.
She is the author of cook books Gran’s Kitchen and Gran’s Family Table and has her own food range under the Dulcie May brand.
For more information visit www.dulciemaykitchen.com
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