This past week, I’ve been trying some new food recipes with my children. They are all from the BBC Goodfood site and some have been a real success in our family.
The kids particularly loved the Beef Enchiladas – I explained them as ‘a bit like Lasagne but with a different way to make the layers’ and that seemed to be an acceptable way to get them to give it a try. It’s been one of the first dishes in a while (other than the firm favourites Mac n Cheese, Daddy’s Spag Bolognese and Mummy’s Lasagne) that was devoured! It actually took me by surprise! 😉
You basically fry some onions and minced beef and then add in chopped tomatoes and the spices. You let this bubble away for a bit before spooning it into tortilla wraps, covering them in grated cheese and baking this in the oven for a bit. Recipe and cooking method here. I went easy on the spices and used mini tortilla wraps, which was a winner. Next time, I’ll also cover everything with foil before it goes in the oven, as when you don’t (like I did this time) – the edges of your tortillas that are not covered with cheese go crunchy in the oven. Luckily, my children didn’t seem to mind that this time, but often things like that can be a ‘deal breaker’ in my house!
The next recipe I tried was called One-pot Cheeseburger pasta. I thought the idea of that would be very easy for the kids to get on board with and that they’d enjoy the savoury, comforting flavours of pasta, beef mince, melted cheese and pickles on top. Well, this one wasn’t for my children, but my husband and I enjoyed it nonetheless and maybe your kids will like it more!
You start with frying onions and mince in a pan, add in the seasoning and then cover it with 500 ml of beef stock. The pasta is cooked in the stock/ mince mixture and the starch gives everything a really creamy consistency. When the pasta is cooked, you add some milk (and I added some cream too) and grated cheese and stir that through until it is melted. Recipe and cooking method here.
And then we also cooked a Salmon Saag Aloo for us adults one night this week. The flavours were delicious – just the right level of spice on the fluffy, roasted potatoes, silky spinach and the final swig of double cream at the end makes all the difference. The salmon was cooked perfectly, and it was a really easy dish to make. Plus, it could just cook away in the oven, while I got on with other things in the kitchen. Highly recommend it.
You chop and bar boil the potatoes and while these are on the boil, you mix together the spices with some oil. Then you drain the potatoes, coat them in the spice mix and put them in the oven for a bit, while you wilt the spinach. The salmon is then covered in a spice paste (I had a Thai one rather than an Indian one and that worked fine too) and then you add the spinach to the potatoes, top with the salmon and put it back in the oven for the remainder of the cooking time. And then, finally, just before serving you stir in some double cream to the potato base and plate up with a slice of lemon 😊. Recipe and cooking method here.
I hope your family might enjoy one of the above – let me know what you think and what other family favourites you enjoy making and eating.
Anika
P.S. Do you ‘fork’ your mince? This has been a game changer in our house. My husband (who is the ‘chef’ when it comes to proper cooking in our house) started doing this a while ago and it makes the mince silky and soft which means that the children are far more likely to enjoy it! You basically put the raw mince in your pan and then mash it up with a fork continuously as it starts to cook. You can also use a potato masher. The results are fantastic! 😊
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