Making supper should take minimal thought, shopping and prep work, without compromising on maximum satisfaction. Obvious though this may sound, it’s taken a while for us to embrace it.
We love to plan and cook “event” meals – whether it’s the anticipation and excitement of trying out a new Sunday supplement recipe, taking pleasure from preparing a guaranteed crowd-pleaser (for us, it’s the Moro chicken fattee every time), or the frenzied mass catering involved in any holiday extravaganza - these memorable meals are the exception, not the norm. The rest of the time, simple weekday suppers keep us ticking over, but somehow get neglected. You have to wonder why, given that they happen pretty much every night.
Part of the problem is that we may put pressure on ourselves to prepare something overly elaborate, healthy and beautiful. Or, at the other end of the spectrum, having surveyed the dismally depleted fridge, we call it a day and splash out on a takeaway meat-feast pizza.
At this stage in our lives – still childless – we’re taking the opportunity to experiment. Does it matter if supper is a little later than usual? No. Or if presentation doesn’t match the lofty heights of Ella Woodward’s Instagram feed? No! It’s when we are preparing supper just for ourselves that we can really throw caution to the wind.
In Laurie Colwin’s brilliantly titled essay, Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, the American food writer talks about how she used to look forward to nights in, alone, as those were the times when she could cook whatever she wanted. Cooking for oneself, she concluded, “reveals man at his weirdest”. That doesn’t have to mean three slices of emmental, rolled into cigars and stuffed with cornichons; cooking for one or two with limited time, energy and fridge resources can yield unexpected delicacies.
What’s more, it’s liberating to prepare something simple that decidedly doesn’t fall into the meat and two veg category. The French do this very well, centring meals around seasonal produce, such as a huge pile of asparagus in May, or a pot of soupe au pistou in August. And there’s no reason why we Brits can’t cook with a similar attitude, too. You don’t need to subscribe to a veg box scheme for this; you just need to be a bit prepared and more open-minded about (1) what you consider to be a meal (it’s OK just to eat vegetables) and (2) provenance (the world won’t end if you can’t find an organic carrot).
If you have a local shop brimming with good veg basics (lemons, cucumbers, onions), roasted nuts and a storecupboard stocked with a range of oils (sesame, olive, sunflower) vinegars,(rice wine, balsamic, red wine) and if you’re lucky, a windowsill planted with fresh herbs, then you should be able to throw together weeknight meals like a winner in no time at all.
Meat need not by any means be the cornerstone of your weeknights, nor stolen spoonfuls of peanut butter your only sustenance, as these fuss-free but flavoursome veggie dishes show.
Potato wedges with green dressing and tomato salsa
Serves 4-6
For the wedges
800g potatoes
A sprig or two of rosemary
Salt and black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
For the dressing
1 bunch of parsley (or other soft green herbs), finely chopped
2 tsp dried tarragon
4-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1-2 lemons
Salt and black pepper
1 large garlic clove
For the tomato salsa
8-10 medium tomatoes
1 garlic clove
1 ½ tsp chilli flakes
Salt and black pepper
1 tbsp fresh basil or parsley, chopped
A squeeze of lemon or lime juice
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. Wash and chop the potatoes into wedges. No need to peel. Put these in a couple of oven dishes then sprinkle over the rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil liberally.
2 Put the potatoes in the oven and roast for 40 minutes. Use a metal spatula to turn them every so often, scraping them off the base of the dish so they don’t get stuck.
3 While the potatoes are cooking, prepare your green dressing. Chop the herbs as finely as you can and add to a bowl along with the olive oil, lemon juice and salt to taste. Grate or crush in the garlic and taste to check the seasoning. Add more lemon juice or salt as necessary.
4 For the salsa, simply chop the tomatoes and finely slice the garlic. Add to a bowl along with the remaining ingredients and mix well.
5 When the potatoes are ready, transfer to a serving dish and immediately spoon over the dressing. Serve immediately.
Cashew, cucumber and lime noodle salad
Serves 2
2 portions rice ribbon noodles or instant ramen noodles
¼ red onion, mandolined or very finely sliced
¾ cucumber, skin peeled and seeds scooped out with a teaspoon
½ long red chilli, finely sliced (deseed according to how hot you want it)
¼ lime, cut into very fine triangular pieces
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp fish sauce (leave out for a vegetarian option)
1 tsp sesame or groundnut oil
¼ tsp granulated sugar
100g salted cashew nuts
A small handful fried shallot flakes, to serve (optional)
A handful of coriander and mint, chopped, to serve (optional)
1 Fill the kettle and boil. Add the dry rice ribbon noodles to a large heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Cover and leave for 5 minutes. (If you’re using a different type of noodle, cook according to the packet instructions – usually around 5 minutes in boiling water.)
2 Prepare the onion, cucumber, chilli and lime as above. Slice the cucumber into long, malleable ribbons using a mandolin or peeler. Add to a bowl.
3 Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, oil and sugar in another small bowl or jam jar, mixing them together until the sugar dissolves.
4 Drain the noodles, shaking off as much excess water as possible (blot with a kitchen towel, if necessary) and leave them to cool.
5 Toast the cashews in a small dry pan until they are just beginning to darken.
6 Add the cooled noodles, dressing and half of the cashews to the bowl of veg and mix well to combine.
7 Finish with shallot flakes, coriander and mint, if using, and serve with extra cashews on the side.
Next week Caroline and Sophie get creative with cornershop ingredients and make Scotch eggs with Rice Krispie shells, and a quick Turkish pizza using flour and yoghurt for the dough...
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Caroline Craig and Sophie Missing are authors of The Cornershop Cookbook (Square Peg) published this month; @sophiemissing; @carolinecraig
