Saturday

Meal Plan 4: Quick Weeknights

Day 6 · Saturday · A slower weekend day

Today at a glance. The weekend does not have to be quick, so today's meals take a little longer and taste better for it. Lunch uses half a tin of cannellini beans, and the other half goes into dinner. Dinner is a beef stew that cooks mostly by itself for 2 hours and makes two portions: one to eat tonight and one for the freezer, ready for your next busy week. Every quantity below is for one portion unless the recipe says otherwise, in metric with UK names.

Breakfast

Breakfast

Mushroom, Spinach and Cheese Omelette

15 minutes1 frying panVegetarian

Ingredients (1 portion)

  • 2 eggs
  • 60 g mushrooms
  • 20 g baby spinach
  • 20 g mature Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Wipe the mushrooms clean with kitchen paper and slice them thinly. Grate the cheese. Beat the eggs in a bowl with a pinch of salt and some pepper.
  2. Heat half the oil in a small non-stick frying pan, about 20 cm across, over a medium heat. Cook the mushrooms for 4 minutes until they are soft and the liquid has gone. Add the spinach for 30 seconds until it wilts, then tip it all onto a plate.
  3. Wipe the pan, add the remaining oil, and pour in the eggs. Tilt the pan so that they cover the base. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, drawing the set edges to the middle with a spatula and letting the runny egg flow underneath.
  4. When the top is nearly set but still a little creamy, spoon the mushrooms and spinach over one half and scatter on the cheese.
  5. Fold the empty half over the filling, cook for 30 more seconds, and slide the omelette onto a plate.

Why it is a healthy start

Eggs give protein, mushrooms add B vitamins and a savoury taste for almost no calories, and the spinach adds iron. A little strong cheese is enough, so the omelette stays light.

Swaps

A chopped tomato in the filling. A pinch of dried oregano or a few chopped herbs. Serve with a slice of wholemeal toast. Leave the cheese out for a lighter breakfast.

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Lunch

Lunch · Vegetarian

Leek, Potato and White Bean Soup

10 minutes prep25 minutes cooking1 panVegetarian

Ingredients (1 large bowl)

  • 1 medium leek (about 150 g once trimmed)
  • 150 g potatoes
  • 120 g cannellini beans from a tin, drained and rinsed (half a tin; dinner uses the rest)
  • ½ reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 350 ml boiling water
  • Black pepper

Method

  1. Cut the root and the tough dark green top off the leek. Slice it in half lengthways and rinse it well under cold running water, because soil hides between the layers. Slice it thinly.
  2. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 cm cubes.
  3. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a low to medium heat. Add the leek and a splash of water, cover, and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft but not brown.
  4. Add the potatoes, the beans, the crumbled stock cube and the boiling water. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, until a knife slips easily into the potato.
  5. Blend about two thirds of the soup with a stick blender, leaving some chunks. Or mash it with a potato masher. Season with plenty of black pepper and taste before adding any salt.
The other half tin
Put the rest of the beans in a covered container in the fridge. Tonight's stew uses them. Never keep food in an opened tin, because the metal can taint it.

Why it is a healthy lunch

The potato and beans make the soup creamy without any cream, and the beans add protein and fibre. Leeks are a source of fibre and folate.

Swaps

A handful of spinach stirred in at the end. A spoonful of plain yoghurt on top. Eat a slice of wholemeal toast with it if you want a bigger meal.

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Dinner

Dinner · Beef · Slow-cooked

Slow-Cooked Beef and Bean Stew

20 minutes prep2 hours in the ovenMakes 2 portions1 casserole

Ingredients (makes 2 portions)

  • 300 g braising or stewing beef (such as chuck), trimmed and cut into 3 cm cubes
  • 1 onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400 g)
  • 120 g cannellini beans (the other half tin from lunch)
  • 1 reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
  • 300 ml boiling water
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 slices wholemeal bread, to serve (tonight's portion only)
  • Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 160°C (140°C fan, gas mark 3). Trim any hard fat from the beef and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Peel the carrots and cut them into chunks about 2 cm thick.
  2. Heat 1 tsp of the oil in a flameproof casserole dish with a lid, over a medium-high heat. Brown half the beef for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, and move it to a plate. Repeat with the rest of the oil and beef. Do not crowd the pan, or the beef steams rather than browns.
  3. Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and carrots to the same dish and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, paprika and thyme for 30 seconds.
  4. Return the beef to the dish. Crumble in the stock cube, add the tomatoes and the boiling water with some pepper, and stir. Bring it to the boil.
  5. Put the lid on and cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes. Stir in the beans, put the lid back on and cook for a further 30 minutes, until the beef is very tender and falls apart when you press it with a spoon.
  6. Taste, and add a little salt if you need it. Serve half of the stew with the bread.
  7. Spoon the other half into a freezer-safe container. Let it cool for up to an hour, put on the lid, label it with the date and freeze it within a few hours.
Freezing and reheating the second portion
Use it within 3 months. Defrost it overnight in the fridge, then reheat it in a pan or in the microwave until it is steaming hot all the way through, adding a splash of water. Do not freeze it a second time once it has defrosted.
No oven or want to leave it all day?
Brown the beef and vegetables in a frying pan, then put everything except the beans in a slow cooker and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, stirring in the beans for the last 30 minutes. On the hob, simmer it gently with the lid on for 2 hours, stirring now and then.

Why it is a healthy dinner

Slow cooking turns a cheap, lean cut into very tender meat, and the beans and vegetables make up more than half of each portion. There is no flour or cream, and only 2 tsp of oil between two portions.

Swaps

Mushrooms or a parsnip with the carrots. A bay leaf in the pot. Serve over boiled potatoes, rice or couscous in place of the bread, or with a handful of frozen peas stirred in at the end.

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Coming up tomorrow
Sunday has cinnamon and apple pancakes, a jacket potato with cheese and a carrot salad, and a roast chicken dinner that makes two portions. If your chicken is frozen, take it out tonight and defrost it in the fridge.