The simplicity and brevity of some of our fret-free recipes might make you think we are compromising on taste just to make our lives faster and simpler. Not a bit of it! All the recipes are bright and punchy with natural, invigorating flavours, and the judicious use of prepared ingredients should always have a use in even the most serious kitchen - good ice creams; good quality passata; essential tins of chick peas, kidney beans and good quality tinned tomatoes and tuna, high-quality dried pasta.
Do remember, though, that there are good cans and bad cans, and to achieve fretfree food at its best, you need to use the good cans - organic where possible. It is well worth the little extra they will cost to ensure you get the best flavours and textures.
The other secret of fret-free food is to bookend the main dish with simple starters to begin - olives and salamis and salads dressed with ready-made dressings, good smoked and cured fish - and to finish with good cheeses and ripe fruit. That way, with very little work, you have a terrific meal every night of the week.
This very clever recipe comes from the little-known Monday to Friday Cookbook, by Michele Urvater, published a few years back by Workman. It is just right for a meal at the end of a long day, and is prepared in the time it takes to down a glass of wine or two.
Ten-Minute Chili
1 can red kidney beans
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
1/2 lb ground lean beef
1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
1/2 to 1 tablespoon ground cumin, or to taste
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (the author recommends Newman's Own) salt and pepper garnishes of sliced scallions, sour cream, yogurt or grated cheddar cheese
Drain and rinse the beans. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Crumble the meat into the pan and saute until the meat is somewhat brown, about three minutes.
Add the chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, about one minute, then stir in the beans and spaghetti sauce. Cover and simmer until heated through, five minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle the chili into bowls and top with garnishes as you prefer. Serve with boiled white rice, couscous or pasta.
BELOW is the long version of this dish - the following is the abbreviated method: simply open a can of chick peas, drain and reheat in this excellent spinach sauce from www.fifthsense.com.
Cauliflower and Potato Curry
1 head of cauliflower
1 lb waxy potatoes
1 can Trader Joe's Punjab Spinach Sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (not olive oil)
Peel the potatoes and cut them into medium-size cubes. Separate the cauliflower into florets and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan, and when hot throw in the cubed potatoes - what we want to achieve is a crisp exterior to the potatoes first of all.
Toss and turn them on a fairly high heat as they begin to crisp, until they are evenly browned, which will take about four to five minutes, then add in the florets of cauliflower and toss them in the oil. Now, add in a glass of hot water, just enough to half cover the vegetables. Stir in the Punjab Spinach Sauce, and simmer everything together for 10-15 minutes, until both cauliflower and potatoes are cooked. I like this with warm naan bread (widely available in supermarkets and Asian shops), a finely chopped tomato and onion salad seasoned dressed with salt and pepper, some lime pickle, and yogurt.
This sauce takes absolutely no time or effort to prepare, but it does need time to cook. It is one of those magical recipes where you seem to effect an alchemical transformation of the ingredients, despite doing nothing whatsoever to them. For a rich touch, break up a can of tuna meat, and stir it into the sauce just as you are ready to eat, throwing in some chopped parsley with it. Don't cook the tuna, just warm it for a handful of seconds in the sauce. This is fretfree food at its easiest and best.
Tomato Sauce for Pasta
1 can tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cloves garlic, left whole
1 ounce butter
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
pinch sugar
pinch sea salt
Place all the ingredients in a pot and simmer gently, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Remove the onion and garlic cloves and check seasoning before serving.
IF any single recipe shows how speed and simplicity unite to create something which is simply gorgeous, it is this. This is very good with grilled chicken. It's a recipe which was given to me by my mother-in-law, Margie Deverell, inspired by her years in the south Pacific island of Fiji.
Chinese Cabbage Braised in Coconut Milk
1 fresh red chili (or to taste)
3 spring onions
1 knob fresh ginger
1 can coconut milk
Half a Chinese cabbage
Salt and pepper
Finely dice the chili, slice the spring onions, grate the ginger and place the three aromatics in the coconut milk in a saucepan. Gently heat the coconut milk to absorb the flavours. Meanwhile shred the Chinese cabbage. When the coconut milk is hot, tip in the cabbage. Braise for approximately 10 minutes. Season and serve.
This is another of my mother-in-law Margie's recipes, and is one of those dishes which no one can name the principal ingredient, despite the flavours being so familiar. It makes a sumptuous sauce, but for something less indulgent you could heat some coarsely chopped apples in a little butter with some sultanas, cook just until the apple softens slightly, then pour the hot apple sauce over praline ice cream. And, when the gooseberry season arrives, poach those sharp little fruits in some water sweetened to taste with sugar to make a gooseberry sauce for honeycomb ice cream. The key element here is the very hot sauce with the cold ice-cream.
Vanilla Ice Cream and Mars Bar Sauce
Good quality commercial vanilla ice cream
3 Mars bars
half cup strong coffee
Heat the coffee in a small saucepan. Dice the Mars bars and add to the hot coffee. Simmer the bars in the sauce until they break down and thicken, but leave a few lumps of chocolate for texture. Pour the hot sauce over the ice cream and serve immediately.