Cheat's Saturday Night Burger - 1 - $ - V

Do you sometimes REALLY want to eat junk food? Even though you know summer is just around the corner and you REALLY need to think about getting into your togs. Well I do!

This cheat's recipe is still a little bit naughty but it helps to get through the it's-Saturday-night-and-I-want-grease madness.

I know it's a bought veggie burger and of course you could make your own, but I am cheating so I used a ready made one (a quality ready made one of course). You can add any kind of salady topping to this little baby, for example some grated carrot or some beetroot or fried onions. Some of you might want to add pineapple, which I don't like, but I'm not here to judge, I'm here to help.

Ingredients

Veggie patty/burger (bought or homemade)Bagel (or bread roll of your choice) lightly toasted
Cheese slice (I opted for Swiss)
Egg (or not)
Cos lettuce (or any other leaf)
Tomato, thinly sliced
Avocado
Roasted peppers
Mayo
Tomato sauce (or relish)
Anything else you want to bung on there

Pop your patty in a pan to cook.
Slice all your ingredients ready to go.
Toast your bread and while this is happening put your egg on to cook beside the patty.
Over easy with the egg and pop the peppers in to heat up. Your patty should be cooked by now, so turn it and then place your cheese slice on it's nice hot top to start melting. If you're egg is cooked sit it on top of the cheese to help wit the melting action.
Meanwhile smear some mayo on one half of the now toasted bun, and some avocado on the other half. Make the mayo bun the bottom and start piling on your salad. Carefully transfer your hot patty/cheese/egg onto the salad base. Tomato sauce on top, pop on the lid and away you go.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Spaghetti Bolognese - 2 - $

Before we get started, if you are Italian, or of Italian heritage, I implore you - PLEASE LOOK AWAY NOW. If you must keep reading, please don't dob me into your nonna.

The whole idea behind these 'Cheat's' recipes is to have it from pot to plate in under 30 minutes, which means tradition sometimes falls by the wayside. That doesn't mean it isn't good, it just means it isn't straight from a villa in Bologna.

This will make a giant pot of sauce so make sure there's room in the freezer or make a lasagne. Like most dishes of this kind, it always tastes better the next day.

Ingredients

1kg lean beef mince
1 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
140gm tub of tomato paste
400gm tin of chopped Italian tomatoes
700gm bottle of passata
2-3 tbs fresh parsley chopped (or 1-2 tbs of dried parsley, we're cheating remember)
1 tbs fresh oregano (see above and make it 2 tsp of dried)
2-3 bay leaves
salt and pepper to season
1/2 cup red wine (optional)

In a large pot, brown off the beef over a medium-high heat. When it's cooked I like to strain it; even lean mince is quite fatty, so let your thighs decide if you complete this step.
Reduce the heat to a medium-low, add the olive oil and then gently fry off the onion. It needs to be soft and translucent so be careful not let it brown, when it's just about done add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Return the beef to the pot and then add all the other ingredients, stirring very well to combine. Season with salt and pepper and increase the heat. Bring the sauce to the boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point.
Give it a taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Serve on top of spaghetti or your other favourite kind of pasta.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Spaghetti Marinara - 1 - $

This recipe is the perfect hump day quickie to help resist the mid-week takeaway urge.



Fifteen minutes from pot to plate, cross my heart!

The portions below will feed two, so double or halve as you need to.

Ingredients

Spaghetti
Olive oil
300gms good quality marinara mix (from the fish monger please, not the stupormarket)
1-2 Small red chillies, finely chopped
1 Clove garlic, crushed
2tbs flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup white wine (optional)
Juice of half a lemon
Parmesan to serve

Put the pasta on to cook as per the packet instructions.
While the pasta is doing its thing, heat a glug of olive oil in a pan on a medium/low heat and fry off the chillies and garlic for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Increase the heat and when it really starts to sizzle add the marinara mix and white wine. Cook/stir until the fish is almost cooked (approximately 3-4 minutes).
The pasta should be nearly done, so remove your marinara from the heat and stir through the parsley and lemon juice.
Drain the pasta then put it back in the warm pot and tip your seafood in. Use tongs to toss the marinara through the spaghetti.
Serve in large pasta bowls and shave some cheese on top with some extra parsley to garnish.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Tuna Pasta - 1 - $

Put your hand up if you're all for non-cooking on hump day...well this one's for you.

This dish is so quick and easy it barely rates as 'making' dinner, the sauce will be ready in the time that it takes to cook the pasta.



Ingredients

Pasta of your choice
185gm can of tuna in oil (Italian style is good, you're making pasta after all)
Jar of good quality tomato based pasta sauce
6-8 Button mushrooms, sliced
12-15 Kalamata olives, halved
100gm baby spinach leaves
Capers and thinly sliced marinated peppers (optional)
Parmesan to serve

Put the pasta on to cook.
In a medium sized pot fry the mushrooms off in a bit of the oil from the tuna. Cook them for 5-7 minutes and then add the olives. Drain the rest of the oil from the tuna and add that to the pot to warm through. Pour in the sauce and a minute before the pasta is ready add the spinach (and capers/peppers) and stir through until it wilts.
Spoon the sauce over your pasta, top with shaved Parmesan and serve.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Thai Green Chicken Curry - 2 - $

Congratulations! You've nearly made it to the end of the week. There's not much veg left in the fridge and you can't really be bothered cooking? Perfect. One more sleep 'til take-away food, so have a crack at this super easy curry.
(Serves 2)



Ingredients

1 Chicken breast (you could use a steak instead if you have one stashed in the freezer)
1 Onion
1.5 cups of vegetables chopped - I used some broccoli, mushrooms and green beans - the point is to use up whatever you've got leftover - capsicum, zucchini, carrots etc
2-3 tbs of Thai green curry paste (you could use red paste if you like)
1 small tin of coconut milk (you can use the "lite" version if you prefer)
Steamed rice to serve

Pop your rice on to cook.
Chop your vegetables into stir-fry size pieces - about 2.5cm.
Dice your chicken boob and put aside.
Roughly chop your onion, I do this last so I don't have tears in my eyes while chopping everything else.
Heat some oil in a wok or large pot over a very high heat. Stir-fry the onion for 1-2 minutes until it becomes clear and starts to soften. Add your curry paste and stir for a minute or two until fragrant. Add your chicken and stir-fry for 2-3 mins. Add your vegetables* and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until they just starting to cook. You don't want to overdo it if you like them crunchy. Add the coconut milk, bring almost to the boil and then turn the heat down and simmer until the rice is done (approx 10 mins by this stage if you are steaming rice).
Serve with rice and to jazz it up a little bit you can add some cashews or peanuts and some bean shoots on top.

Enjoy!

*Note: you may need to add the veggies in two lots depending on what you use, for example hard carrot-type veg needs longer to cook than soft zucchinis.