Other vegetables like courgette, green beans or broccoli would also work well. You can use long grain rice if you don’t have risotto rice, but the consistency will be less creamy.
Serves 4-6
- 1 lemon
- 480g leftover cooked chicken
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 220g risotto or long grain rice
- 600ml chicken stock
- 240g frozen peas
- 125g babycorn, sliced into circles
- Any fresh herbs
- Butter
-
220g risotto or long grain Rice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) mark 6. Wash the lemon, finely grate the zest, then juice. Place the chicken strips in a deep tin. Pour the lemon juice and grated zest over and cook in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the garlic and olive oil together in a large wide saucepan, add the rice, and stir to coat the grains with the oil. Heat the chicken stock and keep it simmering on the top of the stove, next to the risotto pan.
- Gradually add the stock to the rice, stirring, allowing each lot to be absorbed before adding the next. Add the frozen peas and babycorn slices when you’ve used up about half of the stock. When all the stock has been used up, add the chicken strips and stir thoroughly until piping hot. Add the herbs and a knob of butter, serve straight away.
This is a great leftover recipe that can be made with any vegetable leftovers from the Sunday lunch. Serve with a poached, fried or scrambled egg and crispy bacon or with poached smoked haddock fillets or grilled trout.
Serves 4
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 4 rashers streaky bacon, cut into small pieces
- 450g leftover mashed potato
- 300g leftover mixed cooked vegetables – roast parsnips, green beans, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli or peas, chopped into small pieces
- Pepper
- Salt
- 25g hard cheese, grated
- 25g butter, melted
- Plain flour
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion for 4-5 minutes until soft. Add the bacon and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until it begins to turn a golden colour.
- Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the bacon and onions into a large bowl.
- Add the mashed potato and cooked vegetables, season well. Add the cheese, mix well and divide the mixture into six portions.
- Using your hands, shape each portion into a cake. Put a little flour on a plate and coat each cake in flour on both sides.
- Put onto a greased baking tray and brush with a little melted butter. Bake in a preheated oven (200°C/400°F/ mark 6) for 25 minutes or fry on both sides until golden brown.
This recipe can be doubled up and prepared in advance or frozen in individual portions. If you have trouble getting your children to eat vegetables, cut them into smaller dice and they often won’t know they are there. You could use most vegetables that need using up from the fridge such as broccoli, carrot, butternut squash, cabbage, cauliflower, marrow, leeks, babycorn, sweetcorn, peas… the list goes on.
Serves 8-10
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 4 small courgettes, cut into 2.5cm dice
- 2 small peppers, cored and cut into 2.5cm squares
- 300g butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 large leeks, cut into discs, optional
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2×400g tins of chopped tomatoes
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- 600ml water or vegetable stock
- 80g butter
- 70g plain flour
- 1.2 litres milk
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 250g Cheddar cheese, grated
- 450g pre-cooked lasagne
- Grated pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 180°C (350°F) mark 4. Grease a deep ovenproof dish, or individual dishes with a little oil.
- In a frying pan cook the onions, courgettes, peppers, butternut squash, leeks (if using) and garlic in the remaining oil for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes, tomato puree, seasoning and water or stock. Bubble for 10-15 minutes.
- To make the sauce, place butter, flour, milk and mustard in a small saucepan and whisk continuously over a medium heat until the sauce begins to boil and thicken. Turn down the heat to its lowest and let the sauce cook for 2 minutes. Add the grated cheese.
- Into the baking dish pour one quarter of the white sauce, followed by one third of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle in a third of the cheese and follow this with a single layer of lasagne sheets. Repeat this process, ending up with a final layer of sauce and a good sprinkling of cheese and the pumpkin seeds for added crunch.
- Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Experiment with adding other leftovers such as cheese, herbs, bacon and mustard into the batter. Allow 2 sausages per adult and 1 sausage per child. This is delicious served with an onion gravy.
Serves 2 adults and 2 children
- 125g plain flour
- Ground black pepper
- 2 beaten eggs
- 150ml cold water mixed with 150ml milk
- Leftover hard grated cheese
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 6 thick, herby sausages
- Leftover onions, courgettes, peppers – about 125g
Instructions
- Sift the flour and pepper into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs to the flour, along with half the milk and water. Beat well until the batter is smooth, then add the remaining milk and water. The consistency should be like double cream, but no thinner. Add in the grated cheese if you have any. Put to one side while the oven heats up to 220°C (425°F) mark 7.
- Heat the oil in a small roasting tin on top of the stove, and add the sausages and leftover vegetables. Bake in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes, or until piping hot. Take the tin out of the oven and immediately pour in the batter over the sausages.
- Put back into the oven, and bake until the Yorkshire pudding mix is puffed and golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. Serve with onion gravy and green vegetables such as beans, broccoli, leeks and mashed potatoes.
Having bags of frozen seafood and vegetables in the freezer is always a great standby for an emergency instant supper. Whether they are mixed with spicy rice, added to pasta or soups or simply served in a stir-fry, as with this recipe, it will always promise to be a fast and tasty supper.
Serves 4
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 red peppers, seeds removed and cut into thin strips
- 4 leeks, cut into strips
- 2 large onions, peeled and cut into thick wedges
- 300g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into slivers
- A few sprigs of coriander
- 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cook the noodles in boiling water according to packet instructions. Drain, rinse them thoroughly under cold water and set aside.
- In a large frying pan or wok heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add the peppers, leeks and onions, stir fry until lightly brown. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside in a warm place.
- Heat the remaining oil in the same pan, add the garlic and add the mixed seafood and cook over a high heat. Cook for 7-8 minutes if the seafood is frozen (or 3-4 minutes if it is defrosted or fresh).
- Add the drained noodles, reserved vegetables, coriander and balsamic vinegar and stir fry until piping hot, season to taste and sprinkle with extra balsamic vinegar if necessary.
If you have cooked up this batch recipe ahead of time it is a great comforting recipe to have ready and waiting in the freezer. Just remember to take it out of the freezer in the morning, so all you will need to do is pop it in the oven at step 5. Serve with a tomato salad and crisp green salad. This recipe uses ground cumin and coriander for an authentic flavour, but omit if your children don’t like spicy flavours.
This is a good recipe for adding leftover potatoes and vegetables. By scrubbing the potatoes and not peeling them you are saving on excess waste, also a lot of the nutrients come form the potato skin.
Serves 10-12
- 500g waxy potatoes, scrubbed and cut into thick slices
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 onions, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 900g minced lamb
- 700ml chicken stock either homemade or from cubes
- 80g butter
- 75g plain flour
- 1.2 litres milk
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 250g leftover grated cheese
- 4 eggs
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Black peppercorns
- Salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) mark 5. Put the potatoes in a large pan of water, bring up to the boil and simmer for about 15 minutes until they are just cooked. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion, garlic and spices and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Turn up the heat and add the lamb mince and cook, stirring, for another 4-5 minutes, add the tomatoes and season well. Continue to cook for about 20-25 minutes adding the stock in stages.
- To make the sauce, place the butter, flour, milk and mustard in a small saucepan and, whisking continuously, cook over a medium heat until the sauce begins to boil and thicken. Turn down the heat to its lowest and let the sauce cook for 2 minutes. Allow to cool a little then add the grated cheese (reserving a handful for the topping) and eggs, nutmeg and seasoning.
- In a large shallow ovenproof dish or individual freezer dishes, layer the meat with the potato slices, finishing with a neat layer of potato slices. Pour the sauce over the potatoes and sprinkle with the reserved grated cheese.
- Place in the preheated oven to cook for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Boned and rolled leg of lamb is easier to carve and is quicker to cook than other cuts. If you prefer to eat your meat medium to rare, give the children the sliced well-done ends of the meat, as their meat needs to be cooked through.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) mark 6.
- Season the meat with lots of black pepper. Heat the oil in a roasting tray, and brown the meat on all sides. Scatter rosemary leaves across the bottom of the tray, lay the meat on top, and roast in a preheated oven for 20 minutes per 450g plus 20 minutes, basting every now and again.
- Leave to rest in a warm place for about 15 minutes after removing from the oven. Serve with mashed potatoes, roast parsnips and cauliflower cheese plus gravy and mint sauce.