Quick and easy autumn recipes to get you through the week
Warming dinners
Chicken pot roast
On the table in just 45 minutes, this dish combines chicken, leeks and potatoes in a broth flavoured with lemon, mustard and fresh tarragon. Make sure you place the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables so that it retains its crisp skin. Although it's a meal in itself, try serving it with extra greens, such as buttered kale or Savoy cabbage.
Ham and rice casserole
With just 10 minutes of preparation, this easy one-pot casserole will become a midweek winner. You can vary the vegetables as to what's in the fridge or freezer, and it's a great way to use up cooked ham, chicken or turkey leftovers. The meat, rice and vegetables are mixed together with the secret ingredient, a can of condensed soup, then once cooked, it's topped with grated cheese and baked until it's bubbling and melted.
Chicken with red onion, apple and chestnuts
This autumnal one-pot serves two, but it will double up perfectly for a family meal. It uses chicken thighs, which don't dry out easily like other cuts. As a bonus, you can buy vacuum-packed chestnuts to save time. The crisp Savoy cabbage creates a lovely contrast with the sweetness of the apples and onions. Sage and yeast extract (such as Marmite) add a hit of savoury umami to round out the flavours.
Get the recipe for chicken with red onion, apple and chestnuts here
Mushroom stew with cauliflower mash
Vegan comfort food at its finest, this hearty stew is packed with rich, savoury flavours. Use whichever mushrooms you prefer, but it would be great with some soaked, dried porcini for extra earthiness. The cauliflower mash is quite light, so serve white potato or sweet potato mash if you want something more filling.
Squash, sage and Comté risotto
When pumpkins appear, you could use them in this creamy, cheesy risotto. Otherwise, butternut squash works just as well. The trick is to roast the squash before adding it to the risotto, to bring out its sweetness and give lightly charred edges for texture. Remember to stir the risotto constantly while cooking, to release the starch from the rice for a creamy texture. Comté, a semi-hard, nutty cheese, is mixed in towards the end of cooking, but you could use Gruyère instead.
Kale, pak choy and broccoli fried rice
On those chilly days when you feel your immune system needs a boost of healthy greens, this simple stir-fry will hit the spot. Full of flavour with lots of garlic, soy sauce, hot sriracha and sesame oil, it's ready in just 20 minutes. Day-old rice is best for stir-fries, but grains cooked from scratch or shop-bought pouches of pre-cooked rice will still work well.
Get the recipe for kale, pak choy and broccoli fried rice here
Roasted vegetable bake
This vegetarian traybake is a twist on a classic British comfort food dish, toad in the hole, which is usually made with sausages cooked in batter. Here, the season's root vegetables really sing out in a veggie version, with squash, peppers and tomatoes added. The batter is far from bland, flavoured with fresh herbs and mustard. It's a dish which freezes well too.
Creamy mushroom soup
A cold day just cries out for a bowl of hot, hearty, nourishing soup. In this recipe, fresh mushrooms are mixed with dried for an intense, umami kick, plus there's a hint of garlic and fresh herbs, with a swirl of cream to finish. It'll keep for up to three days in the fridge and freezes well, so why not make a double batch? An inexpensive stick blender makes easy work of whizzing everything together.
Get the recipe for creamy mushroom soup here
Love this? Follow our Pinterest page for more recipe inspiration
Smoky bean and monkfish stew
Enjoy the flavours of the Mediterranean with this easy fish stew. It's healthy, high in protein and filling, with chunks of meaty monkfish and white beans from a can. The smoky flavour comes from smoked paprika, with sweetness added from red peppers. Monkfish isn't the cheapest of fish, so you could use large prawns or chunks of cod instead. Just serve with crusty bread.
Herby bean stew
Packed with fresh thyme, rosemary, sage and parsley, this is a healthy, warming vegan recipe. It's high in protein thanks to lentils and cannellini beans, and is seasoned with yeast extract and Dijon mustard to add a savoury note. Potatoes provide extra carbs and you could also serve with wholemeal bread. It will be on the table in just 45 minutes.
Sticky sausage and bean stew
This one-pot dish is minimum fuss, for maximum flavour. Chopped vegetables like butternut squash, celery, onion, garlic and tomatoes are bunged in the oven with sausages and rosemary. Towards the end of cooking, canned cannellini beans, honey and balsamic vinegar are added to give a sweet and sour flavour. You can make this in a slow cooker too.
Spicy chicken and cashew traybake
Here's a warming dish which is a complete meal in one tray – chicken thighs with bell peppers, tomatoes, sweet potato and olives, given a kick of heat from cooking chorizo and fresh chillies. Cajun seasoning also adds warmth – follow our recipe to make it from scratch or buy a spice mix to save time. Top tip: leaving the chicken to marinate for up to an hour in the spices will give it extra punch.
Tarka dal
There are many versions of this north Indian dish, the name of which simply means spiced, flavoured lentils. This dal is infused with ginger, garlic, cumin seeds and chilli which are first tempered in oil, to bring out their flavour, then added to tomatoes, turmeric, garam masala and mung lentils. Make sure to give the lentils a good wash first, to remove any dust or grit, and don't add salt to the cooking water as they'll take longer to cook.
Traybake spaghetti
Effortless and so tasty, everything for this dish goes into the oven raw, even the spaghetti. The trick is to coat the pasta in olive oil to prevent it sticking together. Add tomato passata, chunks of sausagemeat, onion, garlic and stock, then bake. It's ready in 30 minutes and leftovers will keep for three days in the fridge.
Hong Kong street beef
A big bowl of comforting goodness, which takes just 30 minutes to cook, is right up there for a winning midweek meal. The base is a rich beef broth with onions, ginger and garlic. Star anise and five spice powder add the essential aromatics. Cooked noodles and greens go into the broth, and it's topped with slices of seared steak. Drizzle with some chilli oil and you're good to go.
Broccoli, spinach and Parma Ham pasta
This is a creamy, cheesy carbonara-style pasta dish which is packed with healthy greens – peas, spinach and broccoli. Fried garlic adds bags of flavour, but it's not too overpowering with the Parmesan, eggs and crème fraîche. Reserve a few ladles of the pasta water to add to the sauce – the starch from the cooking water makes the sauce stick to the pasta. Add strips of Parma Ham for a salty, sweet finish.
Get the recipe for broccoli, spinach and Parma Ham pasta here
Venison sausage and wild mushroom traybake
A straightforward one-tin dish, just bursting with earthy autumnal flavours of squash and mushrooms. Venison is also in season right now – it's lean and slightly gamey, and low in unsaturated fats. These sausages are a great way into game meat if you haven't cooked it before. If you can't find wild mushrooms, don't panic, as the dish contains dried wild ones. A redcurrant glaze adds sweetness and crispy kale brings a pleasing contrasting texture.
Get the recipe for venison sausage and wild mushroom traybake here
Roasted cod with a coriander crust
Take roasted fish up a notch with a herby, garlicky crust. For the flavourful topping, mix together turmeric, cardamom, cumin and paprika, to add to garlic, chilli and chopped coriander. Spread this over the cod before roasting for around eight minutes. It's lovely served with tahini sauce and steamed potatoes or rice.
Smoky baked chicken with tortillas and rice
Even the pickiest of kids will love this one. The baked chicken and rice dish makes clever use of shop-bought pasta sauce (try tomato and basil or tomato and mascarpone) for a speedy midweek meal. Crunchy tortilla chips and grated cheese add a nacho-inspired topping.
Get the recipe for smoky baked chicken with tortillas and rice here
Kale and cannellini bean soup
This hearty, filling soup is so tasty and nutritious and very quick to make. Winter greens and tinned beans are added to a simple garlicky tomato broth, and topped with garlic-rubbed toast and a poached egg. If eggs aren't your thing, you could crumble over feta or add a spoon of pesto for extra flavour.
One-pot mushroom pasta
Fettucine in a creamy, herby mushroom sauce all cooked in one pan, including the pasta? Yes please! The pasta cooks in a sauce of vegetable stock and cream, rather than separately in boiling water. The trick is to leave it to stand, covered, for five minutes off the heat, to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Flat field mushrooms, so earthy and juicy, are perfect for this dish.
Pumpkin curry
This Burmese curry is warm and aromatic, rather than chilli-hot. Spices like turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, paprika and curry leaves are first fried to release their pungency, before adding onions, garlic and ginger. If you can't find curry leaves, add the zest of a lemon and chopped fresh coriander once the curry is cooked. Plus you could use any winter squash, not just pumpkin.
Harissa chicken and apricot pilaf
With all the flavours of a Moroccan tagine, but made in a fraction of the time, this simple one-pot is fragrant, warming, fresh and nutty. It's rice-based, with chicken thighs, a kick of heat from harissa and dried apricots added for sweetness. Toasted pistachios and fresh coriander, which are added just before serving, make it a perfect meal in a bowl.
Cauliflower soup with cheese twirls
If you love cauliflower cheese, this creamy, rich soup is for you. The cheese twirls can be made with either frozen pizza dough or shop-bought puff pastry, and are filled with Gruyère and herbs. You may want to make more than you think – they are very moreish! The soup is topped with roasted cauliflower for added texture.
Singapore fried noodles
Quicker than ordering a takeaway and way tastier, this favourite dish is on the table in 25 minutes. The great thing about the recipe is that you can mix and match the ingredients depending on what's in the fridge. Our recipe uses cooked pork and prawns, stir-fried with bean sprouts, green veg, noodles and spices, but chicken or beef and other greens would work perfectly.
Cod with chorizo and white beans
Capture the flavours of the Mediterranean in this rich stew. Plump, firm cod works brilliantly with the spicy chorizo and the beans add extra protein. It just needs a little time to simmer, but it's a speedy dish to prepare. Serve with lemon wedges and freshly-chopped parsley to add colour and zing.
Sweet and sour pork
Pork is at its best come the autumn, so what better way to enjoy it than with a 15-minute dish using pork steaks or chops. It makes clever use of store cupboard ingredients too. The easy crunchy coating is whizzed dry-roasted peanuts and dried chillies, and the moreish sauce is blended tinned pineapple and lime juice. Serve with greens and rice.
Braised red cabbage, sausages and apples
Braised usually implies something is slow-cooked but this quick meal is on the table in under an hour – and doesn't skimp on that rich flavour. Red wine vinegar and dark maple syrup helps the red cabbage cook down fast, as well as infuse it with tangy, sweet flavour. Serve with a dollop of piquant Dijon mustard to cut through the hearty sausages, earthy apples and rich cabbage.
Get the recipe for braised red cabbage, sausages and apples here
Parma Ham and fennel pasta bake
You can't have too many pasta bake recipes up your sleeve for speedy midweek meals, and this one is rather special. Fresh fennel and fennel seeds are braised to bring out their aromatic, aniseed flavour. They're mixed with a creamy white wine sauce, tagliatelle and strips of salty, sweet Parma Ham – plus a good grating of Parmesan of course.
One-pan vegetable lasagne
There's no time-consuming meat ragù to make here. The meat sauce is replaced with mushrooms, courgettes and spinach in a tomato sauce. It's all mixed with strips of fresh lasagne sheets before mozzarella and Parmesan are added. The result is a rich, cheesy pasta sensation, all done and dusted in 40 minutes.
Comments
Be the first to comment
Do you want to comment on this article? You need to be signed in for this feature