Easy, speedy, nourishing meals to inspire you all week
Recipes YUMI STYNES and SIMON DAVIS
Crispy paneer and watermelon salad
While this sort of watermelon salad is often made with feta, I like the contrast of texture and nutty, toasted flavour that the crispy paneer brings to the party here. Halloumi works well, too, but be aware that it will become chewier rather than crisp when fried. Not necessarily a bad thing – just different.
SERVES 4 | PREP 10 MINS | COOK 5 MINS | EASY | V GF
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
200g paneer, coarsely grated
700g watermelon
1 small red onion
bunch of mint
bunch of coriander
20 Kalamata olives
1 Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the paneer, stirring, for 3-4 mins or until a lovely orange gold all over. Transfer to kitchen paper to drain (it will crisp further as it cools).
2 Scoop out the watermelon flesh and chop it into chunks, discarding the rind and pips. Thinly slice the onion, then pick the mint and coriander leaves, tearing any larger ones. Squeeze the olives between thumb and forefinger to press out the pits, then tear the flesh into small pieces. Combine everything in a bowl and toss. Drizzle over a little oil and season with pepper.
PER SERVING 281 kcals | fat 18.4G saturates 8.7G | carbs 14.2G | sugars 13.3G fibre 0.8G | protein 14.2G | salt 0.5G
Soothing udon noodles
The two main things that catch people out with udon noodles are overcrowding and overcooking. Less topping is more. And for that divine slippery, chewy texture, err on the side of undercooking. Once you nail the basics with udon, then you can get creative with toppings, adding no more than a couple. Try raw egg yolk, a deep-fried tempura prawn, sliced fried duck breast, bean sprouts or a simple spoonful of chilli crisp oil (see recipe p24).
SERVES 2 | PREP 10 MINS PLUS OVERNIGHT IF MAKING STOCK | COOK 30 MINS | EASY | V
SOUP STOCK
100ml Japanese soy sauce 50ml sake
100ml mirin
10g dried shiitake mushrooms
10g kombu seaweed
UDON NOODLES
1 batch of soup stock (see above) or 250ml shop-bought
soup stock or kombu tsuyu 400g ready-to-serve udon noodles
1 pak choi, halved or quartered and washed
2 soft-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
2 tsp finely chopped spring onion
1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 To make the stock, combine all the ingredients plus 50ml of water in a clean glass jar, give it a little shake, then seal well and refrigerate overnight. The next day, pour the mixture into a small pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 5 mins.
2 Strain and store in an airtight container in the frid
