5 Seriously Easy Dinners You Can Make in 15 Minutes

Short on time?

We lead hectic lives here in Honkers, hardly finding the time breathe, let alone cook dinner! With so many awesome dinner options available to us as well, the desire to fish out our hotplates and dust off our pans is not exactly strong. But if you’re keen to save a little cash (more to spend on brunches, we say!) and be a little more savvy in the kitchen, these 15-minute meals are a great place to start. Prepared and served in less time than a taxi takes to Central, resist the urge to splurge and test drive one (or five!) of these delish dishes. What will you do with all of that extra time on your hands?

Read more: Must Try Recipes for your HK Kitchen: Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Keralan veggie curry

Recipe taken from: Jamie Oliver 

Ingredients: (serves 4)

• ½ a cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons of your prefered oil
• 1 heaped teaspoon mustard seeds (if using)
• 1 heaped teaspoon turmeric
• 1 small handful of dried curry leaves
• 5cm piece of ginger
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 6 spring onions
• 1 fresh red chilli
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin of light coconut milk
• 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
• 1 x 227g tin of pineapple chunks in juice
• 1 lemon
• Microwaveable rice

Method:

Remove the outer leaves from the cauliflower, then slice and put on a griddle pan, turning when lightly charred (alternatively roast in the oven, or fry in a pan!). Pour two tablespoons of oil into the pan, then quickly stir in mustard seeds, turmeric and curry leaves.

Peel the ginger and garlic cloves, and chop the spring onions. Pulse these, together with the chilli and coriander stalks in a processor or blender until fine, then stir into a deep pan. Roughly chop and add the tomatoes. Pour in the coconut milk, drain and add the chickpeas, then tip in the pineapple chunks and their juices. Add the cauliflower, cover, turn the heat up to high and bring to the boil. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Read more: No Oven? No Problem! 5 All-in-One Sweet Treats

Caramalised Black Pepper Chicken

Recipe taken from: The Iron You

Ingredients (serves 4):

• 450g skinless, boneless chicken thighs (or breasts), cut into 1-inch pieces
• 60g coconut sugar or honey
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 4 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper (or ½ teaspoon finely ground pepper)
• 2 dried red chilies, crushed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 shallot (or small onion), thinly sliced
• Handful fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

In a small bowl, combine the coconut sugar (or honey), fish sauce, water, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, pepper and chiles and mix until the sugar dissolves.  Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and sauté until softened (about four to five minutes).

Add the chicken and sauce then simmer over a high heat until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce begins to thicken and caramelise (about 10 minutes). Garnish with coriander and serve with your fave veggies or carbs!

Read more: 5 Healthy Packed Lunches Perfect for the Office

Sweet Potato Noodles with Satay Sauce

Recipe taken from: Deliciously Ella via Sheer Luxe

Ingredients (serves 2):

Noodles –

• Olive oil
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 1/2 cm of root ginger, finely grated pinch of salt
• 250g of mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2 small sweet potatoes, about 200g each, peeled and spiralised
• 100g of baby spinach

Sauce –

• 3 tbsps of crunchy peanut butter (or almond butter)
• 70ml of almond milk (add more to loosen the sauce if needed)
• 1 tsp of tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1 tsp of chilli flakes
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp of honey

Method:

Heat oil in a large pan, then add the celery, garlic, ginger and salt and sauté over a low heat until the celery is softened. Add the mushrooms to the pan then after a minute or so more, add the sweet potatoes and cook for about ten minutes.

Next, make the satay sauce! Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, adding oil if it helps to process the sauce, then add salt to taste.

Once the noodles and mushrooms are tender, add the spinach and the satay sauce. Stir until the spinach has wilted and the sauce is warm. If the sauce feels a little thick, add a splash of water, olive oil or almond milk and stir it in until it reaches your desired consistency. Enjoy!

Read more: Must Try Recipes for your HK Kitchen: Teriyaki Salmon with Cauliflower “Rice”

Prawn Laksa Curry Bowl

Recipe taken from: BBC Good Food

Ingredients (serves 2): 

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced
• 2 ½ tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 400ml can reduced fat coconut milk
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 100g rice noodles
• 2 limes, juice of 1, the other halved
• 150g cooked king prawns
• ½ small pack coriander, roughly chopped

Method:

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and add the chilli. Cook for one minute, then add the curry paste, stir and cook for another minute. Dissolve the stock cube in a large jug of 700ml boiling water, then pour into the pan and stir to combine. Tip in the coconut milk and bring to the boil.

Add the fish sauce and seasoning as needed. Toss in the noodles and cook for a further three to four minutes until softened. Squeeze in the lime juice, add the prawns and cook through until warm, (about two minutes). Garnish with coriander and squeeze lime over your dish.

Chickpea Tacos with Avocado Cream

Recipe Taken from: Amouse Your Bouche

Ingredients (serves 4): 

• 2 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
• 2 medium or large tomatoes, diced
• 3 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tbsp (heaped) Greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 mini flour tortillas

Method:

To make the taco filling, place the chickpeas in a large bowl and coarsely mash with a fork, removing the shells as desired. Add the tomatoes, chopped coriander and smoked paprika, and season to taste. Serve at room temperature or microwave for a one minute if you prefer your filling to be warm.

For the avocado cream, blitz avocados, garlic and lemon juice together in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add the yoghurt and olive oil, and blitz again to combine. Season to taste. Serve the taco filling inside tortillas and a dollop of avocado cream!

Read more: Must Try Recipes for your HK Kitchen: Prawn, Spinach and Coconut Curry