Fifteen Five-Ingredient Dinners — Dinner on the table in half an hour
Dinner on the table in thirty minutes, with ingredients you'd put on a single shopping list. This is the working week's truce with cooking — fast, considered, no pretence at virtuosity.
I. Pasta with Garlic, Olive Oil and Chilli
Spaghetti, garlic, dried chilli, olive oil, parsley. The eternal aglio e olio.
II. Sheet-Pan Salmon and Asparagus
Salmon fillet, asparagus, olive oil, lemon, salt. 200 °C for 12 min.
III. Coconut-Curry Lentil Soup
Red lentils, coconut milk, curry powder, onion, lime.
IV. Tomato-and-Basil Tarts
Puff pastry, tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, olive oil.
V. Chicken-and-Lemon Skillet
Chicken thighs, lemon, garlic, olive oil, oregano.
VI. Halloumi-Watermelon Salad
Halloumi, watermelon, mint, lime, olive oil.
VII. Quick Black Beans on Rice
Tinned black beans, rice, garlic, lime, coriander.
VIII. Sweetcorn Soup
Sweetcorn, butter, vegetable stock, paprika, cream.
IX. Greek Yoghurt Chicken
Chicken thighs, yoghurt, lemon, garlic, oregano.
X. Spinach-Feta Pita
Pitas, spinach, feta, olive oil, lemon.
XI. Roast Cauliflower Tikka
Cauliflower, yoghurt, curry paste, olive oil, lime.
XII. Tortellini with Brown Butter and Sage
Tortellini, butter, sage, parmesan, salt.
XIII. Tuna White-Bean Salad
Tinned tuna, cannellini beans, lemon, olive oil, parsley.
XIV. Mushroom Risotto Cheats
Arborio rice, mushrooms, parmesan, butter, white wine.
XV. Quick Chickpea Curry
Chickpeas, curry powder, coconut milk, tomato, coriander.
∞. Where to go next
If this collection found something useful, the place to keep going is the full A-Z catalogue or one of the cuisine pages. New essays appear weekly on the essays index.