Menu plan 4 December

A few suggestions for nice things to eat this week

I can't believe it's December already! The weeks are flying by and the Christmas activities are cranking up. It feels like there is something extra to remember nearly every day at the moment, so I want quick and easy dinner options that I don't need to think too hard about.

As with last week, I've aimed for a balance of meat, chicken, fish and veggie options across the week.

My Sunday dinner suggestion this week is Mob Kitchen's Moroccan style chicken and chickpea traybake, a very tasty alternative Sunday all-in-one roast that looks after itself. I use more carrots than suggested, about half of the chickpea liquid and serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

For a healthy veggie curry option, how about my cauliflower daal served with rice or naan and plain yoghurt? A handy tip I picked up from Madhur Jaffrey is that pitta makes a pretty good stand-in for naan bread. If it's good enough for Madhur...

Stir fries are always a good way to up your veg intake and I love this stir fried beef in oyster sauce from BBC Good Food as it's not too heavy on the chopping. I find it works better if you cook the veg first and then the meat, otherwise the wok gets in a right state and everything starts burning. I steam some extra greens to serve alongside.

Fish finger wraps are a fun update on the classic fish finger sandwich and take little time, effort or headspace 😉 I often make them on Fridays when I've run out of energy or enthusiasm!

Another quick and easy option is BBC Good Food's poached eggs with Indian chickpeas. We often have scrambled egg on busy nights (usually with mushrooms and spinach) but it's nice to vary it a bit and this still only takes 15 minutes to cook.

For lunch, I'm suggesting mackerel (from a tin) - pile it onto toast, crispbread or a baked potato. Add a crunchy salad on the side: radish, celery, spring onion, little gem are all great with this.

Finally, if you have the time and the energy this week, make up a big batch of my spicy chickpea and lentil soup. Using mainly storecupboard ingredients, it freezes well so it's ideal to have a few portions stashed away for the busy weeks ahead.

What are you eating this week? Any of this take your fancy?