When it’s hot outside, and hot on your commute, the last thing you want to do when you get home is be trapped in a hot kitchen cooking up a feast. Salads are often the order of the day when it comes to summer eating, but let’s face it, they can get a bit boring day in, day out. Here are our favourite ways to shake up your summer dinners and inject some exciting but budget friendly recipes back into your meal planning!
Sizzling summer saltimbocca
Image courtesy of allrecipes.com. Recipe is author’s own.
Saltimbocca is a favourite in our house. In Italian, “saltimbocca” means “jumps in the mouth”, like an explosion of flavour. It’s a simple dish that revolves around meat wrapped in seasonal sage and prosciutto or parma ham. And boy, is it flavoursome. Traditionally made with veal, which can be a controversial and expensive meat, this recipe uses chicken. But, you can use veal or another white meat if you prefer. Served up with a side salad and drizzled in balsamic glaze, it’s an excellent summer dish. In fact, it’s so packed with flavour that you could serve it up while entertaining and your guests would never guess that it’s a very budget friendly £3 a portion! I learnt this recipe at a cooking class some years ago, and having tried a few variations since then, it’s still my favourite saltimbocca.
What you’ll need
A bunch of fresh sage leaves
A pack of prosciutto or parma ham
Two good sized chicken breasts
A small amount of butter or oil, for frying
Salad veggies of your choice
Balsamic glaze, to serve
How to make it
First, you need to beat up your chicken. Lay each chicken breast on a chopping board between two pieces of cling film. Using a rolling pin or, my personal favourite, a flat bottomed frying pan, bash the chicken until each fillet is about 1 centimetre (half an inch) thick. You’ll need to be quite firm, so watch your fingers on your worktop so you don’t accidentally hit yourself!
Remove the cling film, and cut each chicken breast in half lengthways so you have four long, thin strips. Set the chicken aside for now.
Take your pack of prosciutto or parma ham, and lay a couple of slices flat on your chopping board. I suggest placing them on a slight diagonal – you’ll see why in a second! Grab one of your pieces of chicken, and lay it on top of the ham so that if you were to wrap the ends of the ham around, the chicken would be completely wrapped up. Before you do this, though, spread the top of the chicken breast with fresh sage leaves. Then, wrap it up! The ends should hold together on their own but if you need to, you can secure them in place with a couple of cocktail sticks.
Repeat this process for the other pieces of chicken.
In a flat bottomed frying pan, heat a little butter or oil on a medium heat. You’ll know it’s hot enough when you lay the meat in the pan and it sizzles immediately. Fry for a couple of minutes on each side until the chicken is cooked through and the ham is crispy and golden at the edges. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to cook your chicken in batches.
Serve with a green salad (rocket works well here) and drizzle all over with balsamic glaze. Delish!
Pesto pizza with seasonal artichokes and prosciutto (by BBC Good Food)
Image courtesy of BBC Good Food
Having a pizza party is always a great way to keep the kids entertained through the school holidays. There are dozens of budget friendly recipes for pizza out there, but this one is special as well as cheap at £1.96 per portion. Artichokes may be too grown up a flavour for some children, but don’t let that stop them from enjoying arranging the toppings!
What you’ll need
One large ready made pizza base
4 tomatoes, skinned, seeded and finely chopped
3 tablespoons of green pesto
260g artichoke hearts or baby artichokes – from a jar if you can’t get fresh easily
A pack of prosciutto
150g ball of mozzarella cheese, drained and finely sliced
25g grated parmesan
2 tablespoons of oil – either olive oil or from the artichoke jar
How to make it
First, pre-heat your oven to 200 degress celsius.
Place the pizza base on a baking tin or pizza tray.
Mix the tomatoes with two tablespoons of pesto and spread over the pizza, leaving a small rim around the edge as your crust. Scatter the artichokes and prosciutto on top. Don’t worry if the ham tears as you remove it from the packet – this is what you want it to do! Fill in the gaps with the mozzarella cheese and sprinkle the parmesan over the top of the whole thing.
Mix together the last tablespoon of pesto and the oil, and drizzle this over your pizza before popping it in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Serve fresh out the oven while it’s still hot!
Thai fishcakes (by The Lean Machines)
This recipe for thai fishcakes is one of the first – and best – recipes I tried from the Lean Machines book. The flexibility to use any white fish you like means this recipe can be as indulgent or budget friendly as you like. Here at Good Vibes, we’re all about budget friendly recipes, so I use pollack when I make these fishcakes. This fish is very similar to cod, but a fraction of the price – literally. You’ll never tell the difference.
What you’ll need
200g pollack or pollock fillets, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of red Thai curry paste
100g of fresh, raw prawns or shrimp (peeled)
50g green beans
15g fresh coriander, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar, or cider vinegar if you don’t have rice vinegar
200g sugarsnap peas
1/2 a cucumber, sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced or finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
The zest and juice of a lime
Sweet chilli sauce
Mixed fresh herbs – mint, coriander and basil go well with this dish
Oil or fry-light, for frying
How to make it
Grab a food processor, and throw in the fish, prawns, red curry paste, coriander and green beans. Whiz together until well combined.
Carefully remove the blades from your blender, scrape any mixture sticking to them back into the bowl, and pop them in the wash. Take a slightly less than palm size amount of the mixture, and roll it into a ball. Flatten this ball into a patty shape. Repeat this process until you’re out of mixture.
Heat a flat bottomed frying pan with a small amount of oil or fry-light, whichever you’re using. In batches, fry your fishcakes for a couple of minutes on each side until they’re golden and crispy on the outside, and cooked all the way through. Set each fishcake onto a plate as they cook, ready to serve.
While your fishcakes are cooking, you can make your salad dressing and assemble your salad! Whisk together the vinegar, garlic, and chilli, then add the cucumber, sugarsnaps and herbs. Stir until well combined.
Combine the sweet chilli sauce and lime juice to make a dipping sauce.
Serve up a big portion of salad along side your cooked fishcakes and dipping sauce, and enjoy!
