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15 minute meals

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Pizza omelette

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs (large)
  • 60 ml water
  • ¼ tsp coarse sea salt
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • ½ cup grated mozzarella cheese
  • 100g pepperoni or cubed ham
  • pinch of pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven grill
  2. Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the water, salt and pepper and whisk lightly.
  3. Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan. When the butter foams, swirl it around, then pour in the egg mixture.
  4. Sprinkle in the cheddar cheese and spring onions and stir with a rubber spatula. Leave on medium heat to set slightly.
  5. Remove from heat, sprinkle the mozzarella and pepperoni slices or ham over and place under the grill for a few minutes to melt the cheese. Serve with toast and a green salad.

Serves 4-6

Salmon pasta

Ingredients

  • 375g fresh tagliatelle pasta
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • 1 tub low-fat cream cheese
  • 200g smoked salmon
  • 1 lemon, juice & rind
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • Fresh chopped parsley, to serve

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add enough salt to make your pasta water as salty as the sea. Place the tagliatelle in the pot, allow it to boil again and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until el dente (soft but not mushy). Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water for the sauce.
  2. Fry the spring onions in the oil over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in the cream cheese. Add a little of the pasta cooking water to thin it to a thick, creamy consistency.
  3. Tear the smoked salmon into strips and add to the sauce.
  4. Add the lemon juice and rind and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (the smoked salmon is quite salty, so you might not need any salt).
  5. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and stir through. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley leaves.

Tip

Leave out the salt and pepper and you can serve this dish (fork mashed) to your baby from about 8 months of age. You can use dried pasta too, but then your cooking time increases to 15 minutes.

Serves 4-6

Beef Tacos

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive or canola oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 500g lean beef mince
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tin mexican or regular chopped tomatoes
  • 6-8 taco shells (available from most supermarkets)
  • 2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
  • 2 cups strong cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 avocados
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • ½ lemon, juice & rind
  • ¼ cup fresh coriander leaves
  • 3 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 125 ml plain yoghurt
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the beef mince, breaking it up with a fork (or a potato masher) while you brown it thoroughly. Add the salt, cumin and paprika and stir well.
  4. Mix in the Mexican tomatoes (replace with plain chopped tomatoes if your children don’t like spicy food and chop some fresh chillies for the grown-ups to sprinkle on their tacos), reduce heat and let this simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
  5. Meanwhile, place the taco shells on a baking sheet and place in the centre of the oven. Heat for 3 to 5 minutes until lightly toasted.
  6. Make guacamole (avocado dip) by mashing the avocado, spring onion, lemon juice & rind and
    coriander leaves together. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Make the tomato salsa by stirring the tomato, onion, sugar and vinegar together. Season to taste.
  7. To serve: Put mince, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, guacamole, salsa and yoghurt in separate bowls on your dinner table (or make a picnic on the lounge floor) and let each member of the family build their own tacos, starting with a little lettuce in the bottom of the taco shell. Top with the mince, cheese, salsa, guacamole and yoghurt.

Serves 4-6

Tip

The bigger your pot, the quicker your meat will brown. To save even more time, you can
make batches of this savoury mince ahead of time and freeze. That way, all you have to do to get supper on the table is defrost the mince and put bowls of all the other taco ingredients on the table.

Your baby can eat the mashed avocado (without the salt and spring onion) from 6 months onwards.


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