Easy to Cook Gourmet Food from DinnerTime.me

Have you ever been in a dilemma whether to cook or just to dine out? After a quick chat with your husband you decided to cook. OK, next is to think what to prepare for today’s dinner even after a long day at work. Then you reach the grocery store – what ingredients do I need??? OK, let’s just dine out!

Yep, this is my everyday struggle. I love cooking and I still prefer home-cooked meals, but at times when I feel exhausted from work, dining out is our best option.

I’ve been very busy with my work this past weeks and I feel guilty for not cooking dinner for my husband. It was very timely when I learned about Dinnertime UAE. It is a Dubai based company offers four easy and healthy recipes per week. They deliver fresh ingredients at your door step with easy to follow recipe that only need less than an hour to prepare.

I received my complimentary standard bag for two from Dinnertime last Sunday and I felt so excited – like opening an early Christmas gift. I read the recipe booklet and I was a little anxious because I was not familiar with some of the ingredients and recipes. I am not really good in following detailed instructions, but what the heck! This is just another foodie adventure in my kitchen and I am sure that my husband will love something new on our table.

Each week’s supply contains ingredients for one fish dish, one meat dish, one chicken dish and one vegetarian dish or soup. The week I received my complimentary bag, I got Chicken Noodle Soup with Ginger, Warm Salmon Salad with Watercress, Fettuccine with Spicy Meat Sauce, and Aromatic Vegetable Pilaf.

I personally love DinnerTime’s concept because they promote home cooking, well-balanced meal, quick, and easy to understand recipes which I believe is essential especially with our hectic schedule nowadays. Yes, no need to think what’s for dinner or to hustle my time looking for ingredients in the grocery store. Also, the portion of the recipes that is good for two people was well measured so we don’t have any much left-over.

Here are the four dishes I’ve cooked this week. With Dinnertime's permission, I've included the recipes below.

Warm Salmon Salad with Watercress

Ingredients:

• 350 g. Baby Potatoes, scrubbed
• Sea Salt
• Black pepper
• 350 g. Salmon Fillet, cut in 2 pieces
• 1/2 Lemon, juiced and zested
• 1/2 bunch fresh Dill, fronds picked and chopped
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• 1 clove Garlic, crushed
• 40 g. Parmesan Cheese, grated
• 1 bunch Watercress/Kulfa, snipped
• 1/2-1 fresh red Chili Pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 1/2 pot Yogurt
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 handful fresh Mint, leaves picked and torn

Procedure:

1. Scrub the potatoes and place in a saucepan, cover with cold, salted water and bring to boil. Simmer for around 15 minutes until just cooked. Drain and place to one side.
2. Cut the salmon into 2 portion sized pieces.
3. Fill a saucepan, big enough to hold  all the salmon fillet in one layer, with water and season with a little sea salt. Place the pan on the heat and when the water boils, gently lower the fillets in, making sure they're under the surface. Top up with a little extra boiling water if necessary.
4. Poach the salmon very gently for 10 minutes. Remove carefully and leave to cool.
5. Meanwhile, zest and juice the lemon and chop the dill.
6. Slice the cooked potatoes in half lengthwise and toss with half the lemon juice, a generous splash of olive oil, the chopped dill and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Arrange on a serving dish and flake the cooked salmon over the top.
7. Crush the garlic, grate the Parmesan, snip the watercress and finely chop the chili.
8. Season the yogurt with salt and pepper, then mix in the mustard, crushed garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and Parmesan.
9. Spoon the yogurt over the salmon and serve with a sprinkling torn mint leaves, watercress and chopped chili.

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Fettuccine with Spicy Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

• 200 g. Fettuccine Pasta
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. Olive oil
• 300 g. Ground beef
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper
• 1 Clove Garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Chili powder
• 1 pinch Ground Cinnamon
• 200 g. Crushed Boxed Tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tbsp. Raisins
• 2 tbsps. Feta Cheese, crumbled
• A handful fresh Mint Leaves, chopped

For the green salad:

• 1 bunch Rocket Salad, shredded
• 1 1/2 tbsps. Olive Oil
• 1/2 Lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp. Honey
• Freshly ground Salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce; Chop the onion.
3. In a skillet on medium-high, heat oil.
4. Add onion and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft.
5. Add beef, 1 pinch salt and pepper and cook for about 4 minutes more, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink.
6. Chop or crush the garlic.
7. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder and cinnamon and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until fragrant.
8. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer; reduce heat to medium-low and stir in raisins.
9. Cook until sauce is slightly thickened and raisins are plump, 2-4 minutes.
10. Season with additional salt and pepper.
11. Prepare the green salad; Shred the rocket.
12. Mix the dressing ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, honey, salt and pepper) together and pour over the salad greens. Mix well.
13. Divide the pasta among serving bowls and top evenly with sauce, crumbled feta and mint.
14. Serve with green crunchy salad.

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Chicken Noodle Soup with Ginger

Ingredients:

• 1 Vegetable Stock Cube
• 900 ml. water
• 4 Chicken Drumsticks
• 1 tsp. Fresh Ginger, grated or finely chopped
• 1-2 cloves Garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1/2 box Mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 - 1 Red Chili Pepper (optional), finely chopped
• 50 g. Rice Noodles
• 1/2 can Sweetcorn
• 2 tsps. Soy Sauce, plus extra for serving
• Mint Leaves, to serve

Procedure:

1. Pour the stock (cube + water) into a pan and add the chicken.
2. Peel and grate or chop the ginger and garlic and add to the pot.
3. Bring to boil, then reduce the heat, partly cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is tender.
4. Meanwhile, slice the mushrooms, spring onions and red chili pepper (if using).
5. Remove the chicken to a board and pick the meat off the bones. Discard the bones.
6. Return the chicken to the stock along with the noodles, corn, mushrooms, half the spring onions and the soy sauce.
7. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until the noodles are tender.
8. Ladle into two bowls and scatter over the remaining spring onions, herbs and chili shreds, if using.
9. Serve with extra soy sauce for drizzling.

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Aromatic Vegetable Pilaf

Ingredients:

• 200 g. Basmati Rice
• 1 Onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1/2 box Mushrooms, cleaned and roughly chopped
• 150 g. Green Beans, trimmed and sliced
• 1 Carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/2-1 tbsp. Cooking oil
• 1/2-1 tbsp. Ghee/butter, optional
• 1/2 Cinnamon stick or 1 tsp. Cinnamon
• 3 Cloves
• 1-2 Cardamom Pods, lightly crushed
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp. Ground Coriander
• 1/2 tsp. Chili Powder
• Sea Salt
• 350 ml. Water
• 2 tbsps. Raisins
• 2 tbsps. Pistachio Nuts, toasted

Procedure:

1. Wash the rice in several changes of cold water, then leave to soak in fresh cold water for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
2. Finely slice the onion and mushrooms. Trim and slice the green beans. Peel and chop the carrots.
3. Heat 1/2 tbsp. of oil and 1/2 tbsp of ghee or butter (if using, or extra oil instead) in a wide, heavy-based pan and add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay leaves. Fry for a minute until they begin to crackle and smell fragrant.
4. Add the sliced onion and fry for another 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently until soft and golden brown.
5. Stir in the turmeric, cumin, coriander and chili powder and fry the ground spices for another minute.
6. Add another half tbsp. of ghee, butter or cooking oil to the pan, a good pinch of salt and all the vegetables. Saute for 3-4 minutes then tip in the drained rice and stir well.
7. Toast the rice over a high heat for a minute then pour in the water and add the raisins. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for about 10 minutes until the rice looks dry and the water has been absorbed.
8. Turn off the heat and without removing the lid, leave to steam for another 5 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, toast the pistachios in a dry pan.
10. Uncover and fork through the rice and vegetables.
11. Sprinkle with the toasted pistachios and serve.
12. You can serve it with plain yogurt as well (optional).

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For more information about Dinnertime:

You may visit the Website http://www.dinnertime.me

Or:

DINNERTIME UAE LLC, 

THE BRIDGE BUILDING

OFFICE 503

DUBAI SPORTS CITY,

P.O. BOX 5002309,

DUBAI - UAE

+971 55 790 87 33

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Chicken Pesto Pasta

Chicken Pesto Pasta is a delicious and healthy dish for lunch or dinner. It is quite easy to prepare as well. On a lazy day for me, it is best to keep stock of some good food in the kitchen. Recently, basil pesto is one of may favorite, especially now that I'm a bit into my diet. Pasta, chicken and olives are always in my stock, so no excuse for not having this good dish even without much effort of doing the grocery.

Basil pesto is also very easy to make from scratch. Just put your fresh basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, grated parmesan cheese and salt into your food processor and that's it! You have your freshly made basil pesto. But if your lazy like me, grocery is the best option to go :)

Basil is definitely healthy vegie. It is known for its essential oils that have been shown to lower blood glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels. It is also good source of antioxidant and antimicrobial properties for our body. What can you ask more, it has a very good taste and is sure healthy for our body?

Well, just before I made this dish, I knew already that my husband won't even give it a try. Of course, unless it has a Filipino sweet style pasta sauce, then it is definitely not his type.

Ingredients:

• 250 g of cooked spaghetti pasta
• 1/4 kg chicken breast - cut into small cubes
• 1/2 cup basil pesto
• 1/2 cup olives (optional)
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Procedure:

1.  Marinate the chicken with lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili flakes.
2.  Heat olive oil in a pan with medium low fire and add the chicken. Cook until lightly brown.

3.  Put the pasta, pesto and olives.
4.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Mix all together.

6. Let it cook for 2 minutes.

7. Serve and enjoy!

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Spaghetti Meatballs

I guess my recipe list is really useful during long holidays. The fact that we are stuck here at home, we really made used of that list and it helped us to budget our grocery finances.

Our yesterday’s classic recipe was so easy and surely be loved by everyone. Spaghetti Meatballs may not a be a genuine Filipino style of cooking spaghetti in our kitchen, yet doing the sauce will surely justify that it is a real Filipino style sauce.

I always have ready stock of ingredients for this recipe. Since having such ingredients in the fridge can inspire me to do so many other easy recipes. So, let’s get busy!

Ingredients:

• ¼ kg ground beef
• 3 tablespoon garlic – minced
• 3 tablespoon onion – minced
• 1 + 1 + ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 1 + 1 teaspoon fine ground pepper
• 3 cups Filipino Style Del Monte tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 250 grams Spaghetti Pasta
• Oil
• water

Procedure:

1. Boil water with 1 teaspoon salt.
2. Put the pasta and let it cook until tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Mix ground beef, garlic, onion, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon ground pepper.
4. Make round balls from the beef mixture. About 1 ½ in diameter.
5. Heat oil and fry meat balls on a pan with medium high fire for about 5-7 minutes or until its golden brown. Once cook, pat dry on a paper towel. Set aside.
6. On a new sauce pan, heat the tomato sauce and season with sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon ground pepper. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Put in the meatballs  and simmer for another 3 minutes.
8. Put the meatball sauce on top of the pasta and serve.
9. Enjoy!

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