Four great recipes to try for lunch or dinner throughout the week

Forget about cooking the same thing for lunch or dinner twice – check out these great Asian-style recipes to add a bit of flavour to your cooking throughout the week.

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If you have found yourself getting into the routine of cooking the same meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner everyday, here are a few delicious recipes to shake up your week.

DINNER RECIPES

SATAY CHICKEN NOODLES

0:20 Prep, 0:30 Cook, 4 Servings, Easy

INGREDIENTS

4 chicken thigh fillets

200g rice vermicelli

1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled into ribbons

Fresh coriander, to serve

Thai basil leaves, to serve

Unsalted peanuts, to serve

MARINADE

1 lemongrass stem, bruised, pale section finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

The end result of the satay chicken noodles recipe.

SATAY DRESSING

40g (1/4 cup) unsalted peanuts

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon gluten-free Thai red curry paste

375ml (1 1/2 cups) coconut milk

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 teaspoons white sugar

2 teaspoons fish sauce

METHOD

• To make marinade, place lemongrass and garlic in a mortar and pound with a pestle until a paste forms. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in fish sauce, oil and turmeric.

• Add chicken. Turn to coat. Cover. Place in fridge for at least 10 minutes to marinate.

• Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan forced. Line a baking tray with foil. Place chicken on prepared tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until almost cooked. Turn oven grill to high. Grill for 10 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

• Meanwhile, cook rice vermicelli in boiling water for 2 minutes or until tender. Drain. Refresh under cold running water until cool. Drain and divide among serving bowls.

• To make satay dressing, place peanuts in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a mortar and pound with a pestle until finely ground.

• Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add curry paste. Cook for 1 minute or until aromatic. Stir through coconut milk. Add peanuts, peanut butter, sugar and fish sauce. Simmer for about 1 minute. Season to taste with more fish sauce and sugar, if desired.

• Slice chicken and place on top of vermicelli with cucumber. Drizzle with satay dressing and top with extra peanuts, coriander and basil, if using.

EXPRESS WONTON NOODLE SOUP

0:10 Prep, 0:30 Cook, 4 Servings, Easy

INGREDIENTS

5 garlic cloves, peeled

5 garlic cloves, peeled 4cm piece ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

700g (4) boneless chicken thigh fillets

2L (8 cups) Massel chicken style liquid stock

2 whole star anise

80ml (1/3 cup) soy sauce

12 frozen wontons or dumplings

400g cooked Chinese-style egg noodles (such as shelf-ready thin Hokkien noodles or cooked fresh thin Chinese egg noodles)

4 baby pak choy, quartered lengthways

Thinly sliced long fresh red chilli, to serve

The express wonton noodle soup.

METHOD

• Use a mortar and pestle or a small blender to combine the garlic, ginger and peppercorns into a rough paste.

• Heat the vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and cook 2-3 minutes each side or until just starting to colour. Add the garlic mixture and cook, stirring, for about a minute or until aromatic. Add the stock, star-anise and soy sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer then reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

• Meanwhile, fill another saucepan with water. Place over high heat. Once boiling, add wontons or dumplings. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until just cooked through. Drain.

• Divide the noodles and pak choy among serving bowls and top with the wontons or dumplings.

• Use tongs to transfer the cooked chicken from the soup to a chopping board. Slice the chicken and divide among bowls. Strain the soup and discard the solids. Season with salt or soy sauce, to taste. Ladle the hot soup into the bowls. Sprinkle with sliced red chilli to serve.

HONEY SOY WINGS WITH ASIAN GREENS RICE

0:15 Prep, 0:35 Cook, 4 Servings, Easy

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons kecap manis

1 tablespoon honey

450g packet 2 1/2 minute microwave jasmine rice

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

1 bunch pak choy, roughly chopped

200g packet frozen shelled edamame

3 green onions, thinly sliced

HONEY SOY CHICKEN MARINADE

1/4 cup salt-reduced soy sauce

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 1/2 tablespoons kecap manis

1/4 cup honey

1kg chicken wing nibbles

What you can expect cooking the honey soy wings with Asian greens rice recipe.

METHOD

• Make Honey Soy Marinade. Place soy sauce, garlic, kecap manis and honey in a freezable airtight container. Add chicken. Toss to coat. Cover with lid. Refrigerate for 2 hours, if time permits (or see note).

• Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan-forced. Line a baking tray with foil. Combine kecap manis and honey in a small bowl. Place chicken, skin-side up, on prepared tray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, basting with kecap manis and honey mixture halfway through cooking.

• Meanwhile, heat rice following packet directions. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in 3⁄4 of the sesame seeds

• Cook pak choy and edamame in a medium saucepan of boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Transfer to a serving bowl. Add rice and 2⁄3 of the onion. Stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

• Preheat grill to high. Grill chicken, rotating tray, for 4 to 5 minutes or until golden (keep a close eye on wings as they can burn due to the honey).

• Sprinkle wings with remaining onion and sesame seeds. Serve with Asian greens rice.

SICHUAN-STYLE ASIAN GREENS STIR-FRY WITH CRISPY TOFU

0:10 Prep, 0:20 Cook, Easy

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon shao hsing (Chinese cooking wine)

1 tablespoon garlic and chilli sauce

3 teaspoons caster sugar

1 teaspoon sesame oil

200g snake beans, trimmed, cut into 10cm-lengths

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 bunch gai lan, trimmed, stems cut into 5cm-lengths, leaves roughly torn

Sliced red chilli, to serve

How good does the Sichuan-style Asian greens stir-fry with crispy tofu look.

CRISPY TOFU

300g silken tofu

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup rice flour

METHOD

• Make Crispy Tofu. Place tofu on a plate lined with 2 layers of paper towel. Top with 2 layers of paper towel, then a plate. Stand for 5 minutes to absorb any excess liquid. Cut tofu into 2cm-cubes. Heat oil in a small saucepan over high heat. Place rice flour in a shallow bowl. Add 1/3 of the tofu. Gently toss to coat well. Deep-fry tofu for 2 minutes or until crispy. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towel to drain. Repeat with remaining tofu and rice flour in 2 more batches.

• Meanwhile, combine soy sauce, shao hsing, garlic and chilli sauce, sugar and sesame oil in a small bowl. Stir until sugar has dissolved.

• Heat a wok over high heat. Add beans. Stir-fry for 4 to 6 minutes or until lightly charred. Transfer to a plate. Add vegetable oil to wok. Swirl to coat. Add gai lan stems. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until bright green. Add leaves. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add sauce mixture and beans. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until combined. Toss through tofu. Sprinkle with chilli. Serve immediately.

Originally published as Four great recipes to try for lunch or dinner throughout the week