Valencia-style pork chops with peppers and beans

This recipe comes from the east coast of Spain, and it is a great way of spicing up some ordinary pork slices. Serve with a glass of red wine and a salad or rice. Serves 3-4.

Ingredients

450g thin cut boneless pork chops
Medium onion, chopped
Red pepper, de-seeded and chopped
Handful of small chestnut mushrooms, quartered
60g frozen soya beans
Tbsp paprika
Salt
Coarse ground black pepper
Tbsp sunflower oil

Method

• Cut the pork chops into big pieces, I tend to cut each of them into four.
• Sprinkle the pork pieces with liberal amounts of paprika and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, pepper, mushrooms and add in the frozen soya beans when the onions are part-way cooked.
• Remove the vegetables from the pan, and replace with the pork (don't add any more oil), turn up the heat under the pan and cook the pork until the edges are browned.
• Return the vegetables to the pan and, moving the contents regularly, fry until the meat is browned and cooked through.
• Season with salt and pepper, then serve.

Five spice chicken and rice

This is a variation on my soy chicken and vegetable rice dish, (May 2015). It takes hardly any time to prepare and cook - 25 minutes at most. As with the soy chicken recipe, it’s easy to scale up the ingredients as you will see.

Ingredients

Three large chicken breasts, approx. 400g in total, (defrost if frozen)
One onion, chopped
Red pepper, chopped
Soy sauce (I use light soy, but the choice is yours)
Sunflower or olive oil
160g Basmati rice
Two big pinches of Chinese 5 Spice
Small scattering of chilli flakes
Salt.

Method

• Cut the chicken breasts into strips, cutting across the breast, put in a bowl and pour over enough soy sauce to colour the meat and have a bit ponding in the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle Chinese 5 Spice over the chicken and leave.
• Chop the onion and slice the red pepper.
• Switch on the kettle to boil water for the rice.
• Heat up around 2tbsp of the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and pepper, stir frequently and when they  start to soften, remove from the pan and keep on one side.
• Meanwhile, start cooking the rice. Tip about 1.5 litres of boiled water from the kettle into your saucepan, (it saves time) and bring back to a rolling boil. At that point, tip in the basmati rice, bring back to the boil and simmer on a medium heat for 13 minutes exactly. No stirring, just leave it while you get on doing the rest of the meal.
• Turn up the heat under the frying pan. Tip in the chicken and the soy sauce from the bowl. Stir quickly to stop it burning, then once the meat starts to colour, turn down the heat to a low setting. Tip the onion and pepper back into the pan, add a sprinkle of chilli flakes, put on the pan lid and simmer while the rice cooks in the other pan. Stir occasionally. Add salt to taste and ensure the mixture doesn’t dry out.
• Once the rice is ready, drain it into a colander or sieve and pour half a kettle of hot water (boiled but not boiling) over the rice. Leave the rice to drain for a minute or two then return it to the rice pan. Put the lid back on to keep the heat in.
• Check the frying pan. The chicken should be cooked through.
• Serve in shallow bowls, rice first with chicken on top. 

Soy chicken and vegetable rice

It’s that day of the week immediately before you do your weekly shop and the fridge is looking a little bit empty. For me, this is usually a Tuesday and I’m looking to make something quick and easy from the contents of my freezer and the kitchen cupboards. 

This supper is a hit with my family and is good for using up left-over vegetables from the fridge. It takes hardly any time to prepare and cook and can be served in a bowl to save on the washing up. It’s also easy to scale up the ingredients as you will see.

Ingredients

Three chicken breasts (defrost if frozen)

One onion, chopped

Soy sauce (I use light soy, but the choice is yours)

Frozen peas - handful

Sunflower oil

160g Basmati rice

Coriander leaf – a liberal scattering

Small scattering of chilli flakes

Salt

Crushed black pepper

Any/all of the following – whatever is left in your fridge:

Red or yellow pepper, chopped

Mushrooms, sliced, or quartered if bigger than button-sized

Broccoli head, split into quite small florets (even a small amount of left over broccoli can go a long way in this recipe)

Carrot or two, peeled and thinly sliced

Sweetcorn niblets – out of the can or handful of frozen

Method

• Cut the chicken breasts into big cubes, put in a bowl and pour over enough soy sauce to colour the meat and have a bit ponding in the bottom of the bowl.

• Chop up all the fresh vegetables including the onion.

• Switch on the kettle to boil water for the rice.

• Heat up around 2tbsp of sunflower oil in a big frying pan, add the onions, stir frequently and when they start to soften, add all the other veg. Keep the veg moving occasionally and fry on a medium heat for a couple of minutes until they start to cook.

• Meanwhile, start cooking the rice. Here’s how I get lovely rice – tip 1.5 litres of boiled water from the kettle into your saucepan, (it saves time) and bring back to a rolling boil. At that point, tip in the basmati rice, bring back to the boil and simmer on a medium heat for 13 minutes exactly. No stirring, just leave it while you get on doing the rest of the meal.

• Tip the onion and other vegetables out of the pan and keep on one side.

• Turn up the heat under the frying pan. Tip in the chicken and the soy sauce from the bowl. Stir quickly to stop it burning, then once the meat starts to colour, turn down the heat, tip the onions and vegetables back into the pan, add the frozen peas and/or sweecorn, put on the pan lid and simmer while the rice cooks in the other pan. Stir occasionally. Add salt, pepper, sprinkle of chilli flakes and coriander leaf. The soy sauce, frozen peas and the pan lid should ensure the mixture doesn’t dry out.

• Once the rice is ready, drain it into a colander or sieve and pour half a kettle of hot water (boiled but not boiling) over the rice. Leave the rice to drain for a minute or two then return it to the rice pan. Put the lid back on to keep the heat in.

• Check the frying pan. The chicken should be cooked through. Tip the contents into the rice pan.

Mix it all up, serve into shallow pasta-style bowls and enjoy.