5 school holiday family dinners
Sweet and Sour Pork
Ingredients:
500–600g pork steaks, sliced into strips
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, cut into wedges
1 capsicum (any colour), sliced
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
½ cup pineapple chunks (keep the juice)
1 tsp cornflour + 2 tsp water (slurry, optional for thickening)
Sweet & Sour Sauce
3 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
¼ cup pineapple juice (from the can or fresh)
½ tsp garlic powder
To serve:
1 cup uncooked rice
What to do:
Slice vegetables and cube pork. In a jug, whisk together tomato sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, and pineapple juice.
Cook rice as per packet instructions.
Heat ½ tbsp oil in a wok or large pan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry pork until just cooked through. Remove and set aside.
Add remaining ½ tbsp oil to the pan. Stir-fry onion, capsicum, and carrot until starting to soften. Add pork and pineapple, then pour over the sauce.
Add the cornflour slurry, stir to coat, and cook for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened.
Fish Burgers with Chips
Ingredients:
Dip of choice (I used dill pickle dip)
4 brioche buns
1kg potatoes
4 slices cheese
1 cos lettuce
4 frozen battered fish fillets
Olive oil
Sea salt
What to do:
Preheat oven to 180°C (fan-forced).
Slice potatoes into 1cm-thick rounds, then cut into chips. Spread on a lined baking tray (use two if needed). Lightly spritz with olive oil, toss to coat, and bake 30–40 minutes until golden, flipping halfway.
With 20 minutes to go, place the fish fillets in the oven and cook as per packet instructions.
Once everything’s cooked, remove from oven. Transfer chips to a large bowl and season generously with sea salt.
Lightly toast buns. Spread dip on the base, add a fish fillet, cheese, lettuce, and bun lid. Serve with hot, crispy chips.
Spring Roll Fried Rice
Ingredients:
500g pork mince
1 brown onion
1 carrot
¼ cabbage
1 cup bean sprouts
2–4 tbsp oyster sauce (to taste)
1–2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari (to taste)
2 cups white rice
Olive oil
Optional: spring onion to garnish
What to do:
In the morning, cook rice and refrigerate (this stops it going gluggy).
Finely julienne the carrot. Finely shred cabbage and slice onion. If using spring onion, slice and set aside to garnish.
Heat a large frying pan with a little oil over medium heat. Add onion and pork mince, cook 5 mins until browned.
Add carrot, cook 3–5 mins until softened. Add cabbage and bean sprouts, cook a further 3 mins.
Add rice, break it up with a spoon, then turn heat to high. Add oyster and soy sauce. Stir-fry 5 mins. Serve topped with sliced spring onion.
Butter Chicken Naan Pizzas (makes 6)
Ingredients:
1 rotisserie chicken
6 garlic naan
1 jar butter chicken paste
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Fresh coriander
Plain yoghurt
2–3 cups shredded pizza cheese
What to do:
Shred the rotisserie chicken.
Spread butter chicken paste over each naan.
Sprinkle with cheese, then top with chicken and onion.
Bake or air fry at 180°C for 4–6 minutes, until cheese is melted and onion softened.
Top with dollops of yoghurt and coriander leaves.
“McChicken” Burger Bowls
Ingredients:
1kg chicken mince
1 cos lettuce
1kg potatoes
½ cup burger pickles
1 cup shredded tasty cheese
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
Olive oil
Sea salt & pepper
Sauce:
½ cup aioli
2 tbsp pickle juice
1 tsp yellow or Dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
What to do:
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Cube potatoes, spread on lined tray, spritz with olive oil, season with sea salt and thyme. Bake ~35 mins until golden and crunchy.
Shred and wash lettuce. Mix sauce ingredients together.
Heat a large pan with olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken mince, cook 10–15 mins until browned and cooked through.
Add onion powder, garlic powder, and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.
In bowls, layer lettuce, chicken mince, crispy potatoes, pickles, cheese, and sauce.
