Do you not know what you should have for dinner? Don’t worry, I've got you!
Whether you’ve just moved out, or have been cooking dinner for yourself for years, it can be difficult to come up with new recipes. It can be very tempting at times to just order something instead of cooking for yourself. But making dinner for yourself can be fun and should not have to take long. Therefore, I’ve collected (and tested) three recipes that are very easy and that you can make in large amount to enjoy on different days.
Not only do I want to show you that making dinner for yourself can be easy, but I also want to show you that it is very simple to have nice vegetarian and vegan meals for dinner.
I’ve got two vegan recipes and one vegetarian recipe to show you.
I hope you enjoy these recipes, have fun cooking!
Harira soup
This hearty and filling Moroccan soup is one of my favorites for the colder days. And now that the temperature is dropping, I’d like to share this recipe with you guys!
A big bonus about this recipe is that it contains chickpeas and lentils, that way you’ll eat enough protein without having to eat any meat.
Link to the original recipe: https://uitpaulineskeuken.nl/recept/harira-soep
Serving size: 4
The ingredients:
- 3 onions
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 stalks of celery
- 1 can (400g) chickpeas
- 1 can (400g) lentils
- 140g tomato puree
- 150 ml water
- 2 cans (800g) diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons of Ras el Hanout (a spice mix)
- 2 teaspoons of Harissa
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cilantro or parsley (optional)
- Feta (optional)
- Mince the onion and cut the celery and carrot into small pieces.
- Add olive oil to a large pan and add the minced onion, garlic, celery, and carrot. Cook for around 5 minutes.
- Add the Ras el Hanout and the tomato puree and stir well. Cook this for 3 minutes on low heat.
- After three minutes, add the diced tomato and the water and cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the Harissa and the chickpeas and lentils and cook for around 3 minutes.
- Divide the Harira soup into multiple bowls, add salt and pepper if needed. If you want, garnish the soup with cilantro or parsley and feta.
Lemon and garlic pasta
This lemon and garlic pasta tastes fresh, is easy to make, and requests only a few ingredients.
Link to the original recipe: https://www.culy.nl/recepten/pasta-zomer/
Serving size: 4
What do you need you ask?
You’ll need:
- 300 g spaghetti
- 400 g tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove (or 2 small ones)
- 1 lemon (the juice and the zest)
- 250g of grated cheese (leave this out if you want the vegan version)
- 2 red bell peppers (optional)
- 15g of fresh basil, oregano, or thyme.
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Olive oil
- Start with boiling water for the spaghetti (the fastest way to do this is by using a boiler). Add this to a pan with a spoon of oil and some salt.
- Meanwhile, mince the garlic and your preferred herb, and add this to a large bowl. Add around 4 tablespoons of olive oil to the bowl and add some salt and pepper.
- Chop your tomatoes in cubes and add them to the bowl as well and give everything a good mix.
- Then, grab your lemon and use a grater to get the yellow zest of your lemon. After you’ve zested the lemon, add the juice of the lemon and the lemon zest to your bowl and mix it well.
- When your spaghetti is done cooking, drain it, and add it to the bowl. Make sure you toss everything very well together. Give it a taste and add more salt and pepper to your taste.
- Add the pasta onto the plates and top it off with some grated cheese. (For the vegan version: leave out the cheese and add more salt)
If you’re eating with four, you’re all good but if you are living by yourself, no worries, just put the left-over pasta in some plastic containers and place them in your freezer to enjoy some other day.
Curry ramen soup
This soup is nice to enjoy on a cold evening for dinner but can also quickly be made for lunch.
The nice thing about this recipe is that you can switch out any vegetable to another that you like better. That way you can also use up any leftover vegetables in your fridge.
Link to the original recipe: https://midwestfoodieblog.com/vegan-curry-ramen/
Serving size: 6-8
The ingredients you’ll need:
- Olive or coconut oil (The original recipe calls for sesame oil, but as sesame oil is not very budget free, you can use olive oil)
- Around 4/5 medium carrots
- Around 230g of mushrooms
- 1-3 tablespoons of red curry paste
- 2 teaspoons of curry powder
- 6 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons of minced ginger
- 1L water
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 1 can (400ml) coconut milk
- 250g ramen noodles (you can also use regular noodles)
- Juice of one lime
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Heat 1,5 tablespoons of oil in a large pot.
- Add your veggies and cook them for 3 minutes.
- Add the red curry paste, the curry powder, and garlic and ginger to the pot. Cook this for 1 minute and don’t forget to stir occasionally.
- Mince the bouillon cube in small pieces and add this to the water, stir this around for a few seconds.
- Then add your water with bouillon to the pot and add the can of coconut milk. Turn up the heat and cook for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the (ramen) noodles according to the packaging. When the noodles are cooked, add them into some bowls and pour over the soup.
- Make sure not to forget to add some squeezes of lime juice at the end. And if you want, you can garnish the soup with some cilantro.
Are you not able to finish all the soup? Don’t worry!! Add the leftovers to a plastic container and save them in your freezer.
