For What to Cook this Week we’re sharing a real mix of recipes for readers in the northern and southern hemispheres. Spring officially starts today in the north, although with winter weather lingering, I don’t think many of you will be swapping soups for salads yet, while in Australia, which has had its hottest March, cool weather is coming.
If you’re visiting us here at Grantourismo for the first time – welcome! What to Cook this Week is a random-ish weekly-ish recipe series comprised of suggestions for five delicious weeknight dinner recipes I’ve dug up from the Grantourismo recipe archives, which is brimming with recipes from around the world.
For What to Cook this Week we try to mix things up with ideas for dishes to cook when you don’t feel like cooking, recipes that might require a little bit of an effort but will be worth it, and dishes to make on a Friday night when you’re looking forward to spending some time in the kitchen with loved-ones, a bottle of wine, and good music in the background.
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What to Cook this Week – Chicken Tinga Taco, Beetroot Salad, Beef Kofta and More
Our ideas for What to Cook this Week include recipes for everything from a chicken lentil soup and Mexican chicken tinga taco to Italian potato pasta stew, beetroot salad and beef kofta.
Monday – Chicken Lentil Soup Recipe with Potatoes, Carrots and Dill
Topping our list of suggestions for what to cook this week is my easy chicken lentil soup recipe with potatoes, carrots, celery and dill, which I published yesterday. It makes one of those endearingly old-fashioned chicken soups that will transport you back to simpler times.
It has quickly become one of my favourite chicken soup recipes. I’ve been eating it for three days! It will make you a healthy, light, comforting, and nourishing soup that’s perfect if you’re ‘feeling poorly’, as my English friends say.
It’s also a quick and easy soup to make, especially if you use leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken and canned lentils. We poach chicken breasts and use the liquid as the soup stock.
If you enjoy slurping soups as much as I do, also check out our other soup recipes. We have collections of recipes for chicken soups, noodle soups, chicken noodle soups, and fish soups.
Old Fashioned Chicken Lentil Soup Recipe with Potatoes, Carrots, Celery and Dill
Tuesday – Mexican Chicken Tinga Taco Recipe with Grilled Corn
Taco Tuesday is the best excuse to make tacos, so next on my list of suggestions for what to cook this week are Mexican chicken tinga tacos and they’re a feast for the eyes as much as the stomach.
Our chicken tinga taco recipe makes warm soft flour tortillas with delicious chicken tinga or tinga de pollo with grilled corn charred on a griddle pan, zingy pickled purple shallots and pickled purple cabbage, sprinkled with crumbly Mexican cotija and aromatic coriander.
Try to source soft corn tortillas for more authentic Mexican tacos although wheat flour tortillas work if you can’t. Long tongs come in handy. For a taco feast, serve with sides of guacamole, spicy red tomato salsa, Mexican corn salsa, homemade pickled jalapeños, pickled purple shallots, pickled purple cabbage, and Mexican pickled vegetables.
If you have leftovers, you could make some quesadillas. Whatever you do, make sure to wash all that food down with margaritas or micheladas. Click here for more Taco Tuesday recipes.
Mexican Chicken Tinga Taco Recipe with Grilled Corn, Pickled Shallots and Purple Cabbage
Wednesday – Cheesy Pasta and Potatoes Recipe for Pasta e Patate
Our cheesy pasta and potatoes recipe for the Southern Italian pasta e patate makes a home-cooked comfort food dish you’re unlikely to see on a restaurant menu in Italy unless you get off the tourist trail or into a local home.
It’s one of those Italian comfort food dishes that I love serve in a big bowl and tuck into on the couch in my pyjamas during a Netflix binge session. It’s that kind of meal and it’s another of my suggestions for what to cook this week.
If we are eating it at the table, we’re going to keep things simple – some slices of sourdough and a simple rucola and tomato salad are all it needs. If you need even more carbs, make a panzanella – an Italian bread and tomato salad.
While the Neapolitan pasta, patate e provola with provolone cheese is best known, Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano can also be used. Season with a good quality sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Cheesy Pasta and Potatoes Recipe for the Southern Italian Pasta e Patate
Thursday – Roast Beetroot Salad Recipe with Feta, Rucola and Carrot Hummus
Next on my list of suggestions for what to cook this week is my roasted beetroot salad recipe which makes a twist on the classic beetroot salad with feta, walnuts and arugula or rucola, roca or rocket, depending on your preference.
I spread the salad on a layer of carrot hummus and replace the walnuts with crunchier pistachios for added flavour and texture. My inspiration is the Middle Eastern balela salad spread on soupy chickpeas, and the Antalya version of a Turkish white bean salad, in which the salad is also piled onto the creamy white beans. My roasted cauliflower on hummus and baby corn on creamy white beans are in the same style.
Of course, this beetroot salad recipe assumes you’ve got a tub of our cumin-spiced carrot hummus in the fridge. If you haven’t, you could make that recipe (on the previous link) a day or two before you plan on making this salad, or you could roast the carrots at the same time as the beetroot.
Roast Beetroot Salad Recipe with Feta, Rucola and Pistachios on Cumin Spiced Carrot Hummus
Friday – Beef Kofta Recipe for Lebanese Kafta for Grilled Spiced Ground Meat Kebabs
Ramadan begins later this week so this beef kofta recipe for traditional Lebanese kafta – grilled, spiced, ground meat kebabs that are made throughout the Middle East – is last on our list of suggestions for what to cook this week.
Cooked at home, served at restaurants, and barbecued in parks at family gatherings on weekends and holidays, these Arabic minced meat kebabs are one of the most beloved dishes in a region that loves its grilled meats.
Our easy beef kofta recipe will make you the mouthwatering Lebanese kafta or spiced minced beef kebabs of the kind that we used to eat when we lived in the Middle East. Tuck into them with hummus, baba ganoush, and fatoush.
Beef Kofta Recipe for Lebanese Kafta – Grilled Spiced Ground Meat Kebabs
Please do let us know if you make any of our recipes from our What to Cook this Week recipe series this week as we’d love to hear how they turned out for you.
