For our latest edition of What to Cook this Week we’re sharing recipes for Massaman curry chicken fried rice, caramelised roasted cauliflower, a fresh fattoush salad with crispy homemade pita chips that’s just made to be enjoyed with grilled kofta, a creamy spiced pumpkin soup, and a Japanese cucumber and cabbage salad with Japanese fried chicken.
In this week’s edition of What to Cook this Week we’re sharing recipes you should enjoy whether you’re in the northern or southern hemispheres. Spring and autumn may have started, but it’s incredibly chilly here the southern hemisphere, where I’m visiting my mother in rural Victoria, while Terence says it’s blazing hot in Siem Reap, which makes selecting recipes tricky.
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 Fried Rice, Roasted Cauliflower, Fattoush and More
Our ideas for What to Cook this Week include recipes for Massaman curry chicken fried rice, caramelised roasted cauliflower, fattoush salad, spiced pumpkin soup, and a Japanese cucumber and cabbage salad with Japanese fried chicken.
Monday – Massaman Curry Chicken Fried Rice Recipe
At the top of our list of suggestions for what to cook this week is this Massaman curry fried rice recipe, and only because we have Massaman chicken curry leftovers. So tonight I’m making a Massaman chicken curry fried rice recipe.
The recipe makes a fantastic, filling, fragrant fried rice with crispy onions, crunchy fried potatoes, pan-roasted peanuts, and the perfume of dried spices. While I created this Massaman curry fried rice to use up leftover Massaman curry, you could certainly make it from scratch.
There’s no denying that it’s carb heavy, so lighten it up with plenty of fresh coriander and perhaps serve some stir-fried leafy Asian greens on the side. Don’t have leftover curry? But you have other tasty leftovers?
Then see our best fried rice recipes for inspiration, particularly Terence’s chicken fried rice recipe made with chef Morgan McGlone’s Nashville-style Southern fried chicken from Belles Hot Chicken and Nguan Soon curry powder.
Tuesday – Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus and Crispy Chickpeas
The Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan has just ended and because we lived in the United Arab Emirates for so long we’re missing the rituals of the holiday and the wonderful Middle Eastern food. If you are too, see our round-up of our best Middle Eastern recipes.
So next on my list of suggestions for what to cook this week is a dish inspired by Middle Eastern food. Cauliflower florets are roasted in gently spiced extra virgin olive oil, served on creamy hummus, and topped with crispy fried chickpeas, tangy pickled shallots, and fragrant fresh mint.
When it comes to the hummus, of course you can use store-bought hummus, but we think our authentic hummus recipe makes a better tasting hummus. It literally takes minutes to make if you use canned chickpeas and throw those and the other ingredients into a food processor or blender.
If you’re vegetarian you’ll probably enjoy eating this dish on its own, as I do (it’s one of my all-time favourite dishes) but it also makes a fantastic side to chicken, such as this braised chicken with olives and capers, which is one of our most popular chicken recipes.
Roasted Cauliflower Recipe with Creamy Hummus, Crispy Chickpeas, Pickled Shallots and Mint
Wednesday – Spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe with Sour Cream and Crunchy Croutons
I want to keep things simple on Wednesday night as it’s going to be a busy week, so next on my list of suggestions for what to cook this week is this spiced pumpkin soup recipe. It’s a combination of the kind of old-fashioned Australian creamy pumpkin soups my Nanna made and a Cambodian spiced pumpkin soup of Khmer Royal Cuisine traditionally made with coconut cream.
Rich, comforting and creamy, despite there being no cream, it’s a perfect in-between season soup that can be served as an elegant appetiser or in big bowls for a cosy casual meal on the sofa, which is how I plan on eating it on Wednesday night.
If you’re a lover of pumpkin soups, you’re going to enjoy this. It’s delicious, it’s super affordable, it freezes well, and it’s easy and straightforward to make despite the longish list of ingredients – which you shouldn’t feel intimidated by. They simply add depth of flavour.
My recipe makes a delicious pumpkin soup that’s a little different to the classic Australian, European and American pumpkin soup recipes. My recipe is probably best described by what we call here in Southeast Asia as a bit “same same but different”. Let me know what you think.
Spiced Pumpkin Soup Recipe with Sour Cream, Crunchy Croutons, Crispy Shallots and Chilli Oil
Thursday – Japanese Style Cabbage and Cucumber Salad Recipe
Next on my list of suggestions for what to cook this week is this Japanese style cabbage and cucumber salad recipe made with quintessential Japanese ingredients such as sliced roasted seaweed or nori sheets, black sesame seeds and white sesame seeds.
They give it a fantastic texture, while the dressing made with Shichimi Togarashi Japanese Seven Spice (we recommend the S&B brand), Japanese sesame oil, Japanese soy sauce, Japanese rice vinegar, and mirin give the salad a delightful tartness.
This salad is the perfect side to Japanese fried chicken, as well as pork tonkatsu, katsu burgers, or any Japanese comfort food dish. This Japanese potato salad recipe also makes a great side.
Japanese Style Cabbage and Cucumber Salad Recipe with Sesame Seeds
Friday – Fattoush Salad Recipe with Beef Kofta, Hummus and Baba Ganoush
Ramadan may have just ended, but that doesn’t stop me from Middle Eastern food whenever I get the chance, and no, I’m not Muslim, we just lived in the Middle East n for close to a decade and enjoyed many a Ramadan for the fantastic food.
Even though we ate Middle Eastern food all the time when we lived in the region, now that we don’t I like to use Ramadan as an excuse to cook the cuisines of a part of the world that was such a big part of our lives for so long.
This classic fattoush salad recipe makes a traditional Lebanese village salad of ripe tomatoes, crunchy cucumbers, zingy radishes, and fresh fragrant herbs, tossed in a delightful salad dressing distinguished by the beloved Middle Eastern ingredients of pomegranate seeds and ground sumac, and textured with crispy pita chips.
But of course nobody eats a fattoush salad alone. It’s typically served as part of a Middle Eastern feast and is fantastic served with hummus, baba ganoush, and beef kofta, which is what I plan to cook on Friday.
Fattoush Salad Recipe for a Traditional Lebanese Village Salad
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.
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Hello Basanta, thanks for your kind words, however, I’m sorry, but we don’t allow promotional links to commercial websites in the comments unless directly related to the content of the post and helpful to our readers.