Five one-pot recipes to help save on the washing up

Sometimes the idea of having to clean up after a meal makes you not want to cook at all. Scraping away at pans, leaving them to ‘soak’, knowing you’ll just have to deal with in the morning anyway…ugh.

Well we, reader, have come across the perfect solution;

One pot dinners.

Yup, you read that right.

A meal doesn’t have to use half the kitchen just to taste good! These are our favourite one pot recipes, to save cleanup time and after-dinner effort, so you can get around to some much-needed relaxing.

One pot lemon chicken, spinach and asparagus orzo

• Olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 cup orzo
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 bunch asparagus
• Spinach
• 1 lemon

Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add in chopped chicken breast and season with salt and pepper.

Once cooked, remove chicken from the pot and add chopped onion, garlic and orzo, stirring until the orzo is lightly toasted.

Pour in chicken stock and add chopped asparagus and a handful or two of spinach.

Allow to bubble until the asparagus has softened and the orzo has soaked up most of the stock.

Add your cooked chicken back into the pot and grate lemon rind over the mixture, stir it im and serve!

Vegan Black-Eyed Peas

• Baby spinach or chopped kale
• 1 1/2 cups black eyed peas, dried
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 cup Italian flat leaf parsley
• 1 lemon, wedges
• 2tsp oregano, dried
• 1 can tomatoes
• 1 white or yellow onion, large
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2tsp pepper, freshly ground
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil, extra virgin

Heat olive oil in a pot over a medium heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper. Stir in.

Wait until the onions are translucent and then add the vegetable broth and black-eyed peas.

Add in the tomatoes and don’t stir them in. Leave to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.

Add in the spinach or kale and stir in. Squeeze lemon into the pot and serve with fresh parsley.

Easy homemade beef stew

• 2lbs beef chuck
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 carrot, large
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2tsp thyme, fresh leaves
• 1/2 yellow onion, large
• 2 potatoes
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/2tsp black pepper, coarsely ground
• 1tsp salt
• 2tbsp olive oil

Season chopped beef with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a pot and add beef.

Once cooked, remove the beef and add chopped onion, chopped carrots and minced garlic. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Add chopped potatoes and beef broth, along with the tomato paste, thyme and bay leaf. Stir in and allow to simmer for 10 minutes before adding the beef back in.

Leave to cook until potatoes are soft and then serve. 

One Pot Moroccan Chickpea Quinoa Salad

• 1 can chickpeas
• 2/3 cup cranberries, dried
• 1/3 cup flat leaf parsley
• 1 yellow onion, medium
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup Quinoa
• black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/2tsp cinnamon
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1tsp turmeric, ground
• 1/2tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2cup almonds, toasted
• 1/2tsp cumin

Heat coconut oil in a pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion.

Season with turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and salt and pepper.

Allow to cook for 2-3 minutes and then add broth and quinoa.

Allow to simmer until the quinoa has soaked up the broth and is fluffy.

Add chickpeas, cranberries and dried parsley, stirring them into the mixture.

Serve with almonds sprinkled over the top.

One-Pot Vegan Chickpea and Potato Curry

• 1 cup broccoli florets, fresh or frozen
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1tsp garlic powder
• 1tsp onion powder
• 1/2 cup peas, frozen
• 2 Potatoes, medium
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 jar red curry paste
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup White rice

Add rice and vegetable stock into a pot over a medium heat. Allow to boil until the rice is cooked.

Add chopped potatoes and chickpeas and stir into the rice. Add additional stock if necessary.

Add in red curry paste and stir in.

Add peas, broccoli, coconut milk, garlic and onion powders and stir in.

Allow to cook for an additional 5-7 minutes and serve.