mid-week | date with a plate.

Chilli con carne

February 20, 2018 by date with a plate.

Ever wonder what the perfect freezer meal is? I can help with at least one solution: Chilli con carne (or Chili for my American friends). I mean technically there’s probably a thousand different options out there, but this is one I regularly make a giant batch of and freeze for lazy mid-week dinners when I can’t be bothered cooking but don’t want to spoil my hard work at the gym by guzzling down a burger and fries…and let’s be honest, […]

Categories: Dinner, Lunch, mid-week, One Pot Wonder, Pork • Tags: avocado, beans, chilli, coriander, healthy, pork, spices

Quick & easy Thai beef salad

December 14, 2017 by date with a plate.

I am back. Finally. Sorry – I got really distracted. It’s been a long time coming but I am slowly stepping back into blog-land. Now I need to figure out how to stay consistent…any tips? I have been thinking a lot lately about healthy meals – and that healthy doesn’t have to mean boring, bland or difficult. In fact, it’s my new mission to make it quite the opposite. And while I apprentice that there’s lots of others already doing […]

Categories: Asian, BBQ, Beef, Dinner, Lunch, mid-week, Salad • Tags: beansprouts, beef, capsicum, coriander, cucumber, dinner, easy, lime, Mint, onion, tomato

Choc banana nice-cream

May 23, 2017 by date with a plate.

You’ll be pleased to know I have managed to remain largely on the healthy eating bandwagon…I say largely because I still inhale the occasional required burger or other cheat meal on the weekend. But weekdays are pretty darn strict – and thank the greater powers because I am seeing results. And that’s what keeps you going, knowing your hard work is paying off. But what do you do when your cravings for sweets reach heights greater than your self-control? You […]

Categories: Chocolate, Dessert, Ice cream, mid-week, Snack, Vegetarian • Tags: banana, chocolate, coconut, dates, dessert, easy, pecan, walnuts

Shredded chicken with soba noodles in miso broth

March 10, 2016 by date with a plate.

I am slightly obsessed with noodles; dry or wet, I am immediately drawn to bowls of slippery, slurp-worthy goodness and last night I had a bad craving for soba noodles specifically. Soba noodles are a Japanese variety made of wheat and buckwheat flour and can be served hot or cold. Last night’s meal was served hot, in a delicate and slightly creamy broth featuring miso paste, soy sauce and mirin as the flavour base. It was quick, but incredibly comforting […]

Categories: Asian, Chicken, Dinner, Lunch, mid-week, One Pot Wonder • Tags: chicken, coriander, ginger, mirin, miso, miso paste, noodle, radish, sesame seeds, soba noodles, soy sauce, spring onion

Bircher soaked in orange juice

February 29, 2016 by date with a plate.

Bircher has a whole range of benefits, but the one I am most interested in is time saving. Every now and then I make a massive portion of bircher muesli by soaking oats and various other wholesome goodies so that when morning rolls around I am ready for the day…it’s a really good “I am adulting like a boss” feeling. It takes very little effort and leaves me comfortably full and satisfied until early afternoon. I have made this bircher a […]

Categories: Breakfast, mid-week • Tags: apple, buckwheat, chia seeds, Greek yoghurt, green apple, oats, orange juice, orange zest, Oranges, passion fruit, Raspberry, rolled oats, sesame seeds

Beef rib tacos (with all the trimmings)

February 23, 2016 by date with a plate.

When life gives you leftover beef ribs, make beef rib tacos…or at least I think that’s how the saying goes? Right? Maybe not, but that’s just what I did. Ever since my boyfriend’s custom smoker arrived at our house we have been working our way through every possible cut of appropriate meat to smoke; beef ribs, pork ribs, brisket, pork shoulder, you name it and it’s on his ‘to-smoke’ list. Smoking meat can be a little hit and miss, mostly […]

Categories: BBQ, Beef, Dinner, leftovers, mid-week, Pickling & preserving • Tags: avocado, beef, chili, coriander, garlic, jalapenos, lime, mexican, onion, oregano, radish, taco, tacos

Corned beef breakfast hash

January 27, 2016 by date with a plate.

In Part Two of my collaboration with Harvey Beef (don’t worry, you can catch up on Part One if you missed it) I used one of the more challenging cuts of meats from the marinated range, Oak Barrel Corned Silverside. The silverside comes from the outside of the rear leg and sits between the knuckle and the topside. As it is a muscle heavily used for walking, silverside requires the slow moist cooking of corning to produce a tender and […]

Categories: Beef, Breakfast, leftovers, mid-week • Tags: asparagus, beef, butter, corned beef, eggs, leftovers, potato, rocket, silverside, Worcestershire sauce

Spiced roast cauliflower, quinoa and chickpea salad

November 19, 2015 by date with a plate.

I find it weird (in an awesome kind of way) that we create these profiles on social media platforms, such as Instagram (@date.with.a.plate), and start building this community of like-minded people from all over the world around us. I have been fortunate enough to have made “Insty-friends” with some of the most creative and talented individuals. But social media can be a blessing and a curse…let me explain. Some people think social media disconnects us from the world around us, […]

Categories: Lunch, mid-week, Salad • Tags: cauliflower, chickpea, chili flakes, Greek yoghurt, Italian flat leaf parsley, maple syrup, Mint, Quinoa, tahini

Celeriac soup with crispy pancetta croutons

July 15, 2015 by date with a plate.

Knobbly and a little weird, this misunderstood root vegetable is often over-looked by the everyday grocery shopper. Generally speaking, I don’t think people know how to use this vegetable, let alone what it tastes like. Celeriac tastes like a cross between celery and parsley. It can be mashed, used in soups, thinly sliced and added to a salad or even roasted. My boyfriend asked me to make this specific soup for him – he had seen it on River Cottage […]

Categories: Bread, Dinner, mid-week, Soup, Vegetarian • Tags: celeriac, garlic, leek, onion, potato, River Cottage, soup

Italian sausage and lentil soup

April 8, 2015 by date with a plate.

Sick? Tired? My Italian sausage and lentil soup is a real crowd pleaser. It’s easy to make, cheap and freezes like a boss – so I tend to make large batches and keep some (quite literally) for a rainy day. Like so many good home cooking recipes, this was born from a mixture of being sick at home and resisting a trip to the shops. The result was pleasantly surprising and it’s been on the menu ever since. While technically […]

Categories: Dinner, mid-week, One Pot Wonder, Soup • Tags: asparagus, capsicum, carrot, garlic, Italian sausages, lentils, onion, tomato

Lamb burgers with harissa mayonnaise and orange salsa

March 5, 2014 by date with a plate.

This one was too good not to share, I can’t actually remember the last time I made a burger recipe that actually really impressed me. This burger is simple, full of flavour and is a really nice change from the every day cheeseburger. Not that we eat burgers every night of the week, but on the rare occasion we do love to stack a pair of toasty buns sky high with our favourite ingredients. What I love most about this […]

Categories: BBQ, Dinner, Lamb, mid-week • Tags: coriander, cumin, harissa, olives, Oranges, pistachio nuts, rocket

Paprika and thyme chicken

January 31, 2014 by date with a plate.

It was another case of mid-week laziness. I knew it was my turn to cook dinner, I just couldn’t seem to summon the energy to be inventive, so I rustled up an old favourite that I know the boy likes: my paprika and thyme chicken. This little dish owes its origins to an abundance of thyme in the garden and an excess of paprika in the spice rack – I quite literally just banged this one out, but its become […]

Categories: Chicken, Dinner, mid-week • Tags: easy, flavour, garlic, paprika, thyme

date with a plate.

food for everyday.

Category Archives: mid-week