EACH WEEK, WE ask a home cook about the dishes they’ve been whipping up of late. The kind of food you don’t need a recipe for, from quick snacks to empty-the-fridge dinners.
This week, Ryan Mangan (@foodanatomist) – who’s from Galway but has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past year – shared five of his go-to dishes.
“My cooking style is plain and simple,” says Ryan. “There’s no recipe I create where the ingredients can’t easily be gotten in a local supermarket.
I love foods that don’t require too much prep or washing up.
“Having moved to the Middle East a year ago, my mind is a lot more open to different types of cuisine now.”
From three ingredient cookies to veggie nachos, below are five of Ryan’s favourite dishes.
1. Rainbow risotto: This gorgeous recipe is vegan and features quinoa as its protein source. It doesn’t fall short of having a meaty texture from the mushrooms and the easy combination of spices really makes it delicious.
I frequently include this in my meal prep for the week as it always fills me up and gives me a great energy boost. Plus, it only requires one big pan to throw it all together. Once you make this recipe, you’ll realise it’s a handy way to use up any extra vegetables at the back of the fridge.
2. Spiced chicken or tofu with hummus: Nothing beats fresh homemade hummus. I love playing around with hummus recipes, and since moving to the UAE where I’ve tasted a lot of Lebanese cuisine in particular, I have gravitated toward meaty versions. I’m not much of a beef eater, which is integrated a lot into Lebanese cuisine, so I normally use chicken instead. This can also be substituted for baked tofu, while keeping all other ingredients and methods the same.
This version transforms the universal dip into more of a meal by just adding some pita bread. It’s very easy to make also, and can be stored for a few days in the fridge.
3. Three ingredient cookies: Some people start their day with a beautifully decorated bowl of porridge, but we don’t think to change up the texture we eat the oats in.
This is one of my most popular recipes, which is owed to its simplicity of using just oats, bananas and chocolate chips as the ingredients. I make these in bulk because they store very well for at least three days in the fridge. They definitely give me the impression that I’m eating something a lot unhealthier than I am, which tricks my mind out of its sugar cravings.
4. Sweet potato and chickpea curry: When it comes to meal prep, this dish screams success. The term ‘curry’ has so many definitions these days because the core ingredients are so easy to build on. It’s always the kind of meal I go for when a supermarket shop is approaching, because the spices I use are always in the cupboards and the coconut milk, chopped tomatoes and chickpeas can store for so long.
This curry recipe is great to prepare as a big portion for the week ahead – I normally bulk it up with a quinoa base and I can spread it out into four generous bowls. This won’t take too much time to prepare either, and the wash up is swift.
5. Homemade veggie nachos: The original version of this dish, created by Ignacio Anaya in 1943, consisted of crispy tortilla chips covered with melted cheese and sliced jalapeño peppers. Since then, it has evolved in many ways. There are now beef nachos, barbecue nachos and poutine nachos, but I prefer to throw together kidney bean nachos.
There is a variety of ready-made salsa and guacamole dips to conveniently spread onto your tortilla chips, but I don’t think anything beats the satisfaction – or taste – of throwing it all together yourself.
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