Dinner Recipes for Tonight

After a rough evening of juggling work, chores, and family, the last thing you want is to sweat in the kitchen. Elaborate dinner recipes leech much of your time and energy. Takeout is not a viable option either—it is expensive, preservative-laden, and especially unhealthy for children. How do you strike the middle ground? It’s simple; play smart!

If you are often torn between hyperactive kids and elaborate dinner recipes, let tonight be a different story! Turn the situation to your advantage—get your kids and spouse on board! Cooking together instills bonding, creativity, and team work.

Assign your kids basic tasks, such as mixing, whisking, peeling, seasoning, setting the table, and clearing kitchen scraps. This is also a perfect time to catch with your spouse, while the cooking happens!

Basic Soup

While classic soups require preparation of stock in advance and, in some cases, incorporate white sauce, quick family dinners are all about keeping meals quick, simple, and realistic! Almost anything in your fridge will do for a basic soup. Look for celery, carrots, pumpkin, beets, onion, broccoli, potato, peppers, cabbage, corn, tomatoes, just anything! While you don’t have to be too picky, you need to use discretion, so to speak. Okra soup can be disastrous!

For a basic soup:

1. 1. Chop vegetables roughly, toss them into a cooker, add water as required, and steam well.

1. 1. Blend cooked vegetables to desired consistency. You mad add some milk for richness.

1. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

Masala Papad

While vegetables cook, get down to preparing masala papads.

1. 1. Stick papads in the oven for 20-30 seconds, one at a time. Say hello to flat and crispy papads—perfectly roasted to carry seasoned vegetable salad!

1. In a bowl, add chopped carrots, onions, coriander leaves, tomatoes and cucumber.

Note: Consider saving some chopped onion, tomato, and carrot for the main course.

1. 1. Season with turmeric, chili powder, salt, and add a squeeze of lemon to give it some zing!

1. 1. Prior to serving, spread the salad over roasted papads, and voila! Masala papads are ready in under 15 minutes!

1. Mix them up and voila! There’s your masala papad in under 15 minutes.

Vegetable Rice

1. 1. Soak 1 portion of rice with 3/2 portions of water, along with a bay leaf, cinnamon stick, star anise, and 2 – 4 cloves, for 20 minutes prior to cooking.

1. 1. In the meantime, heat oil in a pan over medium flame, add cumin seeds, bay leaf, and chopped onion and stir until translucent. Add remaining vegetables and sauté till completely cooked.

1. Mix cooked rice with sautéed vegetables, and serve hot:

Fig and Walnut Shake

Squeeze in a minute during cooking to soak a few figs for the final course. Delectable fig and walnut shake is perfect before retiring to bed. Blend cold milk, soaked figs, walnuts, and brown sugar and you’re done! Transfer shake to a fancy glass for added swag!

Try these dinner recipes tonight and thank us later!