5 easy family dinners for £25 - Fajita rice bowls, coconut fish curry, roasted cauliflower pilaf...

Tuesday: Coconut and green bean curry

1 small red onion, roughly chopped
20g ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp medium curry powder
10g fresh coriander, chopped
300g long-grain rice, washed
1 tbsp vegetable oil​
400g tin light coconut milk
520g pack frozen white fish fillets
500g frozen green beans
1 lime, juiced​

1. Put the onion, ginger, garlic, curry powder and half the coriander in a small blender with 1-2 tbsp water until it comes together in a paste. Cook the rice to pack instructions.

2. Heat the oil in a large, lidded frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the paste for 3-4 mins until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, season and bring to a simmer. Nestle the fish fillets into the sauce and add the green beans around them (don’t worry if not everything is submerged).

3. Cover and simmer for 10 mins, still on a medium-high heat, then remove the lid, stir gently and cook for another 5 mins or until the fish is cooked through, the green beans are tender and the sauce has thickened slightly (it will still be quite thin). Don’t stir too much or the fish will break up. Squeeze over the lime juice and check for seasoning.

4. Fluff up the rice, divide between bowls and spoon over the curry. Scatter with the reserved coriander to serve.

Thursday: Butternut tagine and cauliflower 'couscous'

1 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, finely sliced
250g frozen sliced peppers
350g pack butternut squash & sweet potato
2 tbsp harissa seasoning
390g tin green lentils in water
400g tin plum tomatoes
1 vegetable stock pot, made up to 400ml
500g frozen cauliflower florets
10g fresh coriander, finely chopped

1. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the onions for 6-8 mins. Add the frozen peppers, the squash mix and harissa seasoning; fry for another 6-8 mins until the peppers have defrosted.

2. Add the lentils with the water in the tin, the plum tomatoes and stock. Simmer for 15-20 mins until the squash is tender and the sauce has thickened.

3. Meanwhile, put the frozen caulifower in a heatproof bowl and microwave on high* for 6-8 mins, stirring halfway, until defrosted and warm but not piping hot. Pat dry with kitchen paper and tip into a food processor. Pulse a few times to break up the forets into ‘grains’ resembling couscous. (Don’t blend too much or you’ll end up with a purée!) Transfer to a bowl and return to the microwave for 2-3 mins until warmed through. Stir in most of the coriander.

4. Divide the caulifower couscous between 4 bowls and spoon over the squash tagine. Serve with the remaining coriander scattered over.

Shopping list

1 lemon
2 limes
30g pack fresh coriander
1 garlic bulb
20g piece fresh ginger
1 cucumber portion
250g pack baby spinach
350g pack butternut squash & sweet potato
1kg pack Redmere Farms red onions
300ml pot 50% less fat crème fraîche
500g pack Woodside Farms cooking bacon
500g pack 20% fat beef mince
1kg pack Grower’s Harvest long-grain rice
250g pack red lentil fusilli
400g tin Grower’s Harvest plum tomatoes
400ml tin lighter coconut milk
390g tin green lentils in water
400g tin black beans
48g jar harissa seasoning
30g sachet fajita seasoning
80g pot medium curry powder
500g pack frozen sliced mixed peppers
900g pack frozen cauliflower florets
900g pack frozen green beans
900g pack Grower’s Harvest frozen peas
520g pack Bay Fishmongers frozen white fish fillets

+ From your storecupboard

Olive oil, vegetable oil, vegetable stock pots

*Based on a family of four. Total cost is based on online prices at the time of publishing and is subject to change. Dependent on product availability, total basket price online may change due to substitutions.