5 Weeknight Meals To Make Under 15 Minutes

Make stir fries, salads or grilled chicken on weeknights. Photo: India Food Network

Picture this. You are wrapping up work, and the cook calls to inform that she wants a day-off. Hell breaks loose, of course.

Preparing weeknight meals is every working woman's stress point; who wants to cook dinner after a long day at work anyway?

So here we are to ease things out and make your weeknight meals stress-free and delicious. Try these 5 weeknight meal ideas when the cook bunks or when you're not in the mood to wield the ladle.

Dal khichdi: Indians love khichdis. Give them lentils and rice, some veggies and they can whip up a khichdi in no time. On busy weeknights, we therefore turn to dal khichdi, to save us. Pick a lentil of your choice, give a tempering with ghee, and you have a hearty dish to call your own.

Find a recipe here.

Salads: Just got back home to find the cook is taking a day-off? Make a salad. You can do so much with salads that it will blow your mind. Use your favourite veggies, a balanced dressing and some texture like croutons or roasted nuts to give it that extra oomph. Add sprouts such as green moong to make it protein-packed.

Find a recipe here.

Stir fried veggies: When time is not your friend and hunger pangs strike, let stir fried veggies come to the rescue. Toss up some vegetables like carrots, beans, broccoli or mushrooms with good quality olive oil, mixed herbs and lime juice and voila...your dinner is ready!

Find a recipe here.

Grilled chicken: It is a wise decision to stock up your pantry with chicken before the week sets in. You can either make a rich curry for a more leisurely meal or grill it with garlic, olive oil, lime juice and herbs for a busy weeknight. Serve it with some mash potatoes or toast bread.

Find a recipe here.

Indo-Chinese fried rice: Indians love Chinese food so much so that they have their own version. Take hakka noodles for instance. To make any Indo-Chinese recipe, keep your soy sauce, green chilli sauce and tomato ketchup handy. On busy weeknights, all that it takes is some noodles (you can boil them the previous day), veggies or chicken and the (above) sauces to make an easy Chinesey meal.

Find a recipe here.