Is anyone else lacking in meal inspiration during this Corona-virus business? I have loads of cookbooks, but I look at some recipes and find the long list of ingredients a bit daunting as I feel guilty for going shopping for much more than the basics and essentials. Luckily I do have a fairly decent herbs & spices cupboard, and I always make sure I have in some fresh mince, onions, peppers and chillis…

Anyway, the other day it got to dinner time and I just had no clue what I fancied but I didn’t want to just resort to a frozen pizza (that’s for the weekend treat!). With some inspiration from a friend who had recently made up a meal from ingredients she had in that needed using up, and inspiration from the 2nd Pinch of Nom cookbook, I came up with – Smokey Paprika Beef & Cumin Potatoes…

Ingredients (Serves 3):

For the beef:

• 500g beef mince
• 1 garlic clove finely chopped (or 1 tsp garlic granules/easy garlic – I used easy garlic as I have a jar that needs using up)
• 1 x onion, finely diced
• 1 x chilli, finely chopped
• 2 x sticks of celery, finely chopped (I had these in and they needed using up, or you can use carrots/other vegetables rather than throw them away)
• 1 x pepper, finely sliced
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 4 tbsp tomato puree
• Seasoning & olive oil
• 3 tbsp Greek Yogurt

For the potatoes:

• 3 medium potatoes cut into quarters
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• Seasoning & vegetable oil

Method:

1. Par-boil your potatoes for 5 minutes, then drain them. In a bowl, mix together the potatoes, vegetable oil (enough to cover the potatoes), the cumin, paprika and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix well and then tip into a toasting tin/oven dish. Roast the potatoes on gas mark 6 for approx 30 minutes or until slightly crisp on the outside but soft on the inside.
2. Whilst the potatoes are cooking, prepare your veg. Once the potatoes have been roasting for about 15 minutes, fry the celery, peppers, garlic and onion in a large pre-heated frying pan with olive oil. Once the veg starts to soften, add in the mince and the chilli, breaking up the mince as you stir. Fry until the beef mince is browned.
3. Add to the pan the rest of the ingredients with a pinch of salt and pepper and gently fry/simmer until the potatoes are cooked. If you wanted more of a sauce based dish, at this point add a tin of chopped tomatoes to simmer.
4. Serve up your Cumin Potatoes, topped with the Smoked Paprika Beef and top everything with a tablespoon of Greek Yogurt and a sprinkling of Smoked Paprika.
5. Enjoy!

So there you go, make it up as you go along and sometimes it turns out delicious and just what you need! If you don’t have smoked paprika, then normal paprika will do, and if you prefer a bit more sauce to your dish, add a tin of chopped tomatoes!

I hope you have been inspired to try this dish OR inspired to make something up with the ingredients out of your cupboard, and if so, PLEASE share this with me for your chance to feature across my social media.