A quick weekday supper (+recipes)

African spiced hummus with lamb and olives. Photo / Babiche Martens

Whipping up a quick weekday supper doesn't need to mean compromising on flavour.

When everyone is rushing about like mad things, a delicious, quick to prepare supper in the middle of the week is a blessing. In our house the typical Wednesday meal becomes a takeaway, possibly because more effort goes into weekend meals and starting fresh at the beginning of the week. When we get to the middle it becomes easier to dash down the road.

Though delicious offerings abound from the Indian and Vietnamese joints near us, these recipes use interesting ingredients which are easy to find and cook then either throw together on a plate or arrange artistically if needing to impress a guest or two. My favourite part is the fact you can get comfy and only need a fork to enjoy a plateful of delicious and healthy food. It's only a maximum of 15 minutes prep time - much less than it can take to get to a takeaway and home again.

There is much being said about trying different types of fish as many of our favourites are now becoming unsustainable, so I was impressed to see many varieties on sale when shopping for this article. Blue and red cod, monkfish and alfonsino are all delicious and well worth experimenting with.

I have used blue cod today because it is quite a meaty, firm-fleshed fish which embraces the textures and flavours of the kamokamo and parsley pesto.

I love any type of coleslaw - all crispy with fresh flavours and served with a generous dressing (but not gloopy mayo). Shredded green and red cabbage with slices of pear and crispy chorizo is a heavenly match paired with a mint, mustard and gherkin vinaigrette. If you make this recipe and leave it for up to three days, it will get even better and is a great salad to have on hand to serve in a crusty bread roll or with grilled chicken.

Hummus can be made in a jiffy by draining a tin of chickpeas and whizzing with plenty of lemon, garlic and salt. It's fine that way, but if you add some spices like cumin, coriander and chilli then it all becomes far more tasty. Toast a flatbread or two, add some seared lamb loin and a dollop of yoghurt for a tasty, my kind of one-plate supper.

Chef's tip

Kamokamo is a traditional Maori ingredient best described as a cross between a marrow and a pumpkin. It is at its best now and is easy to find in good vegetable stores and markets. Either slice, season and grill, or remove the seeds and stuff with a filling of sauteed vegetables, cheese and herbs before baking.