Hussain - Time to eat: Delicious meals for busy lives

Delicious meals for busy lives

Photography by Chris Terry

After winning 2015s Great British Bake Off, Nadiya Hussain has gone on to capture the hearts of the nation. A columnist for The Times and a regular reporter for The One Show, Nadiya has also presented two of her own BBC cookery series to great acclaim with Nadiyas British Food Adventure reaching over 3 million viewers. Her next cookery series will air on BBC2 in summer 2019, accompanied by her brand new TV tie-in cookbook.

Born in Luton to British Bangladeshi parents, Nadiya now lives in Milton Keynes with her husband, Abdal, and their three children.

Her previous cookery titles include Nadiyas Kitchen, Nadiyas British Food Adventure and Nadiyas Family Favourites.

To the time-poor amongst us. We rush, we scramble and we get by. In doing so, we live. Rushed and frayed around the edges, still we go on. We smile. We frown. Unsteady yet firm. I have no time we say in haste.

Dont we?

We have it, no matter how swift and meaningless it feels. We have it! We have time, it is ours! However long or short, it is ours to take.

Lets rush, but sometimes lets just stop. To Abdal, Musa, Dawud and Maryam.

This book is unique and special because it introduces you to my world, my way of cooking, which can become your world and your way of cooking. It will help you become a time-smart cook without even really realizing it. Im so excited to share all this with you. There are recipes that show you how to batch cook and how to use and really appreciate the space in your freezer. You can spin leftovers into whole new meals and make beautiful food that can be put together in very little time.

I dont want to appear condescending, I really dont. Or look like I know what Im doing. But I kind of do! Not because Im an expert, but because I know what its like to have just one head and one pair of hands. We are all human. Cluttered minds, to-do lists that never seem to get smaller, stuff to do and still only four limbs. We can only get to our destination as quickly as our legs can carry us. We can only prepare the family dinners that are needed with the two hands we have and whatever time is left at the end of that day. Yet life seems to treat us like we are octopuses, with eight limbs to juggle the laundry, the cheers, wiping down surfaces, tying laces, shovelling in food, typing, swiping, clicking.

I havent got it all figured out. I still dont know how to do the YMCA and knead bread at the same time. Its a work-in-progress, but I will do it! Im not saying my way is the best way. But its pretty good. This is the way I have been cooking for a decade and it really does work. All you need is a willingness to change how you cook a little, and to make a little freezer space. Its definitely not foolproof. It takes time and a little extra thinking, but ultimately when I cook like this, what happens is I get my cooking fill, I get to be creative and cook delicious food. I get to cook in advance. By spending just a little more time in the kitchen (and by little I mean not that much more), it means Im cooking extra, freezing and saving for the week ahead. By the time I have done this for a few weeks, I find myself with a whole week free to do other things. Like have a bath, do some work knowing dinner is sorted, simply enjoy putting one foot in front of the other without worrying about the speed at which my feet are moving. Leaving me happy to be human and less envious of our eight-legged sea creature. I dont want to be the octopus, I want to cook him, eat him, freeze him and enjoy him again the following week without breaking a sweat, without thinking.

This book has over 100 delicious recipes for you to choose from. Some take a little less time and others take a little more time, but therell be a reason for it youll be creating a second meal to keep in the freezer, or youll be using a component of the meal you are making to spin into something completely different tomorrow that wont require any preparation. Some are perfect for when you have no time to spare and others for when you have plenty of time. The difference with these recipes is that you have options. You can use frozen onions or fresh. You can use fresh veg or canned. You can make one recipe now and know that you have dinner in the freezer ready for the weeks ahead. You can make more sauce than you need for that dessert now and make a hot chocolate later.

In my first few weeks of cooking like this, I found I was busy cooking one week, cooking more than I needed, stocking my freezer and giving myself a week free of cooking, but safe in the knowledge that my family were eating home-cooked food. But after a few months I found I had food stocked up for weeks, so much so that I had to stop cooking for a while just to empty the freezer out. After six months, I was ready for every situation. Cake to take to a party? I had one in the freezer! Late home one night? It didnt matter because dinner just needed to be taken out and heated from frozen. Unexpected guests? I always had something to whip up fast. Late night? There was always something in the back of the fridge for when we got the munchies. If you want to test the theory, turn up at mine and I will have something for you but I wont be slaving or panicking over a hot hob and a noisy oven.

DONT THROW ANYTHING AWAY

As long as its not poisonous, you can probably do something with it.

CANNED, FROZEN AND DRY ARE NOT BAD WORDS

They save time and money. They keep for a long time and save on waste.

THE FREEZER IS MY FRIEND

I always have one drawer totally empty, having just that little bit of space means you have room to think on your feet.

EVERY DISH IS TWO DISHES

I always make a little bit more than I need in the hope of turning one meal into two, without having to cook it twice.

EVERYTHING IS AN INGREDIENT

You can make something out of anything.

THE MICROWAVE CAN SAVE

It saves time and saves on the gas bill. Its quick and really very handy.

Throughout this book you will find lots of recipes where there appears to be just one recipe, but secretly there are two. It could be a doubleup recipe or a recipe where you make a little more than you need, so you can make an entirely different dish as well. Dont be afraid if a recipe indicates it serves six if there are only two of you needing dinner tonight you will most likely be able to freeze the leftovers, saving you cooking time later in the week. Youll find a short Basics section at the back of the book, too, which contains staple recipes you might like to make yourself, if you have time, though the main recipes will just as happily work with the shopbought version.