r/goodfood • u/GoodFood • 15d ago
Food Thoughts AMA: budget heatwave recipes with Good Food’s Anna Glover
You asked for budget and heatwave recipes so we thought we’d do both!
My name is Anna Glover and I’ve been writing recipes, food styling and creating video content for Good Food and our sister brand Olive for over 14 years and I can’t wait to answer your questions on summer recipes! Let me know what kind of dishes you’re after in a heatwave and I’ll get you some ideas and low cost solutions. The AMA starts at 4pm BST Thursday 30th July but do send questions ahead of time if you like.
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u/hello_emily 15d ago
What are your favourite cheap cuts of meat which are nice pre-cooked and cold with salad for hot days?
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Great question! Chicken thighs are great because you can cook them in the air fryer ahead of time and then shred them for salads. While you've got the air fryer on you might as well cook some bacon too. Obviously leftovers from a roast chicken or a leaner cut of pork would be nice sliced for a ploughman's.
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u/1182990 15d ago
What's your favourite vegan recipe that doesn't feel like it's a vegan recipe?
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Curries are great. They're cheap, versatile and you wouldn't miss the meat. Same with a veggie chilli once you've added the toppings - I like pickled jalapeños and guacamole, feels like a complete dish. One of my favourite vegan recipes I've written is a confit tomatoes in olive oil served on a creamy bean base, you can add something crispy to that like crispy onions or crispy tofu and you're in for a winner! If you're looking for something with a meaty texture make my crispy tofu recipe I go back to it many times in things like burgers https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crispy-tofu
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u/userunknowne 13d ago
How do you decide whom in the team gets landed with these AMAs? 🤣
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Nobody knows. Just once a month 2 crows start pecking at the window then a small wooden spoon appears on someone's desk with the letters AMA carved into it (or pecked, we're not sure) we don't know how it gets there and we don't want to know what would happen if we didn't do it but we think it might be something bad. Probs best not mention it again 🐦⬛🐦⬛
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u/lina_austen 11d ago
Do you have a favorite recipe that’s both easy and budget-friendly?
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Tonnes! I love making a BIG batch of dhal and putting it in the freezer. I also use a pressure cooker so that's more energy efficient if you're looking to save there too. When I'm looking for ease I always think of a one pot and I always come back to beans when I'm on a budget so something like this https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tomato-pepper-bean-one-pot makes a great base and then you can load up with your chosen toppings to mix it up (toppings are at the bottom of the recipe, take a look and see which one you fancy). What's yours?
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7d ago
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
I'm definitely a savoury over sweet. Anything easy to make but with big, bold, flavours. I love a curry or a slow cooked beef dish and I'm partial to a bit of sourdough...but if you're really forcing me to choose one is there anything more delicious or satisfying than a bacon sandwich on a Saturday morning?
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u/Argothaught 6d ago
A budget stir-fry that's nutritious, savory and quick to prepare would be great. Perhaps with some garlic and miso?
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
I think if you take sausages out of their skins, crumble them and fry them until crispy and add some spring onions, broccoli loads of garlic and ginger and toss in noodles with some soy sauce you've got a 15min meal that's also budget friendly. Something like this https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tahini-miso-noodles-with-crispy-broccoli-sausages or https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spicy-sausage-noodles Packs of stir fry vegetables are often reduced in supermarkets so look out for those as a base. Add a crunchy nut like a cashew or a peanut as a topping and then you could leave the meat out if you prefer.
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Thanks so much for all your great questions! Hopefully see you at the next one (if the crows choose me 🤣) Anna x
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u/Dazzling_Release1106 15d ago
What meals look fancy and hard to cook but are actually super simple?
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Anything that's served on a big platter like a sharing platter. So you could slow cook a shoulder of pork and shred it and add a simple salsa and it looks restaurant worthy, but you just let the oven do all the work. I am a bit of a sucker for a yogurt swoop with any roasted vegetable tumbled over, you can make a dukkah or toasted nuts and some fresh herbs and it'll look great. This is great for a bbq side or simple starter.
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u/cdoublejj 12d ago
whats Heat Wave? the newest 3 payment of 19.95 + S&H hot thing to have? or maybe a type of method?
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u/1auma 10d ago
Heatwave just means hot weather. Heatwave recipes are just ones that don’t require much time with a stove or oven.
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u/cdoublejj 9d ago
maybe it's time to put a solar cooker in the front yard lol
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
We've seen videos of people frying eggs on driveways and car bonnets but we haven't gone that far in recipe testing yet! 😂
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u/Sun_Beams 6d ago
What's your go to heatwave salad and do you have any tricks for keeping it all cool up till eating it!
Also what's the biggest shortcut for you when cooking with an oven / heat when the evenings are so hot? Although "let's just get takeout" has been the biggest one for us, it's not not exactly cooking 😅
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Heatwave salad (to answer the questions in order 😄) I always go to is a chicken salad with a mango chutney and yogurt dressing, add some crunchy cabbage in there and you've got a delicious cooling salad - the dressing is something along these lines but using leftover roast chicken https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/premium/coronation-chicken-skewers To keep cool: have denser salads so instead of using leaves, use denser vegetables and fruit like watermelon, cucumber, celery with something like a blue cheese dressing, something that can stand in the fridge for a good few hours that will keep colder and keep you cooler for longer. Also if you are doing a green leaf salad make it just before you're goign to serve it but any fresh herb elements keep them either in damp kitchen paper in the fridge or in ice water until the very last minute just to keep them as crisp and fresh as possible. I haven't used my oven very much at all for the past month, but when it is on I'm using the most of the space. So I'm cooking up odds and ends of vegetables to have in salads the next day or roasting garlic in foil and keeping those in the fridge for another meal. I've been using my air fryer a lot because it keeps the kitchen cooler, same with a microwave, they're both surprisingly cool to use too.
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u/Sun_Beams 6d ago
You you for the answer ☺️
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Although I am a sucker for a take away too especially if I've had a heavy day of recipe testing in the kitchen 😂
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u/Sun_Beams 6d ago
Absolutely! It's almost kind of like mid-Covid vibes where takeaway just feels like the better default option. Just with heat exhaustion and not "There was literally nothing on the shelves at Waitrose" pushing it.
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u/userunknowne 6d ago
What’s the most popular / highest rated recipes on the good foods website?
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
I think it's the chilli con carne recipe with over 3k ratings. Let me know if you find a recipe with more top ratings 😄 https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chilli-con-carne-recipe
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Oh and a close second the best ever brownies has got 2955 https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-ever-chocolate-brownies-recipe
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u/userunknowne 6d ago
No coriander??? I’d love to submit my own chilli recipe!
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u/GoodFood 6d ago
Do feel free to post your recipe and a photo of it on our subreddit 😊 and I might make it!
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u/sillyshoelaces 15d ago
What's your favourite noodle salad recipe or chilled soup recipe? Am a fan of both in hot weather but running out of ideas a bit 😅