Welcome to June — and what a week to kick it off. We have a roast chicken with a stuffing recipe that comes straight from my dad’s kitchen, Jordan’s most beloved national dish making its debut on the meal plan, a homemade nugget night the kids will absolutely lose their minds over, a humble 30-minute stew that punches well above its weight, and a no-bake dessert that looks like it came from a patisserie window.
There is something for everyone this week — a slow Sunday roast, a midweek crowd-pleaser, a cosy one-pot, and a dessert you make the night before so it’s waiting for you. Every recipe is linked below. Let’s have a great week.
This Week’s Meal Plan
Meal 1: Roast Chicken with Herb Stuffing
This one is personal. My dad ran a chicken shop, and I spent my childhood watching him work — the smell of golden skin, the warmth of the kitchen, the confidence of someone who had done this ten thousand times. This stuffing was his. A dry breadcrumb base with thyme, sage, oregano, celery salt and lemon zest — mixed ahead and left in the fridge overnight so the flavours have time to meld into something far more than the sum of their parts. The toasted pine nuts are my addition. I think he would have approved. Start the stuffing the night before, roast it low and slow, and let it fill the house with the best smell.
👉 Get the Roast Chicken with Herb Stuffing recipe
Meal 2: Jordanian Lamb Mansaf
If you have never made mansaf before, this week is your week. Jordan’s national dish — tender lamb shanks slow-cooked in a jameed yoghurt sauce that is tangy, savoury and unlike anything else, served over rice fragrant with lamb broth and finished with golden toasted almonds. It is a dish built for a big table, designed to be shared from one large platter with everyone reaching in. It takes time, but the steps are manageable — and the flavour is unlike anything else in your repertoire. A recipe worth every minute.
👉 Get the Jordanian Lamb Mansaf recipe
Meal 3: Homemade Chicken McNuggets
I told my kids my crumbed chicken was better than McDonald’s for years. Then they challenged me to make the actual ones. I made these, they took one bite, and that was the end of that argument. Real minced chicken breast, seasoned all the way through, dipped in a thin light batter and fried until deeply golden and crispy. Make a big batch, par-fry half and freeze them — then you have homemade McNuggets sitting in the freezer ready to go any night you need them. Once you do this, you will never look at a drive-through the same way again.
👉 Get the Homemade Chicken McNuggets recipe
Meal 4: White Bean Stew
This is the kind of recipe that doesn’t ask much of you and gives you everything in return. Thirty minutes, one pot, pantry ingredients — butter beans simmered in a rich spiced tomato sauce with onion, garlic, 7-spice and a generous handful of fresh coriander stirred through at the end. Make it with chicken for something more substantial, or leave the meat out entirely — it is just as satisfying either way. Serve it over vermicelli rice and call it done. One of those weeknight meals that quietly becomes a regular.
Dessert: No-Bake Ashta Ladyfinger Dessert
This one has been everywhere on social media — but I made it ours by swapping the generic cream filling for ashta, that thick, luscious Middle Eastern clotted cream that you simply cannot replicate with anything else. Ladyfinger biscuits chopped into the base, ashta cream poured over and left to soak in, then finished with a glossy dark chocolate ganache and a feathered white chocolate pattern that makes the whole thing look like you really know what you’re doing. Make it the night before, refrigerate overnight, and scoop straight from the dish. It is stunning, it is easy, and it is completely impossible to stop at one serve.
A week of real food, beautiful flavour and one very good dessert waiting for you in the fridge.
I hope this makes your week in the kitchen feel a little easier — and a lot more delicious 🤍
