This week is full of comfort and a little nostalgia — chimichurri steak with the creamiest garlic mash, a one-pan fennel chicken tray bake that’s become my new go-to, garlic bread inspired by a childhood treat, and a fragrant Afghan eggplant borani. And for dessert — a simpler, one-pan take on warbat, with silky custard instead of ashta.
A week of big flavour and easy nights. Every recipe is linked below — let’s have a great one.
This Week’s Meal Plan
Meal 1: Chimichurri Steak & Garlic Mash
There’s something about chimichurri steak that turns an ordinary weeknight into something worth sitting down for. Bite-sized pieces of porterhouse are marinated in Worcestershire sauce, warm spices and plenty of lime, then seared hard and finished with a spoonful of garlic butter melting through the pan. That’s before the chimichurri even goes on — a bright, herby, garlicky sauce tossed through the hot steak right at the end so every piece is coated. Serve it with the creamiest garlic mash and dinner is sorted in under an hour.
👉 Get the Chimichurri Steak & Garlic Mash recipe
Meal 2: Fennel Chicken Tray Bake
There is something so satisfying about a good tray bake — everything goes into one pan, the oven does the work, and dinner is ready with barely any clean-up. Fennel is the surprise here — it softens and sweetens as it roasts, adding a gentle aniseed note that rounds out the dish without ever taking over. The marinade is where all the flavour lives — yoghurt, tomato paste, garlic, lemon, mustard and warm spices coating the chicken beautifully as it roasts over the vegetables, soaking every bit of flavour right down into the tray.
👉 Get the Fennel Chicken Tray Bake recipe
Meal 3: Delicious Eggplant Borani
An Afghan specialty featuring layers of succulent sliced eggplant, potato and tomato, all cooked to perfection in a pot filled with the most tantalising aromas. Depending on your preference, roast or fry the eggplant, then layer it over thinly sliced potato and tomato with a garlic-infused olive oil sauce, cooking low and slow until everything is tender. A beautiful, fragrant side or main that works alongside almost anything on the table this week.
👉 Get the Delicious Eggplant Borani recipe
Meal 4: Parmesan Garlic Bread
Some of my best food memories aren’t from a fancy restaurant — Inspired by my Sizzler memories. It was a family, all-you-can-eat restaurant, and going there was always a treat. We weren’t greeted with a bread basket — everyone got their own slice of that bread on a plate, and everyone who went just knew it as Sizzler bread. This recipe is my grown-up take on that memory — sweet roasted garlic butter on soft bread, perfect for mopping up a bowl of soup or a stew, or serving alongside your main this week.
👉 Get the Parmesan Garlic Bread recipe
Dessert: Warbat with Custard Filling
Warbat is one of those desserts that instantly takes me back to family gatherings, and this is my simple, one-pan twist on it. Traditionally made one of two ways — filo baked first with ashta piped in after, or the pastry filled before baking — I wanted something a little quicker for a busy kitchen, so I swapped the ashta for a silky custard and layered everything into one tray from the start. Crispy filo, silky custard and sweet syrup, all baked together. Make it ahead and chill before serving.
👉 Get the Warbat with Custard Filling recipe
A week of comfort, nostalgia and one very good tray of warbat.
I hope this makes your week in the kitchen feel a little easier — and a lot more delicious. Tell me which one you’re making first! 🤍
