Poppy O’Toole’s midweek timesavers: spicy chicken and baked rice, and Thai-style lemongrass fishcakes

Juicy, spiced chicken, fluffy baked rice and enough flavour to make you bin that takeaway menu and raid your cupboards instead. Then some fragrant, delicate fishcakes with a lovely, bouncy texture, which are such a winner for the freezer.

Taking only 10-ish minutes to cook from frozen, they save you from hunger and distraction on a busy WFH day.

Serves 8

• 200g Greek yoghurt

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

• 1 tbsp garlic granules
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp ras el hanout
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced or grated

• 2 tbsp tomato puree

Flat-leaf parsley leaves

In a bowl, combine the yoghurt, lemon zest and juice, harissa, garlic granules, dried oregano, ground turmeric, ras el hanout, coriander and cumin with a large pinch each of salt and pepper.

Add the chicken thighs, give them a good mix to coat, then pop them in the fridge to marinate for at least an hour. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Meanwhile, put a glug of olive oil in an oven-safe saute pan on a high heat.

Chuck in the onions and peppers, fry for two to three minutes, until colooured and slightly blackened, then add the garlic and fry for a minute more, until fragrant. Turn down the heat to medium, squeeze in the tomato puree and cook for one minute, until the mix darkens.

Season generously, then tip in the rice and toast for a minute. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and chicken stock, and bring to a bubble.

Put the chicken thighs on top of the rice – you want about half of each chicken thigh sitting above the level of the stock – then put the pot in the oven for 30 minutes, until the chicken is slightly charred and cooked through and the rice is tender. Serve immediately, piping hot, with the pickled red onion, feta and parsley, if you like.

To eat later, freeze in an airtight container for up to three months. To reheat from frozen, heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5 and reheat for 45–50 minutes, until piping hot throughout.

Or defrost fully in the fridge overnight, then heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and reheat for 25–30 minutes, again until piping hot throughout.

Serves 8

• 500g skinless, boneless cod, or haddock
• 200g shelled raw king prawns
• 3 tbsp green Thai curry paste

2 lemongrass stalks, bashed and roughly chopped

• 50g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1–2 tbsp fish sauce, to taste

• 2 tsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

Lime wedges

Tip the fish, prawns, curry paste, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, palm sugar and soy sauce into a food processor.

Crack in the eggs, then blitz to a paste. Tip the mixture into a bowl and stir through enough cornflour to make a wet dough (you may not need all of it, so add the cornflour in batches).

Wet your hands so the fishcake mixture won’t stick to them, then weigh out 16 equal balls of about 70g each. Shape these into 2cm-thick patties, then arrange on a well-oiled baking tray – they will feel really wet, but that’s normal! - and refrigerate for at least an hour, to firm up.

Put a little olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat, then, working in batches, fry the fishcakes for three to four minutes on each side, until cooked through, piping hot and golden. Serve with sweet chilli sauce, rice noodles, herbs and lime, if you like. To eat later, freeze the raw fishcakes on a tray until solid, then transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to three months.

To cook from frozen, put a little olive oil in a frying pan on a medium-low heat, then fry the fish cakes in batches for about five to six minutes on each side, turning carefully, until cooked through, piping hot and golden. - These reccipes are edited extracts from Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Batch Cookbook, by Poppy O’Toole, published by Bloomsbury Publishing at £22.

To order a copy for £19.80, visit guardianbookshop.com