Dinner Diaries: 3 surprising revamps for evenings at home. Here's what to do.

Finding ways to spice up dinner is a constant battle. I’m tired of tofu, chickpeas, and don’t get me started on lentils.    

I’m guessing you don’t generally reach for a punnet of raspberries or blackberries when you’re whipping up dinner, but hear me out: they’re good for you, they’re delicious and they add a certain ~zing~ to your everyday meals.

I’ve read that they also go great as a glaze or marinade for meat, so there’s a fun fact if that’s your thing.     

And more traditionally, they make a mouth-watering addition to any dessert. But before you’re tempted to just stand at the fridge with the door open eating them by the handful (which yes, I have done too), try these super easy ways to incorporate them into dinner and dessert.   

Recipe 1: Blackberry, nectarine and halloumi salad

Image: Supplied.  

This salad is a perfect side dish or light dinner, and can be bulked up with almost any veggies you’d normally use in a salad. I also realised after I made this that would be amazing with walnuts.

You’ll need:

- A punnet of blackberries

- 2 ripe nectarines, sliced into segments

- A pack of halloumi

- Leafy greens

- Your choice of vinaigrette, like balsamic or red wine

Slice the halloumi into strips, and grill on both sides until nicely browned. 

I’d also recommend grilling the nectarine for a few minutes too, until they’re warm. 

In a large bowl, add the leafy greens, blackberries, halloumi and nectarine slices (and walnuts, I’m really regretting not adding those). Splash with the vinaigrette and toss.

Recipe 2: Blackberry, fig and goat’s cheese pizza

Image: Supplied. 

You’ll need:

- A punnet of blackberries, cut in half

- 2 oven pizza bases 

- A small pack of goat’s cheese

- 2 figs, sliced thinly

- A small pack of rocket

Evenly place the goat’s cheese, fig slices, and halved blackberries over the pizza bases, and pop in the oven at about 160 degrees for 5 minutes, or until the crusts are browned and cheese slightly melted. Once they’re out, sprinkle the rocket on top.

The confusion on your friend/partner/kid’s face as you serve them a blackberry pizza will soon be replaced by a look of ohmygoshwhyhaveInevertriedthisbefore. Trust me.

Recipe 3: Easy raspberry and passionfruit cream tart

Image: Supplied. 

This dessert is easy as they come: it basically only requires assembling and looks so impressive. The different fruit flavours taste delicious with the cream.

 You’ll need:

 - A punnet of raspberries

 - Store bought pastry cases

 - Thickened or whipped cream

 - Store bought lemon curd

 - Passionfruit pulp, tinned or fresh

Firstly, bake the tart cases according to the packet if that’s required. You want the cream to be thick and ‘scoopable’, so if it’s too thin whip it with a mixer until it’s thick. Once the cases are cool, simply scoop some cream in, top with the lemon curd and passionfruit and finish with a raspberry.

Now that you know blackberries and raspberries add bursts of flavour to any meal, there's no turning back now. You've got our blessing to pretend you've been adding them for years to your pizzas when friends come around, they'll be incredibly impressed. Next step now is to get creative and revamp your usual rotation of dinners, but just make sure you've always got a healthy supply handy in the fridge in case you want a straight up punnet-to-mouth binge too.

And that’s it! The effort versus the impressiveness of this dish is unparalleled. 

Feature Image: Supplied.