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Healthy Gazpacho Sauce Spaghetti

Gazpacho sauce spaghetti

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Gazpacho sauce spaghetti

eady in just 15 minutes this simple pasta recipe is tossed in a smooth yet fiery gazpacho sauce
Print Recipe
Total Time 15 mins
Servings 2
Calories 361 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 160 g spaghetti
  • 250 g cherry tomatoes
  • 1 green pepper chopped
  • 1/2 clove garlic
  • 1/2 red onion roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • a good dash Tabasco
  • a small bunch basil

Instructions
 

  • Cook the pasta following pack instructions until al dente.
  • Meanwhile, put the tomatoes, pepper, garlic and onion into a blender and whizz until completely smooth. Season, then stir in the sherry vinegar and Tabasco.
  • Once the pasta is cooked, drain well and toss with the sauce. Tear in lots of basil and serve.

Vegetable omelette

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Vegetable omelette

Jazz your omelette up with plenty of grated courgette, kale, peas and chilli flakes, then serve alongside cherry tomatoes dressed simply with white wine vinegar (*This recipe is gluten free according to industry standards)
Print Recipe
Total Time 15 mins
Servings 1
Calories 307 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • a handful cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 large clove garlic sliced
  • 1 courgette grated
  • a handful kale
  • 30 g frozen peas
  • a pinch dried chilli flakes
  • 2 eggs beaten

Instructions
 

  • Tip the cherry tomatoes into a bowl with the white wine vinegar and some seasoning, and mix well.
  • Heat the olive oil in a small pan and cook the garlic for 1 minute until smelling fragrant. Add the courgette and cook for 5 minutes or until all the moisture has evaporated. Add the kale and peas, and cook for 2 minutes until the kale has wilted. Season and stir in the chilli flakes.
  • Heat a small non-stick frying pan with a drizzle of oil. Season the beaten eggs then tip into the pan, swirling and lifting the edges so you have a large, flat omelette. Once the bottom has browned and the omelette has almost cooked on top, pile the cooked veg onto one side of the omelette, then carefully fold over the other half.
  • Slide onto a plate and serve with the cherry tomatoes alongside.

Sweetcorn pancakes with avocado salad

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Sweetcorn pancakes with avocado salad

This dish is simple to prepare and makes perfect finger food for a light starter or low fat dinner. Sweetcorn pancakes are topped with a salad of avocado, cherry tomatoes
Print Recipe
Total Time 30 mins
Servings 4
Calories 279 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 100 g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 150 ml milk
  • 340 g tin sweetcorn (1 large tin, drained)
  • 4 spring onions chopped (use the green bits as well)
  • 1 avocado chopped (use the green bits as well)
  • 150 g cherry tomatoes halved
  • 1/4 cucumber cut into small chunks
  • 2 tsp sunflower oil to fry

Instructions
 

  • Whisk together the flour, baking powder, egg and milk and season well. Stir in the sweetcorn and half the spring onion. Mix the rest of the spring onions with the avocado, tomatoes and cucumber.
    Heat a non-stick pan with 2 tsp oil and cook spoonfuls of the batter until golden. Turn over and cook the other side.
    Put 3-4 pancakes on a plate and serve the avocado salad on top.

Steak burritos

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Steak burritos

Skirt steak, black beans, pickled jalapeños, feta, avocado and a little cayenne pepper makes for a fantastic burrito filling
Print Recipe
Total Time 30 mins
Servings 2
Calories 462 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 40 g long-grain or basmati rice
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 clove garlic crushed
  • 1/2 lime juiced
  • 200 g skirt steak fat trimmed
  • oil for frying

BURRITOS

  • 2 large wraps or flatbreads warmed
  • 100 g cooked black beans warmed
  • 30 g feta crumbled
  • 1 small avocado mashed
  • 1/2 spring onion sliced
  • a few pickled jalapeños sliced
  • 4 cherry tomatoes finely chopped
  • a handful coriander leaves chopped
  • Tabasco to taste

Instructions
 

  • Put the rice in a small pan of salted boiling water and cook following pack instructions until tender. Drain, then keep warm.
  • Meanwhile, mix together the cumin, oregano, cayenne, garlic, lime juice and some salt and pepper in a small bowl.
  • Season the steak all over. Pour a little oil into a frying pan set over a high heat. Once it’s really hot, cook the steak for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until deep brown but still a little rare. Remove from the pan and put in a bowl. Pour over the lime juice mixture and leave to rest.
  • When ready to assemble the burritos, slice the steak into 1 ½cm-thick strips. Arrange the rice in lines on each wrap, leaving space at the bottom to fold up and enclose the fillings later. Divide the black beans, feta, steak strips and avocado, if using, between the wraps. Arrange all the remaining fillings and coriander leaves on top. Douse everything generously with hot sauce, then tightly wrap up each burrito, tucking up the wrap at the bottom before rolling from the side, so that the filling doesn’t fall out or drip.

Greek chicken skewers with hummus and pittas

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Greek chicken skewers with hummus and pittas

Create your own mini Mediterranean spread with zesty oregano chicken skewers, creamy hummus and warm pittas
Print Recipe
Total Time 30 mins
Servings 2
Calories 520 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 2 wholemeal pittas
  • 100 g hummus

SKEWERS

  • 2 chicken breasts cut into 4cm cubes
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • dried chilli flakes a pinch
  • 1 lemon juiced

SALAD

  • 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 110 g baby leaf salad bag
  • cherry tomatoes a handful, sliced
  • 2 spring onions sliced
  • cucumber ¼, sliced
  • red pepper ½, sliced

Instructions
 

  • Put the chicken into a bowl, season really well, add the olive oil, oregano and chilli flakes, and toss well. Spear the chicken pieces equally between 4 metal skewers.
  • Heat the grill to high and cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side or until charred and cooked through. Squeeze over the lemon juice.
  • For the salad, whisk together the olive oil and vinegar with a little seasoning in a large bowl, then tip in the remaining ingredients and toss well.
  • Serve the chicken stuffed into pittas with hummus and the salad.

Grilled Vegetable and Halloumi Salad

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This warm grilled vegetable and halloumi salad can be cooked outside on the barbecue in the summer or indoors on a griddle pan when the weather is not so good. Halloumi is the perfect cheese for grilling because it has a high melting point so retains it’s shape when cooked. It has a slightly rubbery texture and salty flavour and is delicious when grilled or fried as it gets a golden crust on the outside. If you’re on a gluten-free diet this salad can be served as an alternative to a pastry-based quiche and is very good served with new potatoes or potato rosti cakes.

Grilled Vegetable and Halloumi Salad

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Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 25 mins
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 courgettes halved or quartered lengthways and thickly sliced
  • 250 g asparagus spears trimmed and halved lengthways if thick
  • 8 medium-sized flat mushrooms wiped and trimmed
  • 8 cherry tomatoes
  • 250 g halloumi cheese cut into 8 slices

Marinade

  • 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 9 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed

Instructions
 

  • Place the courgettes, asparagus, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes in a shallow non-metallic dish. Mix together the marinade ingredients in a small bowl, season with salt and freshly ground pepper and pour over the vegetables. Mix to coat in the marinade then cover and leave to marinate for 30 mins.
  • Remove the vegetables from the marinade and reserve the marinade. If cooking on a barbecue, thread the courgette pieces and tomatoes onto skewers before cooking. Cook all the vegetables on a hot barbecue or in a preheated griddle pan, in batches, for 3-4 mins turning occasionally, until lightly charred and just tender. Cook the halloumi slices for 1 min each side until golden.
  • Place the halloumi slices on top of the vegetables and pour the reserved marinade over the top. Serve warm.

Notes

Aurbergines, peppers, fennel, butternut squash and carrots are all delicious cooked in this way and really brings out their sweetness.

Baked Vegetable Polenta

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Polenta is an Italian store-cupboard staple. Typically a peasant ingredient it still remains a cheap but versatile grain. Recognised for its rich, yellow colour, it has a sweet taste to it and be found ranging from coarse to fine. It can be cooked to be creamy and thick, or griddled, baked and fried. It can even replace flour in gluten-free baking and comes in handy as a coating to meat and fish. This recipe makes a great vegetarian main meal or great as a side dish. Swap the feta cheese with any that you fancy. Try, cheddar, swiss, gouda or even stinky gorgonzola!

Baked Vegetable Polenta

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Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Total Time 50 mins
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 300 g quick-cook polenta
  • 1 garlic clove peeled and crushed
  • Small handful of fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 leeks
  • 200 g mushrooms
  • 300 g cherry tomatoes
  • Feta cheese cubed
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6. Mix the dry polenta grains with the garlic and parsley. Into a saucepan, pour the polenta mix into the required amount of boiling water as stated on the cooking packet. Cook polenta until a smooth consistency is achieved. Then pour into a baking tray. Set aside to cool.
  • In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the leeks and mushrooms until tender.
  • Top the polenta with the fried vegetables and add the feta and tomatoes. Bake in the oven for 20mins until the polenta has risen and the cheese has started to melt. Serve immediately.

Notes

For extra flavour, use stock to cook the polenta in instead of water.

Tomato Tarte Tatin

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This savoury twist on the classic French tarte tatin makes a delicious vegetarian dish. Easy to prepare, this tasty treat will make an impressive dinner party centerpiece, served with a crisp green salad or seasonal veg

Tomato Tarte Tatin

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Prep Time 35 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 1 hr 5 mins
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 25 g butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 40 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • 300 g puff pastry
  • 100 g Cheddar cheese grated

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat the oven to 200 °C/Fan 180 °C/Gas mark 6.
  • Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan, add the tomatoes and cook over a medium heat for half an hour.
  • Season, add the thyme and pile into a shallow pie dish.
  • Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Cut the pastry in two. Layer the first piece of pastry over the tomatoes and sprinkle with the Cheddar cheese, then cover with the second layer of pastry.
  • Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and gentle flip the tart onto a plate and remove from the dish.

Notes

If you’ve got some shallots to use up, they work well too. Make sure you add a splash of balsamic vinegar when cooking them

Crispy Quinoa and Bean Cakes With Salad

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A vegetarian-friendly alternative to standard grill fare, these patties are formed with quinoa, sweet potatoes, kale, and kidney beans.

Crispy Quinoa and Bean Cakes With Salad

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Cook Time 35 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

Leftovers from Quinoa With Sweet Potatoes, Kale, and Pesto

  • 3 cups cooked quinoa
  • 3 cups cooked sweet potatoes and kale roughly chopped

Additional ingredients

  • 1 15.5- ounce can kidney beans rinsed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan about 2 ounces
  • kosher salt and black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil plus more if necessary
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 6 cups mixed greens about 4 ounces
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved

Instructions
 

  • In a medium bowl, mash the beans with a fork. Add the quinoa, sweet potatoes and kale, eggs, Parmesan, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and mix to combine. Dividing evenly, form the mixture into twelve 3-inch patties (about ½ cup each).
  • Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. In batches, cook the patties until browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side (adding more oil if necessary).
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add the greens and tomatoes and toss to combine. Serve with the quinoa and bean patties.