This is something delicious I make when I’m in a hurry and need some good quality protein. It works well with a simple mixed salad on the side to make a balanced meal. You could also substitute it for potatoes alongside meat or white fish. I usually make lots so we can use the leftovers for packed lunches.
Serves 4 (or 2 with leftovers)
1 heaped dsp sun-dried tomato pesto
One of the following fresh herbs if you have them, chopped:
Rosemary leaves: 1 tsp/oregano 1 tbs/parsley 1 tbs
2 dsp lemon juice
2 tins or mugs of cooked butter beans, drained
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
Black pepper
Mix the lemon juice, pesto, garlic, and herbs together in a bowl.
Add butterbeans, a few good grinds of black pepper, and mix well. Taste and if you feel like it, add more lemon juice, pesto, or pepper.
Eat with a large mixed salad such as my “basic mixed salad”.
Why this recipe is good for you: Beans and pulses are rich in soluble fibre, a type of fibre that feeds friendly bacteria in your gut. Friendly bacteria are important for your immune system, helping regulate it and prevent allergies such as eczema and inflammatory diseases such as colitis. These good bacteria also help your body clear toxins. Toxins we are commonly exposed to include used-up hormones (eg estrogens, testosterone), old medications, and chemicals (eg toxic nitrites from processed meat, petrochemicals from toiletries, and petrol fumes). So if you want to have good detoxification, clear skin, and tune up your digestion, fostering your good gut bacteria is one of the keys. Rosemary, oregano, lemon juice, and garlic are also great helpers for the liver, also promoting fast efficient clearance of toxins.
This was one of my favorite breakfasts on a weekday when I didn’t have that much time and I didn’t have to be gluten-free. Now that I know I’m coeliac I use the gluten-free alternatives mentioned below. Cooking in the oven makes it handy, because (unlike grilling) you don’t have to watch it every minute. These Taifun brand sausages are vegan and contain 11% protein so are great for keeping you satisfied for longer. Check out my “larder” on the menu for where to buy these and other unusual foods. Make sure you get the “grill herb sausages” though, they are the nicest. These sausages are not gluten-free as they contain soya sauce and small amounts of oats (which can be contaminated with gluten grains). For the gluten-free option, see the Taifun Basil Tofu option below in the recipe. You could also eat this for a light lunch or dinner. All the Taifun products keep for ages in the fridge.
For 1 person:
1 tomato
1 medium courgette
2 Taifun grill herb sausages (these contain gluten, for gluten-free- slice 1/2 a block of Taifun Basil Tofu or Tofu Rosso into 3 thick slices instead)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
Put the sausages on a baking sheet in the oven and switch on to 170C (or 150C in a fan oven). Wash the courgette and tomato. Halve the tomato and slice the courgette lengthways – sliced 1/2-2/3 cm thick is just about right, I think.
Leave the sausages to cook in the heating-up oven for around 25-30 minutes while you shower or generally get ready for the day.
After 25 mins remove the baking sheet from the oven. The sausages or basil tofu should be swollen up and slightly coloured now. Add the courgette slices and tomato halves and pop into the oven for another 5 minutes. This way the veggies will be hot but not mushy. They will retain lots of nutrients this way.
Arrange everything on a plate, drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil over the courgette slices, sprinkle the oregano over the tomatoes, and add a few good grinds of black pepper. Why this recipe is good for you: The oregano and tomatoes in this recipe are packed with antioxidants that help your health – by lowering inflammation, delaying ageing, and (in the case of oregano) inhibiting the growth of pathogenic (“bad”) organisms in the gut. Research suggests that unfermented soya products (eg soya milk, textured soya vegetable protein) are not likely to be helpful to health whereas traditional products that are fermented (fermented tofu, tempeh, miso, natto) have lots of evidence to support usefulness in adult hormonal health, especially in relation to breasts and prostate. Fermented soya products are an excellent source of high-quality protein to keep you feeling fuller for longer. If you have autoimmune conditions though, you may need to avoid soya products.
Tonight, we ate these gorgeous chicken pieces. Instead of the roast Mediterranean veg in the recipe, we piled them onto a bed of baby spinach leaves alongside green beans dressed with lemon juice, black pepper, and a little Himalayan salt. If you don’t want to lose any weight, you could add some potatoes. This way of roasting chicken pieces is a real crowd-pleaser.
The paste keeps for a couple of weeks in an airtight jar in the fridge. The chicken is even better if you let it sit in the paste for a while or overnight in the fridge. It’s still great if you slather it on just before cooking. Using a miniature food processor gives a really creamy texture to the paste and saves lots of effort.
For 2
2 whole chicken legs, small breasts on the bone, or fillets, ideally organic.
2 whole red or yellow peppers, washed but not cut open
2 large fat courgettes
A few small/medium sized sweet potatoes or normal potatoes in their jackets (optional – omit if this is your evening meal and you want to lose weight or if you are following a ketogenic eating plan)
2 red onions (optional)
Garlic-spice paste:
12 large cloves garlic, peeled
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
¾ teasp ground allspice
¼ teasp freshly ground black pepper
A good pinch of cayenne pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gm 6
2. Blitz all the spice paste ingredients together in a small food processor. Otherwise crush the garlic and mix well with the other ingredients – the sauce will not cling so well but is still fine.
3. Slather enough of the paste on the chicken to coat well and place in a large roasting dish (you will have a fair bit left over to drizzle over baked sweet potatoes, to use another time to grill some white fish, or to serve as a spicy accompaniment )
4. Prepare whatever vegetables you are using: Wash the peppers (do not cut anything out as, cooked whole, the pepper will fill up with delicious sweet juices while cooking); wash the courgettes and cut into 7cm lengths;
Scrub the potatoes if using. Peel and halve the red onions if using and brush with a little olive oil
Spread out the veg in a single layer with the chicken in the roasting dish.
5. Bake for 50 mins in the oven or until the chicken juices run clear when the meat is pierced with the point of a knife. Chicken fillets may cook faster if they are small so check these after 30 mins (remove from the oven if done while the rest of the veg finish cooking).
Cook’s Tip for Kids Eating:
Many children dislike seeing seeds so try halving the peppers, removing the seeds and in each pepper place a tomato half and a teaspoon of olive oil before putting in the oven. This helps the pepper avoid drying out.
Dietary note: Garlic and spices in your diet are a fantastic health booster – for liver and skin health, immunity and delaying the effects of ageing. If you cannot source organic chicken then its best to avoid fattiest part of the bird (legs, thighs, skin) and eat only the breast. Battery chickens are routinely dusted with pesticides which congregate in the fatty tissues of the bird.
We made this on Wednesday night using leftovers from the pot roast chicken we cooked on Monday. We doubled up the quantities so as to have effortlessly packed lunches the following day. Spouse was ravenous so I cooked an extra 60g of brown rice noodles (which I dressed with a little tamari sauce and a teaspoon of cold-pressed sesame oil) for him as a side. This recipe is suitable for a ketogenic diet if you omit syrup, coconut sugar, or xylitol. If you have a problem with raw onions, try soaking them in the dressing for 20 minutes before adding the other ingredients, this takes the heat out of them.
For 2:
160g cooked chicken (organic if possible), shredded or sliced
4 cups raw, shredded cabbage red, white or green
1 medium carrot, cut into strips with a potato peeler or julienned (in thin matchsticks)
3 spring onions, including green part, cut into long thin strips OR 1/2 a medium/large red onion, halved, then sliced thinly
2 tbsp coarsely chopped or torn mint leaves
Mint and coriander sprigs to garnish
Dressing
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp oriental fish sauce
1 tsp white wine vinegar or rice vinegar if you have it
1 crushed clove garlic
1 DSP coconut sugar, agave or maple syrup, or xylitol (optional) (omit for ketogenic diet)
1 tbsp cold-pressed (virgin) sesame/peanut/sunflower/macadamia/rapeseed oil (if you cannot get any of these as the cold-pressed oil, do not use any oil at all)
1 red chili, de-seeded and finely chopped (optional)
1. For the dressing: put the lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, garlic & coconut sugar, syrup or xylitol, oil, and chilies in a bowl and whisk so the sugar/xylitol dissolves. Leave for 30 minutes for the flavours to develop.
2. Mix in the salad ingredients and divide between 2 plates or bowls.
3. Garnish with mint and coriander sprigs.
If this is your evening meal and you’re not wanting to lose weight, serve with brown rice or 100% buckwheat or brown rice noodles sprinkled with a little Tamari sauce (from Asian shops). Omit noodles for a ketogenic diet.
Dietary note: Tamari is a delicious, naturally gluten-free soya sauce, and buckwheat and brown rice are naturally gluten-free too. Cabbage contains folic acid and cabagin which are both very healing for the digestive system, especially if you have gastritis or ulcers. Surprisingly, chilies can have a pain-relieving effect on ulcers and are used in ayurvedic medicine as an ulcer treatment. The virgin, cold-pressed nut and seed oils mentioned in the recipe, eaten raw, are a rich source of omega 6 essential fats. Essential fats are needed for clear skin, digestive wellness, and energy production. Trans fats, generated during standard (non-cold) processing of oils and also during cooking, are harmful. They damage the body and block essential fat utilization. Herbs and spices are high in antioxidants for many health benefits. The reason some people do not tolerate raw onions is they relax the esophageal sphincter. This is the valve that stops food from coming back up towards your gullet. If you have acid reflux, it means that this valve could do with being strengthened by specific dietary measures.
I found this recipe in a magazine once. No idea who it’s by but it’s lovely and is our favourite method of roasting a chicken. On Monday evening we cooked this and ate it lukewarm with a mixed salad in the garden. Normally we eat it with lots of steamed green or runner beans, or cabbage and maybe a small baked sweet potato or some steamed mashed carrots. If you are on a ketogenic eating plan, omit the root vegetables. I keep all the bones in a dish in the fridge for up to 4 days (or in the freezer) to make stock.
For 4, or 2 with lots leftover:
1 organic chicken
2-4 garlic cloves
Olive oil
A pinch of Himalayan or Atlantic Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh tarragon OR 1 dsp dried tarragon or 1 heaped dsp finely chopped fresh rosemary OR 1 large handful of washed thyme sprigs
1 lemon, halved
A heavy-bottomed ovenproof casserole (or pyrex) dish with a lid
1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Discard any giblets inside the chicken.
2. Peel and cut the garlic cloves in half lengthways. Use a sharp-pointed knife to make 8 deep slits in the fleshiest parts of the chicken – thighs, breasts – and push the garlic halves well down into these. If you can’t face slitting and pushing garlic into the slits, just throw unpeeled garlic around the bird to eat hot when the whole thing is cooked.
3. Put 1 lemon half inside the bird, smear the upper part of the chicken with olive oil, and put into an ovenproof casserole dish with a lid. Add the second lemon half to the pot. Season with the salt and pepper and sprinkle with the tarragon or rosemary, or scatter the thyme over and around the bird. The reason I don’t destalk and chop the thyme is that it’s a pain and the leaves fall off during cooking anyway so why bother? If you are a real garlic fan, as I am, you can scatter any spare unpeeled cloves of garlic into the casserole dish now – they will be delicious squeezed hot from their skins to go with the cooked chicken.
4. Cover with a lid, cook 30-40 mins, then reduce heat to 150C and cook for a further hour.
5. Test by sticking a knife into the thigh. If the juices run clear the bird is cooked.
6. Allow the bird to rest on a warm plate for 20 minutes or so after taking it out of the oven. This makes the meat easier to cut, and moister than if you carve straight away. Cook your vegetables or prep your salad while the meat is resting. If this is your evening meal and you are on a ketogenic eating plan or want to lose weight, omit the root vegetables (carrots, potatoes etc.).
7. If you serve this hot, spoon over the herby, lemony juices.
This is inspired by a very simple treatment of a steak that I once ate in sunny Amalfi. It was so fresh and zingy I loved it and tried to recreate the taste when I got home. We also use the gorgeous herb-and-garlic topping for a venison steak or a piece of lean sirloin, simply done on a barely-oiled pan. The herbs you use in addition to the parsley depend on what’s convenient for you to buy or pick from your garden.
For 2:
2 tuna steaks, about 120g each (about the size of your palm)
1 small handful of parsley (flat-leaf is nice if you can get it)
A sprig (about 8-10cm long) of rosemary, 3-4 sprigs of thyme, or a handful of oregano sprigs (or all 3 if you are lucky enough to grow your own herbs and have a plentiful supply)
2-3 cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of Himalayan or Atlantic Sea Salt
To serve: a large mixed salad, with dressing, or 350g steamed French or runner beans
First of all, wash and dry your herbs and destalk them. you will want, in total about 3 tablespoons of chopped herbs. Then chop as finely as you can manage. The finer the herbs, the less chewy the topping will be. Peel and chop the garlic cloves as finely as you can manage. Add the chopped herbs and garlic to a bowl, season with a few good grinds of black pepper, a pinch of salt, and enough extra virgin olive oil to wet the whole thing so it sticks together a bit. Mix and set aside.
Prepare your salad or put your beans on to steam before cooking the tuna steaks.
Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan or griddle pan. Oil it lightly using some macadamia or olive oil, just enough to get a non-stick film on the pan but not enough to see an oil slick.
On medium heat, cook the steaks for around 4-5 minutes on each side (it depends on the thickness of the steak). It’s ok to leave fresh tuna a little pink in the middle and it’s moister and more delicious that way.
Once the steaks are done, slide onto warm plates and pile the garlic-herb mix on top of each one.
Serve with the salad or steamed French or runner beans.
Dietary note: Fresh (not tinned) tuna is a great source of omega 3 oils. Garlic and herbs contain potent antioxidants which also enhance many functions in the body, from dampening down inflammation and allergies to boosting liver function. Regularly eating fresh herbs, garlic and oily fish has positive effects on mood, skin health, and digestive wellness. The raw extra virgin olive oil used here is a source of vitamin E which is also anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing. People adding olive oil, raw nuts, and raw seeds to their diet lose weight, according to scientific research.
We love this warming, comforting curry when the weather is grey and cold and guests always seem to love it. My husband adapted it from a recipe by Nigella to have a thicker sauce, more greens, and less starchy carbs that lead to weight gain. If you don’t like any trace of hot spices, this dish is not for you – if you like only moderate heat use just 1 tbsp Amoy or Sharwood’s curry pastes instead of the genuine (and hotter) Thai brands from Asian shops. The more unusual ingredients are all available from good supermarkets, delis, or inexpensively from Asian shops. Leftovers are safe to eat the next day if stored in the bottom (coldest shelf) of the fridge and properly reheated.
For 2:
250g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into large bite-sized cubes
165ml tin coconut milk
165 ml fish stock, water leftover after steaming veg, or just plain water
1-2 rounded tablespoons yellow (or red) Thai curry paste
3 tbsp Asian fish sauce
3 fresh lemongrass stalks, each cut into 3 and bashed with a pestle or bruised with the back of a knife
3 lime leaves (frozen or dried), cut into narrow strips if you can be bothered
1 level teaspoon ground turmeric
Handful of fresh coriander, rinsed and roughly chopped (stalks and all is fine)
300g salmon darnes, ideally wild or organic, skinned and cut into bite-size cubes of about 2-2.5cm
A handful of shelled king prawn tails (optional)
350g (2 very large handfuls) of one of the following:
pak choi cut into 2” lengths
streamed-but-still-crisp broccoli florets or green beans
Juice of ½ -1 lime, to taste
Brown basmati rice to serve (see below for cooking instructions)
1. Pour the 165 ml tin of coconut milk, 165 ml of fish stock or water, and 1-2 tbsp of the curry paste into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Whisk well with a fork to amalgamate, and add the fish sauce, lemongrass, lime leaves, and turmeric. Stir and bring to a boil, then add the butternut squash/pumpkin pieces. Cook on a fast simmer until the pumpkin is tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes, although different sorts of pumpkins can vary enormously in the amount of time they take to cook; some squash can take as little as 5 minutes.
2. To the robustly simmering pan, add the pak choi if using, tamping down with a spoon. Cover and cook until slightly wilted. Then add the salmon and, if using, the prawns. If you are using pre-steamed broccoli or green beans instead of pak choi, add these now. When the salmon is cooked and the pak choi (if using) is wilted, squeeze in the juice of ½ the lime, adding the juice of the remaining half if you feel it needs it.
Serve with:
1/2 mug of brown basmati rice (for 2 people), boiled in a covered saucepan with 1 mug of boiling water and ½ level teaspoon ground turmeric. Do not stir rice when it is cooking. When it’s done you should see that the rice has swelled up, absorbed all the water, and has little steam holes visible in its surface. It should stay warm in a covered saucepan for 10-15 minutes after cooking and fluff up nicely.
Variations:
Make this with 150g raw shelled prawns (frozen is fine, provided the prawns are separated from each other) and 150g salmon instead of all salmon.
Dietary note: Coconut milk is a rich source of medium chain triglycerides which are a great source of energy for those battling fatigue or illness. Medium chain triglycerides are used to make energy directly, rather than being stored as fat. For this reason, coconut milk is a useful inclusion in any healthy diet. It is also a rich source of lauric and caprylic acids, which help clear pathogenic bacteria and yeast overgrowth from the body. Pak choi and broccoli are dark green leafy vegetables and so are rich in folic acid. Irish diets are low in folic acid which is needed for the repair and maintenance of your digestive system and for developing and maintaining brain health. Salmon is rich in omega 3 fatty acids which are anti-inflammatory and also important for the health of the digestive system, skin, brain, and more. The galangal, chili, turmeric, and other spices in curry pastes also have powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing actions.
I love this beany salad which I have adapted from a recipe by Tamasin Day-Lewis. We eat it lukewarm or at room temperature as the fancy takes us. It’s also lovely made with butter beans. The tomatoes are optional, some people prefer the dish without. Boiling the beans with herbs and vegetables give the most amazing flavour to the finished dish. But if you can’t be bothered, its still worth making – just omit the onion, celery, rosemary and extra sprig of sage.
As a main meal you could serve this with a large leafy salad (or lightly steamed broccoli florets drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil) and maybe some quinoa (nice with basil pesto and a crushed clove of garlic stirred in while its still hot).
Feeds 4 as an accompaniment, 2 as a main course:
225g dried cannelini beans, soaked in filtered water overnight (or soak in boiling water for 1 hour)
Optinonal: 1 sprig rosemary (about the length of your hand), destalked, chopped fine
2-3 large sprigs sage (around the length of your hand also)
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
2 celery stalks
3 large garlic cloves
5 tbsp virgin olive oil
3 fresh or tinned tomatoes, chopped (if you are a perfectionist you can skin them and remove the seeds too – I never bother)
Freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of Himalayan salt or Atlantic sea salt, not “table salt”
1. Cook the beans in plenty of water with a sprig each of rosemary and sage, the onion, celery and 1 clove of garlic until just about tender. Reserving the cooking water, drain the beans and discard everything else.
2. Into a large heavy bottomed saucepan or frying pan on a gentle heat put your 1-2 remaining sprigs of sage, the 2 cloves of garlic and bash them about with a wooden spoon for a minute so they get a bit squashed.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, cover with a lid (or a large plate) and cook a couple of minutes until the garlic has started to sizzle.
4. Add tomatoes, beans and a further 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Turn everything in the oil, then pour over enough of the bean stock to cover the base of the pan. Cook until most (but not all) of the liquid has evaporated.
Why this is good for you: Extra virgin olive oil, especially raw, is a great source of vitamin E which is great for moisturising your whole body, controlling allergies and is anti-inflammatory. Beans are a great high protein alternative to meat, fish, eggs or dairy products. They contain magnesium which has a calming effect, as well as helping keep the skin clear by enhancing liver function. Herbs like sage and rosemary are antioxidant, anti-ageing and naturally anti-inflammatory. They also encourage growth of friendly gut micro-organisms.
Table salt is an industrial product which contains added aluminium (dessicant) to stop it absorbing moisture. This is toxic. Himalayan salt is the cleanest salt and contains trace minerals. Its “clean” because it came from ancient seas where plastics and other man made contaminants were not present.
A few weeks ago I found little packets of cooked crayfish (without any nasty additives) in my local Lidl so I put together this luxurious salad. It’s incredibly simple to make and is greatly piled on top of a mixed leafy salad tossed in a virgin oil dressing. You can also use cooked prawns for this salad. The avocado makes the dish really filling. We had this as part of a buffet dinner recently, alongside tabbouleh, oven-baked chicken, green salad, and my special roasted red peppers which were one of my first posts on this blog. The platter was scraped clean.
To serve 2 comfortably:
1 ripe avocado
125g pack of cooked crayfish (or cooked peeled prawns)
Juice of half a lime (about 2 DSP juice) – or lemon juice if you don’t have lime
½ red chili, deseeded and chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Mash the avocado with lime juice and a few good grinds of black pepper.
2. Pile the cooked crayfish pieces or prawns on top and scatter them over the chopped chili.
Why this is good for you: Avocado is a great source of vitamin E and monounsaturated oils, both of which help delay ageing and reduce your tendency to allergy. Adding monounsaturated oils such as avocado and virgin olive oil to people’s diets helps them lose weight too. The healthy oils also make you feel fuller for longer, sustaining more stable energy throughout the day.
