This is the simplest thing in the world to make and is greatly piled on top of a mixed, dressed, leafy salad. If you are in a hurry, serve with a handful of rockets, another cherry tomato, and a drizzle of virgin oil-based dressing. We often make up a big bowl of this at a weekend and take the leftovers to work. If you are an extra hungry person, you could add extra carbs in the form of a baked sweet potato, gluten-free wholemeal bread, or (if you eat gluten) brown pitta or 100% rye bread.
To serve 3-4:
2 cans or (even better) mugs of home-cooked chickpeas, drained
2 DSP extra virgin olive oil
1 rounded DSP sundried tomato pesto
1 DSP lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint, oregano, or parsley or 1 DSP chopped rosemary leaves
Half a red onion, finely chopped (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
A pinch of Himalayan or Atlantic sea salt
In a bowl, mix the oil, pesto, lemon juice, garlic, herbs, salt, and a good grind of black pepper together.
Add chickpeas (and onion if using) and mix well. If you have time, let it sit for half an hour or so to let the flavours amalgamate.
Dietary note: Fresh herbs and raw virgin olive oil are fantastic sources of antioxidants to keep us healthy. Fresh herbs are powerfully anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing, and help soothe an inflamed digestive system. Home-cooked is best when it comes to pulses but there’s still a lot to recommend tinned chickpeas. Pulses are rich in soluble fibre that feeds good gut bacteria for digestive wellness, hormone balance, and good skin. They also contain magnesium, one of Nature’s most soothing minerals, which we need to eat every day. Pulses like chickpeas are also a source of high-quality protein.
We ate this last weekend after arriving back from a few days away, desperate to get away from bland food. This is a beautiful, aromatic cook-in sauce for vegetables, white fish or lean meat. People always ask for the recipe when I serve it up. It is equally nice with fish, chickpeas, or chicken. You could also use it to reheat leftover cooked lamb or beef or as a cook-in sauce for peeled prawns. It stores well in the freezer so you could make a large batch, freeze in individual portions, and thaw as needed. this amount of sauce is enough for 4 people, or 2 with leftover sauce to put in the freezer.
3 medium onions
3cm piece fresh ginger
2 large fat cloves garlic (optional)
1 tbsp virgin coconut oil (or olive oil if you can’t get coconut)
1 rounded tsp ground coriander
1 level tsp ground cardamom
1/2 level tsp ground cloves
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
1 rounded tsp turmeric
1/3–½ level tsp chilli powder (optional – avoid if you don’t like heat!)
1 x 65ml tin coconut milk (or 60g creamed coconut + 300ml/1¼ cups boiling water)
300ml/1¼ cups passata (sieved tomatoes) or 1 tin tomatoes, liquidized
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Pepper
A food processor/liquidiser
1. Finely dice the onion, grate the ginger and crush the garlic. Place in a saucepan with the coconut oil or olive oil and 1 tbsp water and sweat them with the lid on over a low heat until the onion begins to soften/go translucent.
2. Add the spices and sweat for a few more minutes.
3. If using creamed coconut, dissolve it in the boiling water and place it in a food processor. If using coconut milk place in the processor with around 200ml water. Add two-thirds of the onion mixture and process until smooth.
4. Put the processed mixture back into the pan and add the passata and fresh coriander. Simmer for 5 mins, then season to taste with pepper.
5. Freeze in containers ready for future use or use for cooking any of the ideas below.
6. Serve with brown rice.
Cook-in ideas (just heat sauce in a heavy-bottomed saucepan to prevent burning, add your ingredients to be cooked, then cover with a lid):
Fish & veg: Allow 100-120g white fish (skinned and cut into 2.5cm cubes) and 2 cups of broccoli florets or thawed/fresh peas per person. If using broccoli, cook it in the sauce until almost done, then add the fish, which only takes a few minutes. If using peas, you can add the fish and peas at the same time.
Chicken & veg: Allow 100g chicken fillet (cut in 1cm slices or 2cm cubes) plus 2 cups sliced runner beans or broccoli florets per person. Heat the sauce, add everything else, cover with a lid and cook till done, stirring occasionally (around 10 minutes).
Chickpeas & veg: Allow 1 cup of cooked drained chickpeas plus 2 cups green veg (eg. broccoli florets or green beans) per person. Throw the whole lot into the simmering sauce, cover with a lid and cook for around 8 minutes until the vegetables are softened but not overcooked.
Why this is good for you: Research shows that all spices have anti-aging, antioxidant, health-boosting properties. Onions and garlic are great sources of soluble fibre, which feeds the helpful gut bacteria needed for proper digestion, mental clarity, and clear skin. Soluble fibre also binds to natural and man-made toxins (such as chemicals, used-up hormones, and medications) in your digestive system, ensuring that they exit the body quickly and as safely as possible.
This is my simple take on a gorgeous dish I once ate in Italy. You know how it is, sitting in a beautiful piazza on a hot summer’s night, everything is amazing. It still tastes pretty good on a drizzly Irish evening though and looks impressive even though it’s REALLY easy. If you can’t bear to eat whole fish, just use fillets, cooked skin side up, instead. You will need to cook the other ingredients first for 5-10 minutes so they soften before adding the fish fillets. Fillets would take about 10 minutes to cook through wheareas the whole fish take longer. See the bottom of this recipe for why it’s great for you.
Serves 2
120ml or 1/2 cup dry white wine
3 dsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and roughly sliced
2 small or 1 medium seabass (or bream if you prefer), gutted and cleaned
12-14 cherry tomatoes
3-4 large sprigs of fresh basil
Freshly ground black pepper
A heavy-bottomed pot/frying pan with lid
To serve:
4 generous handfuls or cups of broccoli florets/green beans
1. Lay the fish in the pot (cut off the head first if you need to to get the fish flat in the pot, or if you don’t like seeing the head on your dinner plate).
2. Cut each cherry tomato quarter to half the way through – this allows the juice to flavour the whole dish as it cooks – and add to the pan with the wine, olive oil, garlic, basil, and a few twists of black pepper.
3. Put the lid on, place on medium heat, and simmer for about 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of the fish) until the fish is tender and a skewer easily pierces it right through. Pull the pan off the heat and leave it covered while you steam your greens.
4. Serve the fish with the greens with the winey herby juices spooned over.
If you’re not wanting to lose weight you could also add a few babies boiled potatoes.
Why this is good for you: White fish is a great source of high quality protein which is needed for repair and maintenance of your whole body, including your skin, hair and digestive system. Olive oil, herbs and tomatoes are rich in antioxidants which also aid repair and slow ageing. Green veg are rich in magnesium which is crucial for relaxation of your nervous system. Allowing your brain to wind down means your body can do the housekeeping. That is: healing, digestion, repair, regeneration. Chronic stress derails all.
