recipes

As the weather perks up a bit most people move away from the heavy stews/soups and move towards lighter options such as salads, broths etc. This spring fish stew is a great example of that. Easy to prepare, nice and light, super healthy, filling, packed full of vitamins and minerals. What more could you want?

Spring Fish Stew – Serves 2 people – 454 calories per person.

Ingredients

 

1 leek thinly sliced
1 carrot, chopped
250ml chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
250 grams baby or new potatoes, quartered
1 cup (132 grams) frozen green peas
300 grams cod fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
150ml milk

20 grams all-purpose flour
Small bunch chives, chopped

1 tsbp rapeseed oil

Cooking

Heat oil in oven proof dish on a medium heat. Add the leeks and carrots and cook for a few mins until leeks start to brown. Add stock, salt, pepper and potatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes. I would put it in the oven (180 Celsius) at this point, that way you don’t have to worry about the heat, it catching in the dish etc. But you can do it on the hob as well. Then add peas and cod; cover and cook until fish is done, 4–5 minutes.
While its cooking whisk together milk and flour. Gradually whisk milk mixture into the rest of the dish and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

Conclusion – Spring Fish Stew

This is one of my favourite recipes to turn to once the spring comes and the weather starts to perk up a bit. It’s a light dish but really filling and wholesome for the meagre amount of calories. And most importantly the flavour is fantastic. You could do this with any fish you like really it doesn’t have to be cod. Prawns work really well in it. Or chicken would be nice too if you are not a fish lover.

This is one of my favourite quick and simple fish dishes. I love cooking with swordfish. You get that really meaty texture with all the low calorie and health benefits of white fish. But you could just as easily use cod or any other fish really. And everything is either cooked in the oven or steamed, meaning there is no frying or need for oil. And you can just put it on to cook and leave it meaning you can get on with something else.

Swordfish with spinach, green beans, and new potatoes

(280 calories per person)

2 pieces of Swordfish – 300 grams
100 grams (3 ½ oz) spinach
50 grams (1 ¾ oz) green beans
80 grams new potatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1/ Oven cook the swordfish (180C/350F/GAS4) for around 15 mins or until cooked through.
2/ Meanwhile steam to steam the potatoes, spinach and green beans until cooked. The potatoes will obviously take a fair bit longer to cook (depending how small you cut them up) so get them on first.
3/ Serve.

If you can afford it I would recommend going to a fishmonger for a dish like this. When the fish is just cooked simply with steamed potatoes and veg you really want the fish to stand out and be the star of the show. Even the ‘fresh’ stuff you get in the supermarkets could be anything up to 10 days old. A fishmonger may be a bit more expensive but in terms of freshness, nutrient value and flavour I think it’s more than worth it.

Conclusion – Delicious Swordfish Recipe

When I’m cooking or coming up with recipes there are a few boxes I’m trying to tick. Flavour. Ease/Speed of Cooking. Nutrient Value. Calorific Value. This swordfish recipe definitely ticks all these boxes.

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It’s the perfect time of year for soups. So I thought I would share a couple of my favourite recipes. These both have a little twist to them making them slightly different. But more importantly are really tasty and packed full of goodness and nutrients. And really low calorie as well. Try my winter soup recipes.

Mexican Mixed Bean and Lentil Soup

(630 calories)

That may seem like a lot of calories but the following will provide at least 2 portions and because the lentils and beans have plenty of good carbs and protein it’s a complete meal, no need to add anything else to it.

1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
One tsp chilli powder (more if you like)
1 X 400 grams (14 oz) tinned tomatoes
500 ml (2 cups) of vegetable stock
50 grams dried (1 ¾ oz) of red lentils
400 grams (14 oz) mixed beans, drained & rinsed
Bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions – Put vegetables in a pan, fry for 5-10 mins, add stock and bring to the boil. Then simmer for 20 minutes. Add the beans and cook for a further 15 minutes. Add coriander, then put in a blender. Serve.

Broccoli and Nutmeg Soup

(290 calories)

Not a lot of protein in this so I would recommend having it with a piece of poultry or fish.

600 grams (21 oz) broccoli, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
800 ml (3 cups) chicken stock
Sprinkle of nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Put vegetables in a pan, fry for 5-10 mins, add stock and bring to the boil. Then simmer all the vegetables gently in the stock for 15-20 minutes. Then blend. Serve.

Conclusion – Winter Soup Recipes

Fresh soup is a great thing to get into making. It will last in the fridge for days so you can make a fair bit at a time. And even put it in portions and freeze it. Give these 2 a go!

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Spices are used in a lot of foods/drinks this time of year. The health benefits they contain are fantastic. But for a lot of people they sit in their jars in the cupboard for years, barely being used. Which is crazy as the flavour they add to your food for next to no calories is insane. Find out in an easy way how to use spices.

If you have time to follow a recipe and create a delicious, authentic but yet still healthy curry, then that’s wonderful. But if you’re like me then a lot of the time once you have done your days work and got the kids to bed, you don’t have the energy or desire to be slaving away in the kitchen. So my advice would be just put in a teaspoon of whatever spices you have. Ideally several different ones, they all have different health benefits. Something like my recipe below;

Simple Chicken Curry

You could definitely accuse this of being a slap/dash recipe. But for me it’s the easiest way of cooking when you don’t have much time. And you still tick both main boxes. Healthy and tasty. I am using chicken breast, but any protein would work just as well. You could definitely do this with leftover turkey after Christmas. Or prawns or white fish would work really well too. And don’t worry if you don’t have these exact spices. Just throw in whatever you have. In my experience the only real mistake you can make is by putting too much of a particular spice.

Ingredients – For 2 people

Half tsp rapeseed oil
2 chicken breasts
1 onion
1 leek
1 carrot
(all veg roughly chopped)
Few heads of cauliflower
2 cloves garlic
Thumb size piece of ginger
Fresh chilli (if you like it)
Tsp cumin
Tsp coriander powder
Tsp turmeric
Tsp cinnamon
Tsp paprika
Tsp nutmeg
Tin of plum tomatoes
Fresh coriander to serve.

Cooking Instructions;

Brown off the chicken breasts in oil then set aside. In the same pan add the onions, garlic and ginger and soften for a few mins on a low heat. Then add the remaining veg and spices and cook for a further few mins. Add the tin of tomatoes, then half fill tin with water and add that too. Bring to the boil, add chicken breasts and cook for 20-25 mins until chicken is done. Personally I would probably bung it in the oven at this point, but the hob is fine too. Add fresh coriander and serve with brown rice.

Conclusion – How To Use Spices

I’m not trying to diminish the skill in proper/authentic use of spices here. But I just feel people are a little scared to use them and are therefore missing out on their great flavour and health benefits. Simple use of them like this recipe is still delicious. So I wanted to really simplify their use here. Give it a go I hope you enjoy!

I am going to share one of my favourite meals. Homemade meatballs. This is a good example of a dish that many people may view as unhealthy/ high calorie and therefore avoid. And if you ordered it in a restaurant it probably would be both of those things. But with a few simple tweaks and by making it from scratch yourself you can make a healthy and still seriously tasty dish. Try this homemade meatball recipe.

Homemade Meatballs Recipe

(425 calories per person)

250 grams lean steak mince, beef (use turkey breast mince to reduce calories by 75 per person)
1 egg
½ tbsp. olive oil
400 grams (14 oz) tinned tomatoes
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
One pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp mustard (optional)
1 tsp tomato puree/paste
50 grams (3 ½ oz) brown spaghetti (use cauliflower rice to save another 75 calories per person).
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

The key here is too add plenty of vegetables to the sauce to bulk it out. Add carrot, courgette, whatever you want along with the ingredients above. This way you will be able to cut down on the amount of pasta (carbs) you eat without changing your portion size.

1/ Put the mince in a bowl with the egg, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and then work into small meatballs. Allow to cook in a pan whilst you do step 2.
2/ Put the garlic, onions, peppers and any other veg in another pan and cook for around 5 minutes. Then add the tomato puree and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3/ Add the tinned tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
4/ Mix meatballs into the sauce and serve with brown spaghetti/ pasta.
Conclusion – Homemade Meatball Recipe
This recipe proves you can have still have your favourite dishes when you are trying to lose weight. You may have to make a couple of tweaks but you can still have them. Trying to live on purely plain meat/fish and salad is a recipe for boring eating and falling off the wagon.

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As we get into autumn warming winter dishes such as stews, tagines, soups become more and more appealing. I love these sorts of meals and cook them all the time. They tick all the right boxes for me.

1/ Quick – Its literally a case of chopping up some veg and chucking it all in a casserole dish with the meat/other protein and a few other bits and letting it cook away and do the work for you.

2/ Easy – The cooking time does all the work for you. There is no worrying about under or over cooking stuff, or getting stuff ready at the same time. You really don’t need much cooking experience to cook this type of food.

3/ Healthy – The flavour come from the slow cooking process, so you don’t need to add any unhealthy ingredients to get flavour into it.

4/ Full of Flavour – Most important of all it tastes great. There is no point ticking all the other boxes if the end result lacks in flavour and you don’t enjoy the food.

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil

beef brisket 1.5/2kg

4 cloves garlic roughly chopped

3 onions thinly sliced

3 carrots roughly chopped

4 stalks of celery roughly chopped

3 parsnips roughly chopped

whole cabbage

plain flour 3 tbsp

2 tbsp mustard

3 tbsp dried mixed herbs

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

beef stock 750ml or stock cube.

Cooking Instructions

1/ Roll the beef in half the oil and the salt. Put a large frying pan on a medium/high heat and brown on all sides. Then set aside.

2/ Whilst you are doing this sweat down the veg and garlic on a low heat in a casserole dish or large saucepan. If you have 20 mins or so to soften the veg down that would be ideal but not essential.

3/ Add the flour, turn heat down slightly and cook stirring regularly for a couple of minutes.

4/ Then add the stock, worcester sauce, herbs and mustard and bring to the boil.

5/ Put foil over the dish then add the lid to ensure a tight fit.

6/ Put in oven for 3/4 hours at 150 degrees.

7/ Steam the cabbage to go with it and serve with your choice of brown rice, cous cous, pearl barley on the side.

You will get a lot of portions out of this recipe, but it is a great dish to portion up, pop in the freezer and save for a rainy day!

Conclusion – Healthy Beef Brisket Recipe

I honestly think this way of cooking is great for the busy person wanting to still be healthy. Give this a go I can’t believe you won’t love it!

Visit the main page of my website here; Complete Fitness 4 Life – Personal Training Studio Tunbridge Wells.