All too often, eating healthy feels like a list of what you can’t have. Whether it’s cutting out carbs or loading up on protein, the advice out there can seem confusing and all-consuming.
This is what Jamie Oliver is hoping to cut through with his new cookbook Eat Yourself Healthy. He is sharing some of his most delicious and most nutritious recipes, from veg-packed pastas to warming hotpots filled with hearty ingredients. Jamie is focussing on what you can have, not what you can’t.
Here are some of his favourite new recipes…
Happy fish pie
Serves 6
2 of your 7-a-day
- 1kg potatoes
- 1 large head of broccoli (480g)
- Optional: 3 large free-range eggs
- 3 leeks (480g)
- Olive oil
- 2 heaped tbsp plain flour
- 2tsp of your favourite mustard
- 600ml semi-skimmed milk
- 800g mixed frozen fish chunks, from sustainable sources
- 75g Cheddar cheese
- 1 bunch of chives (20g)
- 1 lemon
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Peel the potatoes, halving any larger ones, then cook in a pan of boiling salted water for 20 minutes, or until tender.
Trim, finely chop and reserve the broccoli stalk. Chop the head into florets and add to the pan with the eggs, if using, for the last seven minutes.
Cool the eggs under cold running water. Drain the potatoes and broccoli, and steam dry. Meanwhile, trim the leeks, halve lengthways, then wash and finely slice.
Place in a large shallow casserole pan on a medium heat with 1tbsp of olive oil and the chopped broccoli stalk. Cook for 10 minutes, or until soft, stirring regularly.
Stir in the flour and mustard, then gradually stir in the milk. Simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally, then season.
Add the fish chunks and simmer for another five minutes, then grate in most of the cheese.
Finely chop the chives and fold in most of them. Peel, halve and dot in
the eggs, if using, and finely grate over the lemon zest.
Mash the potato and broccoli – rustic or smooth, the choice is yours. Season, then spoon over the dish, fork up the top for added texture, grate over the last bit of cheese and spritz with oil.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Rest for five minutes, sprinkle over the remaining chives, and serve with lemon wedges.
Chicken & mushroom hotpot
Serves 4
5 of your 7-a-day
- 4 large free-range chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
- 2 onions (320g)
- 2 large carrots (320g)
- ½ a bunch of thyme (10g)
- 320g chestnut mushrooms
- 1 x 295g tin of condensed mushroom soup
- 600ml semi-skimmed milk
- 320g frozen sweetcorn
- 1 x 570g jar of cannellini beans
- 2 x 400g bags of potato gnocchi
- Olive oil
Put a large shallow non-stick casserole pan on a medium-high heat. Pull the skin off the chicken thighs and place them in the pan to render.
Season the thighs with a small pinch of sea salt and black pepper, and place in the pan, turning with tongs until golden all over, while you peel the onions and carrots and chop them into 3cm chunks, adding as you go.
Remove and discard the crispy chicken skin, then strip in the thyme, tear in the mushrooms, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the veg is caramelised, stirring regularly. Now, stir in the soup and milk.
Cover with a lid ajar, and simmer gently on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
Stir the sweetcorn and beans, juice and all, into the pan, then gently drop the gnocchi on top. Spritz with a little olive oil, then transfer uncovered to the oven for 30 minutes, or until the chicken pulls easily away from the bone, the gnocchi are golden and the stew is bubbling nicely.
Meatball traybake
Serves 4
5 of your 7-a-day
- 1 large bulb of fennel (320g)
- 2 red onions (320g)
- 4 carrots (320g)
- Olive oil
- 1 x 400g tin of cannellini beans
- 400g higher-welfare beef or pork mince
- 1tsp dried oregano
- 2 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
- 1 x 460g jar of roasted red peppers
- 1 lemon
- 50g feta cheese
- Optional: extra virgin olive oil
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Trim the fennel, reserving any leafy tops, peel the onions, then cut them all into wedges and place in a deep 30cm x 40cm roasting tray. Peel, halve and add the carrots. Toss with 1tbsp of olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 40 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the beans and pulse a couple of times in a food processor. Add the mince and oregano, season, and pulse until just combined. With clean wet hands, divide the mixture into 12, roll into balls, then place in a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat with 2tbsp of oil and cook until golden, turning regularly.
Pour the tomatoes and peppers, juice and all, into the processor (there’s no need to clean it). Finely grate and reserve the lemon zest, then squeeze the juice into the processor, season and blitz until smooth.
Remove the tray from the oven, pour the sauce over the veg, then evenly sit the balls around the tray. Return to the oven for a final 20 minutes.
To serve, crumble over the feta, sprinkle over the reserved lemon zest and any fennel tops, and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, if you like.
Chef’s tip
“When it comes to veg and fruit, it’s all about eating the rainbow to maximise your nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Statistically in the UK, most of us struggle to get three portions per day, so the UK Government has settled on preaching ‘at least five-a-day’ because it felt more achievable, but research shows that we don’t see a measurable drop-off of risk of many diet-related diseases until we eat seven to 10 portions of veg per day. So, I want to show you how easy it is to get more portions of the good stuff into your diet. If you can work up to getting seven-a-day, you’re going to be in a really good place.”
Recipes from ‘Eat Yourself Healthy‘ (£30, Penguin Michael Joseph © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited)
