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TOO BUSY TO EXERCISE?
Me too! However, it’s crucially important that we all exercise. My future health depends on it, and so does yours.
I think it’s wonderful if you enjoy going to the gym, running races or swimming across lakes, but many people don’t want to do that…or can’t do that! However, that is still no excuse. Another word for exercise is movement, and we can all do that in one way or another. I am far too busy to stop my life to go to the gym, but I have time to go for a bike ride with the children or quickly take the dog for a walk. When I go to do my supermarket shopping, I’ll try to do a 60-minute trip to the isles in 40 minutes. That gets my heart rate up–and the fridge gets filled at the same time. Perfect.
I read a study once that showed how some scientists had changed the way that a group did ten daily activities every day. So instead of buying ready-prepared vegetables, they peeled and chopped them, and instead of using the TV remote, they got up to change the channel. They used stairs instead of escalators and walked around the office when they were on the telephone at work instead of sitting down to talk. These sound like pretty, simple, gentle changes. However, the shocking results showed that the people who took part in the study had, at the end of a one month trial, done the equivalent of an 120 mile walk over the space of that month. Simply by changing the way they did ten domestic things a day. What are you going to change? Remember, small steps make a big difference.
You’ll notice that most of my recipes have only short instructions and are very uncomplicated. That’s because I believe in making life as easy as possible and just don’t have time to spend hours preparing food. If it takes longer to cook than it does to eat, I’ve failed! An hour sitting over dinner, chatting to my family is a joy. An hour standing preparing food is a chore.
YOU’RE NOT ALONE!
Staying healthy through nutrition is such an important thing to do. If you struggle sometimes to stay motivated, remember you are not alone and it might help you to join forces with other people who are also trying to maintain great health. Maybe get a few friends together once a week to share experiences and recipes. Don’t be afraid to set up a walking group–you’ll probably be amazed at the response–we all need a friend sometimes and we all enjoy the company of others so people will probably thank you for being the one to get everyone else organised. If you enjoy the internet, there are countless forums where you can chat to other people about improving lifestyle, swapping stories and experiences and, by all means, please feel free to write to me. I love to hear other people’s stories and still look for inspiration and motivation myself. It’s lovely to encourage each other, it’s liberating to achieve great results and it’s rewarding and fulfilling to pass our successes on to others. Enjoy your healthy future, enjoy your mealtimes with family and friends and feel proud that you have decided to make some effective (and delicious) changes to your nourishment that will, I hope, prove to be your insurance policy for the future.
MAKING CHANGES IN THE KITCHEN
One of the most important messages I want to stress is that you should not feel intimidated by science, experts or chefs. If you feel you are ready to make some changes to the way you eat and would like to be healthier through food, I want you to know that you can easily do it. It’s not rocket science, you won’t have to start eating foods that you can’t pronounce and can’t find in the shops and you do not need to deprive yourself, feel hungry or bullied by anyone!
It’s all very well knowing the principles of healthy eating. I think that most of us know that, in order to eat a healthy diet, we need to cut down on fat, sugar and salt and eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and, if we eat meat, we need to try to eat more chicken and fish than red meat. But knowing how to translate that knowledge into a plate of food at the end of a busy day that is healthy, quick and easy to make, affordable, tasty and enticing to the whole family is quite a tall order! But totally possible. Just take a moment to flick through this book and look at the lovely pictures of the dishes. Do they look like the kind of food you eat when you’re on a diet? Absolutely not! Yes, every dish in this book is low on the fat, sugar and salt. Sure, many of the recipes contain olive oil, but in small and healthy amounts.
You’ll notice that most of my recipes have only short instructions and are very uncomplicated. That’s because I believe in making life as easy as possible and just don’t have time to spend hours preparing food. If it takes longer to cook than it does to eat, I’ve failed! An hour sitting over dinner chatting to my family is a joy. An hour standing preparing food is a chore.
MY SUPER SUPERFOODS
I love pretty much all veggies, chicken and fish–but below is a list of my tip-top superfoods that I couldn’t live without. I recommend that you incorporate these into your diet on a regular basis.
* Onions, garlic and olive oil. You’ll see that most of my savoury dishes include onions, garlic and olive oil. This is because, besides being a great base for most dishes, these ingredients are proven to have special health-giving properties, especially when heated together. Onions and garlic belong to the same family and both have a protective action on the circulatory system. Together, they also work as a diuretic and have an antibiotic action. These three ingredients are also proven to help lower blood cholesterol. So, as long as you and your partner go for the garlic, everybody’s happy!
*Sweet potatoes. So many of our staple dishes contain potatoes. Now I am a massive fan of the spud, and like to promote its health benefits regularly–but problems can arise when we add butter or fat to improve its taste. In comparison, the sweet potato is very moist and doesn’t need anything adding to improve the taste or texture. In fact, sweet potatoes contain everything you need all in one tidy little parcel. Sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin E because they are fat free. They are also a great source of fibre, betacarotene and vitamins A and C, and are wonderful for a low-carb diet.
* Tomatoes. Tomatoes are packed with potassium and vitamins and are wonderfully low in calories. Eat them cooked or raw, it really doesn’t matter–just eat them! Tomatoes are a superfood that gives great nutrition whichever way you look at it. Raw tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C and are high in vitamin A. Cooked tomatoes provide lycopene, an antioxidant thought to reduce cancer risk and cardiovascular disease. Lycopene is especially well absorbed into the body when the tomatoes are cooked and have a little olive oil added–think chilli and spaghetti sauce and, actually, most of the sauce-based dishes throughout this book! Kids don’t like tomatoes? Don’t give them straight from the refrigerator–they are much nicer at room temperature. Try lovely sweet cherry tomatoes just off the windowsill. Delicious!
* Fish. Oily fish, such as mackerel, salmon, sardines and trout are a rich source of omega-3. Omega-3 is proven to help against heart disease.
* Nuts and seeds. The oils in nuts and seeds, especially almonds, walnuts and peanuts, may help protect against heart disease and possibly some cancers, too. They are high in fat, but it’s the type of fat that is essential as part of a healthy diet, and are great when lightly sprinkled on salads or as a crunchy topping for bakes.
*Green tea. Green tea is believed to protect against heart disease and some cancers. The antioxidants in green tea have been shown to be powerful. Since ancient times, green tea has been considered by the proponents of traditional Chinese medicine as a healthy beverage.
* Berries. Red and blue berries such as raspberries, blueberries and redcurrants contain vitamin C and other antioxidants and are lovely and tasty in desserts or salads.
* Salad leaves. Dark green leafy vegetables are a great source of iron, which helps keep your blood in healthy condition. Add a pile of dark green leaves to your meal as often as you can.
* Spinach. I like to add some raw spinach to many of my salads. It’s rich in vitamin C, calcium and betacarotene. It boosts folic acid levels and helps to keep bones and blood healthy. If it’s good enough for Popeye, it’s good enough for me! Spinach needs to be eaten with vitamin C to ensure optimum absorption, so either add some orange segments to your salad or have a drink of fresh orange juice with your meal.
* Carrots. Bugs Bunny loves them, they’re incredibly versatile and they’re available all year round at your local grocery shop. Carrots are chock-full of betacarotene, which the body converts to vitamin A for a slew of benefits, including maintenance of healthy teeth and bones, regulation of the immune system and protection from infections. Vitamin A also plays an important role in maintaining normal vision and preventing blindness, lending some truth to the old adage about carrots being good for your eyes. Carrots are rich in potassium, a good source of vitamin C and a great source of vitamin A, as well as fibre.
* Water. Yes, you heard it right–water is one of my superfoods. We all need to drink far more water than we do. Try to aim for eight glasses a day. Being dehydrated can cause headaches and tiredness and it’s easy to confuse thirst for hunger. Before you sit down to a big meal or reach for the snacks, have a glass of water, just to see if that’s what your body is really craving.
CALORIES ARE OUR FRIENDS
In my previous book, I spoke about the fact that I don’t like to count calories. Instead, I prefer to use good, natural ingredients and know that my meals are offering a true health benefit. A low-calorie meal doesn’t necessarily mean a nutritious meal. Of course it’s important to keep the fat content low and you’ll notice that all my recipes are low on fat, sugar and salt, but what is most important is that the ingredients offer you a health benefit. You will feel better for eating well. So I just want to re-emphasise that point to you. Calories are actually good for us as long as they come in the right form. We need calories to give us energy, which allows us to exercise and, of course, we get a great health benefit from that. Don’t ever waste calories on sweet fizzy drinks and try not to fill up on cakes, biscuits and crisps because these will, of course, add on weight without any health benefit whatsoever. But do feel free to eat a good portion of a healthy, balanced meal and, if you do it right, snacking will become a thing of the past anyway.
MAKE SUBSTITUTIONS
If you are taking a look at some of your other cookbooks and fancy doing a favourite recipe, remember to look at it through your healthy glasses! Go with the recipe but don’t feel afraid to make substitutions. There are many sensible substitutions that you can make, either when cooking my recipes or anyone else’s. Any white fish can be substituted for any other white fish, and any meat for your preferred meat. For example, a chilli dish using red meat can easily be made using turkey mince, which is very low in fat. Vegetables can be easily swapped to suit your taste buds or what you have left in the refrigerator–just try to keep the textures similar.
However, there are a few golden rules of substituting when making a favourite recipe more healthy.
*Butter. A recipe will often call for butter in a sauce and this is often only included to make it shine. Try the same recipe, but leave the butter out or try to substitute a small amount of olive oil instead. This probably won’t work for a sweet dish, but it may do the trick for a savoury one. I’ll bet it is still as good.
* Salt. Avoid adding salt 99.9 per cent of the time! I have only added a little celery salt into a couple of my recipes and that’s because they just absolutely need it. However, the rest of the time I substitute lemon juice for the salt. It gives the same sharp bite without the bad health risks. Get rid of your salt mill off the dinner table and always have lemon wedges to hand instead. You’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll forget you ever used salt.
* Mayonnaise. If you are following a salad recipe that uses mayo, substitute some low-fat crème fraîche or low-fat fromage frais and mix them with a little lemon juice.
* Buttery mashed potato. If a recipe is telling you to serve an otherwise healthy dish with buttery mashed potato, don’t ruin all your good work. Instead, try mashed sweet potato, which doesn’t need any butter to mash it up, or serve the dish with brown rice or nutritious new potatoes. If you absolutely love buttery mashed potato, go for it in a small portion on special occasions. Life is too short to not have a treat every now and then!
* Ice cream. The perfect substitution for ice cream is low-fat yogurt. There are so many varieties to choose from and many are now no-fat. Crème fraîche, thick Greek yogurt or bio-yogurt–try them all and see which you like the best. Try freezing them for added excitement at pudding time!
* Tortilla wraps. This sounds like a strange one–but be aware of so called ‘healthy’ recipes that use flour tortilla wraps. The shop-bought wraps are all very high in fat, and often use hydrogenated fats which are a complete no-no! Try using iceberg lettuce leaves to wrap your ingredients up instead, or wholemeal pitta bread is another great substitution.
*Salads. Salads are, in my opinion, most definitely misunderstood! People sometimes feel a little sad and depressed if they order a salad at a restaurant–feeling maybe quietly pleased that they are sticking to a so called ‘diet’, but their heart will be aching for a real meal and a treat. Well, you’ll be pleased to know that my salads, while being packed with goodness, are so far from the bad old days of limp lettuce and soggy tomato. I love salads that are filling and satisfying. Salads can be served warm or cold, light as a side dish and meatier as a main course. My salad dressings are based on olive oil and lemon juice but there are so many flavours you can add to this combination–mustard, vinegar, chilli, herbs and spices. Don’t be afraid to experiment. If there is an ingredient you don’t like, swap it for something you do…but don’t be afraid to try something new!
So, I now hand over to you. Buy fresh ingredients, take a little time to plan ahead and enjoy delicious, nutritious food that will help you feel energised and healthy. Remember, if I can do it–you can do it!
Soups
GREEN PEA SOUP
Vivid green, this soup is one of my favourites–for my taste buds and my heart. Peas are packed with folic acid and Vitamin B6, both of which are proven to improve cardiovascular health, and this benefit is not lost when the peas are cooked.
EVERYDAY
serves 6
1 bouquet garni
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 sprigs of fresh parsley
small bunch of fresh mint
2 cloves
1.3kg (3lb) (shelled weight) fresh peas (or use frozen, if not in season)
50g (2oz) spinach
2 Little Gem (Boston) lettuces
1 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks, trimmed and diced
8 celery sticks, finely diced
freshly ground black pepper
low-fat crème fraîche, to serve
1 In a large lidded saucepan, bring 2 litres (3½ pints) of unsalted water to the boil. Add the bouquet garni herbs, cloves and peas and simmer for 30 minutes until the peas are very soft.
2 Meanwhile, wash the spinach and remove the stems, and shred the lettuce leaves.
3 Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan set over a medium heat and sauté the leeks and celery for 4 minutes. Then add these to the pea mixture.
4 Finally, add the spinach and lettuce leaves to the soup at the end of the cooking time for the peas and simmer for just 2 more minutes.
5 Don’t forget to remove the bouquet garni and herb sprigs before you take the soup off the heat and whiz it up with a hand-held blender.
6 Add a good helping of freshly ground black pepper on top and serve hot with a swirl of low fat crème fraîche.
CAULIFLOWER AND CHICKPEA SOUP
Cauliflower is a good source of vitamin C and is a member of the cancer-fighting cruciferous family, along with Brussels sprouts and broccoli. This is a gently flavoured soup, even with the curry paste.
EVERYDAY
serves 4
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 litre (1¾ pints/4 cups) vegetable stock
1 tsp curry paste
1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 x 400g (14oz) tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
freshly ground black pepper
fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve
squeeze of fresh lemon juice, to serve
1 Gently fry the onion and crushed garlic in olive oil for 4–5 minutes in a large saucepan set over a medium heat, until the onion starts to soften. Add the cumin seeds and fry for another minute.
2 Next, add the vegetable stock and curry paste and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and add the cauliflower and chickpeas. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.
3 Using either a hand-held blender or liquidiser, blend the soup to your desired consistency. Serve with some freshly ground black pepper, a few coriander (cilantro) leaves and a squeeze of fresh lemon if you like.
WATERCRESS SOUP
Watercress is packed with over 15 vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C, calcium and iron. So enjoy this soup whenever the mood takes you, as it tastes great too!
EVERYDAY
serves 4
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp curry powder
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