pavlova

Healthy & Tasty

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Cooking healthy yet delicious meals using fresh, wholesome ingredients has never been easier. From a simple chickpea and spinach soup to a watermelon, feta and mint salad, there are plenty of simple recipes out there to get you inspired…

Celebrity chef Sophie Mitchell has teamed up with Sendodyne to promote their healthy eating campaign. Check out their nutritious recipe collection online – you can even check out the healthy video recipes filmed at The Vitality Show. One of my favourites is the spring vegetable paella:

 

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions, sliced
350g asparagus, woody ends removed and cut into 4 cm strips
100g sugar snaps
100g peas
pinch saffron
900 ml vegetable stock, hot
225g paella rice
small handful mint leaves, chopped

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the spring onions for 1-2 minutes.

2. Stir in the asparagus, sugar snaps and peas. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Stir the saffron into the stock and let stand for 1-2 minutes

4. Meanwhile, stir the rice into the vegetables and cook for 1 minute

5. Pour in the stock and simmer for 15-18 minutes, until the stock has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

6. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped mint. Serve immediately.

I was brought up in a health-conscious family. My mum has never dieted (and I don’t believe in them either) – she has always cooked a variety of meals from scratch that are rich in vegetables and complex carbohydrates; low in fat and sugar.

I’m vegetarian so I make sure my meals contain protein from pulses or peas, I eat regularly and I don’t deprive myself – I usually have something naughty (usually chocolate) every day. Personal trainer Sarah Colborne suggests the 80:20 rule – be good 80 per cent of the time; naughty 20 per cent of the time. Speaking of which, there’s a lovely summery mint and berry Greek yoghurt pavlova among the ‘nutritious’ Sensodyne recipes.

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