It is a new year, and many of us set goals and challenges at this time.
Diets and healthy eating recipes are becoming more and more popular but it is important to remember that just because you want to eat healthy does not mean you have to sacrifice taste.
Here are a few tips and easy recipes to start you on your way.
Roast chicken
Everyone loves roast chicken, but few people ever get around to cooking one. Here is a fool proof way to cook one at home.
Method
Turn on your oven to 190°C. (It takes a modern oven about 10 minutes to get to that temperature. )
Spray your chicken all over with a low fat spray and season with salt and pepper.
Using a spray will also reduce the calories in this dish.
Put some fresh herbs inside the chicken or a clove of garlic or a chopped up lemon for extra flavour.
Roughly chop up an onion and put it in a roasting dish, place the chicken on top, add a good splash of water to the tray, and pop it in the oven.
Let it cook for 20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 170°C. Keep adding a little water to the tray and cook for a further 70 minutes, when an average sized chicken will be fully cooked.
Cooking the chicken on top of the onions allows the whole bird to be evenly cooked and the water in the tray lets it slowly steam, which will ensure the meat is not dry.
That is it, dinner is ready and you can use the juice in the bottom of the tray to make a tasty gravy.
Serve with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes.
To cook roasted vegetables, roughly cut up peppers and onions and mushrooms, spray with the low fat oil, season, and put in the oven 20 minutes before the chicken is ready.
Simple as that.
Baked Cajun salmon on roast vegtables
Salmon is a lovely fish, and not expensive at all. Most of the salmon these days is farmed, but still full of flavour and a lovely healthy treat for a change.
Method
For this quick and easy recipe, turn your oven to 170°C, prepare your roasted vegetables as I said in the last recipe, and place in a roasting tray.
Spray the top of a salmon fillet with the low fat spray and top with Cajun spice. Place the salmon on top of the vegetables and pop into the warm oven for 20 minutes. That is it! Serve the fish with the vegetables and enjoy.
The spicier that you like your fish depends on how much Cajun spice that you put on it, so just a little the first time you make it.
No sugar treats
When you want to stay on track with your diet, but fancy a treat, why don’t you try this easy recipe that I picked up on Facebook this week. I have tried it and it comes out lovely and is delicious. I cannot believe there is no sugar in it.
Ingredients
3 ripe bananas mashed
1/4 cup apple sauce
2 cups of porridge oats
1/4 cup of low-fat milk
1/2 cup raisins
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
The riper the bananas, the sweeter the biscuit.
Mix all the ingredients together and bake at 175°C for 15-18 minutes.
That is it, simplicity itself.
Delicious and egg free, sugar free and flour free.
They could also be dairy free if you substitute the low-fat milk for almond milk which is available in most health shops.
I hope you will try out some of the recipes at home, they really are simple to make and delicious as well. If you would like a recipe or have any food query, you can contact me on my e-mail [email protected] and I will do my best to answer you.
