healthy fish and chips

Sunday night is usually roast night, but I felt instead like taking it easy, while still having a treat. Fish and chips is always a popular option, but picking it up from the chippy (while easy) will easily set you back a tenner (for two people) and 1,000 calories each. Wetherspoon’s fish and chips is 800 calories, and that’s without and ketchup, tartar sauce or mayonnaise.

Inspired by the smoked haddock I cobbled together from the freezer last Thursday, I picked up some fresh haddock from the fishmonger and some McCain’s Rustic Oven Chips, as they were on offer. (At only 110 calories per 100 g, these chips – made from only potatoes and sunflower oil – are a great healthy option for a quick meal.)

Adding those divine pureed petit pois to the dish means you’ve got yourself a meal: fish, chips and peas. But I needed something to make it a bit special, and settled on curry powder. What could be more British than that?

Curry-dusted grilled haddock with chips and peas
(serves 2)

2 100-150g haddock fillets, skin on
2 lemon wedges
1-2 tbsp medium curry powder
400 g frozen garden peas or petit pois
500 g rustic oven chips (200 g for a small portion; 300 g for a large)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Dollop of reduced-fat mayonnaise (optional)

Preheat the oven to 220 C. Line a roasting tin with foil and spread the chips evenly. Bake for about 15-20 minutes.

After about 15 minutes, change the setting to oven/grill combo (placing the chips at the bottom of the oven) or preheat a separate grill to medium.

Dust the fish with curry powder and squeeze a lemon wedge over each fillet. Leave the wedge on top of the flesh to protect it. Grill for approximately 8-10 minutes.

Prepare the steamer by bringing the water to a boil and adding the peas. Steam for about 5 minutes, then move the peas to a bowl and blitz with a hand blender. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the haddock over a bed of pea puree with chips on the side and a dollop of mayonnaise.

Tip: I had a smaller portion of chips (about 200 g out of the total 500 g) and weighed these before and kept them to one side of the roasting tin. That way, I knew exactly how many chips I was allowed, calorie wise.

Calories: 530 for 125 g haddock, 200 g of peas, 200 g of chips and 1 tbsp mayonnaise – all around, a very good number of calories for a dinner.

To bulk it up, I’d recommend adding some non-starchy vegetables – as this meal is fairly heavy on the carbohydrates.

To cut it down to below 500 calories, just cut your portions of peas and/or chips.