Experimenting with Moroccan fish and vegetable stew

Awhile ago a recipe posted by @foodista caught my eye on Twitter - twas a recipe for African vegetarian stew. Just the sound of the title enticed me - a quick look of ingredients revealed a tasty sounding stew filled with root vegetables like kohlrabi and sweet potatoes as well as chickpeas, tomato and lots of lovely north African spices.

Two things were missing for me: first, harissa, potentially the single-best condiment ever put on this Earth. It's fab as a marinade, in a sauce, or as a dip. (I like it on oat biscuits too with a bit of cheddar.) It's spicy, but deeply spicy, and just the thing in North African cooking. Secondly, I fancied a bit more protein, in the form of some haddock.

But you know what it's like - one tweak begets another.  Out goes the kolhrabi, in comes the swede. Out goes the couscous, in comes the pearl barley. Out goes the raisins, in come the figs. But all in all, I think I've kept the same essence of the dish, just made it a bit more accessible (and tasty, I like to think...)

And on the upside, it's really healthy (very low fat, as no oil was needed), super quick to make (bung in all in a pot and let it simmer), and most importantly, quite filling indeed. The recipe below makes four sizable servings - we had two of them last night and will have two more tonight. Just the thing for a crisp autumn evening.

Moroccan fish and vegetable stew

(serves 4)

1 small swede, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 courgette, sliced thickly
1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin tomato puree
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
100 g pearl barley, rinsed (or bulgur wheat or couscous, if you prefer)

50 g dried figs (or raisins, if you prefer)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp cumin
3 tins water

salt/pepper
200 g white fish (haddock works well)

2 tbsp harissa

freshly chopped coriander

I shall keep this simple: all you do is chuck everything except the fish/harissa into a pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for 45 min. Meanwhile, cut the fish into chunks and marinate with the harissa. About 5 min before serving, drop the fish and the freshly chopped coriander in and allow it to poach.

Calories per serving: 366. That is proper good value for money for such a tasty, filling dish. I was worried the figs might put my husband off, but he loved them. It's a good thing too, since we're eating it again tonight...

Amazing meatballs

So I mentioned at the end of last week that I was going to try out this recipe for Chicken Meatballs with Peperonata, but tweak it a little. The main tweak being, of course, that I wasn't going to use chicken, but rather turkey, since it's more readily available in ground/minced form.

Long story short: I loved it. I'm not normally a big fan of meatballs - never gone for that ol' classic spaghetti and meatballs - but these were great. Ground turkey, a little bit of bread soaked in milk, egg, onion, garlic, and thyme, basted with tomato paste/puree and baked. So simple, right?

But the accompanying peperonata nearly stole the show too - roasted peppers, dressed with capers and vinegar and hot chilli flakes. So summery, so deep, so sweet.

I decided our green veg for this dish should be wilted spinach to tackle the other sweeter flavours in the dish. I think it worked really well, but other green vegetables such as runner beans (though we're nearly the end of the season) or broccoli would be fab too.

As always, I recommend cuts to the amount of oil used. Here's my version of the ingredients...

Turkey Meatballs with Peperonata - my version

(serves 2)

For peperonata:

2 red peppers

1 tsp oil

30 g capers

1 tsp vinegar

chilli flakes

For meatballs:

2 pieces of white bread, torn into pieces

200 ml skimmed milk

100 g onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

2 tsp oil, divided in half

1 medium egg

300 g turkey mince (tip here: it comes in 500 g, so freeze the other 200 g for another time - it adds up)

chopped fresh thyme (though use whatever herb you fancy - recipe called for parsley)

50 g tomato puree

To make the peperonata: roast the peppers in a 200 C preheated oven in 1 tsp oil in the lower 1/3 of the oven. While that's cooking, combine the capers, vinegar and red pepper flakes and sit to the side.

For the meatballs, you can follow the recipe pretty closely:

Soak the bread pieces in milk for a few minutes.

Saute the onion and garlic in 1 tsp oil with salt and pepper until the onion is softened. Allow it to cool.

Beat an egg with a fork, then add to the turkey, onion/garlic, thyme and bread (squeeze the milk from the bread first and discard milk). This will make 9 meatballs - form them into balls and place onto a small, lightly greased casserole dish.

Take the last tsp of oil and combine with the tomato puree. Use a brush to baste the tops of the meatballs. Cook for 20-25 minutes in the top third of the oven. If the peppers finish early, remove them, add them to the vinegar mixture and cover with cling film until the meatballs finish.

Calories: 2 equal sized servings - 540 calories each. (I had a smaller portion though - 1/3 of the overall amount, so three meatballs, which was plenty. A small serving is 360 calories (plus green veg) and a large serving is 720, which was plenty filling for my husband, who really enjoyed them.

As a side note, turkey meatballs are sweeping the nation! (Okay, not really, my close family and friends. Two people have mentioned they're making it this week, so I impatiently await their opinions...)

More asparagus and poached egg goodness…

…this time with chips. It’s so gorgeously simple I don’t know what else to say. Except: Chablis (a gratefully-received suggestion from my coworker.)

Creamy haricot bean soup with tarragon

I was first inspired to use white beans and tarragon by the wonderful Nigel Slater a few years back in his Kitchen Diaries. His recipe, naturally, uses butter – which is divine, but not often in my house these days.

Tarragon is one of the lesser-used herbs, but its aniseed perfume can be undeniably addictive when used right. It pairs well with chicken, creamy sauces and white wine (none of which are in my recipe, as it turns out.)

Well, that’s not strictly true: I’m aiming to make my soup creamy without the used of any dairy, and luckily, white beans are there to the rescue. Be they cannellini, haricot, flageolet, when cooked until they’re just falling apart and then pureed, they are absolutely spot on. Adding lots of filler vegetables bulks it up well.

Creamy haricot bean soup with tarragon
(serves 2)

1 tin of haricot beans, drained and rinsed
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
150 g carrot, finely chopped
1 medium leek, finely chopped
2 medium red onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 litre of hot chicken/vegetable stock, preferably homemade, but bouillon will do
2 tbsp light olive spread
20g tarragon leaves
salt and pepper
bay leaf
(optional) low fat crème fraiche

Heat the olive oil spread in the pot over medium heat and add the celery, carrot, leek, red onions and garlic. Allow the veggies to saute until they go transparent – cover if necessary to keep them moist.

After about 8 minutes, add the beans and stir through. Saute for another 2-3 minutes before adding the stock, the tarragon and the bay leaf. Season. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes.

Remove 3-4 ladelfuls of the veggie/bean mixture (including the bay leaf, but minus the stock) and set to the side. Use a hand blender to puree the rest of the soup left in the pot, before returning the mixture to the pot and stirring well. Do again if necessary to ensure a smooth consistency. Bring back up to a slight bubble and simmer for up to 5 more minutes before seasoning one last time.

Serve with a dollop of low fat crème fraiche, the remaining tarragon leaves (about 20 g per bowl). For the hungrier folks, an additional two pieces of toasted bread cut into ‘soldiers’ for dipping should do the trick.

Calories: for 1 serving with a dollop of crème fraiche but no bread: 365

Image: Zsuzsanna Kilián

another work lunch idea

Call me crazy, but I'm mixing it up this week. I've been riffing on potatoes for awhile now, but something new is in order. And maybe it's springtime hunger kicking in, but I think I need to bulk the salad up a little more to last me through the day.

I'm experimenting with tuna and white beans this week, since it's a short week. I'm unsure as to whether tuna will hold up well for five days, so I'm going to make it in two-day batches.

So, for two days, I needed:

2 small tins of tuna in spring water, drained
1 tin of haricot beans, drained
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
juice of a lemon
leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
pepper
2 boiled eggs
8 pieces of round lettuce

Calories per day: 370. Packed with plenty of protein to keep me running until, oh, about 4pm when my mind starts to wander and fruit and yogurt is absolutely necessary.

garbure is good for you

Sounds a bit like garbage, non? Well it kind of is - if your garbage consists of cabbage, bacon, flageolet beans, carrot, celery and onion. That's my kind of garbage.

The French came up with this thick potage and served with any old thing - fish, duck, chicken, you name it, they served it with it. Evidently it's been around for 3000 years or so, but it was traditionally a peasant dish. Only now has it become la di da.

I happened upon it in the March issue of Good Food - this time served with lightly sauteed white fish. They rather anglicised the name, in my opinion - calling it 'one-pot cabbage and beans.'

No matter what it's called, though, it's really good - wholesome, pleasant and filling. The bacon gives it a savoury depth, while the flageolet beans are oh so creamy - and all without a lick of dairy.

I've tweaked the recipe slightly (as you do).

Haddock with garbure (adapted from BBC Good Food)
(serves 2)

1 head of savoy cabbage, sliced/shredded
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
3/4 stalks of thyme
200 ml stock (homemade preferably, but made up with bouillon is fine)
20 sprays of olive oil
2 rashers of back bacon, dry cure, chopped
salt and pepper

for the fish:
2 pieces of skinless, boneless haddock (about 200 g total)
1 tbsp/7 g plain flour
1 tsp rapeseed oil

Heat the olive oil spray in a large sauté pan. Cook the bacon in the pan for a few minutes, before adding the onion, celery and carrots. Saute over a low heat until the veggies are soft and translucent - make sure it doesn't brown, covering if necessary.

Add the thyme and the cabbage, turning the heat up to medium and stirring freqently to make the mixture homogenous. (If the mixture seems really dry, sprinkle a bit of water). Cook for about 4 minutes, until the cabbage starts to wilt.

Add a splash or two of the stock and simmer until it evaporates. Add the rest of the stock, as well as the flageolet beans. Season (with more pepper than salt), cover and simmer for 10 mins.

Now on to the fish. Season the fish on both sides with pepper, then coat the flesh lightly with the flour. Bring the rapeseed oil to a high heat, and fry the fillets - first for about 5 minutes on one side, then about 2 on the other.

Split the cabbage mixture evenly between two shallow bowls or plates and top with the fish. Serve immediately.

Calories per serving: 373, amazing value for money. Well-enjoyed by both members of the Staves household.

20 fish recipes, 20 minutes or less

Cooking Light has put together a collection of quick, easy fish recipes here. Have a look and see which ones you like - but these are my favourite of the lot:

Fish tacos with cabbage slaw
This sounds great. They've gone really easy on the oil, which is nice to see - and although they've used tilapia (aka red snapper), I'm sure it would work with any white fish.
Calories: 305 per serving.

Flounder Piccata with spinach
Piccata-style generally implies a sauce of lemon, capers and white wine - a pretty fool-proof combination that's often used in the States with chicken and veal. But on flounder (aka plaice), I think capers would work a treat (think tartar sauce). Again, they've gone easy on the olive oil, though you probably could cut it even more. Calories: 332 per serving.

Coriander-crusted tuna with black bean salsa
I don't eat tuna that often, but when I do, I often just sear it and keep it simple. But I like the idea of giving it the Mexican treatment. Again, really healthy: 356 calories per serving.

What do you think?

Sea bass!

I spied some lovely sea bass fillets in Tesco this afternoon, and simply had to have them. I don't usually get sea bass these days - because it's more than I'd like to pay - but this was a really reasonable price, so I snatched them up.

Sea bass has such an amazingly delicate flavour that it doesn't need much. It's not like cod or haddock - it doesn't need a sauce, a crumb or a strong herb. It speaks for itself.

I've also been craving some really fresh flavours - mint and parsley, namely. So a tabbouleh (minus the bulgur) went on the plate, which was finished off by some steamed broccoli. Some rather beautiful strawberries (Moroccan, I admit) made a fantastic dessert.

Calories for 90 g sea bass, griddled; a generous portion of tabbouleh; steamed broccoli, and 150 g strawberries: about 360 calories. Bargain!

the PERFECT kedgeree

I’ll admit up front – this wasn’t my idea, so I can’t take credit. When we were dreaming up recipes this week, my husband suggested a smoked haddock kedgeree, and I jumped on it. Smoked flavours, exotic spices and sweet peas sounded right up my alley.

I reworked this Waitrose version of the recipe for our own purposes, and I say, it was bloody lovely.

Smoked haddock kedgeree
(serves 2)

150g wholegrain brown rice
1 tbsp olive oil
300g smoked haddock fillet
3 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
200 ml skimmed milk mixed with 150 ml water
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cardamom pods
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot chilli powder
25 g flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
50g frozen peas
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 lemon, halved

Boil the rice for 35 minutes.

After about 15 minutes of the rice cooking, place the haddock in a saucepan with the peppercorns and one bay leaf. Cover with the milk and water mixture and bring the heat to medium. Bring up to a gentle simmer, then cook for about 8 more minutes.

Remove the haddock fillets out of the milk and allow to cool. Peel off the skin and break the fish into large flakes.

Wipe out the pan you were using, and heat the olive oil over med-high heat. Add the finely chopped onion and cook for a couple of minutes; then add the second bay leaf with the cardamom pods, turmeric, cumin and chilli powder. Fry for three more minutes.

Mix in the hot rice and ensure it gets really coated with the spices. Then add the frozen peas and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for a few minutes, then add the fish. After a few more minutes, stir in the beaten egg and the parsley. Keep stirring, so that the egg doesn’t stick to the bottom. Serve topped with more pepper and a lemon half.

Calories: for ½ of the entire amount cooked, it’s 570 cals. But of course, I had one portion while Pete had 2 portions, so my meal was about 380, while his was 760.

leek and potato soup for a crisp winter's day

You can't beat a classic. And that's what leek and potato soup is. But you can destroy it, bastardise it, mess it up and/or overthink it, turning it from a classic into a boring option. Keep it simple.

I have some butter left over from a recipe that required it last week. I'm not quite sure how to use the rest of it, so I've decided to use it little by little in simple recipes, like this one:

Leek and potato soup
(serves 3)

2 large potatoes, chopped (about 500 g)
1 rib celery, chopped small
500 g extra trimmed leeks, chopped
25 g butter
1 litre of hot bouillon
100 ml semi-skimmed milk
salt and pepper

3 pieces of back bacon
10 g butter (to serve)

1. Melt 25 g of butter in a pot over medium heat; add the leeks and celery and let them sweat for about 10 minutes. Season with pepper

2. Add the chopped potato and stir well before adding the stock.

3. Bring to an almost-boil; reduce and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste.

4. Use a hand blender to puree the soup completely. Add the 100 ml of milk slowly, continuing to blend well.

5. Grill or sear the back bacon, and then chop up. Scatter on top of the soup with 5 g of butter per bowl; season again with pepper and serve.

Serves 2 well for a lunch, with one serving leftover for someone hungry (ahem) or for a snack later in the day.

Calories per serving: 361. A lot for a soup, but worth every one.

It's also easy to bulk this up for hungry souls with a couple of pieces of crusty bread.

courgette cakes

I'm back. As for my extended absence, I can only throw up my hands and say "I'm sorry, I've been really busy!" And, of course, offer you a lovely recipe for courgette cakes that I made last night. I made a similar recipe awhile back inspired by Nigel Slater. I can only recall that these were equally yummy.

As my lovely husband is away, I'm cooking for one at the moment - so this only serves me, though it is easily multiplied.

Courgette cakes with dill
(serves 1)

2 courgettes, grated (sprinkle with salt and allow the water to drain out...alternatively squeeze the water out)
handful of dill (or more to taste), chopped
1 large spring onion, chopped finely
2 tbsp flour
1 beaten egg
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

Mix the courgettes, dill, spring onion, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp of the flour and the egg together in a bowl. Then form into four balls/patties, allowing any excess juice to squeeze out from your hands. Roll the patties in the other 1tbsp of flour (just a very light dusting).

Heat the in a small frying pan. (If you have too many cakes for one batch, then use half of the oil now and half for the second batch). When the oil is hot, put the cakes in the pan - allow to fry for about 5 minutes, and then flip over (carefully) and allow to fry for another five minutes. Use the spatula to press the cakes down as necessary.

Serve with a dollop of yogurt (or creme fraiche or sour cream). Yum.

Calories: about 400, including yogurt. Perfect for a warm summery evening when a heavy dinner just wouldn't seem right.

salmon summer salad

As part of my “cook what you have” drive in the kitchen, I’m bound and determined to use and enjoy every last morsel of what’s in the kitchen. So a lone salmon fillet in the freezer was fair game. Obviously, a single fillet won’t go very far in your average “fish and two veg” scenario unless you’re just cooking for one. But alas, I’m cooking for two.

So what to do? Since I’ve only got one fillet, salmon needs to be a team player rather than the star of any dish I make. Since it’s summer, I thought a salad might do the trick. Not your conventional salad, necessarily, but one that combines the best of the early English summer. By that I mean baby new potatoes, fresh spinach, cucumber and, of course, salmon. With a twist of lemon and a dollop of mayonnaise (or tartar sauce) at the end, the dish is delicate yet filling.

Salad with poached salmon and steamed potatoes
(serves 2)

1 large salmon fillet (at least 150g)
500g baby new potatoes, scrubbed (and halved if necessary)
200 grams of cucumbers, sliced into sticks
1 lemon, cut into wedges
150g spinach or baby spinach, washed, with stems removed
a couple of peppercorns
a bay leaf
2 tbsp of mayonnaise or tartar sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

First, set the potatoes to steam. They’ll need about 15 minutes.

Bring a pan of water (with the bay leaf, juice of half the lemon and the peppercorns) to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add the salmon fillet (ensuring there’s just enough water to cover the fish. Simmer for about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the plates with the spinach and cucumber. Add a wedge of lemon to each plate as well as the mayo (or tartar sauce).

When the fish is done, remove from the water and allow to sit for a minute or two. Flake the fish and divide it evenly between the two plates. Season with black pepper to taste.

When the potatoes are ready, add them to the plates too, dividing them in whatever ratio you like (I took 2/5, leaving 3/5 for the heartier eater between us).

Serve immediately.

Calories per serving: with 200g potatoes – 385 calories, which is excellent, considering all the protein, carbs and healthy fat you’re consuming. (For the record, that’s about 23g of protein, 39g of carbohydrates and 16.5g of fat)

sausage and cannellini bean bake

Since the success of the squash and celeriac bake, I’ve been searching for more warming, healthy bakes. I liked the idea of sausages and cannelloni beans ever since I viewed it here, though I was confused by its terminology, as it was called a gratin. Just how could you make those ingredients into a gratin?

Despite my pedantry, I forged ahead, tempted by the ingredient list, which included the lovely fennel and powdery, aromatic sage.

The recipe comes from Real Simple, which is a magazine based in the US. But it also appears on a great recipe database – the MyRecipes network - which I recommend checking it out.

Basically, to make, sauté crumbled sausages (just remove the casings), onion, and fennel. The recipe doesn’t mention swiss chard in the ingredient list, though it does in the directions, which threw me a bit. I think you could add this, but as I wasn’t prepared for that, I simply added spinach leaves. Throw in garlic, sage and broth and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer to a dish and top with a breadcrumb, oil, and parmesan mixture. Bake for 30 minutes.

The only changes I’d recommend making to this recipe to lighten it up would be:

1) Reduce the olive oil amounts. Five sprays of oil will do fine to lightly coat a baking dish. And use one tablespoon instead of two when making the breadcrumb topping.
2) I’m not sure exactly what they mean by ‘sweet Italian sausages’ but regular pork sausages work fine. I used Sainsbury’s BGTY extra lean sausages and they tasted great.
3) Don’t use ready-made seasoned breadcrumbs – make your own. Just use 1 or 2 pieces of bread and add salt and a few dried herbs.

The only thing I’m confused about is the calorie content that Real Simple gives. They say that the dish has 495 calories, but that the yield is 4-6 servings! So is it that amount if you have ¼ of the dish or 1/6 of the dish? Hmmmm….

Having made the dish, I would say it only serves four.

I’ve added up my calories, and it came to 1358 for the entire bake. In that case, each serving would equal 340 calories, which is much lighter! It’s very filling too.

I served this with steamed shredded cabbage and some sautéed courgettes, which went really well. But other vegetables would work well too – like carrots or kale, perhaps? Potatoes or parsnips would probably be too much – there’s enough starch coming from those cannellinis.

Has anyone else done a healthy sausage bake before? Any other ideas or variations?

compare and contrast

Have a look at Sunday’s dinner: roast chicken, steamed kale, swede and chive mash, and boiled turnips. But have a look at portions (mine versus my husband’s).

My plate is healthy, with a focus on portion control. It's under 400 calories. His is stuffed to the brim. But he can handle it.


This is key to establishing a house with healthy eating, when one person is watching calories and the other isn’t. Fill your refrigerators and your plates with healthy food, but let those who don’t need to watch their size eat a bit more. Then everyone’s happy!

friday night dinner with loads of vegetables

Well, I can officially confirm that I'm back on track. After clearing most of the tempting foods from my kitchen, I dedicated myself to eating healthily again. My goal is to by the end of January have lost the 5 lb I put on over December. Damn you stilton!

But that doesn't mean I'm relegated to boring foods. Friday night, I grilled organic rump steak (about 110 g for - the small piece - and about 150 g for my husband. Season well before grilling. Alongside it, we eat steamed broccoli (lots for me). I also made some chive mashed potatoes, but since I'm trying to cut excess calories, I hadplenty of steamed cabbage instead.

I have to say, cabbage is a brilliant vegetable - there are so many different versions that I find it difficult to get bored with it. It's also very filling and versatile, as it can be steamed (with just a sprinkle of salt), sauteed (with a few sprays of olive oil) or, in the case of red cabbage, braised.

Although my dinner was likely no more than 250-300 calories, I was sufficiently full and didn't wake up this morning hungry. For breakfast? Two pieces of bacon on toast - only 200 calories. And we're having an excellent sweet potato soup tonight. Who says eating healthy isn't easy? It just takes focus.

a supper-sized salad

I picked up fresh peaches from Lower Marsh market today. They were too ripe, too good not to put in a fresh, tangy salad with creamy avocado, fresh mozzarella, crispy bacon, and clean leafy spinach. The trick is to find ingredients that are delicious but not over the top with fat. After the rich flavours of the dinner party the night before, a light dinner could not be a more ideal choice.

(serves 2)
200 g spinach leaves
2 peaches, quartered
1 peach, mashed
1 lemon, juice of
1 large ball of reduced-fat mozzarella (like Tesco's Healthy Living)
1 pack danish-style trimmed bacon (again, Tesco's Healthy Living makes good ones)
1 avocado, chopped
basil leaves
salt and pepper

combine all the ingredients into individual bowls. Place the 8 rashers under the grill - I like them crispy, but grill them to your liking. For the dressing, combine the peach mash, lemon juice and basil leaves with salt and pepper - use a hand blender to make the dressing. Drizzle over the top of the salad and top with the bacon rashers.

My favourite thing about this salad is the peach oil-less vinaigrette. The flavours are amazing - so alive. If anything, oil would drag it down in my opinion.

If you prefer, toss the salad leaves with the dressing first, then add the avocado, mozzarella, peaches and bacon.

Serve in large bowls.

Calories per serving: 390. Great for a light dinner - or a Saturday afternoon lunch.