#definitelyhealthy

Hangover halloumi and pineapple beef with cranberry couscous.

After a heavy night on Saturday, I awoke with a craving for halloumi, pineapple and beef and I wouldn’t have been true to myself if I hadn’t gone to the supermarket and shopped for a classic three item food date.

Ingredients (for the beef): Pineapple chunks, as many as you can handle, plus keep 2 tbsp of the juice 150g halloumi, cut into cm squares 200g beef (I used cheap diced beef, but this would be MUCH nicer with rump or fillet steak) 3 tsp honey 1 tsp ras el hanout spice mix A clove of garlic, crushed

Recipe: Put everything into a bowl and stir it all up. Let it sit and marinate in the fridge for anything from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Pop the oven on low to 60 degrees (fan). Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and empty the beef mixture into it on a medium heat. Once you’ve browned the beef on all sides, transfer just that the beef to an ovenproof dish and let it sit in the warm oven.

Continue to cook the halloumi, pineapple in the wet mixture, turning the heat up so that it begins to caramelise. The halloumi should start to blacken, but will keep a somewhat gooey outer. Once it has caramelised, put the beef back in and give it a good stir. You’re good to go!

This is one of my spicier recipes, but I really enjoyed it and I’m glad I stuck to my guns with the combination. The ras el hanout has an earthy taste, with the rose petals in the mix keeping it nice, light and floral. Serving it with couscous (with dried cranberries added in) really kept the taste all on the beef mixture and has definitely made me want more! Next time, I’ll be sure to keep some plain yoghurt to hand as it was a little more spicy than I had bargained.

Lively lime and coriander lunch box!

Recently I’ve overhauled my diet and given it a breath of planned fresh air! Planning my meals on a Saturday for the following week and shopping only for the necessary ingredients on a Sunday has made a huge improvement in my general health and well-being, albeit a few minor tweaks needed. (Guys, don’t overdo it on the fruit and veg. if you’re not used to it in large quantities!) I’m lucky in that I’m naturally slim, but boy have I noticed those few extra pounds over the last couple of months. So far, I’ve been eating this way for two and a half weeks and I have lost a total of 6lbs. Don’t worry though, I still give myself a treat most days and I haven’t cut anything (especially not brownie) out of my diet.

Ingredients (makes two lunch boxes): 100g basmati rice 300ml water Sugar Snap peas, or fine green beans roughly chopped (I used around half a pack of sugar snaps, but the quantity is really a personal preference) Two chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized slices (they cook better when sliced) Coriander Lime juice (I have a bottle in the fridge at all times) Oil

Recipe: Put the 300ml water on the heat and, when boiling, turn down low, add the rice and cover with a lid. Set a timer for ten minutes and do not take that lid off!

Put a second pan of water on and throw in the greens. Let them cook for as long as you like. I like mine a little al dente.

Heat a little oil in a medium frying pain and start to cook the chicken. The aim is to have it turn white all over; do not let it brown!

The timer for the rice has probably gone off by now, or is about to. Take it off the heat and set to one side, with the lid still on. Do not take the lid off! Set the timer for another ten minutes.

Put your desired amount of coriander in with the chicken. As useless as I am, I generally mean to put a dash in and forget that my pot only has one of the wide mouths and not the little holes, so I end up with something in between a teaspoon and a tablespoon each time. Add in enough of the lime to cover the bottom of the frying pan and cook it on a medium heat, stirring occasionally. The chicken should soak up the lime whilst cooking, making it have a nice tangy flavour paired with that lovely coriander.

Mine worked out so that the second rice timer went off about the same time as the chicken had finished cooking. When it does go off, take the lid off the rice and fluff it up. After that, all that was left to do was drain the greens, stir them through the rice and portion the rice mix and the chicken into my tupperware. Job done!

This is a really simple, but delicious (obviously: I made it) lunch and takes no time at all. Why not try the healthy option yourself? Rude not to when it’s just so tasty!

Loaded courgette boats!

I’m trying to eat a bit cleaner at the moment and had some courgettes lying around, but no idea what to do with them. I also had an ice cream scoop to hand and some fridge/store cupboard essentials.

Ingredients (serves 2): 2 courgettes A tin of tuna, drained A couple of handfuls of spinach 12 tomatoes 4 tablespoons of Sainsburys’ own pasta sauce Paprika, cumin and coriander to taste A teaspoon of oil

Recipe: Turn the oven to 180 degrees (fan) and put four tablespoons of water into a deep baking tray. The water should just cover the bottom of the tray.

Top and tail the courgettes and cut them in half longways. Scoop out the inside with an ice cream scoop and chop it up. Halve the tomatoes at the same time.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the courgettes with the rest of the ingredients for five minutes, until the spinach has wilted and the ingredients have softened slightly. Load the mixture back into the courgette halves.

Place the courgettes into the tray and bake them for 20 minutes.

That’s all it takes! This was such an easy meal to make and genuinely satisfying, unlike so many healthy recipes I’ve tried before. I crumbled chopped walnuts over the left courgette half, and I drizzled balsamic glaze over the one on the right. I want to put goat’s cheese in the mix in the future. Unfortunately I was met with a rather bad smell when I opened up my packet this evening!