Three healthy menus for January
If you want to cut back a bit after the excesses of Christmas, but still want tasty, filling food, we've got three menus to suit three different scenarios.
So you’ve overdone it a touch during Christmas. Well, it happens. But that doesn't mean you have to live on lettuce. These dishes will help get things back on an even keel in no time.
The 'meat free' menu
If you fancy cutting out meat for a day, and after plenty of turkey, ham, beef, pork pies and sausage, that’s probably no bad thing, try these.
Starter Just because you're cutting back a bit doesn't mean you have to compromise on flavour. What’s more you still want something that’ll warm you up. Stella McCartney's Winter minestrone soup will do just that. It's also handy for using up any vegetables you've got hanging around.
Main As well as being child friendly, Annabel Karmel's vegetable burgers use tasty cashew nuts. You could perhaps add in any other nuts you've got left over, as long as they're unsalted. Just roast them in the oven to bring out the flavour.
Dessert Sophie Grigson's aromatic oranges with pistachios and honey are as light and healthy a pud as there is. They’re also a doddle to make, after all you’ve probably spent enough time in the kitchen over the past week or two.
The ‘bring me sunshine’ menu
After all the rich food and cold dark nights, we’re all apt to seek a little sunshine. This menu takes its influence from foreign climes, think of it as a mini-holiday without the striking air traffic controllers.
Starter Omar Allibhoy's olive winter salad is simple, tasty and made from things you’ve probably got lurking in the back of your cupboards. In fact you could use this as an opportunity to clear them out. If you find something really old let us know!
Main Marco Pierre White's grilled tuna steaks ‘a la Niçoise’ is a play on the classic ‘salade niçoise’ from the region of Nice in France. There’s no real skill to it, it’s just an assembly of good ingredients that work very well together.
Dessert For pud we’re off to India for Josceline Dimbleby's golden favourite, a yogurt-based dessert scattered with pomegranate seeds and pistachios that is a speciality of the Gujarat, a region of western India.
The 'light but luxurious' menu
If you’ve not gorged yourself half to death over Christmas but kept things sensible and moderate, then well done, you deserve a bit of luxury. And, after all, Christmas ‘technically’ runs up until the 6th January and ‘Twelfth Night’. These dishes are all on the lighter side, but feature interesting or pretty ingredients.
Starter Jose Pizarro's baked scallops with crispy serrano ham bring to mind images of Spain. “This dish is a great combination of flavours, with a hint of chilli” Jose tells us, and he's not wrong. A little nip of chilli should brighten up cold January days.
Main If you’ve had roast beef over New Year and still have some leftover, then why not give it a pep up with Lucas Hollweg's cold rare roast beef with dill and mustard? If you don't then remember game is still in season. José Souto's Teriyaki style pan-fried woodpigeon is a great use of it.
Dessert Martin Blunos' pomegranate and ginger jellies are pretty as a picture. And you could cut out the double cream and serve with natural yoghurt (as Martin recommends).
Fancy a bit more?
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