Made a New Year's resolution to eat healthier meals in 2017? Here are 10 recipes that will help you stick to your promise.
Wild Herb Risotto
Forage for your own herbs to make the gorgeous fresh risotto that's pictured above. It's the perfect combination of healthy and hearty, though you might want to use slightly less cream than the recipe suggests or switch to a low-fat alternative to cut down on fat content. Use extra vegetables to bulk out the recipe a bit if you like, and serve with wholemeal bread.
Salmon Tagine
Salmon is packed with omega-3 fatty acids as well as plenty of vitamins and minerals, and is also noted for its high protein content. Remove the skin from the salmon if you want.
This salmon tagine recipe also calls for tomatoes and mandarin orange segments, giving it a real blast of fruity flavour, and there are plenty of other filling but healthy ingredients included such as spinach and couscous.
Salmon houmous
Smoked salmon is delicious, but has a high salt content. This recipe uses canned salmon instead, mixed with chickpeas, garlic and tahini, to create an innovative salmon houmous. Great for your lunchbox!
Serve it with toasted pita bread and a side salad with a little dressing.
Devilled crab cakes
Who says that you have to give up all luxuries when you're on a diet? Roll up your crab meat with mashed potato, spring onions and seasoning, and quickly fry them. Serve with a green salad, or you could boil extra potatoes earlier on and make extra mash and boil some green beans to serve them with.
Fry them in rapeseed oil where possible. This contains essential fatty acids, is high in mono-unsatured fats and is a good source of vitamin E.
Tarka dhal
Pulses are well-known for being really, really good for you, and split peas are no exception to the rule. This simple recipe uses a tasty blend of spices to add character to the filling broth, and should be topped off with very fresh coriander.
Make a big batch of this stuff and it can be taken elsewhere (eg to work) and be reheated, to save you time the next day.
Mozzarella, tomato and olive ravioli
Fresh ravioli is utterly divine, and here it is packed with olives, fresh cherry tomatoes and three cheeses before being topped with a light pesto sauce. You'd be right to say that cheese isn't always a dieter's friend, but we'd reply "everything in moderation"! You need some comfort in the colder months, and the fresh ingredients here offer many health benefits. And quantity wise, it's a fairly light meal.
Black bean soup
An intensely-flavoured soup made from kidney beans, onions, and chipotle chilli, adding a strong smoky flavour to each bowlful. Best matched with an easy-to-make avocado salsa, which the recipe also tells you how to make.
This recipe does contain 30g of dark chocolate, which we'd recommend you leave in for the sake of flavour. But if your resolution involved giving up chocolate, feel free to miss it out!
Chicken souvlaki with tabbouleh
The marinated chicken skewers soak up all the flavour of lemon and garlic with a hint of oregano, and the couscous garnish is delicious and healthy too! We suggest using a tad less salt and oil than recommended by the ingredients if you're aiming for a healthy option, and using low-fat yoghurt for the sauce. But even with the adjustments, this one promises to be a deliciously filling recipe.
Potato and onion curry
The best things in life are straightforward. That's our mantra for midweek meals, anyway. This potato and onion curry takes just five minutes to prep, then it needs minimal attention until the potatoes are cooked through, at which point you need only plate up.
The ingredients list, bar the mustard seeds which you could live without, are all very likely to be in your cupboard already, so this is a no-brainer when it's cold and wet outside and you don't fancy going to the shops.
Persian pasta
You really couldn't make healthy eating any easier than this, and again there's only five minutes of prep time required. A winter warmer that doesn't eat into your day!
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