Braised auBergines with spiced ButterBeans & crispy garlic

An easy recipe that cuts out 90 per cent of the oil you normally use to cook the aubergine. Instead, I use water to start the cooking process then add beans, chilli, garlic and Tabasco to flavour the dish as aubergines can be pretty bland without all the oil.

ServeS PrePArATION TIMe COOKING TIMe COOK’S TIP

10 minutes 45 minutes 4 tsp olive oil

4 onions, chopped

½ tsp chilli flakes

2 large aubergines, cut into 2cm pieces freshly ground black pepper 400g can butterbeans, drained really well

1 tsp Tabasco sauce

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced 4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

★ Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6.

★ Heat 3 teaspoons of the oil in a shallow, ovenproof saucepan. Add the onions, chilli flakes and aubergines, mix well and season with a little pepper. Add the butterbeans, 100ml of water and the Tabasco then cover and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until soft and slightly coloured.

★ Once cooked, remove from the oven and stir well. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a nonstick frying pan, add the garlic and cook over a high heat to get some real colour, until almost burnt. Add the garlic and the tomatoes to the aubergines then mix well off the heat. Serve.

You could add some extra protein, such as a few prawns, chicken, or some sliced boiled egg.

eNerGY PrOTeIN FAT SATUrATeD FAT CArBOHYDrATe TOTAL SUGArS SALT SODIUM FIBre

4.7g

123kcals 4mg

15g 5g 9g

6.2g 0.8g

0g

Vegetable Spring rollS

When I filmed in Vietnam, in the Mekong Delta, spring rolls were on every boat, street and food vendor’s stall. Most had very little or no meat at all, relying instead on great flavours. Here is a vegetable version that doesn’t need any cooking. If you want to add meat, try a little cooked chicken breast, a few prawns or some tuna. Steam the rolls for a hot version.

ServeS PrePArATION TIMe

1 tsp fresh red chilli, very finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar 2 tsp reduced-salt soy sauce

4 tbsp chopped Thai or any fresh basil

4 tbsp chopped fresh mint 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander freshly ground black pepper

FOr THe rOLLS

4 tbsp rice wine vinegar 2 tbsp chopped coriander 1 tsp soy sauce 1 small red chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp granulated sweetener juice of 1 lime

★ Place all the ingredients for the dressing into a bowl and mix well. Then add the vegetables for the rolls and mix well again.

★ Make the dipping sauce by mixing all those ingredients in a small bowl.

★ Lightly moisten the rice paper wrappers with a pastry brush and a little water until they are pliable but not soggy. Place a little of the dressed vegetables in the centre of the wrapper and fold in the sides. Roll up from the bottom and seal well. Repeat with

Spicy cauliflower rice with prawnS & BaBy Spinach

Cauliflower has become very popular and can work really well in certain dishes, but to get any real flavour you need to roast or cook it really hard to drive off a lot of the moisture and intensify the flavour. I always roast or sauté it first. I also apply the same rule to pumpkin and squash. The smaller the florets you roast, the drier the rough purée will be, so don’t purée to a smooth paste.

ServeS PrePArATION TIMe COOKING TIMe

1 cauliflower (500g-600g), cut into small florets (the smaller the better)

1 tsp rapeseed oil

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 red onions, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger ½ tsp finely chopped fresh red chilli

150g bag fresh spinach, washed

120g cooked or fresh prawns, finely chopped

2 tsp reduced-salt soy sauce

★ tray, coat the cauliflower with the oil and a little ground pepper. Mix well, then pop into the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until you get a nice colour on the cauliflower. You may have to turn it occasionally.

★ Meanwhile, heat a nonstick frying pan over a medium heat and add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli. Dry-fry (it does work) and stir to take on a little colour for about

4-5 minutes.

★ Once the cauliflower is well roasted, remove from the oven and tip into a food processor. Blitz until you have a breadcrumb texture but don’t go mad; you don’t want a purée. Add this to the onions and garlic then cook until nice and dry. Add the spinach, chopped prawns and soy sauce then cook for

2-3 minutes until the spinach has wilted down. Serve in deep bowls.

eNerGY PrOTeIN FAT SATUrATeD FAT CArBOHYDrATe TOTAL SUGArS SALT SODIUM FIBre

13g 9g 199mg 0.5g 4.7g

4 35-40 minutes 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into very fine strips 6 spring onions, cut into very fine strips ½ small cucumber, cut into very fine strips 1 pak choi, cut into very fine strips 16 dried rice paper wrappers the other 15 wrappers. Serve with the dipping sauce as a starter, snack or light lunch.

4 30 minutes 30-40 minutes Preheat the oven to 220C/ 200C fan/gas 7. In a pan or 2.4g 113kcals 11g 0.4g