Light & Easy
Make your everyday dinners healthy and wholesome with our collection of recipes that are packed with flavour, but secretly simple to rustle up
ON THE COVER Summer menu
sorted! your easiest ever suppers
Tender lamb with black lentils, roast tomatoes, mint and parsley
This dish can be prepped ahead, then simply cook the lamb just before serving. Delicious with meltingly tender slices of pink lamb, however, the lentil vegetable base goes just as well with other meats, such as chicken breasts and fish fillets. For a veggie version, griddle a few slices of halloumi cheese instead.
Serves 4 • Ready in 55 mins
300g cherry tomatoes, on the vine 2 orange or yellow peppers, cut into rings
6 sprays olive oil
400g can black beluga lentils, drained 300g lamb rump steaks
25g bunch of fresh mint, roughly chopped
25g bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Heat the oven to 150C/Gas Mark 2. Poke a hole into each tomato and put into an ovenproof dish with the peppers and 1tbsp water. Spray with olive oil (4 sprays) and season generously with sea salt. Bake for 25 mins, tossing the tomatoes halfway through cooking.
Add the lentils to the dish and continue cooking for 5 mins.
Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over a high heat with the remaining oil. Season and sear the lamb quickly on each side until just browned, then add to the dish. Increase the heat to 180C/Gas Mark 4 and return to the oven for 15 mins, until the lamb is cooked but still pink inside.
Remove from the oven, slice the lamb pieces and spread over the dish.
Mix through the chopped mint and parsley, and serve.
Per serving: Cals 250, Fat 8g,
Sat fat 3g, Carbs 16g
Polenta with sweet peppers and herbs
This rich Italian comfort food makes a quick and easy dinner, and works with a variety of oozy toppings. Fabulous with beef stew too.
Serves 2 • Ready in 15 mins
for the peppers:
100g roasted peppers from a jar, cut into strips
25g capers
1 garlic clove, finely sliced
½tbsp thick balsamic vinegar 1tbsp olive oil
6 large basil leaves, roughly torn for the polenta:
1 stock cube
100g instant polenta
½tsp nutritional yeast
15g toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped, to serve handful each of basil and parsley, torn, to serve
For the pepper mixture, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
2 For the polenta, pour 550ml water into a saucepan, crumble in the stock cube and bring to a boil. Gradually add the polenta, reduce the temperature to a simmer and whisk all the time, for about 8 mins, until you have a thick, smooth paste. Stir through the nutritional yeast and season to taste.
3 Serve the polenta with the pepper mixture and scatter over the hazelnuts, basil and parsley.
Per serving: Cals 300, Fat 12g,
Sat fat 1g, Carbs 39g >>