Food & Fun: Recipes to keep it healthy while you're in lockdown mode
Being confined to barracks can have a devastating effect on our waistlines. But a little forward planning can help.
So we are now in our sixth week of ‘staying home’ and adjusting best we can to the ‘new normal’.
For many of us working from home and with young children, it can be all too easy to binge on the ‘wrong’ foods and end up piling on the pounds. Being bored and out of routine can lead to way too many trips to the kitchen — and that goes for every member of the family.
When doing the weekly shop, try to stock up on healthy and nutritious options rather than convenience food and chocolate treats. If it’s not in the cupboards, then it can’t be eaten!
It makes sense to do a meal plan before the shop; and stick to the list. You’ll spend less this way as well.
Eating healthily doesn’t mean surviving on salads, although we are including two divine salads this week and ones that are packed with tasty nutrients.
But there’s also a delicious, homely roast chicken — one that all the family will love. For the weight conscious, it’s possible to enjoy a roast dinner and lay off some of the naughtier trimmings (bit of will power here!)
Bread is both our friend and enemy depending on how tight our jeans are.
As our lunchtimes are now spent at home every day, it can be difficult to come up with alternatives to carb-heavy dishes, so we’ve included a delicious Spanish omelette. Full of protein, should keep you away from the biscuit tin in the afternoon.
And for the fish lovers, there’s a moreish crab linguine. Add more fish and veg and less pasta if you feel the need to be virtuous.
All of the recipes by renowned chefs and food experts Darina Allen, Michelle Carmody and the Currabinny Cooks (James Kavanagh and William Murray), have been published previously in the
Rocket salad with shaved Jerusalem artichoke and orange (Currabinny cooks)
- 400g Jerusalem artichokes
- 150g of Rocket
- 1 tbsp of dijon mustard
- 5 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp of cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp of orange juice
- Zest of 1 orange
- 80g of parmesan cheese, shaved
- Cracked black pepper
Scrub the artichokes well under cold water until perfectly clean. Using a very sharp knife or even a vegetable peeler, slice the artichokes into thin shavings.
Clean the rocket and place in a nice big salad bowl mixed in together with the artichoke shavings. Make the dressing by whisking the orange juice, cider vinegar and mustard together in a small bowl and gradually whisk in the olive oil.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with shavings of the parmesan, orange zest and cracked black pepper.
Stuffed roast chicken (Darina Allen)
A roast chicken, even with all the trimmings, can still be a healthy option.
- 1.5kg to 2.3kg free-range chicken,preferably organic
- Stock
- Giblets (keep the liver for a chicken liver pate), and wish bone
- 1 sliced carrot
- 1 sliced onion
- 1 stick celery
- A few parsley stalks and a sprig of thyme
- Stuffing
- 45g butter
- 85g chopped onion
- 85g to 100g soft white breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, lemon thyme, chives and annual marjoram
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- A little soft butter
- Sprigs of flat parsley to garnish
First remove the wishbone from the neck end of the chicken, this isn’t at all essential but it does make carving much easier later on.
Tuck the wing tips underneath the chicken to make a neat shape. Put the wish-bone, giblets, carrot, onions, celery and herbs into a saucepan.
Cover with cold water, bring to the boil, skin and simmer gently while the chicken is roasting.
Next make the stuffing, sweat the onions gently in the butter until soft, about 10 minutes, then stir in the crumbs, herbs, a little salt and pepper to taste.
Allow it to get quite cold. If necessary wash and dry the cavity of the bird, then season and half fill with cold stuffing.
Season the breast and legs, smear with a little soft butter. Heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
Weigh the chicken and allow about 20 minutes to the pound and 20 minutes over. Baste a couple of times during the cooking with the buttery juices.
The chicken is done when the juices are running clear. To test, prick the thickest part at the base of the thigh and examine the juices: they should be clear.
Remove the chicken to a carving dish, keep it warm and allow to rest while you make the gravy.
To make the gravy, spoon off the surplus fat from the roasting pan. Deglaze the pan juices with the fat free stock from the giblets and bones.
Using a whisk, stir and scrape well to dissolve the caramelized meat juices from the roasting pan. Boil it up well, season and thicken with a little roux if you like. Taste and correct seasoning. Serve in a hot gravy boat.
If possible, serve the chicken on a nice carving dish surrounded by crispy roast potatoes and some sprigs of flat parsley then arm yourself with a sharp knife and bring it to the table.
Spanish omelette for lunch box (Michelle Darmody)
- A generous dash of olive oil
- 2 shallots, sliced
- 500g of waxy potatoes, cut into think, circular slices
- A small bunch of thyme, removed from the stalk and chopped
- 6 eggs, lightly beaten
Heat the oil in a pan and add the shallots and stir them, add the slices of potato and allow it cook over a low heat until the potatoes are softening.
Strain the potatoes and onion and stir them through the eggs. Season with some sea salt and cracked black pepper and add in the thyme. Heat another dash of oil and gently add the whole mixture into a pan that fits the ingredients snuggly.
Allow to cook over a low heat and gently nudge the edges with a spatula. When it is almost cooked through invert it onto a plate and slide it upside down back onto the pan.
Cook for another few minutes. Allow to cool and slice into wedges. These freeze well and can be taken out for lunches or popped into a lunch box.
Matchstick salad: turnip, carrots, kohlrabi, with lemon, Parmesan, and parsley (Darina Allen)
This salad works well with similar shaped vegetables. It doesn’t have to be matchsticks; it could be wedges or half-moons, or a mix.
Bottom line: don’t let the knife work dissuade you from making the salad. As long as you get the vegetables into bite-size units, you’ll be good.
For the variations, you can use the same proportion of vegetables or stick with only turnip or rutabaga. The key is to have a nice dose of fat and brightness to balance the brassica flavour.
- 1 bunch salad turnips (455g), cut into matchsticks
- 3 medium turnips or 1 large rutabaga (455g), ends trimmed, peeled, cut into matchsticks
- 4 carrots (various colours are nice) (455g), cut into matchsticks
- 2 kohlrabi (455g), ends trimmed, peeled, cut into matchsticks
- 1 or 2 apples (455g), unpeeled, cut into matchsticks
- 2 lemons (90ml), zest and juice
- 120 ml olive oil
- Big pinch of salt
- 1 bunch parsley (34g), roughly chopped
- 55g Parmesan, shaved with a vegetable peeler or grater
Dress the vegetables and apples with the lemon zest and juice, olive oil, and salt. Toss all together, and let sit for 10 minutes to lightly marinate. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Add the parsley to the salad, garnish with the Parmesan shavings, and serve.
Crab linguine (Currabinny cooks)
- 400g linguine
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced finely
- 2-4 red chillies deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 lemon
- 400g mixed crabmeat
- A large handful of parley, chopped
- 2 red bell peppers, deseeded and chopped finely
- 200ml of cream
- 50ml of white wine
- Salt and black pepper
- 50g grated fresh parmesan
- Olive oil
Cook the linguine in a large pot of boiling, generously salted water.
In a large frying pan or casserole, heat a little olive oil on medium high heat and add the garlic and chilli, cooking for two minutes until everything is fragrant and the garlic is starting to turn golden.
Add the red pepper and cook for another minute or so before adding the white wine, allowing it to bubble and reduce down for another two minutes before adding the cream and seasoning well with salt and black pepper.
After another two minutes, add the parmesan and crabmeat, turn down the heat a little and simmer gently for another two to three minutes.
Lastly stir in the juice of one lemon and the chopped parsley, mix with the linguine, check the seasoning and serve.
