450g green beans
280g cherry tomatoes
160g chopped black olives (not Kalamata olives, too salty with the anchovies)
1 handful fresh basil
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans anchovy fillets
4 thick salmon fillet steaks (with or without skin)
2 lemons
Fresh bread, to serve.
Preheat the oven to its very highest setting (yes, really.)
Wash and tail the green beans, then drop them into a pan of boiling water. After 3 minutes drain them and refresh under the cold tap. Leave them to air dry on a tea towel.
Wash and dry the olives, tomatoes and basil, then place them in a large bowl with the beans and the olive oil. Mix them together with your hands, then tip them onto your biggest baking tray. Rub oil all over the tray with your hands, then budge the veggies over to one side to make room for the salmon. Lay the anchovies over the veg (no need to pat them dry first, the oilier they are the better they’ll sizzle in the oven.)
Wash your salmon steaks, pat them dry and place them next to the veggies. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over both sides, and season with a little salt and plenty pepper. Drizzle with a little more olive oil.
Place the roasting tray in the oven for ten minutes, then check it. The anchovies should have disintegrated and some of the tomatoes should have burst. If the salmon is cooked to perfection it will flake open easily and have turned a paler pink throughout, but if you cook it too long it will shrink in size and be harder to flake open. If the salmon cooks before the veggies, remove it and stick them back in the oven.
My roasting tray is too big to bring to the table, so I transfer it all to a platter and serve with lemon wedges and bread. Delicious!
Roast salmon is always a treat, and this recipe throws everything together in one roasting pan for an easy, healthy supper which is full of flavour.
Jamie Oliver invented this recipe, and a google search reveals that it’s wildly popular. Unlike several of his ‘quick’ recipes, this one is genuinely easy. It can also be prepared in advance, which makes it perfect for serving to guests. The anchovies disintegrate among beans and juicy cherry tomatoes, creating a big heap of healthy flavour to accompany the salmon. The only downside is that it’s more expensive than some of my other favourite recipes.
When you read the ingredients, you might wonder how on earth I can claim that this recipe is healthy when it’s quite high in fat. The thing is, which fats? It’s really important that we get enough omega 3, and salmon and anchovies are a great source. At the same time we need to be reducing our consumption of omega 6 oils (vegetable oil), but olive oil is used in this recipe which is still considered to be a healthy oil. To find out how to optimize your omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, click here.
The carb in this meal is bread, and for me that’s more problematic than the oil. You could serve it with white rice instead, but the fun here lies in dunking your bread into all the juices which are absolutely delicious. If I know I’m cooking this in the evening, I avoid sandwiches and pasta through the day, because eating lots of refined carbs makes me feel bad.
What could be more hearty and inviting than a casserole dish full of meatballs? And if you make them with lentils instead of meat they are seriously healthy. To discover a lemony vegetarian version of the classic comfort food, read on.
I find it difficult to know when to stop eating this. The silky texture of the leeks and the sweet sticky dressing bind this vegan salad together beautifully – better than mayonnaise in my book.
If the only Indian food you’ve ever eaten comes from Indian restaurants, this recipe may come as a revelation. It doesn’t have that layer of grease which take-away meals so often have, instead it tastes wholesome, fresh and tangy. Turmeric is so healthy that it’s sometimes used as a medicine, and sweet potatoes are a great source of potassium and magnesium.
This recipe was inspired by a classic Greek dish called Avgolemono. It has a velvety texture which is very moreish, and it contains a whole host of vitamins and minerals thanks to the spinach and lemon. For a warming soup which is filling enough to serve for dinner, read on.
