Frozen-vegetable ratatouille recipe

Abatch of ratatouille is a great staple, good to eat hot or cold. Those frozen bags of grilled Mediterranean vegetables, though dull and undercooked eaten as they are, make a fantastic base. If you can get fresh basil, then stir some through, but it is still excellent without. Don’t substitute dried herbs: they have a dusty flavour that’s at odds with the bright vegetables. 

Prep time: 5 minutes | Cooking time: 40 minutes

SERVES

Two to four

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced, or 100g frozen sliced onions
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 x 500g bag frozen grilled Mediterranean vegetables, or 1 aubergine, 1 courgette and 1 deseeded red or yellow pepper, sliced
• 1 x 400g tin tomatoes
• Fresh basil leaves (optional)

METHOD

1. Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Fry the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. With a slotted spoon, scoop the garlic and onion into a bowl.
2. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and add a third of the vegetables with a pinch of salt. Cook until tender and patched with brown (even the frozen “grilled” veg can do with a bit more colour). Scoop out into the onion bowl, and repeat twice with the rest of the oil and Mediterranean vegetables.
3. Put all the cooked vegetables into a large saucepan with the tinned tomatoes. Stir through then cook, covered, for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are bathed in sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve with some fresh basil if you have it.

HOW TO USE RATATOUILLE

• Fill a vegetarian lasagne.
• Spread it in an ovenproof dish, make four hollows and break in four eggs. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 200C/180C fan/Gas 6 until the eggs are just set. Eat with bread.
• Mix in one tablespoon of drained capers in vinegar and eat with grilled lamb chops or fish.
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Moroccan-spiced bean soup recipe

This is based on the Moroccan soup, harira, which is traditionally eaten every day throughout the month of Ramadan. Friends tell me that they never get sick of it, so it’s a good recipe to scale up for future meals.

It’s very adaptable: I have substituted dried fava beans (not easily available here) for frozen broad beans.

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 20 minutes 

SERVES 

two hungry people or four with poached eggs

INGREDIENTS 

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 300g frozen chopped celery, onion and carrot (such as Waitrose Cook’s Ingredients Soffrito, or Asda’s Scratch Cook Vegetable Base Mix), or 100g each chopped fresh celery, onion and carrot
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 750ml water
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 100g dried green lentils
• 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
• 200g frozen broad beans
• 2-4 poached eggs (optional)
• Fresh coriander (optional)

METHOD 

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the celery, onion and carrot until tender. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
2. Add the turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and ginger and cook for a few seconds, before adding the water, tinned tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas, plus half a teaspoon of salt. Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are done.
3. Stir in the broad beans and heat through to defrost them. Slip a few bright green beans out of their grey skins, if you feel like it. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a good grinding of black pepper.
4. Serve as it is, or with poached eggs on top to make a more substantial meal, with a scattering of fresh coriander if you like.
5. 
   

Roasted vegetables with garlic sauce recipe

This very slow roasted mix of red onion, sweet potato and courgette has a surprise addition of white cabbage – not normally an ingredient you think of to roast, but it works well in a wintry salad sprinkled with lots of chopped parsley and served with this seriously garlicky sauce.

Prep time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 1 hour 5 minutes

SERVES

Four

INGREDIENTS

For the garlic sauce (makes 175ml)

• 1 large garlic bulb, separated into cloves, smashed with a knife, peeled and halved
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves only, to give about 1 tbsp
• 2 fresh sage sprigs, leaves only
• 85g granulated sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon

For the salad

• 2 large red onions, about 250g, cut into large chunks
• 2 sweet potatoes, about 650g, peeled and cut into 2.5cm chunks
• 3 tbsp light muscovado sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• ½ a small white cabbage, about 350g, cut into large chunks
• 2 courgettes, about 400g, cut into large chunks
• 25g fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

METHOD

1. To make the sauce, put the garlic into a small saucepan, pour in half the oil and cook over a low heat for five minutes until the garlic turns a pale golden brown. Remove from the heat, add the herbs, sugar and lemon juice and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Transfer to a blender or a small food processor and blitz until smooth, or use a stick blender in the pan. Stir in the remaining oil and add salt and pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 150C/130C fan/Gas 2.
4. Put the red onions and sweet potatoes into a roasting tin. Sprinkle with the sugar and half the garlic, then drizzle with two tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Using your hands, toss the vegetables in the oil and sugar until evenly coated.
5. Put the white cabbage and courgettes into a separate roasting tin, sprinkle with the remaining garlic and olive oil, then add salt and pepper and mix.
6.  Roast all the vegetables for about one hour, turning once or twice, until they are soft and very lightly browned. Take out of the oven and leave to cool.
7. Transfer the roasted vegetables to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the chopped parsley and spoon over 125ml of the garlic sauce.Leftover sauce will keep for two to three days in the fridge.

This student gave up street food and lost 15 kilos in 10 months. Here's how!

We all love eating junk food but do not realize how unhealthy it is. A family trip made Tanishq aware of his junk food obsession and fearing consequences, he signed himself on a gym membership. To know how he transformed himself, read his weight loss story below:
Name: Tanishq Aswani

Occupation: Student
Age: 19

Height: 6 feet 1 inch

City: Raipur

Highest weight recorded: 81.5

Weight lost: 15.5

Duration it took me to lose weight: 10 months

The turning point: I was always a fan of street food. It was on a family holiday I realized how unhealthy my lifestyle was. A little holiday weight is okay, but a 18-day-long family holiday made me gain around 7 kilos! I did not like the way I looked and immediately decided to join the gym.

My breakfast: Low-fat french toast or oats/porridge in any form. Sometimes, I eat idli too.

My lunch: Any green, seasonal vegetable preparation, along with 2 chapatis.

My dinner: Any form of chicken or egg (Mostly boiled)

Pre-workout meal: Black Coffee

Post- workout meal: Protein Shake

If it's a cheat day, I like to treat myself to waffles, but I limit that to once a month.

My workout: I workout for 5 days a week, concentrating on different target areas.
I do Leg on Monday and Saturday, Biceps and Triceps on Tuesday, Chest and Abs on Wednesday, Back and Shoulder on Thursday and Cardio on friday.

Low-calorie recipes I swear by: Oats Chilla, Spinach Idli.

Fitness secrets I unveiled: I learned that nothing can actually change unless you have the fire inside of you to change. Half of your motivation comes from there. Apart from that, moderating my food quantity has been the most important key to lose weight for me.

How do I stay motivated? It's very easy to gain weight, but difficult to lose it. The fear of piling on the weight again keeps me working on my goals.

How do you ensure you don’t lose focus? I never thought I would enjoy gymming so much. Working out instills me with positivity. I get such a happy vibe, it keeps me energetic and focussed all the day.

What’s the most difficult part of being overweight? Nobody likes being called fat and neither did I. It got to a point I found it difficult to find denims that fit the way I desired.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I want to be fitter and gain more muscles than as I am today.

What are the lifestyle changes you made? I gave up on all carb-rich junk food and ice creams. I started counting my calories and ate accordingly.

What was the lowest point for you? I don't remember hitting the low points but there were days I didn't feel confident about how I looked.

Lessons learnt from weight loss: Your body is dependent on what you eat. You should take care of your body and eat healthy food instead of junk food.

The true cause of increased belly fat

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