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After standing out in the freezing cold garden enjoying some fireworks, head back inside and warm up by tucking into one of these comfort recipes – they're sure to go down well with the whole family!
Toad in the hole
Serves 4 - 323 kcals per serving
Kcals |
323 |
Fat |
11.3g |
Sat fat |
4.1g |
Carbs |
33.4g |
Sugar |
7.9g |
Fibre |
3.4g |
Protein |
23.1g |
Salt |
1.96g |
Ingredients
- 1 red onion, cut into wedges
- 8 thick low-fat pork sausages
- Low-cal cooking spray
- 100g plain flour
- 1 medium egg
- 300ml skimmed milk
- 2 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- Salt and pepper, to season
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas mark 6.
- Tip the onion into a small shallow non-stick tin.
- Arrange the sausages on top of the onions, then spray lightly with the low-cal cooking spray and roast for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make your batter. Sift the flour into a bowl, drop the egg into the centre and beat in the milk a little at a time until it makes a smooth batter.
- Stir in the mustard and thyme and season.
- Pour the batter into the hot tin and return to the oven for 40 minutes until the batter has risen and is golden.
Pulled pork baps
Serves 6 - 497 kcals per serving
Kcals |
497 |
Fat |
17.5g |
Sat fat |
5.9g |
Carbs |
46.8g |
Sugar |
16.7g |
Fibre |
5.8g |
Protein |
41.2g |
Salt |
1.73g |
Ingredients
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1kg pork shoulder joint, boned with rind attached and tied
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 heaped tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
- 4 tbsp barbecue sauce
- 6 medium wholemeal rolls
Method
- Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C Fan/Gas mark 3. Mix the mustard powder, paprika, salt and pepper, and rub this all over the pork, making sure you rub it into all the crevices.
- Scatter the onions and bay leaf in the bottom of a large roasting tin. Place the pork, rind-side up, on top of the onions.
- Pour 200ml water into the tin, wrap well in tin foil and cook for 4 hours.
- Mix the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar together.
- Remove the pork from the tin and pat dry. Place the roasting tin on the hob, pour in the ketchup mixture and heat for 10-15 minutes until starting to thicken.
- Remove the bay leaf and pour the sauce into a food processor; blitz until smooth. Smear half the sauce mixture over the meat.
- Grill the pork for 10-15 minutes on each side until a little charred.
- Place the pork on a large plate and remove the string. Peel off the skin and then using a pair of forks, shred the meat into chunky pieces.
- Add the barbecue sauce to the meat and toss everything well to coat. Pile into rolls and serve with extra sauce.
Slow cooker bean chilli
Serves 4 - 482 kcals per serving
Kcals |
482 |
Fat |
6g |
Sat fat |
1g |
Carbs |
92.1g |
Sugar |
11.2g |
Fibre |
12.6g |
Protein |
18.1g |
Salt |
0.82g |
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tins chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin kidney beans, drained
- 1 tin borlotti beans, drained
- 80g mushrooms
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp chilli powder
- Salt and pepper
- 300ml water
- 300g dried long grain rice, to serve
Method
- To a slow cooker, add the olive oil, onion, garlic, chopped tomatoes, kidney beans and borlotti beans.
- Tip in the mushrooms and spices, then season well. Top everything up using the water.
- Stir well. Cook on a low heat for a few hours.
- Just before serving, cook rice according to pack instructions. Serve with a generous ladle of piping hot chilli on top.
Pumpkin curry
Serves 2 - 366 kcals per serving
Kcals |
366 |
Fat |
15.9g |
Sat fat |
7.3g |
Carbs |
48.5g |
Sugar |
16.1g |
Fibre |
8.4g |
Protein |
10.4g |
Salt |
0.19g |
Ingredients
- 120ml half fat crème fraîche
- 1 tsp cumin
- Handful of chopped fresh coriander
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 medium pumpkin
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 8 cauliflower florets, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 100g mushrooms, diced
- 50g spinach, roughly chopped
- 200g cooked basmati rice
Method
- Mix all the spices with the crème fraîche and leave the mixture overnight.
- Hollow out the pumpkin and bake the pumpkin shell in the oven for 30-45 minutes at 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas mark 6, until softened.
- Dice up the flesh and once the shell has been cooking for 20 minutes, add this to the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes.
- Whilst the pumpkin is cooking, heat a saucepan over a medium-high heat with the olive oil. Add the cauliflower, onion, garlic and mushrooms and fry for 8-10 minutes.
- When the pumpkin flesh is cooked, add it to the other vegetables along with the spinach.
- Get the crème fraîche sauce out of the fridge and stir into the vegetables for 10-15 minutes until warmed through.
- Mix in the cooked rice and spoon the mixture into the pumpkin shell to serve.
Fudge & apple cookies
Serves 16 - 128 kcals per serving
Kcals |
128 |
Fat |
5.1g |
Sat fat |
3g |
Carbs |
19.6g |
Sugar |
9.9g |
Fibre |
0.8g |
Protein |
1.7g |
Salt |
0.03g |
Ingredients
- 75g soft butter
- 100g demerara sugar
- 1 large egg
- 125g plain flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 70g fudge pieces
- 125g Bramley apple, peeled and finely diced
- 60g rolled oats
Method
- Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the egg.
- Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and fudge pieces and mix them into the creamed butter mix.
- Add the apple to the mix quickly after dicing to stop it discolouring.
- Take two large pieces of cling film and sprinkle a line of oats down the middle of each. Scoop half the dough onto each and sprinkle with more oats, before using the cling film to roll the dough into a 1-inch wide sausage shape.
- Freeze for 20-30 minutes or chill in the fridge for an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas mark 4. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Take the solid cookie dough out and unwrap it before slicing each log into 8 pieces.
- Place the pieces on the baking paper and top with any remaining oats. Bake for 12-14 minutes in the centre of the oven. The edges will be set but the middle should be a little soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Nutritionist Emma White (ANutr), MSc Human Nutrition is passionate about how food science applies to the human body, and how the nutrients in what we eat affect us and ultimately have an impact on our health.