Food & recipes

Healthy Recipes: Light and easy dishes

Cold, wintry days usually leave you craving comfort food. Luckily these dishes will hit the spot without piling on the pounds

Chicken and rosemary risotto

Serves: 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 large chicken breasts cut into chunks
350g risotto rice
2 stalks of rosemary
1 large glass of dry white wine
1-1.2 litres hot vegetable or chicken stock
200g Tenderstem broccoli, cut into 2-3cm pieces
50g finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat the olive oil in a deep, heavy-based frying pan. Gently cook the onion and garlic until they are soft but not colouring at all. Stir in the chicken, and fry for approximately three to four minutes.

2. Add the rice and rosemary and stir for about one minute until the rice looks slightly translucent. Pour in the wine and stir continuously until it has cooked into the rice. Add a good ladle of hot stock and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat down so the risotto is simmering gently and then keep adding ladles of stock as it cooks into the rice, stirring and moving the rice around in the pan.

3. After about 15 minutes, stir in the Tenderstem broccoli and continue stirring and adding the stock for five to eight minutes until the rice is soft but still with a bit of bite. The texture of the risotto should be thick and creamy, but not too loose. Add extra stock or hot water if necessary.

4. Remove the cooked risotto from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and add any extra stock if the risotto seems particularly thick. Spoon the risotto into warmed bowls and serve.

Chef’s tip

If you want to make this a vegetarian option why not switch the chicken for courgettes?

Nutrition news

Broccoli has a higher concentration of vitamin C than both cauliflower and cabbage. What’s more, gram for gram, it even contains twice the amount of he vitamin than orange juice.

Poached lemon and tarragon chicken

Serves: 4

4 skinless chicken breasts
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 small lemon
4 sprigs of tarragon
1 clove of garlic, crushed
900ml chicken stock
150ml white wine (optional – extra chicken stock can also be used)
2 tsp tomato purée
200g Tenderstem broccoli
200g Chantenay carrots, washed well and halved lengthways if they’re thick
200g asparagus tips

1. Indent each chicken breast a couple times with a sharp knife and place in a flat dish.

2. Mix together the lemon zest and juice with the tarragon sprigs, garlic and seasoning. Pour over the chicken and leave to marinate for 30 minutes to one hour.

3. Pour the stock and wine (if using) into the bottom part of a large steamer or a saucepan, add the tomato purée and bring to the boil. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place into the boiling liquid. Reduce the heat, and allow the chicken to cook in simmering liquid for around 12 to 15 minutes. The chicken can then be removed from the pan to a bowl and covered with cling film to rest.

4. While the chicken is resting, place the vegetables in the steamer. Bring the cooking liquid back up to the boil, and steam the vegetables until they are tender (around eight minutes).

5. Divide the vegetables between four bowls. Slice the chicken into three and sit on top of the vegetables. Spoon over the hot stock and finish by scattering some chopped tarragon and lemon zest over of the chicken.

Chef’s tip

Add new potatoes to this recipe if you like, by cooking in the stock after the chicken. Return to the stock to heat through when steaming the vegetables.

Can you believe it?

Broccoli is the most nutrient rich of all the brassicas vegetables and is jam packed full of disease fighting nutrients, such as glucosinolates.

Honey roast pork chops with couscous

Serves 4

4 pork chops
2 star anise, lightly crushed
2 stalks of fresh thyme
2 tsp paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, lightly crushed
3 tbsp runny honey
4 tbsp natural yoghurt
small bunch of mint leaves, finely chopped

For the couscous

350g couscous
1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
600ml hot chicken stock
25g butter
200g Tenderstem broccoli

1. Remove some of the fat from the chops, leaving a thin layer around the outside. Place the pork chops in a large bowl.

2. Mix star anise, thyme, paprika and olive oil to create a marinade. Coat the chops in the marinade and cover with cling film. Place in the fridge and leave to marinate, turning over a couple of times.

3. When you are ready to cook the chops, preheat the oven to 200°C or 180°C for fan oven or gas mark 6.

4. Heat a large frying pan and add the remaining olive oil. Remove the chops from the marinade and season with salt and pepper.

5. Fry the fatty side of the chops first of all, holding the chops upright with a pair of tongs until golden, and then quickly sear both sides of the meat until golden.

6. Drizzle over the honey and then transfer to the oven to continue cooking for 10 minutes, turning the chops over halfway through. Once cooked, transfer to a plate and rest for 10 minutes but keep the chops warm.

7. While you are cooking the chops, place the couscous in a large bowl and stir in the spring onions, lemon zest and juice. Pour over the hot stock and add the butter. Stir and cover with cling film. Leave for 10 minutes for the stock to be absorbed.

8. Steam the Tenderstem broccoli for a few minutes until tender, and then cut into smaller pieces. Fluff the grains of couscous with a fork, season with salt and pepper and add the broccoli. Mix together the mint and yoghurt and season with salt and pepper.

9. The couscous can now be served onto plates, with the pork chops and any of their cooking and resting juices poured over the top of the pork. Add a spoon of mint yoghurt and serve. For more information and the rest of the delicious recipes visit tenderstem.co.uk

Chef’s tip

If you only have time to marinate the pork chops for up to 30 minutes, they are best left at room temperature, before cooking.

Ingredient spotlight

The Tenderstem variety requires less cooking than other forms of broccoli. Therefore, it contains the most amount of health giving nutrients.