Veg:
​2 Carrots
One red pepper.
About 6 inches worth of cucumber.
Pack of sugarsnaps and baby corn.

Slice all the veg thinly (I have a julienne peeler for the carrots, which makes life easier) and put in a bowl.

Dressing:
1 tblsp Fish sauce (unless vegan, obviously...)
1 tblsp Soy sauce or Tamari.
Juice of one lime.
One red chilli, finely chopped.
One clove of garlic, finely chopped.
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger.
1 tsp black sesame seeds, 1 tsp white ones (or just white if you can't be arsed with black ones - they look pretty though!)

Add all the dressing ingredients to the bowl and stir up.

At this point, it would make great spring rolls....

If you're eating it now, then add some coriander too, and tuck in.  If you're planning on it being lunch, I'd leave the coriander out, as it wilts a bit and gets a bit slimy (ew).

We added noodles to this for a bit of carbs, we use fine rice noodles, as they're really good at soaking up sauce.  Prepare according to pack instructions, then stir it all together.  We added some seaweed to ours too, which was very tasty - Tesco now sells sea spaghetti, or we have a pack of dried wakame (ooh, posh) that we re-hydrate with a bit of boiling water.  You could also add some chopped peanuts if you felt the urge.

Lots of veggies, not fiddled about with too much.  Add some prawn crackers on the side if you like?  It's all about choices, and you making your own decisions how 'filthy' your food is.  Enjoy, and do let me know what you think?

Mr Strongman Fitness doesn't like that fried chicken.  You know, the stuff from the famous place.  Too greasy apparently.  So he was quite pleased last week when I took it upon myself to create a tasty healthier version.  

If you've been keeping up with my "not-quite-so-filthy" recipes, you'll know that it's minimal ingredients and faffing, for maximum tastiness.  You choose how filthy you make stuff, so you can deep fry this if you should feel the urge - you make the decisions about what you shove in your gob, after all.

Anyway, two chicken bits is plenty per person.  The other half prefers drumsticks, I like a thigh myself, works with other bits too, but adjust cooking time accordingly.  
In addition to the chicken, for two people:
1 tblspn paprika
1 tblspn turmeric
2 tblspn gram flour (wheat free, but also makes it taste nice).
Stick the dry stuff on a plate and mix well.
1 egg, beaten in a decent sized bowl.


I skinned the chicken, but you don't need to, then dip in the egg to cover, then the dry stuff.  You can repeat this if you like to get a thicker crust (there's plenty of dry stuff with this recipe, so you can do).
Then roast in the oven for approx 15-20 mins until the chicken is cooked through.


We has this with the coleslaw I made here and (with a fruity pudding) that was plenty.  This would BBQ very well I suspect....  I tend not to season before cooking, and this needs a bit of pepper and salt (or sumac) and appreciated a quick squeeze of lemon too.


Finger licking good, apparently :)

Bank holiday weekend and I had a sudden urge for some curry.

My last efforts at a 'healthier' curry recipe was a tandoori based affair, so I wanted to create something a bit more 'filthy' and a bit more 'takeaway' this time, but keeping my usual general principles of fresh ingredients, minimal fussing about.  We had this with some wild rice, but would be fab with some nice chewy naan and some mango chutney.  

I'd say this was a medium sort of heat - Mr Strongman Fitness being my litmus test for this, he went slightly pink and didn't request yoghurt - but the chutney is a little deceptive (you've been warned).  Would be good with paneer instead of beef too (reduce cooking time accordingly).  Loosely based on a recipe from Good Food magazine a few months ago, but loads of the faffing about removed.

It's dead easy, just a bit of grating and then just leave it alone for a bit.  Well worth a try.  
Feeds 2-4 depending on hungryness.

Beetroot and Beef curry

1 tsp cumin seeds.
1 tsp coriander seeds.
1 tsp cardamom pods.
3 beetroot, raw, grated.
400g beef, cut into chunks.
2 onions, sliced.
1 tsp grated fresh ginger.
1 tsp grated fresh garlic.
2 red chillis, chopped.

Bash the cardamom in a pestle and mortar (or bowl and rolling pin....) and remove the outer 'shell' to leave the black seeds.  Add the cumin and coriander and bash well (no need to make a powder - it will all cook down).  Fry this mix quickly in a dry pan until toasted.  Add the remaining ingredients, and about a pint of water. Cook for 90mins (or as long as you can), just check every so often and top up with water if you need to.  It should be quite a thick curry without much sauce.

Coriander chutney

1 pack coriander.
Small handful of mint leaves.
Juice of one lemon.
1 chilli.

Whizz all the ingredients in a blender, adding enough water to get a loose paste.  

We happened to have a chunk of raw coconut, so I also grated this and whacked it in too.  You'll need to season this well - I used sumac rather than salt and plenty of pepper.  I'm told the chutney keeps for a few days in the fridge, but we never needed to find out.  

Damn tasty scran.

More beetroot tastiness here: http://www.lovebeetroot.co.uk/

So, remember the 'not-quite-so-filthy kebab'?

I had a request for not-so-filthy curry.  So here it is.
Again, I'm not suggesting that this is super-healthy or 'diet' food or anything like that.  But it's better than a takeaway and much more nutritious.  Oh, and it's dead easy.  And just look at all those colourful, tasty things going into it.  As with the kebab, the advantage of making your own is that you make choices.  You decide how "filthy" to make it.  Want to add naan?  Off you go.  Want to crack open a Cobra?  Feel free.  You're in control and you're making those choices about what you put into your body, not the chef from the local takeaway.

So, here's an Indian style feast for you (serves two)...

Tandoori chicken/fish/tofu
1 tblsp Tandoori masala (I make my own with similar to this recipe but the bought stuff is pretty good)
150ml yoghurt (substitute coconut cream for vegan/non-dairy).
Juice of one lemon.
2 portions of meat/fish/paneer/tofu

Marinade the chicken/fish/tofu in the other ingredients, preferably overnight.  Cook in the oven on a high heat for 15-20mins until done, and slightly charred around the edges.  
We used a sea bream for this (as they're currently on offer at Tesco!) so I made sure to get the paste right into the belly of the fish, as well as coating the skin liberally. 

Mango salsa
1 ripe mango, chopped.
Half a red onion, finely chopped.
Red chilli, finely chopped, to taste (I used two)
Juice of a lime.

Mix together well.   Good made in advance and left to sit for a while.

Spinach dhal
50g red split lentils (or yellow split peas if you prefer, may need soaking though).
1 tomato finely chopped.
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
Half a bag of spinach.
Chopped red chilli (to taste).
1 tsp turmeric.
1tsp cumin (preferably seeds, toasted and then ground)
Chopped coriander (or fenugreek leaves if you can get them).

Cover the lentils and tomato in water and simmer, skimming any froth off the top, until done (about 20 mins).  The tomato will keep the lentils soft - make sure you don't add any salt at this stage, as it toughens the pulses.  Add remaining ingredients and stir well - the spinach should wilt into the dhal. 

Spicy cauliflower
Par boil the florets from half a cauliflower (make sure it stays a bit crunchy) then stir fry in coconut oil with 2 tsp turmeric and 1tsp nigella seeds.

If you want to pimp it up then add a bit of extra yoghurt to serve, and maybe some fried onions on top of the dhal?  Damn tasty scran.

Much cheaper than take-away, much easier, much healthier.  

Mr Strongman Fitness continues to report that it's hell being him. Kebabs last week, curry this week.  
Whatever next?

Apparently it's hell being Mr Strongman Fitness.
He gets forced to come running.  
He has to take part in random classes (aqua and Pilates being his ultimate 'favourites').
He has to live with my menagerie of 'slightly imperfect' animals.
He has to eat kebabs.

I like kebabs.  Proper filthy, chilli-laden, drippy ones that make your mouth go pleasantly numb and cover your face in sauce and bits of lettuce.  You know the ones.  Preferably while walking home, slightly tipsy, straight from the paper.
Every Weds evening, the Swavesey running group run past the kebab van.  It smells GOOD.

It occurred to me that I could pimp a kebab.  To get it full of good stuff (see piccie over there -->).  So you know exactly what's in it.  
Consider it damage limitation... 

It takes 20 mins or so.  Quicker than visiting the kebab van (and without the added temptation of 'do you want chips with that').  

Chilli sauce
Two red peppers
Several red chillis (up to you...)
Roast the peppers in the oven until they're charred.  Pop in a bowl, cover in cling film, and leave until cool, when the skin becomes easy to pull off.  De-skin and de-seed (leave chilli seeds in if feeling brave). Whizz.

Colesaw:
Half a red cabbage
Two carrots
Two tsp natural yoghurt (tahini works for non-dairy types)
Juice of half a lemon.

Slice veg thin.  I make this with one of those blades you can stick in the whizzer that slices things finely, but can be done by hand if you can be arsed.  Mix with yoghurt/tahini.  Season well (I use sumac rather than salt), add chopped parsley if you want, or a bit of coriander if you happen to have some hanging around looking a bit limp in the bottom of the fridge (I know that's not just me...  Is it?)

The innards (meaty*):
Chicken thigh fillets (probably one thigh per person, depending on how hungry you are)
Cover liberally in chilli sauce (see up there ^^^), cook on high heat until a bit charry (10 mins or so)

Finishers:
One onion sliced thinly.
Greenery - traditionally iceberg lettuce, I like rocket to 'posh it up' a bit.
Sliced tomatoes.
Pickled chillis if you like.

Pitta (I make my own, and yes, I do feel slightly smug about that...)

Start with innards at the bottom of the pitta, then coleslaw, then finishers.  Any spare chilli sauce goes on top (I make double for this very reason).  

I'm not suggesting this is excellent "diet" food, or super good for you or anything like that.
But it's not bad.  Good, fresh ingredients, messed with as little as possible.   Full of veg.  Full of colour (which generally implies full of good nutrients...).  And more importantly, you can make choices over what you're putting in there. You want to cheat with bought coleslaw, you can, you want to add chips, you can.
Choices.  It's all about them choices...

In the interests of science, we checked and got a filthy one too (see below). Sacrificing our own healthy eating ideals just for the readers (hi again, both!) of this little old blog.  
The not-quite-so-filthy one won hands down.  
According to Mr Strongman Fitness, it tastes like a 'filthy' chicken kebab with ideas well above its station.
Job done.

*The innards (non-meaty):
One tin chickpeas
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp tahini (or yoghurt)

Mash together, make into balls.  Cook in the oven for approx 20 mins until crisp outside (you can also deep or shallow fry these, but I can't be bothered - the oven is easier).