Breakfast Green Smoothie

Serves: 1 adult
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: none
Calories per portion: 140kcal (586kJ)

Ingredients

40g tinned mango slices (discard liquid)
40g tinned peach slices (discard liquid)
40g frozen spinach
1 medium banana
200ml water (or as required)

Smoothies are a great introduction to breakfast if you don't normally have much of an appetite at the crack of dawn. They're also a good portable option for your morning commute.

Compared with some hardcore recipes, our green smoothie is quite sweet and fruity while still giving a healthy serving of greens.

Blend all the ingredients together until smooth. Add more water to achieve the desired consistency.

Tips

you could use frozen or fresh fruit instead of tinned
limit the amount of fruit juice and smoothies you drink to a combined total of 150ml a day

Or you could try

Banana and oats smoothie: transform your speckled bananas into an energy-boosting liquid breakfast. Blend 1 ripe banana with 2 tablespoons of oats and 100ml of semi-skimmed milk until smooth. This can also be made using a soya drink. Limit the amount of fruit juice and smoothies you drink to a combined total of 150ml a day.

Very berry smoothie: take 1 banana, 140g of frozen summer berries or forest fruits, 40g of low-fat natural yoghurt and about 100ml of apple juice. Blend the banana and berries until smooth. With the blades whirring, pour in apple juice to achieve the consistency you like. Limit the amount of fruit juice and smoothies you drink to a combined total of 150ml a day.

You can add tasteless Hemp protein powder include protein and fibre . Suitable for Vegans .

Yellow Lentil & Coconut Curry with Cauliflower

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
thumb-sized piece ginger, finely chopped
3 tbsp curry paste (we used Bart Veeraswamy Gujurat Masala curry paste)
200g yellow lentil, rinsed
1½ l vegetable stock
3 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut, plus extra to sprinkle if you like
1 cauliflower, broken into little florets
cooked basmati rice and coriander leaves, plus mango chutney and naan bread (optional), to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for 5 mins, add the curry paste, then stir-fry for 1 min before adding the lentils, stock and coconut. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer for 40 mins or until the lentils are soft.

During the final 10 mins of cooking, stir in the cauliflower to cook. Spoon rice into 4 bowls, top with the curry and sprinkle with coriander leaves, and coconut if you like. Serve with mango chutney and naan bread (optional).

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Homemade Muesli with Oats, Dates & Berries

Ingredients

100g traditional oats
12 pecan nuts, broken into pieces
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
6 pitted medjool dates, snipped into pieces
25g high-fibre puffed wheat (we used Good Grain)
4 x 150ml pots bio yogurt
300g mixed berries, such as raspberries, strawberries and blueberries

Method

Tip the oats into a frying pan and heat gently, stirring frequently until they are just starting to toast. Add the pecans and seeds to warm briefly, then tip into a large bowl and toss so they cool quickly.
Add the dates and puffed wheat, mix well until thoroughly combined, then serve topped with the yogurt and fruit, and a sprinkling of cinnamon, if you like.

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Homemade Healthy Vegetable Soup

Packed with tomatoes, celery, carrots and beans, this soup offers a great way to include more vegetables in your diet and help achieve your 5 A Day. It's suitable for vegetarians, too.

Serves: 6
Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

½ tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 small carrots, sliced
3 celery sticks, sliced
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
80g green beans
1½ tbsp tomato purée
1 leek, sliced
80g frozen peas
50g dried wholewheat pasta
1 litre boiling water
pepper to taste
1½ tsp dried herbs

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions, carrots, leeks and celery, and fry until sizzling. Lower the heat, cover and cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally if needed.
Add the tin of tomatoes, water, tomato purée, green beans and frozen peas. Raise the heat to maximum. Bring to the boil and add the pasta, herbs and pepper.
Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the pasta's cooked, stirring frequently to make sure the pasta doesn't stick.

Nutrition information

Nutrient	Per 100g	Per 309g serving
Energy	105kJ/25kcal	328kJ/78kcal
Protein	1.2g	3.6g
Carbohydrate	4.2g	12.9g
(of which sugars)	1.6g	4.9g
Fat	0.6g	1.9g
(of which saturates)	0.1g	0.3g
Fibre	0.9g	2.9g
Sodium	0.02g	0.05
Salt	Trace	0.1g

Allergy advice

This recipe contains celery and wheat (gluten). The pasta may contain egg.

Food safety tips

always wash your hands, work surfaces, utensils and chopping boards before you start preparing food
if you're not going to eat all of the dish, the leftovers should be cooled within 1 to 2 hours and placed in the fridge (for up to 2 days) or frozen
when reheating, always make sure the dish is steaming hot all the way through before serving
never reheat food more than once