Our three favourite recipes from The Everyday Diet Cookbook

Roast tomatoes with spinach & ham
– ready in 15 minutes

The best way to retain the nutrients in vegetables such as spinach is to steam them. If you use a bamboo steamer over a pan of boiling water, it only takes a few minutes to cook the spinach. Serves two.

• 8 cherry tomatoes (approx 160g/51⁄2oz)
• A drizzle of olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 75g (21⁄2oz) baby spinach leaves
• 2 slices wholemeal or rye toast
• Grated fresh nutmeg or a pinch ground nutmeg
• 2 extra thin slices ham, cut into fine strips

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Put the tomatoes on a small baking tray, add a drizzle of olive oil, toss the tomatoes in the oil and season with black pepper. Roast for 10–15 minutes, by which time the tomatoes should be collapsing.

Put the washed spinach in a steamer and cook for about 3 minutes, until the leaves are wilted. Remove and drain.

Drizzle each slice of toast with a little olive oil, layer the spinach on top and grate a little nutmeg over it. Add the ham, place the tomatoes on top and serve.

Fish parcels with ribbon vegetables
– ready in 20 minutes

This is a very quick and easy dish to serve for friends, and it looks impressive too. Keep the foil for each portion opened slightly when you serve it to prevent the fish cooking further. Serves four.

• 4 skinless white fish fillets, about 100g (31⁄2oz) each
• 100g (31⁄2oz) leeks
• 100g (31⁄2oz) courgettes
• 200g (7oz) sweet potato
• 100g (31⁄2oz) mangetout
• 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) water
• Juice 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons finely ground The Food Doctor Fennel and Caraway
• Seed Mix, or grind 1⁄2 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1⁄2 teaspoon caraway seeds and 2 tablespoons mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds
• Freshly ground black pepper
• A large handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, quartered

Preheat the oven to 175°C/340°F/gas mark 4.

Cut the leeks finely lengthways into short strips, toss into boiling water for a couple of minutes to soften and then drain. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the courgettes and sweet potato into wide ribbons. Heat the water, half the lemon juice, ginger and soy sauce in a wok. Toss in the vegetables and stir fry for a minute or two.

Place the fish on a plate, drizzle each fillet with lemon juice and season with freshly ground black pepper. Coat each fillet in the ground seeds.

Cut four sheets of foil, large enough to wrap up each fish fillet, and lightly oil the surface of the foil. Lay a quarter of the vegetables on each sheet of foil and place a fillet on top. Carefully join the two long sides of foil and fold up the ends to make a loose parcel. Place the parcels on a baking sheet. Bake for 10–15 minutes, depending on the size of the fillet. The fish should be just cooked when you take it out of the oven.
Serve immediately in the parcel with the soy sauce from the wok and fresh coriander sprinkled on top. Add a wedge of fresh lemon at the side. This dish would go well with red rice or bulgar wheat.

Baked apples

Hot, aromatic baked apples straight from the oven are a delicious occasional treat, but take care that they don’t explode as you cut through the skin. They also taste good cold. Serves two.

• 2 good-sized crisp eating apples
• 40g (2oz) mixed raw unsalted nuts, coarsely ground
• 4 dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or mixed spice
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat fromage frais

Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas mark 3.

Use an apple corer or a thin, sharp knife to remove the core from each apple.

Mix the nuts, apricots and spice together and stuff the mixture into the hole at the centre of each apple, making sure it is packed in all the way through the hole. Put the stuffed apples in a roasting dish, cover with cooking foil and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the apples.

When the flesh is soft, serve hot with a tablespoon of fromage frais beside each baked apple.

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