Comfort food made healthy

Healthy Mac and Cheese

TOTAL TIME: 30 MINS

This is comfort food made healthy! It's rich, it's creamy and also loaded with six sneaky serves of vegetables - making it ideal for kids and adults alike.

INGREDIENTS

500g macaroni (elbow) pasta

2 cups of pumpkin, chopped + peeled

2 cups zucchini, chopped + peeled

2 cups cauliflower, chopped

100g cheddar cheese, shredded

100g cream cheese

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon salt (skip salt completely if you're making it for little ones)

1/4 cup breadcrumbs (if baking)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil macaroni in water for 7-8 minutes or until cooked. 

2. While macaroni is cooking, chop vegetables. Set the oven to fan grill on a high heat, 250c/480F (if baking).

3. Remove macaroni from pot, drain and place in a casserole dish. Add vegetables to the same pot and fill with water, covering the vegetables. Cook for 7 minutes or until pumpkin can be pierced with a fork. Drain water. 

4. Place vegetables, salt, milk, cream cheese and cheddar cheese into a blender. Blitz until smooth.

5. Pour sauce over the pasta and mix. Serve as is or bake under the grill for 5-10 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Mushroom Soup

TOTAL TIME: LESS THAN 60 MINS

This is a great soup to eat fresh, or just to reheat when you need a healthy meal. If you leave your mushrooms in the sunlight for 1 hour before you eat them, they will absorb vitamin D and provide you with 100 percent of your requirements, essential for healthy bones and moods.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large brown onion, diced

1kg mixed mushrooms, sliced

5 stalks fresh thyme, leaves removed

1.5L vegetable stock

1 cup milk

1 dried bay leaf

1 tablespoon soy sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Add oil and diced onions to a large saucepan on medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes. 

Move onions to one side and add mushrooms. Cook for another 10 minutes. 

Add thyme, bay leaf, soy sauce, stock and milk. 

Allow to cook for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve with parmesan cheese and a grainy slice of toast. 

20-minute Chicken Curry with Low GI Rice

A deliciously simple and healthy 20-minute, one-pot chicken curry. Serve with fluffy low GI white rice and enjoy minimal cleaning up after.

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp green curry paste

400g chicken strips

250g mushrooms, sliced

300g snow peas

1 tin (400g) crushed tomatoes

½ cup salt reduced vegetable stock

½ cup tap water

1 ½ cups SunRice low GI rice (cooked)

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook rice as per pack instructions.

In a large saucepan, add oil and half of the curry paste, and cook on high. Once hot, add the chicken strips and cook for 5-7 minutes or until cooked.

Add mushrooms, snow peas, tomatoes, stock and the remaining curry paste. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Serve with SunRice Low GI steamed rice and a dollop of Plain Greek yoghurt, for extra creaminess.

Healthy Lasagna Recipe

This is a really satisfying healthy lasagna recipe, plus it’s loaded with vegetables to help you get your 5 serves a day – but it doesn’t compromise on flavour. Best bit? It’s much easier than other lasagna recipes.

INGREDIENTS

oil to grease the dish

250g (9oz) mushrooms (e.g. button, cup, brown), sliced

3 tins (400g/14oz each) crushed or diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon dried oregano

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon salt

250g/9oz no boil pasta sheets

700g/25oz ricotta cheese

400g/14oz frozen or fresh spinach. If frozen, thaw and break up if needed.

1/2 cup milk

100g/3.5oz mozzarella cheese

70g/2.5oz parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 170°C

Combine mushrooms, two tins of tomatoes, garlic and oregano in a small bowl

In another bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, half the mozzarella, salt and milk. If the spinach was frozen into a block, thaw and squeeze to make sure you get rid of the water. If just frozen (like seen in video), no need to thaw or chop

Oil the casserole dish/pan. Pour the last tin of tomatoes into the base of the dish, spreading it out evenly

Build your layers: Layer 1: Add a layer of the pasta sheets (about 2-3), pressing down gently. Layer 2: Add 1/3 of the tomato/mushroom mix, spread evenly to edge. Layer 3: Add 1/3 of the ricotta/spinach mix, spread evenly to edge. Layer 4: Sprinkle with a little mozzarella.

Repeat layers 1-4 until you have finished (approx. three layers, ideally ending with mozzarella

Sprinkle evenly with parmesan and place in the oven. Cook for 25 minutes covered with aluminum foil

Remove foil and cook for a further 25 minutes till golden brown. Serve with fresh basil