BRITAIN’s fave chef is back with a brand-new cookbook filled with 120 healthy, easy dishes to transform our lives, and we couldn’t be more excited!
Jamie Oliver‘s Eat Yourself Healthy: Food To Change Your Life (Penguin Michael Joseph) isn’t out until September 11 – but we have five exclusive recipes for you to try right now.
In the book, Jamie shares his tips for achieving the recommended seven servings of fruit and veg a day, plus there’s a two-week kick-starter healthy-eating plan that’s perfect for anyone needing a little push.
It’s time to celebrate what we can have, not what we can’t, says Jamie.
So, bring on the traybakes, tarts, salads and more, by way of Jamie’s banging breakfasts, lunches and dinners…
Meatball Traybake
Serves: 4
Takes: 1 hr 10 mins
Cals: 441
Sat fat: 5.3g
5 of your 7 a day
Ingredients:
*1 large bulb of fennel (320g)
*2 red onions (320g)
*4 carrots (320g)
*1 x 400g tin cannellini beans
*400g beef or pork mince
*1tsp dried oregano
*2 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
*1 x 460g jar roasted red peppers
*1 lemon
*50g feta cheese
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Trim the fennel, reserving any leafy tops, peel the onions, then cut it all into wedges and place in a deep 30cm x 40cm roasting tray. Peel, halve and add the carrots. Toss with 1tbsp olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 40 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, drain the beans and pulse a couple of times in a food processor. Add the mince and oregano, season, and pulse until just combined. With clean, wet hands, divide the mixture into 12, roll into balls, then place in a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat with 2tbsp oil. Cook until golden all over, turning regularly.
3. Pour the tomatoes and peppers, juice and all, into the processor (there’s no need to clean it). Finely grate and reserve the lemon zest, then squeeze the juice into the processor, season and blitz until smooth.
4. Remove the tray from the oven, pour the sauce over the veg, then sit the meatballs around the tray. Return to the oven for 20 minutes.
5. To serve, crumble over the feta, sprinkle over the lemon zest and any fennel tops, and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, if you like. Great as it is, or with wholemeal toast, couscous, rice or spaghetti.
Chicken & Mushroom Hotpot
Serves: 4
Takes: 1 hr 10 mins
Cals: 600
Sat fat: 5.2g
5 of your 7 a day
Ingredients:
*4 large free-range chicken thighs, skin on, bone in
*2 onions (320g)
*2 large carrots (320g)
*1/2 bunch thyme (10g)
*320g chestnut mushrooms
*1 x 295g tin condensed mushroom soup
*600ml semi-skimmed milk
*320g frozen sweetcorn
*1 x 570g jar cannellini beans
*2 x 400g bags potato gnocchi
Method:
1. Put a large, shallow non-stick casserole pan on a medium-high heat. Pull the skin off the chicken thighs and place it in the pan to render.
2. Season the thighs with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, and place in the pan, turning with tongs until golden all over, while you peel the onions and carrots and chop into 3cm chunks, adding as you go. Remove and discard the crispy chicken skin, then strip in the thyme, tear in the mushrooms, and cook for 20 minutes, or until the veg is caramelised, stirring regularly.
3. Now, stir in the soup and milk. Cover with a lid ajar, and simmer on a medium heat for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 220°C
4. Stir the sweetcorn and beans, juice and all, into the pan, then gently drop the gnocchi on top. Spritz with a little olive oil, then transfer uncovered to the oven for 30 minutes, or until the chicken pulls easily away from the bone, the gnocchi are golden and the stew is bubbling nicely.
Fish Pie Soup & Eggs On Toast
Serves: 4
Takes: 46 mins
Cals: 435
Sat fat: 4.7g
3 of your 7 a day
Ingredients:
*2 onions (320g)
*2 large carrots (320g)
*2 leeks (320g)
*2 potatoes (320g)
*4tsp English mustard, plus extra to taste
*2 large free-range eggs
*400g mixed frozen fish chunks
*1/2 bunch curly parsley (15g)
*4tbsp soured cream
*4 slices wholemeal sourdough bread
Method:
1. Put a large deep non-stick pan on a high heat. Stirring into the pan to dry fry as you go, peel and dice the onions and carrots, trim the leeks, halve lengthways and wash, then chop. Add 2tbsp olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and black pepper and cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Boil the kettle.
2. Peel and dice the potatoes, add to the pan with the mustard, pour in 1 litre boiling water, cover and boil for 10 minutes, adding the eggs to cook for 7 minutes, for soft-boiled. Remove the eggs to cold water.
3. Add the fish to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the fish is cooked. Finely chop the parsley, stalks and all, and stir half into the soured cream. Toast the bread. Peel and halve or quarter the eggs.
4. Mash some of the soup with a potato masher, to a creamy consistency. Season and add extra mustard to taste, then stir through the reserved parsley and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, if you like. Spread the soured cream across the toasts, top with the eggs, and serve
Crispy Black Bean Beef
Serves: 1
Takes: 15 mins
Cals: 600
Sat fat: 5.9g
4 of your 7 a day
Ingredients:
*100g beef mince
*80g shiitake mushrooms
*2cm-piece ginger
*2 sprigs coriander or mint
*1/2-1 fresh red chilli
*150g straight-to-wok udon noodles
*80g mangetout
*80g fresh or frozen edamame
*80g sliced water chestnuts
*2tbsp black bean sauce
Method:
1. Put a large frying pan on a high heat, spritz with olive oil, and add the mince, breaking it up with your spoon, then the mushrooms, halving any larger ones. Peel, finely chop and add the ginger, along with the coriander stalks, if using. Fry for 5 minutes, or until the beef is crispy, stirring regularly.
2. Finely slice and add the chilli, tear in the noodles and add the mangetout, edamame and water chestnuts, with a splash of their juice, continuing to stir.
3. In a bowl, loosen the black bean sauce with 1tbsp red wine vinegar and 4tbsp of water, toss into the pan until well coated, and serve right away, sprinkled with the coriander leaves.
Chicken Fajitas
Serves: 2
Takes: 13 mins
Cals: 538
Sat fat: 4.5g
3 of your 7 a day
Ingredients:
*1 red pepper (160g)
*1 red onion (160g)
*2 x 150g free-range skinless chicken breasts
*160g ripe cherry tomatoes
*1tbsp red wine vinegar
*1tsp Cajun seasoning
*1tsp runny honey
*1tsp wholegrain mustard
*2 large wholemeal tortillas
*4tbsp natural yoghurt
*1/2 bunch coriander (15g)
Method:
1. Boil the kettle. Put a griddle pan on a high heat. Deseed the pepper, peel the onion, and finely slice both. Slice the chicken lengthways into 1cm-thick strips. In a bowl, toss it all with the tomatoes, 1tbsp each of red wine vinegar and olive oil, Cajun seasoning and a pinch of black pepper.
2. Scatter into the griddle pan and cook for 6 minutes, or until gnarly and cooked through, tossing regularly.
3. Meanwhile, in a mug, mix the honey and mustard with 2tbsp boiling water. Briefly warm the tortillas over the griddle pan or directly over the flame of a gas hob, and place on your plates.
4. Pour the honey mixture into the pan, mix with the chicken and veg, let it sizzle and reduce for a few seconds to a sauce. Divide between the tortillas, spoon over the yoghurt and pick over the coriander.
Easy Prawn Curry
Serves: 2
Takes: 10 mins
Cals: 600
Sat fat: 6g
4 of your 7 a day
Ingredients:
*1 onion (160g)
*250g ripe cherry tomatoes
*1 x 50g sachet creamed coconut
*1 x 400g tin chickpeas
*1 bunch coriander (30g)
*2tbsp of your favourite curry paste
*250g frozen mango
*165g raw peeled king prawns
*1 x 250g packet cooked wholegrain basmati rice
*30g Bombay mix
Method:
1. Put a large non-stick frying pan on a high heat. Peel and very finely slice the onion and place in the pan to dry fry with the tomatoes, tossing regularly for 4 minutes, while you put the coconut cream in a blender with half the chickpeas and all their juice, half the coriander leaves and all the stalks, and a splash of water. Tip in half the onions and tomatoes from the pan and blitz until smooth to make a sauce.
2. Stir the curry paste and 1/2tbsp of olive oil into the pan, followed a minute later by the frozen mango and remaining chickpeas, then the sauce. Toss over a medium heat for 2 minutes, then add the prawns and let it bubble away until the prawns are just cooked, adding splashes of water, if needed. Season to perfection.
3. Cook the rice according to the packet instructions, then divide between plates. Chop and stir most of the remaining coriander leaves into the curry, spoon it on top of the rice, then scatter over the last few coriander leaves. Crush and crumble over the Bombay mix for added crunch, to finish.
Jamie Oliver’s career history
1999 – Jamie Oliver’s first television series, The Naked Chef, premiered on BBC Two. It quickly gained popularity and lead to his first cookbook.
2000 – The Naked Chef won a BAFTA Award.
2002 – He launched the Fifteen restaurant in London, providing opportunities for disadvantaged young people to train as chefs.
2005 – Began the Jamie’s School Dinners campaign to improve the quality of school meals in the UK, leading to significant changes in government policy.
2008 – He received the TED Prize for his efforts to improve unhealthy diets and food practices.
2015 – Campaigned for a tax on sugary drinks, which was then introduced in the UK in 2018.
2023 – Announced plans for new restaurant ventures and still works on campaigns for better food education and sustainability practices.