Explore our selection of quick and healthy recipes that are packed with the good stuff. Whether you’re after a speedy pasta dish, a simple salad or a brilliant brunch idea, we’ve got you covered.
Air-fryer fragrant chicken in a bag
Infused with lemongrass, lime leaves, ginger & chilli
Ingredients
1 nest of vermicelli rice noodles (45g)
12 lime leaves
8cm piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 stick of lemongrass
1½ fresh red chillies
1 bunch of coriander (30g)
4 tbsp low-salt soy sauce
sesame oil
1 x 150g skinless free-range chicken breast
1 pak choi
80g sugar snap peas
80g baby corn
2 spring onions
1 tbsp unsalted roasted peanuts
½ a lime
Top Tip
More and more people are getting into meal prep, but this recipe is something I’ve done for over 30 years! When I lived in a studio flat, I used to create these parcels for Jools, and leave them in the fridge for her with a little note, and the cooking time and temperature – I like to think of it as a little envelope of love and care.
Method
- In a bowl, cover the noodles with boiling kettle water and leave to soften for a few moments, then drain and refresh under cold running water.
- Tear the lime leaves into a small food processor, discarding any tough stalks. Peel, roughly chop and add the ginger and garlic, chop and add the lemongrass and 1 chilli, most of the coriander, stalks and all (reserving a few nice leaves), and a pinch of sea salt. Add the soy and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and blitz into a paste. Divide the paste into four, keeping one portion for now and freezing the rest for future meals.
- Score deeply into the chicken a few times at an angle and rub with half the paste portion. Halve the pak choi, sugar snaps and baby corn, trim and finely slice the spring onions, then toss it all with the remaining half-portion of paste.
- Tear off a large sheet of thick tin foil (about 60cm long), fold it in half, then open it out like a book and rub one side with sesame oil. Top with the noodles and veg. Finely slice and scatter over the remaining chilli, then sit the chicken on top. Fold over the foil to create a parcel, twisting the edges to seal, and add 50ml of water before sealing the final side. Place in the air-fryer drawer and cook for 25 minutes at 200ºC, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove the bag to a serving plate and carefully tear open the foil. Crush over the nuts, scatter over the coriander leaves and finish with a squeeze of lime.
This recipe is for a 1-drawer air fryer.
Speedy folded flatbread
Cheese & ham
Ingredients
20g Gouda or Cheddar cheese
1 slice of smoked ham
4 fresh chives
50g ripe cherry tomatoes
English mustard, to taste
4 tablespoons strong white bread flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon natural yoghurt
olive oil
Method
- Start by prepping your filling. Grate the cheese. Tear the ham. Finely chop the chives. Quarter the cherry tomatoes.
- Next, make the flatbread. Put a 24cm non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Now, simply whisk together the flour, baking powder and yoghurt with a pinch of sea salt and 4 tablespoons of water until smooth.
- Put a little drizzle of olive oil into the hot pan, then use a spatula to gently and evenly spread the batter across the base of the pan. As it starts to cook, drizzle a little oil around the edge of the pan and, when the top starts to bubble, loosen the edges with a spatula, jiggling the bread in the pan.
- Spread or spoon over your topping, add a pinch of black pepper, then fold one half of the bread over the other. Reduce to a low heat, cook for 2 minutes more on each side, or until beautifully golden, then slide out, let it cool for a minute, slice and enjoy.