Healthy Winter Meal Ideas
To help you through chilly winter days, the Healthier You dietitians have designed a number of nutritious snack and meal ideas, suitable for the whole family. Enjoy our meal ideas and let’s make healthy eating a habit!
Breakfast
Omelette on Toast
Omelette on Toast
Serves: 1
Ingredients
2 eggs
40mL skim milk
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 handful baby spinach, torn
20g reduced fat cheese, grated
Margarine
1 slice of multigrain bread
Steps
In a bowl or jug, combine the eggs, milk, onion and spinach. Whisk lightly with a fork. Heat a non stick frying pan over a medium heat. Pour egg mixture into the pan and tilt the pan to spread it out. Sprinkle 10g of cheese over the top of the omelette. Once the egg is cooked through and the cheese is melted a little, fold the omelette in half and remove from the pan.
Roasted Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms
Roasted Garlic and Thyme Mushrooms
Ingredients
16 small field mushrooms, stalks trimmed, wiped clean
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
4 teaspoons thyme leaves
flat-leaf parsley leaves, to serve
1 slice whole meal or whole grain bread
Steps
Preheat oven to 180°C. Place mushrooms onto a large baking tray. Combine olive oil and garlic, then brush mushrooms with oil mixture and sprinkle with thyme leaves. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
Roast mushrooms for 20 minutes, or until tender. Serve warm on 1 piece of high fibre bread. Sprinkled with parsley leaves.
Lunch
No Chop Vegetable Soup
No Chop Vegetable Soup
Serves: 2
Ingredients
1/2 cup macaroni
1/2 brown onion
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
4 florets broccoli
200g tinned, diced tomatoes
Water (to desired thickness)
1 tsp mixed herbs
Steps
Cook pasta in a large saucepan. While the pasta is cooking, place the onion and garlic in a food processor until roughly chopped. Place the onion mix in a saucepan with olive oil over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or until soft. Place the carrot, celery and broccoli into a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Add the chopped vegetables, diced tomatoes, water and mixed herbs to the saucepan and simmer for 12-15minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in cooked pasta. Season with pepper and serve.
Dinner
Pan Fried Salmon With Chickpea Salad
Pan Fried Salmon With Chickpea Salad
Ingredients
1 tbsn honey
1 tbsn reduced salt soy sauce
4 x 150g salmon steaks
200g can corn, drained
1 small, red onion, finely chopped
400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
1/3 cup finely chopped coriander
1tbs lemon juice
200g low‐fat natural yoghurt
4 cups steamed green vegetables eg
broccolini and asparagus, to serve
Steps
Combine honey and soy sauce. Add salmon and marinate for at least 10minutes.
Meanwhile, combine corn, onion, chickpeas, coriander and lemon juice.
Spray a large frying pan with oil and place over medium‐high heat. Add salmon to pan and
cook for 2 minutes on each side for medium, or until cooked to your liking. Serve salmon
with a large dollop of yoghurt, chickpea salad and steamed green vegetables.
Chicken with Tomato and Chickpeas
Chicken with Tomato and Chickpeas
Serves: 2
Ingredients
1/2 brown onion, chopped
1 tsp mixed spice
200g skinless chicken breast cut into 2cm cubes
1/2 cup water
200g tinned, diced tomatoes
200g chickpeas, rinsed, well drained
2tbs sultanas
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 cup cooked rice
2 tbs Natural yoghurt (eg tamar valley)
Green salad to serve
Steps
Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, spices and 1 tablespoon of water. Cook for 4 minutes or until soft. Increase heat to high and add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes on both sides until chicken is sealed. Add the water and tomatoes and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add the chickpeas and sultanas and cook a further 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and sauce thickened slightly. Add the lemon juice and stir gently to combine. Remove from the heat and serve on rice with a spoon of natural yoghurt on top and a green salad.
Toor Dal Tadka
Toor Dal Tadka
Serves: 4
Ingredients
250 g toor dal (yellow split peas), washed and drained
1 tsp turmeric
1 litre (4 cups) water
6 garlic cloves
1 cm piece of ginger
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground chilli
8–10 curry leaves
1–2 tsp chilli powder
200 g chopped tomatoes
coriander leaves
Steps
Put the toor dal, turmeric and water in a heavy-based saucepan and boil for 45–60 minutes or until the peas are soft when pressed between the thumb and index finger.
Use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic and ginger to a paste. Heat the oil in a small frying pan over low heat. Add the mustard seeds and allow them to pop. Add the cumin seeds, dried chillies, curry leaves, chilli powder and ginger and garlic paste and fry until fragrant. Stir into the dhal.
Add the chopped tomato and simmer for another 10 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Spicy Moroccan Lamb Shanks
Spicy Moroccan Lamb Shanks
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 teaspoons olive oil
4 trimmed lamb shanks
1 brown onion, halved, thinly sliced
½ tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoons allspice
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
½ litre reduced salt beef stock
400g cans diced tomatoes
½ cup pitted dried dates
500g pumpkin, peeled, seeded, cut into 2cm pieces
500g green beans, trimmed, halved
Fresh mint leaves, torn, and low fat natural yoghurt, to serve
400g broccolini
1 bunch asparagus
Steps
Heat oil in a heavy-based, flameproof casserole dish over medium-high heat. Cook lamb, in batches, for 4 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion. Cook, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes or until softened. Add cumin, paprika, allspice, chilli and cinnamon stick. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add stock, tomatoes and dates. Season with pepper. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil. Return shanks to dish. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover. Simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until lamb is tender.
Snacks
Light Custard
Light Custard
Serves 3 (125ml each)
Ingredients
500 ml (2 cups) skim milk
1tsp vanilla essence
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbs caster sugar
Steps
Combine the milk, and vanilla essence in a saucepan over medium heat, until simmering. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside for 15 minutes.
Beat the egg yolks and cornflour in a bowl with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until pale and thick.
Reheat the milk back to simmering point. Pour hot milk mixture onto the egg yolks, whisking continuously. Return to a clean saucepan. Cook over low heat for 8 minutes, stirring, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Cool.
Roasted Chickpeas
Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients
1x 400g tin chickpeas drained and rinsed
1tsp cumin
1tsp chilli powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Steps
Preheat oven to 170oc. Spread chickpeas on a lined baking tray and sprinkle with spices. Roast for 40min or until brown and crunchy.
For a sweet alternative, try sprinkling with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Curry powder can also make a good alternative.
Flavoured Popcorn
Flavoured Popcorn
Ingredients
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup popping corn
Steps
Combine paprika, oregano and thyme in a bowl. Microwave popping corn according to instructions on packet. Transfer popcorn to a bowl. Discard unpopped corn. Add paprika mixture. Toss to combine. Cool. Store popcorn in an air tight container.