I’m always astonished when I see mum’s wheeling round trolleys in the supermarket packed to the hilt with frozen burgers, frozen chips, and other such unwholesome alternatives to good honest cooking. Many of these people that buy in to that ‘fast food’ or ‘ready meal’ culture generally tend to do so using one of a great many excuses… “I’m living on a tight budget and have a large family to feed” or “The kids wont eat anything else” or very often “I can’t cook.”
Now I know Jamie Oliver has done admirable feats in getting the nation to eat better, cook better and even get to know the food they are buying better. This seems to be working and certainly even supermarkets such as Sainsbury are pushing the message that buying Basic does not mean buying rubbish. I recently bought their Responsibly Sourced Salmon from the Basic range at roughly £2.60 a pack for 2 to 3 pieces of fish and found it fantastic and tasty especially served with my own Veloute sauce, sauteed potatoes and delicately steamed broccoli. I even used the left over fish to make a fish pie the next day.
I’ve always believed that one should eat well, rather than trying to pile your plate high with a barrage of frozen products or a poorly prepared ready meal that may ‘fill you up’ but will always only ever be a quick fix to a long term problem (your hunger and budget) and will always have long term health risks (obesity, heart disease, diabetes to name but a few). However, if quantity is what you’re after but don’t want to compromise on taste then the Mediterranean diet will always win hands down in the World Kitchen Olympics.
The wonderful thing about cooking Mediterranean is that anything goes, you can grill, fry, stew, steam, sautee and don’t forget the barbecue. Not only that, this is a diet rich in all the necessary nutrients to fulfil the government push on eating a healthier diet. It fulfils your five a day portions of fruit and vegetables, using Olive oil means you eat good fats not saturated fats, it’s full of fish, chicken and other good proteins such as pulses, beans and lots and lots of salad! What’s important is to take the mainly healthy stuff from a Mediterranean diet and not indulge too much in the Baklava and Tiramisu! Of course, with a little common sense I’m sure we can all follow the right road. In fact, if you fancy something sweet then baked figs and natural Greek or Turkish yoghurt with a little honey makes a fantastic alternative. So you see, you can have your cake and eat it, or is that kebabs, stuffed peppers, roasted vegetables and luscious salads?
As a self confessed Mediterranean expert I thought I’d feature one of my absolute favourite recipes, Lamb Stew. This is a great dish all year round, especially as the nights draw in and the weather takes a turn for the chilly!
