Use up leftover ham

There are always a few slices in the fridge... here's a great, healthy way to use up your leftover ham – it could soon become a festive season favourite!

Ham pasta bake

prep 10 min cook 30 min serves 4

250g penne or rigatoni

2tbsp low-fat spread

2½tbsp plain flour

500ml skimmed milk

1tbsp Dijon mustard

75g slow-roasted tomatoes

150g cooked lean ham

100g goat’s cheese or
reduced-fat feta, crumbled

The London Porridge Championships

Last Friday saw HFG recipe consultant Phil Mundy go pan to pan with fellow porridge pros in the London Porridge Championships, hosted by Rude Health. His tasty offering was awarded 8 out of 10 for innovation – and here's the recipe for you to try at home…

It’s beginning to look a lot like an HFG Christmas!

Yes, the turkey steals the show at Christmas, but that shouldn’t mean your side dishes pale in comparison. Here are some extra-special festive ideas to bring to the table…

Tonia Buxton’s warming Greek recipes for winter nights

In our Winter issue, TV chef Tonia Buxton explains why the traditional Greek diet is one of the healthiest in the Mediterranean. Here is one of her favourite Greek recipes…

Ceviche masterclass

By Ellen Wallwork

Ceviche is having a bit of a moment and is appearing at an increasing number of restaurants. But while this Peruvian delicacy looks a la carte, it’s surprisingly easy to make in your own kitchen – and you don’t even need to turn on the oven! In its simplest form, ceviche is chunks of raw fish ‘cooked’ in citrus juice – it’s the acid in the juice that denatures the proteins in the fish, similar to traditional cooking methods, turning them opaque.

So, with curing raw fish making it into Kenwood’s top 50 food experiences to try in a lifetime, we decided to try our hand at making ceviche. We sought out the expertise of Fernando Trocca, executive chef of the Gaucho restaurant chain where ceviche has been on the menu for more than 11 years. He shared his simple six-step guide to preparing the dish…

‘Tis the season for a HFG makeover

As part of our mission to Fight the Fads: Make Every Meal Healthier, we regularly feature healthy recipe makeovers in Healthy Food Guide and on our Facebook page. And with the party season drawing ever closer, we thought we’d share a recipe with you so you can indulge in a festive treat or two without overdoing it. Our healthier sausage rolls are made with reduced-fat puff pastry and lean pork mince bulked-up with fibre-boosting wholemeal breadcrumbs – and they taste delicious…

What’s so good about quinoa?

Quinoa (pronounced ‘keen-wah’) is a tiny grain native to the Andes Mountains of South America where it’s been a staple for more than 5,000 years. The Incas prized it as the ‘mother grain’ and used it to supplement their predominantly vegetarian diet of potatoes and corn.

Healthy comfort food

As the nights draw in, we’ve been feeling the urge to cook some of our favourite slow-cook recipes. The anticipation created by the aromas wafting from the kitchen as the flavours of your hearty dinner intensify is one of life’s great pleasures.

A breakthrough for type 2 diabetes?

By Tracy Kelly

Can we put type 2 diabetes into long-term remission? It’s a question that’s asked often and to date we don’t have the answer – but that could all change within a few years. 

Tina tries... facing her running demons

I can’t express how much I hate running (and rain). As far as I’m concerned it’s the devil’s exercise – I’m still haunted by the schoolgirl memory of running 400m, then throwing up at my PE teacher’s feet.

Tina tries… an aqua class

By Tina Betts

Tina risks getting her face wet in the hope it will do something spectacular to her body…

I'm no mermaid. At the school swimming gala I was always the one having to start in the pool because I couldn't dive in. An underwater wardrobe malfunction aged 14 (in front of the boys – of course!) didn’t help my confidence, but I’ve moved on. And since a friend taught me how to swim the breast stroke correctly, I'm not averse to getting my face wet, just so long as I can still touch the bottom!

Break the diet cycle

Diet is a four-letter word that often spells failure. In the November issue of Healthy Food Guide, our experts explain how you can lose weight for good by breaking free of the vicious cycle of deprivation and disappointment caused by fad diets.

Successful weight loss is all about creating healthy relationships with food and your body. We asked nutritionist Zoe Wilson for her top tips for healthy eating…

Comforting crumbles

At HFG we love finding ways to make our favourite dishes healthier. From satisfying pies to decadent desserts, we believe that with a bit of nutritional tinkering most culinary treats can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet.

In our November issue, we put the spotlight on fruit crumbles and our chefs surpassed themselves when experimenting with healthier fillings and toppings. In fact, they managed to concoct so many delicious variations there wasn’t enough room for all of them in the magazine. But we didn’t want you to miss out, so we thought we’d share the leftovers with you here. A serving of either crumble contains one of your 5-a-day and is low in saturates and salt.

A fresh start in food…

By Melanie Leyshon

Home-delivery food service Hello Fresh is not a takeaway, more a  ‘make-at-home’. All you do is browse online and choose three meals from their current recipe selection. Each week a box of quality ingredients (meat is ethically reared and fish comes from sustainable sources), together with step-by-step recipe cards, is delivered to your home.

Hello Fresh Butterflied Mexican Chicken

Since the launch last year, 3 million meals with an international flavour have been delivered across the UK. Hello Fresh best-sellers include prawn and prosciutto linguine and lamb kofta with almond couscous and cucumber salad. Prices start from £36 for three veggie meals for two. Patrick Drake, who started the company and heads the creative recipe team, talks to HFG.

Tina tries... Up close and personal

By Tina Betts

In her first ever gym session, Tina is put to work by her personal trainer…

I’m nervous about meeting my personal trainer for the first time. My most pressing worry is… argh, what do I wear?

Get all your five-a-day in one dish!

By Harry Eastwood

This salad is a deconstructed version of ratatouille, which makes for a delicious, fresh and full-flavoured alternative to the traditional vegetable stew. It can be made ahead – and, in fact, tastes even better. It ticks plenty of health boxes as it’s high in fibre and low in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt. Most people can enjoy it, as it’s vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free. And the best thing about it? One serving counts as a full five portions of your five-a-day.

Tina tries…

In our new series on shaping up, Healthy Food Guide’s art director Tina Betts starts on her journey towards a proper exercise plan to supplement her day-to-day walking…

By Tina Betts

Gluten-free cooking made easier

By Norma McGough

If you’ve been diagnosed with coeliac disease, adapting to a gluten-free diet can seem daunting at first, but with a few ingredient switches, you can still enjoy your favourite recipes. Try these…

Lactose-free peach melba fairy cakes

By Rebecca Almond

Just peachy! Lactose-free cupcake

For those of you who are lactose intolerant or know someone who is, you’ll be familiar with the problems often faced when searching for lactose-free recipes. So it’s great to hear top London cookery school L’atelier des Chefs has teamed up with Lactofree to offer a series of cookery courses to inspire lactose-free cooking.

Beat the barbecue binge

By Juliette Kellow

Last week, I enjoyed my ninth barbecue of the year. To be fair, we started early with our first one on a very chilly and windy February afternoon (new kitchen, loads of people for Sunday lunch – and no electricity! You get the picture). But, I’m not alone in my love of the griddle. Apparently, Brits hold more barbies than any other European country, with the average family hosting nine each year.

Rethink your drink

By Emer Delaney, British Dietetic Association spokesperson 

We all know that giving children fizzy drinks is never a great idea because they are high in sugar and have very little nutrients. Some contain the equivalent of eight heaped teaspoons of sugar, which can not only contribute to weight gain as they don't make your child feel full, but can also damage their teeth. And now health experts have calculated there's even more sugar in some smoothies and health drinks. While there are no recommendations on the number of sugary drinks that are allowed, parents should limit them as best they can.

Take a stand against extreme diets

By Melanie Leyshon

 

As you'd imagine, being the editor of Healthy Food Guide magazine, I check the daily newspapers for health breakthroughs. And there's no shortage of stories – some based on reliable scientific evidence, others rely on more flimsy statistics. 

Happy holidays!

By Ellen Wallwork

HFG Christmas cake

The sun is shining, the schools have broken up and glorious British summertime is in full swing… but while most of the nation has been snacking on strawberries and lounging in deck chairs, here at HFG HQ we’ve been humming ‘Deck the halls’, tucking into Christmas cake and shaking fake snow out of our hair.

Confessions of a gadget queen

By Liz Atkins

I'm sure I could squeeze another machine in there...

‘Ha! We were just debating what new gadget Liz would be showing off,’ smirked my teenage niece the minute she set foot in my kitchen. She was eyeing the Virgin Pure T7 WaterBar with slight disapproval. OK, I am partial to a shiny innovation and I do like to browse those you-need-one-of-these! brochures that come free with the Radio Times.

Traffic light labelling gets the green light

By Sioned Quirke, spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association

Traditionally, companies have used different nutrition labelling systems on the front of their packaging, making it difficult for consumers to check and compare products – until now.

From today (19 June), a standardised system will roll out which, although voluntary, is a major step towards helping us make informed choices about the foods we buy.

Fight the Fads

Join HFG in our bid to help the nation get fit and healthy without going to extremes... At Healthy Food Guide we champion good health and gradual weight loss through healthy eating.

Our new mission: fight the fads – make every meal healthier says no to fasting or denial, and a resounding yes to eating tasty, satisfying meals and doing some moderate exercise every week. We don’t ban foods, expect you to go teetotal or ask you to exist on under 1,400 a day. Instead, we have a long-term solution.

Dancing in the street

By Rebecca Almond

Those who know me will agree when I tell you I’m not at all “street”. So when I was invited to sample the new urban dance exercise class at Fitness First, I was conscious my moves would be more hip-pop than hip-hop.  

Now I’m not one to shuffle around my handbag when I hit the dance floor – 16 years’ of ballet training instilled a modicum of rhythm in my body – but this genre of dance is way beyond my comfort zone. Still, the allure of burning up to 400 calories in a one-hour ‘fun-filled workout’ led me to pack my gym kit and prepare to take centre stage…

How do you measure up?

By Tracy Kelly

It worries me that only a third of people in the UK know that having a large waist increases their chances of getting type 2 diabetes. But just how many of us actually know what a ‘large waist’ even means?

Get ahead for breakfast

By Melanie Leyshon

You’re either a morning person or you’re not. I’m a late riser. For me, 7.30am is early – if I’m up before 6am it’s because I’m off to the airport.

This leaves me no time for breakfast prep in the morning, which is why I’m so enthusiastic about my simple oats discovery: Bircher muesli. It’s not new, of course – Swiss physician Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner invented it as a nutritional pick-me-up for his sanatorium patients in the 1900s. You can buy a ready-made pot of Bircher muesli from Pret A Manger or Eat, but a quick calculation of cost + time + effort shows making your own batch at home is a no-brainer. 

Give kids 5-a-day… in a chocolate drink?

By Andrew Wilson

You want your child to get all the nutrition they need, but they simply refuse to eat any fruit or veg. Encouraging children to eat a wide variety of foods can be a battleground and one faced by many parents at mealtimes.

So could the launch of new chocolate-flavoured drink Kidz 5 A Day help tackle the issue? The drink promises to give children all the vitamins and minerals they need for healthy growth – and kids love it!

No sweat!

By Melanie Leyshon

Parkrun is a simple but effective fun fitness formula. It started with 13 runners at one event in Bushy Park, Teddington, in 2004, but has grown into a well-organised 5km weekly event. Every Saturday around 34,937 participants join in at 234 UK-wide locations, from Aberystwyth to Aberdeen.