Real Healthy by Melissa Hemsley – I’m already a great fan of Melissa Hemsley’s recipes and was delighted to learn that her latest cookbook is dedicated to helping people navigate the tricky problem of how to cut back on the plethora of ultra-processed foods that has crept into our daily diets. Research has shown that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and other serious illnesses, yet the average person in the UK gets a whopping 56% of their calories from UPFs, with an even higher figure for children!
While we know that in our busy daily lives, UPFs can be hard to avoid, Real Healthy, recently published (Ebury Press at £26 for a beautifully photographed hardback) provides simple, doable, and delicious recipes from Melissa. She helps you tackle breakfasts, lunches, snacks and even provides ‘3 ways with’ suggestions for batch cooking and using up ingredients to stay on top of your week’s shopping and cooking. “Real Healthy is my kind of cooking,” says Melissa, “Nourishing, easy, full-flavoured and veg-packed meals for real life.”
Here are a couple of Real Healthy recipes to show you what she means:
Cherry almond ‘Bakewell’ granola (Makes 2 large jars/ Takes 45 minutes)
“The combination of almonds and cherries gives this granola major Bakewell tart vibes! If you’re as much of a granola household as we are, you may want to make double, from our experience this goes in a flash!”
250g rolled oats
125g pumpkin seeds
100g whole almonds
100ml olive oil
80ml maple syrup
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp sea salt
100g dried sour cherries
Preheat the oven to fan 180°C/gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.
Weigh all the ingredients, except the sour cherries into a large mixing bowl. (The sour cherries don’t get baked because they would burn in the oven, you’ll stir them through the granola later.) Mix well so that all the dry ingredients are evenly coated with the wet ingredients. Spread out on the lined baking tray and bake for 30–40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes for the first 20 minutes, then every 5 minutes for the second 10–20 minutes.
Allow to cool completely on the baking tray, then stir through the sour cherries. Store in airtight containers for up to 3 weeks
Red lentil and tomato super sauce
Makes 12 portions/Takes 1 hour (only 20 minutes hands-on time)
8 tbsp olive oil
3 onions, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
3 tbsp tomato purée
200g split red lentils, rinsed
3 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes Sea salt and black pepper
“This is a tasty multipurpose tomato sauce with hidden nutritious red lentils. Blend it into a smooth, protein-packed tomato sauce for spaghetti or your favourite pasta or loosen it up a little by adding veggie stock to turn it into a creamy (but cream-less) soup, lovely with a cheese toastie.”
Heat the olive oil in a large pot and, once warm, add the onions, then season with salt and pepper. Fry for 12–15 minutes over a medium heat until golden and soft. Add the garlic and chilli flakes, then fry for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the tomato purée and fry for 2–3 minutes until brick red.
Add the lentils and tinned tomatoes. Fill two of the three empty tomato tins with water and use the water to swill out all the last bits of tomato. Add this water to the pot and season with salt and pepper.
Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30–35 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot, until the lentils have completely broken down. Add another half tomato tin of water if you need more liquid.
Using a stick blender or a blender, blitz the sauce until smooth or, if you prefer some texture in your sauce, blitz roughly half and leave the rest chunky. Season to taste.
Chocolate peanut butter (no-bake) bars
Makes 16
Takes 20 minutes, plus setting time
Keeps for 1 week, at room temperature
250g smooth peanut butter
100g ground almonds
100g porridge oats
6 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Little pinch of sea salt
FOR THE CHOCOLATE LAYER
180g dark chocolate, roughly broken
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
Flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
OPTIONAL TOPPING
2 handfuls of toasted peanuts
A no-bake family favourite treat. Pretty irresistible but if you don’t devour them over a few days, they will keep for a week in a sealed container. Store in the fridge in warmer months. If catering to any nut allergies, swap the ground almonds for more oats and switch the nut butter for pumpkin seed butter. If you have a preferred nut butter, try that – I love a cashew butter but keep it to the smooth variety for a silkier texture. Look out for 60% minimum cocoa solids for your chocolate.
Line a small tin or dish (about 15 x 8cm or square equivalent) with greaseproof paper, making sure it comes up high enough on the sides so that you can lift the mixture out of the tin once it’s set.
Mix the peanut butter, ground almonds, oats, maple syrup, vanilla and salt together in a bowl. Transfer to the lined tin, pressing down with the back of a spoon or spatula to make it even and compact.
For the chocolate layer, melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl set over a pan of very lightly simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water). Once melted, stir through the peanut butter and pour this evenly over the base. If topping with the whole peanuts, scatter these over the chocolate layer. Sprinkle over a little pinch of flaky sea salt.
Set in the fridge for 1 hour or until firm, then cut into 16 pieces to serve.
Extracted from Real Healthy by Melissa Hemsley (Ebury Press, £26). Photography by Lizzie Mayson
The Seasoned Gastronome