healthy recipe – #ThisGirlEats

RECIPE: Lean ‘n’ Green Pasta | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 4
How much does it cost? This lean ‘n’ green pasta recipe cost me less than 25p per person.
What are the benefits? This dish is suuuper high in antioxidants, very low in fat and somewhere between two to three of your five a day.

When you’re trying to eat healthier, it’s very easy to get swept up in the diet culture of calorie counting and restrictive eating, and I’ve had to really train myself out of those habits (I still fall off the wagon, believe me).

Nowadays, when I want to eat a little healthier, I just try to think of obvious changes, like making sure you eat your five a day, cutting down on processed food and, of course, eating your greens.

Recently I made a very conscious effort to inject some more “green” into our diets. It’s not my favourite colour to serve up on the plate, but many green veggies are super good for you, full of health benefits and definitely worth making space for. For me, it’s about combining these sorts of ingredients with things I love and eat regularly, like pasta.

That’s how I came up with this lean ‘n’ green pasta recipe, which can be pretty much made up with any leftover greens you’ve got at home, a spoonful of pesto and whatever pasta shape you can find. I’ve used broccoli, peas and kale, but these are totally interchangeable!

INGREDIENTS
300g Dried Pasta
1 Large Onion, Chopped
8 Small Broccoli Florets
50g Curly Kale
300g Garden Peas
2 tbsp Green Pesto
1 Vegetable Stock Cube

SEASONING
I know not everyone is the biggest fan of green veggies and their often unique flavour, so a great way to disguise this is using plenty of garlic (dried or fresh), salt and pepper, as well as the pesto, to season this dish.

HOW TO MAKE LEAN ‘N’ GREEN PASTA

1. Put on a large pan of salted water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to simmering and cook the pasta according to packet instructions (mine takes around 15 minutes!).

2. In a decent-sized frying pan, throw in the onion and garlic, cook for a couple of minutes until soft and then reduce the heat.

3. Add the broccoli, crumble in the vegetable stock cube and scatter in some salt and pepper. Pour in 200ml (or around one quarter of a standard mug) of water and simmer for around 5 minutes.

4. Throw in the peas and kale and finish cooking for another 5 minutes, or until the liquid dries up.

5. Drain the pasta, combine with the veggies and stir in a couple of spoonfuls of pesto, and that’s that!

RECIPE: Beans, Greens & Eggs | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than £1 per person.
What are the benefits? This beans, greens and eggs recipe makes a really great vegetarian meal (and you could substitute the eggs with scrambled tofu for a vegan alternative), is at least three of your five a day, and is a great source of plant-based protein.

It’s June, a time of year when we’re supposed to be seeing sunny days and warm evenings – not that you’d know it with the rain we’ve been having!

Anyway, when the summer months start to roll around, many of us feel like a light, fresh meal hits the spot more than those heavy, hearty dishes we love in the winter. I’m the same, I definitely prefer to keep things on the lighter side when it’s hot outside – but that doesn’t mean I just want to live off of salad and cous cous for the next three months!

I still want proper cooked meals (ya gal gets hungry!) but something nutritious rather than stodge, and something that tastes fresh – even if most of it comes from tins like this one!

This recipe – a bed of lightly spiced tomato beans mixed with spinach and topped with fried eggs – is surprisingly filling but, because of the flavours involved and the fact that most of this dish is made up of vegetables and beans, it’s not too heavy.

I’ve used chopped tomatoes, cannellini beans and spinach all from tins because it was the cheapest option for me. You can use fresh ingredients if you’d prefer, but I promise you won’t feel short-changed if you use the tinned versions – it still tastes great.

*Tomatoes, cannellini beans and spinach topped with fried eggs*

INGREDIENTS
1 Large Onion, Chopped
400g Chopped Tomatoes
400g Cannellini Beans, Drained
Tin of Spinach Leaves (approx. 400g), Drained
1 tsp Tomato Purée
4 Eggs

SEASONING
Without a good dose of seasoning this recipe could easily be quite bland; to make sure that doesn’t happen, add a whack of garlic in with the onions (dried or fresh, either is fine), a little paprika and chilli (I use dried chilli flakes), a generous helping of mixed herbs, a touch of salt and loads of pepper.

HOW TO MAKE BEANS, GREENS & EGGS

1. In a large pan with a drop of oil or cooking spray, fry the onions and garlic for a few minutes until they begin to soften.

2. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and cannellini beans, add the tomato puree, and season with mixed herbs, a pinch of paprika, a few dried chilli flakes, plenty of black pepper and salt. Simmer on a gentle heat for 20 minutes, adding in a splash of water if necessary.

3. Heat up a small amount of oil or cooking spray in a frying pan, crack in the eggs, reduce the heat and fry until cooked – should take around 5 – 7 minutes.

4. For the final 5 minutes of cooking, add the spinach in with the tomatoes and beans and stir through.

5. Serve up the tomato, beans and spinach and top with the fried eggs straight from the pan.

RECIPE: Lazy Aubergine Lasagne | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 4
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than £1.25 per person.
What are the benefits? This lazy aubergine lasagne recipe is at least two of your five a day, a lighter low carb option, and is much lower in fat than regular lasagne.

I love cooking – but I’m definitely a lazy cook. If you can sling it in the oven, leave something simmering or chuck everything in the slow cooker, that definitely ticks boxes for me ✅

We’re under so much pressure these days with – well, just about everything! With so much spotlight on things like healthy lifestyles, diet culture and obesity, there’s a lot of pressure on us to make sure we’re filling our bodies with the “right” things (although how anyone outside of a medical profession supposedly knows what’s “right” for my own body is beyond me..).

We want our food to help fuel long, healthy, vibrant lives, but we also need to fit this around the chaos of work, family, studying, commuting, socialising and just about everything else in between! It’s hard work, yet we still often feel bad for choosing the easy option.

I think this aubergine lasagne is a fabulous compromise for those of us who can’t be bothered – or literally don’t have time! – to stand over the stove for hours but also don’t want to eat freezer food and takeaways every night 🥡

I call this aubergine lasagne “lazy” for a few reasons: the filling is a quick mince and tomato sauce instead of a slow-cooked ragu; we’ve got sprinklings of gooey grated cheese instead of whipping up a bechamel sauce; and the whole dish is topped with seasoned creme fraiche straight from the carton. It’s still a totally scrumptious home-cooked meal with plenty of nutritional value – but none of the faff.

INGREDIENTS
1 Aubergine, Sliced
1 Large Onion, Chopped
500g Mince (or meat-free alternative)
400ml Carton of Passata
1 tsp Tomato Purée
200g Grated Cheese (low fat if possible)
200g Creme Fraiche (low fat if possible)

SEASONING
There’s nothing too outrageous here, it’s all pretty standard stuff; the key with this recipe is how much seasoning. And the answer is: a lot! With the aubergine slices, sprinkle a little salt and pepper before baking in the oven. Then, when it comes to the mince filling, chuck in loads of garlic, basil, oregano, salt and pepper – honestly, don’t hold back! And, finally, when you top everything with creme fraiche, make sure that layer is covered with plenty of cracked black pepper.

HOW TO MAKE LAZY AUBERGINE LASAGNE

1. Slice the aubergine length-ways in slices approx. half a centimetre thick and bake in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes on 200°C with seasoning and a small dash of oil or cooking spray.

2. While the aubergine is cooking in the oven, brown the mince in a pan with diced onion and garlic until this has softened. Turn down the heat, add the passata and season with basil, oregano, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.

3. Once both the filling and aubergine has cooked, remove from the oven and grab a large ovenproof dish. Start to layer up – one layer of filling, sprinkle of cheese, layer of aubergine, repeat.

4. Top the final layer with creme fraiche, plenty of cheese and a generous dose of cracked black peper.

5. Pop this back in the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

RECIPE: Rainbow Salad | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This rainbow salad recipe cost me less than £1.50 per person.
What are the benefits? This dish is loaded with veggies and easily gives you three of your five a day, not to mention it’s a great low-carb meal and vegan option.

I think I’ve probably said before that I’m not really a “salad person”. I’ll be honest – I don’t trust them. I know that sounds a bit weird, but hey, whatever. I just don’t trust salads. I don’t believe a salad will set my tastebuds alight and I’m very suspicious of a salad’s ability to actually fill me up. They’re just not a meal you can rely on, in my opinion.

However, I know that’s mostly nonsense made up in my head and that salads can actually be very tasty filling – if you do them right!

This rainbow salad is something I came up with on Pancake Day, mainly because I knew we’d be eating a mountain of batter loaded with chocolate spread, honey, fruit and basically all the sugar in the world later for dessert and needed something light and nutritious for dinner to offset the upcoming pancake rush.

The best thing about this salad is you can literally swap out any part of it to suit your needs. I made my plate out of veggies I love and ingredients that are easily accessible for me; that might not be the same for you. You want cucumber instead of tomatoes? Cool! Celery instead of sweetcorn? Go for it! Chicken breast instead of sweet potato? Okay, fine! Whatever changes you want to make, you can.

It’s a bright, vibrant plate of food with loads of different flavours and textures and plenty of variety to keep you full and tick plenty of boxes. Love yourself AND what you’re eating without missing out on a thing!

INGREDIENTS
2 Sweet Potatoes
1 Onion, Sliced
1 Bell Pepper, Sliced
1/2 Red Onion, Sliced
1 Avocado, Sliced
1/2 Cup of Sweetcorn (frozen or fresh)
4 Cherry Tomatoes
1 Bag of Prepared Salad

SEASONING
With the onions and peppers, throw in a small pinch of garlic (dried or fresh), paprika, chilli flakes, salt and pepper to give a little flavour to the dish. But that’s about it!

HOW TO MAKE RAINBOW SALAD

1. Heat the oven to 200°C, wash and prick the sweet potatoes and bake them in the oven for around an hour, until soft all the way through. If, after the hour, they’re still a little hard, blast in the microwave for a couple of minutes to finish them off.

2. Meanwhile, in a pan with a very small drop of oil or cooking spray, fry the onions and peppers with seasoning on a low heat for 10 minutes or so.

3. In a saucepan of salted boiling water, chuck in the sweetcorn and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. The last step is really just to bring everything together on the plate. Arrange the salad leaves, avocado slices, red onion and tomatoes on the plate. Pile up the cooked onions and peppers, drain the sweetcorn, and top everything with the sweet potato.

*Rainbow salad with buttered sweet potato, salad leaves, tomatoes, avocado, sweetcorn, peppers and onion*

RECIPE: Sausages with Winter Vegetable Mash | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 4
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than 75p per person.
What are the benefits? This winter vegetable mash serves at least two of your five a day, is high in fibre and high in antioxidants.

I know everyone is into cool hipster gastropubs and cute boutique cafes serving insta-perfect plates, and that’s all well and good – I like taking pretty pictures of food that no-one cares about as much as the next blogger. But, even so, there’s no excuse to look down your nose at a good ol’ plate of bangers and mash!

It’s comfort, it’s warmth, it’s familiarity. It’s food from childhood, from the local pub menu alongside ham, egg and chips and steak and kidney pie, from family dinners where the mash and gravy were as lumpy as each other but no-one really paid attention because Neighbours was on the telly.

Simpler times, right?

Using carrot, squash and sweet potato alongside the humble white potato still makes a smooth, creamy, delicious pile of mash but with more zing, more colour and, most importantly, more veggies! These classic winter vegetables are full of fibre, vitamin C and antioxidants, and most of them can be found either tinned, frozen or pre-prepared to make life just that much easier.

Using either pork or veggie sausages, these ingredients from my local supermarket served four people at just 68p per person.

INGREDIENTS
2 Carrots, Peeled & Chopped
1 Butternut Squash, Peeled & Chopped
1 Large Baking Potato, Peeled & Chopped
1 Sweet Potato, Peeled & Chopped
8 Pork Sausages (or veggie alternative)
1 Onion, Sliced
250ml Onion Gravy

SEASONING
For me, well-seasoned mash makes all the difference. As usual, be generous with salt and pepper, but also throw in some dried rosemary, dried thyme and a squeeze of mustard with the vegetables to make a completely mouth-watering mash.

So, this is how I did it…

1. Add the chopped winter vegetables to a large saucepan of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until everything has gone soft enough to mash.

2. Meanwhile, cook the sausages according to packet instructions (mine are usually oven-cooked, but grilling or frying will do the job too if that’s what you prefer).

3. Heat a frying pan with cooking spray or a very light dash of oil and cook the sliced onion on a low heat for around 10 minutes, until softened.

4. Once the vegetables are soft, drain the water from the pan, season really well and mash. I’ll leave this part up to you – I usually make my mash with a tablespoon of spread and a few splashes of milk, but use whatever method you like.

5. Whip up the gravy by stirring the granules with hot water, according to packet instructions.

6. Serve up the rich vegetable mash and top with cooked sausages, onions and gravy.

Tips & Tricks

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using frozen or tinned vegetables, and you can do so for any included in this recipe. It cuts down prep time and makes these ingredients more accessible and, sometimes, even cheaper.

Plenty of other vegetables, such swede, celeriac, cauliflower and beetroot, could easily make a good mash for this recipe, so don’t be afraid to chop and change your favourites!

Vegetarian sausages are usually a much lower fat option compared to pork sausages, but they aren’t the only option – chicken and turkey sausages might sound a little unusual, but they’re definitely a leaner meat alternative.

RECIPE: Sweet Potato and Bean Stew | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 4
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than 75p per person.
What are the benefits? This sweet potato stew makes a brilliant vegan meal, provides three of your five a day and is pretty high in protein too.

I find it really weird these days to think I used to hate beans. Baked beans with a full English fry up, that’s the only time I’d stomach them; other than that, beans were a big no-no for me.

Something about the texture was too.. mushy? I don’t know, I think it was just yet another thing my weird, fussy, teenage brain decided it didn’t like.

Thankfully we’re over that now and beans have, once again, become my friend. They’re super cheap but packed with protein, so they help make wholesome, nutritious, satisfying food on a budget – like this!

This stew is honestly so lovely on a chilly evening or a lazy afternoon; it’s like a cosy, caring hug in a bowl. The full-bodied combo of sweet potato chunks and beans is a real winner, with sweet pepper slices giving just a touch of indulgence and elevation to that rich, earthy flavour.

I find a great way to sneak in extra veggies without really noticing is to create something so wonderfully delectable with them that it feels like comfort food, something I’d turn to when I want to look after myself, and before I know it I’ve hit my five-a-day with practically zero effort! This recipe is perfect for doing just that.

INGREDIENTS
4 Sweet Potatoes, Cubed
2 Onions, Chopped
1 Bell Pepper, Chopped
400g Tin of Black Beans
400g Tin of Kidney Beans
400g Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1tbsp Tomato Purée
1 Vegetable Stock Cube
1/2 Mug of Water

SEASONING
I find paprika goes really well with the sweet peppers and potatoes in this recipe, giving a nice, mellow spice without any actual heat. If you do want heat, a few chilli flakes wouldn’t go amiss either. Also throw in some dried garlic flakes with the onion (fresh if you’ve got it), a pinch of salt and pepper, and dried thyme at the end (again, fresh if you’ve got it).

So, this is how I did it…

1. Heat up a large pan and cook down the garlic, sweet potato and onion for a few minutes until the onions begin to soften.

2. Add to the pan the chopped tomatoes, sliced peppers, kidney beans and black beans with a spoonful of tomato purée, a crumbled stock cube and half a cup of water. Season everything with a good dose of paprika, chilli flakes, salt and pepper.

3. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes, throwing in the thyme for last minute or two of cooking. Serve with a delicious slab of crusty bread for the ultimate cosy comfort dish.

Tips & Tricks

The longer you leave things like this, the more scrumptious they become! Try leaving to simmer on a low heat, topping up with water every now and then, or chuck in a slow cooker and slowly warm.

Black beans and kidney beans are my favourite, that’s why I’ve used them here. But you could swap them out for any other kinds – even a value tin of baked beans with the tomato sauce rinsed off will do!

For me, a big bowl of this on its own, with a lovely dollop of sour cream, is perfect, but you could also serve with fluffy rice, thick slices of bread, crispy jacket potatoes or in a well of creamy mash if you wanted.

RECIPE: Chickpea Chilli | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than 75p per person.
What are the benefits? This chilli is packed with goodness bringing in a whopping four of your five a day, is low in fat and is a great vegan recipe.

Christmas followed by a weekend trip to Belgium – the home of chocolate, chips and waffles – was only going to mean one thing: some serious eats.

I binged on the festive treats and feasted on a traditional turkey dinner over Christmas and drank my body weight on New Year’s Eve, then sobered up for a few days just in time to jump on the Eurostar and indulge some more. It’s been a great month for my tastebuds, but not so great for my health.

I’ve noticed my skin starting to break out and a definite feeling of lethargy and I’m sure the recent lack of good nutrition is to blame. One of my goals this year is to adopt a long-term and consistently healthier lifestyle and benefit from it so, now our holidays are over, it’s time to really put that into practise.

Luckily, my first recipe of the year is perfect for just that. It’s brimming with chickpeas, veggies and beans, with a little spice to help unblock a stuffy nose (something I’m constantly stuck with this time of year) and all the rich flavour of a classic chilli.

Coming to just over a pound in our local supermarket for two large portions, it’s also great for that tight January budget.

INGREDIENTS
400g Tin of Chickpeas
1 Large Onion, Chopped
1 Bell Pepper, Chopped
1 Carrot, Sliced
400g Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
400g Tin of Kidney Beans

SEASONING
Heat a generous helping of garlic at the start of cooking along with the onion and carrot, then throw in plenty of paprika, cumin and cinnamon a little later. Add a touch of salt and pepper, and a few chilli flakes for a nice kick.

So, this is how I did it…

1. Using a small drop of oil or cooking spray, fry the garlic, onion and carrot together in a large pan for a couple minutes, just to soften them up a little.

2. Drain the tin of chickpeas and add them to the pan, along with the pepper and chopped tomatoes. Season with paprika, cumin, cinnamon, chilli flakes, salt and pepper.

3. Leave to simmer gently for 15 minutes.

4. Drain the kidney beans and throw them in for the final 5 minutes of cooking.

Tips & Tricks

For a richer flavour, add in a teaspoon of tomato puree and a stock cube of your choice along with the chopped tomatoes.

This recipe is wonderfully versatile, so don’t be afraid to try it in different ways; spooned over a jacket potato, mixed in with rice, rolled into a tortilla wrap… I like mine with some sour cream and a couple of pitta breads to dip.

This would be heavenly bunged into a slow-cooked and left to gently heat for hours on end, so give it a go if you’ve got the time.

RECIPE: Cheese and Mushroom Stack Burgers | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This recipe cost me less than 75p per person.
What are the benefits? These burgers are perfectly vegetarian-friendly, not to mention they are high in both protein and fibre.

If you’ve ever checked out my Instagram feed you’ll know I love a good burger. Almost every time we go out to eat and I take a sneaky insta snap, it’s pretty much always a fat burger on my plate. Perhaps I need to shake things up a bit… 🍔

I’ve taken my love for burgers here and steered it in a whole new direction to create a delicious alternative with a little more nutritional “oomph“. There’s still the lovely, gooey, melty cheese oozing out 🧀 but the mushrooms make up for all that – they count towards your ‘Five A Day’, they’re high in fibre and protein, and they’re an awful lot lower in fat than your traditional beef burger. So there!

Shopping at our local ASDA, I picked up the ingredients for this recipe for £1.38, which totals at just 69p per person. Compared to even the cheapest burgers (McDonald’s saver menu, here’s looking at you!) that’s a bargain! It’s also very quick and easy to make, with just a few ingredients available at many shops and supermarkets.

INGREDIENTS
4 Large Flat Mushrooms
4 Slices of Low Fat Cheddar Cheese
2 Burger Buns

SEASONING
Season the mushrooms with a good pinch of salt and pepper – and that’s it!

So, this is how I did it…

1. Season the mushrooms and grill each on one side for about 5 minutes – I’ve got a tabletop grill which is really handy, but an oven grill works perfectly fine.

2. Once the mushrooms have cooked on one side, flip them over and layer up in a stack with the cheese (one mushroom, one slice of cheese, second mushroom, second slice of cheese). Pop the stacks back under the grill for a further 5 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through and cheese has melted.

3. Remove from the heat and serve in a soft burger roll with any extra toppings you fancy.

Tips & Tricks

Stilton isn’t my cup of tea so I stuck with plain ol’ cheddar for my mushroom stacks, but blue cheese would go really well with this if you like that kind of thing.

Grilling always helps drain excess fat from whatever you’re cooking, but you can cook the mushrooms in a frying pan instead and it works just as well.

Try using aubergine 🍆 or beef tomatoes 🍅 to experiment with different veggie stacks!

RECIPE: Tomato Pesto Pasta | #ThisGirlEats

Serves: 2
How much does it cost? This cost me less than 50p per person.
What are the benefits? From this dish you’ll get two of your five a day and plenty of fibre, not to mention it is vegetarian-friendly as long as you double check the pesto!

This recipe is a perfect example of how just a few simple ingredients can be turned into a nutritious, robust, colourful, exciting meal for the whole family (although in my house I’m the only one who eats tomatoes. Never mind – more for me! 😋)

This idea was inspired by a day of spring cleaning (yes, that does happen from time to time!) I spent the morning clearing out our kitchen and came across some leftover bits tiptoeing dangerously close to their expiry dates and thought I’d better rescue them! We had an unopened jar of pesto 🌿 the last squeeze in a tube of tomato purée 🍅 and obviously heaps of pasta because, you know, we love carbs 🍝

What I love about is recipe that it really is what #ThisGirlEats is all about. It’s cheap – around 44p per person (ingredients bought from ASDA) – with really basic, accessible ingredients that give a fresh, flavoursome taste on a budget. And, of course, it’s good for you too – vegetables, wholewheat pasta and a splash of light pesto, that’s really all there is to it!

INGREDIENTS
140g Wholewheat Pasta
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Onion, Chopped
2 Fresh Tomatoes, Chopped
15g (or 1 heaped tbsp) Light Green Pesto
5g (or 1 tsp) Tomato Purée

SEASONING
As always with pasta, season the saucepan of water with salt to give it some flavour. When the onions are cooking, throw in some dried garlic (or fresh, if you’ve got it) and, to the tomato sauce, add a good helping of dried basil and dried oregano, as well as a pinch of salt and pepper.

So, this is how I did it…

1. Cook pasta in a pan of boiling water according to packet instructions, which usually takes somewhere between 10 – 15 minutes.

2. Fry the onions in a frying pan with cooking spray or a drop of oil for around 5 minutes, until they begin to soften.

3. Add the tin of tomatoes, fresh tomatoes and tomato purée to the frying pan, season and simmer for around 10 minutes. If you’ve got any to hand, you could always add a teaspoon of sugar here to make it a little less acidic, but it’s not a necessity.

4. Stir the pesto into the sauce. Drain the pasta, combine with the tomato sauce and serve, with a sprinkle of cheese on top if you fancy.

Tips & Tricks!

Any leftovers from the family dinner can be packed up and reheated for lunch tomorrow. Don’t let it go to waste!
There’s always flexibility with pasta dishes, and this one is no different! Bulk it out with even more vegetables, it’s a great way of using up any veggies on their last legs.
If you want to treat yourself, sprinkle some grated cheese on top to make the dish extra tasty.

RECIPE: Five Bean Chilli | #ThisGirlEats

Chilli was probably the first meal I learnt to cook from scratch and really “perfected” (there’s always room for improvement, but my chilli is pretty damn good I’ll be honest) and it’s still my favourite home cooked meal. 🌶️

It started with beef mince, then I moved onto using Quorn or mince alternatives to experiment with different versions of my most cherished recipe. I fancied trying something new, so I thought I’d have a go at making a bean chilli which bursts with colour, flavour and texture, as well as being an excellent choice for vegetarian or vegan meals.

You could make this recipe even easier by just buying a couple of tins of mixed beans rather than buying each individually – this will shrink both the cost and ingredient list – but I prefer choosing which beans go into my chilli and having the option to chop and change each time I make it.

Beans are honestly so, so good for you. First off they count as one of your ‘Five A Day’ so, along with the carrot, onion, pepper and chopped tomatoes, you’re well on your way with this recipe! Beans also help with heart health, are a good source of protein and fibre, and keep you fuller for longer. They’re cheap, too, so make a great base for eating on a budget.

So, this is how I did it…
(Serves 4)

1. Heat up a large pan with a touch of oil (or some light cooking spray) and gently fry the onion and carrot on a low heat for 10 minutes.

2. Pretty much everything else goes in once the carrot and onion have softened. Add all of the beans (make sure you drain the ones in water), chopped tomatoes, chopped pepper, a crumbled stock cube, tomato puree and the seasoning.

3. Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, giving the flavours a chance to develop.

4. Serve with a jacket potato, rice, flatbreads, whatever you fancy! 🍚

The prices below are the cheapest I could find when doing a comparison and are accurate at the time of publishing!

INGREDIENTS
1/2 Tin of Baked Beans – Reduced Sugar & Salt Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce – 30p – Sainsbury’s
Tin of Cannellini Beans – Cannellini Beans in Water – 42p – ASDA
Tin of Black Eye Beans – Black Eye Beans in Water – 55p – ASDA
Tin of Pinto Beans – Pinto Beans in Water – 55p – ASDA
200g Tin of Kidney Beans in Chilli Sauce – Chilli Beans in Chilli Sauce – 40p – ASDA
Tin of Chopped Tomatoes – Smartprice Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice – 29p – ASDA
1 Carrot, Chopped – Carrots, Loose – 6p – Tesco
1 Onion, Chopped – Grower’s Selection Onions by Weight – 15p – ASDA
1 Bell Pepper, Chopped – Red Pepper – 41p – Tesco
Vegetable Stock Cube – Stock Cubes, Vegetable – 39p – ASDA
1tsp Tomato Puree – Double Concentrated Tomato Puree – 37p – ASDA

SEASONING
When you start frying off the vegetables, throw in some dried garlic flakes along with them. Then, once you’ve added the beans and tomatoes, season with a generous helping of paprika and cumin, a pinch of dried chilli flakes and salt and pepper to taste.