1st Simple Recipe (Vegetarian Friendly)

My favourite fish to eat is Salmon with a nice crispy skin and cooked perfectly. Now many things can be done with fish. Many many wonderful things. Anything from chargrilling to barbecue to roasting to pan frying to steaming to stewing and so on and so forth. I do enjoy a simple pan fried fish though, mainly to give it a nice flavoursome taste and a nice crispy skin. Many foods can be used to compliment each other, and there are many different foods, you can even do marinades or add different spices to compliment a dish. To try and achieve that WOW factor. Maybe even smoking it. 

That is probably enough about fish now. But many of those things such as the spices and marinades and all that can be done with many other foods such as different meats.

Anyway.....

This one is even suitable for Vegetarians.

Roasted Red Pepper and Parsley Pesto with Penne Pasta

What you will need:

400g Penne (Pasta)

300g Roasted red peppers (Can be found in jars already done in supermarkets.)

Handful of Flat Leaf Parsley

75g Cashew Nuts

1 Garlic Clove, Chopped roughly

2 tbsp Extra virgin Olive Oil

50g Parmesan Cheese ( Vegetarian alternative can be used.)

Method:

Cook the pasta following the pack instructions. (Normally about 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the peppers, 2/3 of the parsley, nuts, garlic and olive oil in a small food processor and whizz to a pesto consistency (Should be able to coat the back of a spoon, not too runny). Season and mix in the Parmesan cheese.

Next you need to drain the pasta off and return it to the pan with the pesto. Then finally stir and gently heat for 1 minute and then sprinkle with a little more chopped parsley and serve.

Main 5 Food Groups

So we have the main five food groups.

• Vegetables and legumes/beans.
• Fruit.
• Grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain and/or high cereal fibre varieties.
• Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans.
• Milk, yoghurt cheese and/or alternatives, mostly reduced fat.

To meet the nutrient requirement needed for good health you would need to eat a variety of foods from each of these categories on a daily basis. It is good to eat from each of the different foods groups as each  food group varies in the amount of different nutrients provided.

To be fair. at dinner time your not going to have a 3 course meal every night to incorporate each of the basic food groups. But it could be as simple as maybe having a bowl of whole wheat pasta with chargrilled chicken breast put through it and shredded sunblushed tomatoes. A glass of milk perhaps. Then for dessert a banana or and apple. I do actually fancy that now. But anyway. Its good to try and keep to those basic food groups to obtain the recommended amount of nutrients. But I know we cant always. 

The beginning (Top 10 healthiest foods to eat

As a chef. I don't really cook the healthiest of foods should I say. I always try and achieve something with lots of flavour when producing food for others. Although, away from work, I try and eat healthily as much as possible.

I'll start with a few of the most healthiest foods. If you could imagine a choice of different foods that were tasty, that were very good for you, would help maintain a healthy body weight and improve your overall mood. As i have seen whilst going through information and information. I have come to the conclusion that these ten right now seem to be the healthiest foods.

• Fruit (Apples, blueberries etc.) - No brainer!!
• Vegetables (Broccoli, green vegetables more than anything etc.) - Another no brainer!! 
• Oily Fish (Mackerel, sardines etc.) - Full of omega 3 and other good nutrients.
• Nuts (Such as Almonds and walnuts or others)
• Sweet Potatoes (Full of antioxidants and vitamins that help the body in many ways)
• Wheat Germ ( Contains Vitamin E which is low in most peoples diets is low)

All of these things eaten regularly can help with all sorts of problems. Mentally and Physically. :-)