Our recipes are specially created to be healthy, nutritious and family friendly. Tuck in!
All in Mains
This is hand on heart the easiest most delicious bake you could ever make ahead and keep for a healthy and balanced lunch.
Growing up, in France, I probably had something like this once a week! The flavour combinations are endless, vegetarian or not, you can go with the flow of seasonal veggies, add spices and even play around with flours. What’s not to like? My favourite is olive with anything.
Deliciously spiced, easy to make and very green these falafel are sure to be a hit. Falafel are traditionally deep fried, but we have baked them with just a brush of olive oil to make them healthier. We have spiced them using a Zhoug paste from Belazu that is seasoned with coriander and jalapeño. It’s easily available from supermarkets.
Enjoying and embracing a balanced healthy diet means there is a place for everything and that’s exactly why a good pasta recipe or two is essential for those weekends when comfort food and family crowd pleasers are required. The base for this is vegetarian and full of gorgeous mediterranean vegetables and flavours and so a little chopped chorizo works wonders added to it.
This dish uses camargue red rice, which has some great health benefits and is even more nutritious than brown rice (see tip below). We have added choirzo to this dish as it goes so well, however to make this dish vegetarian simply leave it out - it will still be delicious. Look out for nitrate/nitrite free chorizo in your supermarket. This is a great dish for using up a glut of tomatoes or turning large and sometimes rather tasteless supermarket tomatoes into something delicious.
So incredibly easy to throw together, this bowl is such a quick, simple and delicious dinner for 2 or a crowd pleaser for a dinner party. Packed full of bright, colourful, zingy and nutty flavours, since making it for the first time I have come back to it serving it cold as a starter or warm as a main, perfect for a Friday night with friends. Despite being quite simple to prepare it wows every time with its exotic asian flavours. I have made it with prawns here but panfried salmon works brilliantly too.
One of our aims at The Health Boost is to help families with everyday simple tricks to eat more healthily, and adding more vegetables and fibre in our modern diet is up there as a priority. So what if I told you that you could tell the kids that there’s chunky chips on the menu today but still get an extra portion veg in the process? Here comes the butternut squash chunky oven fries, made tasty with the help of a little oat flour, parmesan and rosemary! To make these dairy free replace the parmesan with nutritional yeast.
These are so tasty that even my husband who has decided he doesn’t like sweet potatoes loves them! And for him to go back for seconds on a veggie dish is high praise indeed! They could be served for breakfast with a poached egg on top or alongside a green salad for lunch. For most people 3-4 rosti would be enough for lunch – although my husband did eat 6 the first time I cooked these for him!!
This is NOT just another vegetarian curry option. It is one of those really satisfyingly easy dish to pull together for a mid week meal or a Friday night with friends. Packed full of flavours, purple and green vegetables, good amounts of protein and fibre. What’s not to like? I have previously served it as a main or side dish, with brown rice or quinoa or simply flatbreads. Chicken or lamb are the perfect meat to accompany.
We all love a curry in our house and Saturday nights have become a curry night ritual. Pleasing different palates is not always easy - some like a hot curry and others not so much. However this tikka masala seems to please everyone! I know it’s not traditional to add spinach to a tikka masala, but i like to add another vegetable whenever I can! I use 6 chicken breasts to feed my brood of 5 as my two teenagers are permanently hungry. However, unless you too have growing teenagers then adjust portions by using 1 chicken breast per person.
I almost didn’t write this up as a recipe - after all it’s nothing complicated and fancy. Just 6 ingredients thrown together. However it’s been a winner in my house with all the family and so I thought I would share with you - after all we all need those quick and simple recipes to keep us going day in day out! To serve 4 or even 6 then just alter the amount of chicken breasts. My two teenagers seem to be going through a growth spurt at the moment so I often cook 6 chicken breasts for the 5 of us!
Beetroot and chickpeas are one of my favourite combo in a summer salad but this time I decided to team them up in a winter warmer with a taste of Morocco! This is a lovely balanced meal option for vegetarians, or an ideal side paired with slow cooked lamb. It is packed full of good dietary fibres and prebiotic goodness for help naturally improve and support your whole family’s gut health.
In an effort to simplify good home cooked family food without compromising on taste or essential nutrients, having a few recipes for versatile delicious sides is key. This is a dish I used to make with my grand mother as a child in France. She used to serve it with Toulouse sausages, or roast chicken. Should you have leftovers( I doubt it unless you save yourself a portion) I have found that cold the next day it makes a delicious salad, topped with crumbled feta.
This is a perfect dish when you want a vegetarian meal that looks a bit special. Can easily be doubled to provide a meal for four if needed. It’s very easy to make, but still looks impressive. I am always looking for ways to include more mushrooms in my diet as they are so highly nutritious for us. See the tip below for all the benefits.
More and more foodies show an interest in vegetarian options, so as big advocates of including lots of vegetables in our daily diets we like to ensure that we always add lots of recipes to our offering. A veggie curry is so versatile. Served on its own, this squash and cauliflower curry is heartwarmingly delicious. For a more filling meal, add chicken or serve with brown rice or your choice of whole grains.
This recipe is for all of you out there with foodie families and those who enjoy entertaining! We all need those One-Pot recipes in our repertoire. Simple, yet delicious heart warming, ideal to prep in advance and…packed full of vegetables and all round goodness. Leave the chorizo out for a vegetarian option, serve with roast chicken or slow roast lamb for a winter’s cosy Sunday lunch.
With a busy hectic family life, managing time and meal planning is tricky. That's where your AGA or like me a “Crockpot” slow-cooker is a saviour several times a week. This shoulder of lamb is quick and easy to prepare first thing in the morning and will welcome you in the evening with warming spiced aromas and a healthy hearty family meal ready to serve, and hopefully leftovers for lunch the next day.
While Val, the French half of The Health Boost is all about blue skies, hot sun and Mediterranean flavours, I am a huge fan of Autumn. Cosy jumpers, snuggling under a blanket, log fires and slow cooks, stews and spicy curry. Well to me this wild mushroom curry sums up those Autumn flavours. So easy to make and totally delicious. Eating out of a large bowl in front of a log fire while wearing a cosy jumper is optional! While most of our recipes are suitable for families my children won’t even touch mushrooms so this only serves 2.
This recipe came about after a surplus of chard in the vegetable patch that needed using up. I had previously just steamed the chard and used as a side dish, but the family weren't keen on the earthy taste so I needed to be more imaginative. This is the result and it worked. Husband gave it a big thumbs up!
At The Health Boost we love our food of course, and we love to keep it simple with few ingredients without comprising on nutrients, quality and flavours. This simple lamb recipe is just that. A handful of ingredients carefully picked, local, fresh and easy to assemble for maximum effect and foodie pleasure.
If you visit Provence in the summer "Petits farcis" are everywhere. My grandma used to make a large saucepan of the sauce and add to a wide variety of mediterranean vegetables including: courgettes, tomatoes, aubergines, artichokes, red and green peppers and onions! How lucky was I growing up always eating such a delicious rainbow? This simple one pot recipe is my take on it. Merci Mamie.
