Feel-good recipes that only take 15 minutes
Joe Wicks believe spending 15 minutes a day on “small daily wins” – such as cooking a quick, healthy meal, moving your body or simply getting to bed earlier – can drastically improve your life.
A good place to start would be with the recipes from his new book, Feel Good in 15, below. Cacio e pepe beans’n’ greens not only tastes great, but is a recipe for good gut health. Saucy spring onion chicken is halfway between a stir-fry and a curry, and makes spring onions the star of the show. You’ll be licking the plate clean. Lastly, the stovetop plum crumble plumble is a no-faff dessert with a few healthy shortcuts.
So find 15 minutes and get cooking!
Wine recommendations from Perfect Cellar
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Cacio e pepe beans’n’greens
Oh hello, Captain Farty Pants! Fancy some more beans? This is probably one of the stranger-looking recipes in this book, but don’t judge it on its looks alone, because this cheesy dish tastes magnificent and it’s another great one for the all-important gut health.
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped
400g (14oz) tin of butter beans
½ tbsp freshly ground black pepper
40g (1½oz) parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
150g tender stem broccoli
100g kale
Method:
1 Get the kettle on.
2 Heat the oil into a deep frying pan, then sauté the shallot for 2-3 minutes until softened, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute until fragrant, then throw in the tin of butter beans, along with any liquid from the tin. Bring up to a simmer, add the pepper, Parmesan and red wine vinegar. Don’t skimp on the pepper here – it’s the main flavour, and you want it to be almost spicy.
3 Pour the boiling water into a saucepan and boil the broccoli and kale for 2-3 minutes until tender. Drain, season well and set aside.
4 Serve the beans in two bowls, topped with broccoli and kale with a little bit of extra parmesan.
Saucy spring onion chicken
This is one of my family’s favourite recipes, and it went down a storm when I shared it on Instagram. Everyone loved it. It takes spring onions and makes them the star of the dish, which creates so much flavour. It’s halfway between a stir-fry and a curry, with a lovely thick sauce that coats the whole lot and will have you licking the plate clean.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
640g (1lb 6oz) chicken mini fillets
40g (1½oz) cornflour
5 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 bunches of spring onions, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, grated
Thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
200-400ml (7-14fl oz) water
Juice of 1-2 limes, plus wedges to serve
Method:
1 Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and fry the chicken over a high heat for 3-4 minutes, so it gets some nice golden colour.
2 While the chicken is browning, whisk together the cornflour, oyster sauce, soy sauce and honey in a small bowl. Set aside.
3 Scatter in most of the spring onions, setting aside some to garnish, along with the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute until fragrant.
4 Pour in the cornflour-soy mixture and coat the chicken and veg, then add the water, bring up to the boil and let the whole thing bubble away and get thick and glossy.
5 Season with lime juice, to taste. Serve with rice and lime wedges and scatter with the remaining spring onions.
Stovetop plum crumble plumble
A crumble with no faffing about. Can you believe it? No faff, no oven and it’s ready in 15 minutes! This speedy crumble has a few healthy shortcuts, but the end result is bang on. Tastes just as good when it hits the lips. Swap the plums for any in-season fruit and follow the same method – you may just need to lengthen the cooking times for harder fruits like apples and pears.
Serves: 2
300g (10oz) plums (approx 4), stones removed
1 tbsp, plus 20g (¾oz) demerara sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
30g (1oz) salted butter
30g (1oz) hazelnuts, roughly chopped
40g (1½oz) porridge oats
20g (¾oz) plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Method:
1 Add the plums, the 1 tablespoon of sugar and vanilla extract to a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons of water. Cook over a high heat with the lid on for 5 minutes, then take off the lid and reduce the heat, cooking for a further 2–3 minutes, until the fruit is soft.
2 In a frying pan, add the remaining demerara sugar, butter, hazelnuts, oats, flour and cinnamon and cook, stirring regularly, until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes.
3 Divide the fruit between two bowls and sprinkle with the crumble mixture to serve.
Tip: Add any nuts, seeds or even granola to the crumble to mix it up.
‘Feel Good in 15’ by Joe Wicks (Harper Collins, £11) is published 7 December
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