Saturday

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 2 eggs
• 200 g chopped tomatoes (the half tin kept from Friday)
• ½ red pepper (the other half goes into lunch)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 2 slices wholemeal bread, to serve
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Cut the pepper in half, remove the seeds and chop one half into small pieces, about 1 cm. Wrap the other half and keep it for lunch.
2. Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Cook the pepper for 5 minutes, stirring, until soft.
3. Add the paprika and stir for 20 seconds, then pour in the tomatoes with a pinch of salt. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick and most of the liquid has gone.
4. Make two small hollows in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Break the yolks with a spoon and swirl them lightly through the sauce.
5. Cook over a low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring gently, until the egg is just set. It should be soft and a little saucy, not dry. Season with black pepper.
6. Toast the bread while the eggs cook, and use it to mop up the pan.

Why it is a healthy start

Menemen is a whole breakfast of vegetables and egg in one pan with very little oil. Cooked tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C and lycopene, and the egg adds protein.

Swaps

A pinch of chilli flakes for heat. Crumbled feta on top. Fry a finely chopped green pepper in place of the red if you want it more traditional. Add a handful of spinach with the tomatoes.

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 60 g bulgur wheat (fine or medium)
• ½ cucumber (about 100 g; dinner uses the other half)
• 1 medium tomato
• ½ red pepper (the rest from breakfast)
• 30 g red onion (the last quarter)
• 15 g fresh flat-leaf parsley (a small handful)
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 150 ml boiling water
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Put the bulgur in a heatproof bowl with a pinch of salt. Pour over the boiling water, cover the bowl with a plate and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes, until the grains are soft and the water has gone. Fluff it with a fork and leave it to cool.
2. While it soaks, chop the cucumber, tomato and pepper into small pieces, about 5 mm. Peel the onion and chop it very finely. Pick the parsley leaves off the stalks and chop them.
3. Mix the lemon juice and olive oil in a cup with a pinch of salt and some pepper.
4. Stir the vegetables and parsley into the cooled bulgur and pour over the dressing. Taste it and add more lemon or salt if you need to.

Why it is a healthy lunch

Bulgur is a whole grain with plenty of fibre, and it cooks by soaking, so there is no pan to wash. The salad is mostly vegetables and herbs, and it tastes better after it has sat for an hour, so you can make it ahead.

Swaps

A handful of chopped fresh mint with the parsley. Add a few chickpeas from a tin for more protein. A spoonful of Greek yoghurt on the side. Couscous works in place of the bulgur and soaks in the same way.

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 150 g lean beef mince (5% fat)
• ¼ onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (from lunch)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 wholemeal pitta bread

Tzatziki

• 80 g plain Greek-style yoghurt
• 50 g cucumber (a quarter of the cucumber)
• ½ tsp dried mint, or 1 tsp fresh
• Pinch of salt

Salad

• 1 medium tomato
• 50 g cucumber (the last quarter)
• ½ lemon, juiced
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. If your mince was frozen, check it has defrosted completely in the fridge. Do not cook it from partly frozen.
2. Tzatziki: grate the cucumber on the coarse side of a grater and squeeze it hard in your hand to get rid of the water. Stir it into the yoghurt with the mint and a pinch of salt. Put it in the fridge.
3. Salad: chop the tomato and cucumber, toss them with the parsley and lemon juice, and leave them to one side.
4. Grate the onion on the fine side of a grater and peel and crush the garlic. Put them in a bowl with the mince, cumin, paprika, parsley and a good pinch of salt. Mix with your hands until it comes together, then wash your hands well.
5. Divide the mixture into 4 and shape each piece into a short sausage, about 8 cm long. Wet your hands if it sticks.
6. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the kofta for 10 to 12 minutes, turning every 2 to 3 minutes, until browned all over. Cut the thickest one open to check: it must be brown all the way through with no pink, and the juices must run clear.
7. Warm the pitta in the toaster for 30 to 60 seconds, then split it open or cut it into strips.
8. Serve the kofta on the pitta with the salad and a large spoonful of tzatziki.

Why it is a healthy dinner

Kofta are normally made with fatty lamb. Lean beef, grated onion for moisture and a yoghurt sauce instead of a cream-based one give you the flavour with far less fat, and the salad fills half the plate.

Swaps

Lamb mince if you want it more traditional (choose the leanest). Turkey or chicken mince for a lighter version. A pinch of chilli flakes in the mixture. Put it all in a wholemeal wrap if you have no pitta.