Wednesday

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 2 slices wholemeal bread
• 30 g mature Cheddar cheese
• 1 small tomato
• ½ tsp olive oil
• Black pepper

Method

1. Grate the cheese. Slice the tomato thinly and pat the slices dry with kitchen paper so that the toastie does not go soggy.
2. Lay the cheese on one slice of bread, then the tomato slices, then some pepper, and put the second slice on top.
3. Brush the outside of the sandwich very lightly with the oil. With a sandwich toaster, close it and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
4. In a frying pan, cook the sandwich over a medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, pressing down with a spatula, until golden and the cheese has melted.
5. Let it cool for a minute before cutting it, because the tomato is very hot.

Why it is a healthy start

Mature cheese gives plenty of flavour from a small amount, and the tomato adds vitamin C. Using wholemeal bread and only a trace of oil makes this a much lighter toastie than a butter-fried one.

Swaps

A handful of baby spinach or a few slices of mushroom with the cheese. A teaspoon of mustard on the bread. Use a wholemeal wrap folded in half for a quesadilla.

Ingredients (1 large bowl)

• 200 g chopped tomatoes (half a 400 g tin; the other half goes into tonight's shakshuka)
• 120 g cannellini beans from a tin, drained and rinsed (half a tin; Friday uses the rest)
• 1 clove garlic
• 20 g baby spinach
• ½ reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 150 ml boiling water
• 2 slices wholemeal bread, to serve
• Black pepper

Method

1. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook the garlic and oregano for 30 seconds.
2. Add the tomatoes, the beans, the crumbled stock cube and the boiling water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes.
3. Crush about a third of the beans against the side of the pan with a fork to thicken the soup.
4. Stir in the spinach for 1 minute until it wilts. Season with pepper, and taste before adding salt.
5. Toast the bread while the soup finishes and serve it alongside.

Why it is a healthy lunch

Beans give protein and fibre, and cooked tomatoes are a good source of lycopene. The soup has very little fat and is filling enough to be a complete lunch with the toast.

Swaps

A grated carrot cooked with the garlic. A pinch of chilli flakes. A spoonful of plain yoghurt stirred in at the end. Use kale or cabbage in place of the spinach, and cook it for 3 minutes more.

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 2 eggs
• 200 g chopped tomatoes (the other half of the tin from lunch)
• ½ red pepper (the other half is for Thursday)
• ½ onion
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 slices wholemeal bread, to serve
• Salt and black pepper

Prep ahead (about 15 minutes, any time that day)

1. Cut the pepper in half, remove the seeds, and chop one half small. Wrap the other half for Thursday. Peel and chop the onion and garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan with a lid over a medium heat. Cook the onion and pepper for 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft. Add the garlic, cumin and paprika and stir for 30 seconds.
3. Pour in the tomatoes with a pinch of salt and some pepper. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes until the sauce is thick. Do not let it get too dry.
4. Spoon the sauce into a container and let it cool for up to an hour. Cover it and put it in the fridge. Wash the pan.

At dinner time (about 5 minutes of work)

1. Tip the cold sauce back into the frying pan with 2 tbsp of water. Heat it over a medium heat, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until it is bubbling and steaming hot all the way through.
2. Make two hollows in the sauce with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each. Season the eggs with a little pepper.
3. Cover the pan with its lid, turn the heat to low, and leave it for 5 to 6 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are as runny as you like. Leave it for 2 minutes longer if you want the yolks firm.
4. Toast the bread while the eggs cook, and serve straight from the pan with the toast to mop up the sauce.

Why it is a healthy dinner

Two eggs give protein, and the tomato and pepper sauce counts as a vegetable portion or two, with only 1 tsp of oil. It costs very little and is a complete meal with the toast.

Swaps

A handful of baby spinach stirred into the sauce at the end. A pinch of chilli flakes for heat. Crumbled feta or a spoonful of plain yoghurt on top. Add a few chickpeas or white beans for extra protein.