Wednesday

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 60 g mushrooms
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 slices wholemeal bread
• 1 pinch black pepper

Method

1. Wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and slice them thinly.
2. Heat the oil in a small non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the mushrooms for 4 minutes, stirring now and then, until they are golden and the water has gone.
3. Put the bread in the toaster. Crack the eggs into a cup, beat them with a fork and a little pepper, and pour them into the pan.
4. Turn the heat down. Stir gently for 1 to 2 minutes, until the egg is just set but still soft. Pile it onto the toast.

Why it is a healthy start

Eggs give protein that keeps you full all morning, and mushrooms add flavour and B vitamins for very few calories. Wholemeal bread adds fibre.

Swaps

A handful of spinach stirred in at the end. A grilled tomato on the side. A fried or poached egg in place of the scramble.

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ small onion (the other half goes into tonight's risotto)
• 100 g mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small potato (about 80 g), peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes
• ½ cube reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
• 300 ml hot water for the stock
• ¼ tsp dried thyme
• 1 slice wholemeal bread, to serve
• 1 pinch black pepper

Method

1. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. Wipe the mushrooms and slice them.
2. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. Cook the onion and mushrooms for 5 minutes, stirring, until the mushrooms are golden. Add the garlic and thyme for 30 seconds.
3. Add the potato and the hot stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 12 minutes, until the potato is soft.
4. Blend about two thirds of the soup with a stick blender, so it is creamy but still a little chunky. Season with pepper.
5. Toast the bread, put it in a bowl and pour the soup around it.

Why it is a healthy lunch

The potato makes the soup creamy, so it needs no cream or butter at all, and the mushrooms give a deep, savoury flavour, so the only salt comes from half a stock cube.

Swaps

A spoonful of Greek yoghurt swirled on top. A handful of spinach stirred in at the end. Chestnut mushrooms for a stronger flavour.

Ingredients (1 portion)

• 60 g pearl barley
• 150 g diced butternut squash (half of a 300 g ready-diced pack)
• ½ small onion (the other half from lunch)
• 80 g mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil
• ½ cube reduced-salt vegetable stock cube
• 400 ml hot water for the stock
• ½ tsp dried sage
• 40 g baby spinach
• 15 g strong Cheddar, finely grated
• 1 pinch black pepper

Prep (about 8 minutes, any time that day)

1. Chop the onion and garlic. Wipe and slice the mushrooms. Put them in a covered container in the fridge, with the squash (already diced in the pack) beside them.
2. Stand a medium saucepan with a lid on the hob, ready, with the barley, oil and sage next to it. Put the kettle on at dinner time.

At dinner time (about 12 minutes of work)

1. Dissolve the stock cube in 400 ml of boiling water and keep it hot. Rinse the barley in a sieve under cold water.
2. Heat the oil in the saucepan over a medium heat. Cook the onion and mushrooms for 4 minutes, until soft and starting to brown. Add the garlic and sage for 30 seconds.
3. Add the barley and the squash and stir for 1 minute. Pour in about two thirds of the stock, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring now and then.
4. Add most of the rest of the stock and simmer for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the barley is tender with a little bite and the squash is soft. Add a splash more stock or water if it gets dry.
5. Stir in the spinach for 1 minute until it wilts. Take the pan off the heat, stir in half the cheese and season with pepper.
6. Spoon into a bowl and scatter with the rest of the cheese.

Why it is a healthy dinner

Pearl barley is a whole grain that keeps its bite and is full of fibre, so the dish is filling for a little cheese and almost no oil. Squash adds vitamin A and sweetness, and the spinach tops up the greens.

Swaps

A drained tin of butter beans stirred in for extra protein. Sweet potato in place of the squash. Pearl barley can be replaced with brown rice (it needs about 30 to 35 minutes).