Pasta is a great meal for a family dinner, but if you want to add a little pizazz to your regular pasta dish, then consider pesto pasta. It is basically just regular pasta but with a special pesto sauce which includes healthy ingredients such as Parmesan cheese and garlic cloves.

This is an incredibly quick and easy recipe to make, and so even the busiest families can delight in this dinner dish. You can even save the leftovers and reheat them at a later dinner date or have the children take it to school for lunches.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 225 g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 150 ml fresh vegetable stock
• 175 g asparagus, trimmed and cut into 5 cm lengths
• 300 g green or white tagliatelle
• 400 g canned artichoke hearts, drained and halved
• grissini (bread sticks) to serve
• shredded basil leaves and Parmesan shavings to garnish

Pesto

• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 15 g fresh basil leaves, washed
• 6 tbsp low fat natural fromage frais
• 2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

1. Place the mushrooms in a pan with the stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
2. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and cook the asparagus for 3 to 4 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
3. Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the tagliatelle according to the instructions on the packet. Drain, return to the pan and keep warm.
4. Make the pesto. Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process for a few seconds until smooth. Alternatively, finely chop the basil and mix all the ingredients together.
5. Add the mushrooms, asparagus and artichoke hearts to the pasta and cook, stirring, over a low heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the heat, mix with the pesto and transfer to a warm bowl. Garnish with shredded basil leaves and Parmesan shavings and serve with Grissini if wished.

Stir fry can easily be considered as one of the most nutritional meals in the world. It combines fresh vegetables with soy sauce and egg noodles, all which are high in nutrients and delicious as well.

You can have a lot of variety and versatility with stir fry because you can basically throw whatever you want into it. This is especially favorable if you have children, because we all know how picky children can often be. You can also cover up the taste of the vegetables with the soy sauce so the children will not even notice that they are eating them.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 100 g thin asparagus spears, trimmed
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2.5 cm fresh ginger root, cut into thin strips
• 1 medium leek, shredded
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 100 g baby sweetcorn cobs, quartered lengthwise
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp clear honey
• 450 g cooked assorted shellfish, thawed if frozen
• freshly cooked egg noodles to serve
• 4 large cooked prawns and small bunch fresh chives to garnish

1. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and blanch the asparagus for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, set aside and keep warm.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and stir fry the ginger, leek, carrot and sweetcorn for 3 minutes.
3. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce and honey to the wok. Stir in the shellfish and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the vegetables are just tender and the shellfish are heated through. Add the blanched asparagus and stir fry for about 2 minutes.
4. To serve, pile the cooked noodles on to 4 warm serving plates and spoon over the seafood and vegetables stir fry. Serve garnished with a large prawn and freshly snipped chives.

“When you are preparing dense vegetables, such as carrots and other root vegetables, for stir frying, slice them into thin, evenly sized pieces so that they cook quickly and at the same rate. Delicate vegetables, such as bell peppers, leeks and spring onions do not need to be cut as thinly”.

If you are looking for a bit of an eclectic recipe, then the beef and orange curry recipe is a great option. High in nutritional value, this curry will not only get your taste buds going but also is going to make sure you are getting the nutrition that you need to strive.

This recipe is especially good for heart disease, and although it originated in India it is quickly becoming a favorite around the world.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 225 g shallots, halved
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 450 g lean rump or sirloin beef, trimmed and cut into 2 cm cubes
• 3 tbsp curry paste
• 450 ml fresh beef stock
• 4 medium oranges
• 2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped to garnish
• basmati rice, freshly boiled, to serve

Raita

• 1/2 cucumber, finely diced
• 3 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
• 150 ml low fat natural yogurt

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Gently fry the shallots, garlic and the cubes of beef for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is evenly browned all over.
2. Blend together the curry paste and stock. Add the mixture to the beef and stir to mix. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
3. Meanwhile, grate the rind of one orange. Extract the juice from the orange and from a second orange. Peel the 2 remaining oranges, removing as much pith as possible. Slice between each segment and remove the flesh.
4. Blend the cornflour with the orange juice. At the end of the cooking time, stir the orange rind into the beef along with the orange and cornflour mixture. Bring to the boil and simmer, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce thickens. Season and stir in the orange segments.
5. To make the raita, mix the cucumber with the mint and stir in the yogurt. Season. Garnish the curry and serve with rice and the raita.

“Raita is a South Asian/Indian condiment based on yogurt and used as a sauce or dip. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it a good foil for spicy Indian dishes”.