Everyone loves spaghetti, but why not spice up your boring old spaghetti recipe? Vegetable spaghetti with lemon dressing is definitely not your typical pasta dish, and best of all it is one that the kids will love too. You only need a few ingredients to prepare this dish including celeriac, carrots, leeks, and red and yellow pepper, as well as a few spices and of course your spaghetti.

This dish is quick and easy to prepare, and one of the best things is that you can save the leftovers and then reheat them at a later date and it will taste just as great. You can even fry up the leftovers in a pan with some oil and add even more of a twist.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 225 g celeriac
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 medium leeks
• 1 small red pepper
• 1 small yellow pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp celery seeds
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 300 g spaghetti
• celery leaves, chopped to garnish

Lemon Dressing

• 1 tsp grated lemon rind
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp low fat natural fromage frais (unsweetened yogurt)
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp snipped fresh chives

1. Peel the celeriac and carrots, cut into thin matchsticks and place in a bowl. Slice the leeks, rinse to flush out any trapped dirt, then shred finely. Halve, deseed and slice the peppers. Peel and thinly slice the garlic. Add these vegetables to the celeriac and the carrots.
2. Toss the vegetables with the celery seeds and lemon juice.
3. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet. Drain well and keep warm.
4. Bring another large saucepan of water to the boil, put the vegetables in a steamer or sieve and place over the boiling water. Cover and steam for 6 to 7 minutes or until just tender.
5. When the spaghetti and vegetables are cooked, mix the ingredients for the lemon dressing together.
6. Transfer the spaghetti and vegetables to a warm serving bowl and mix with the dressing. Garnish with chopped celery leaves and serve.

“Celeriac is also known as celery root or celery knob. Celeriac is fat and cholesterol free, low in calories and sodium, and a good source of fiber”.

If you love exotic food, then the orange marinated fish and rice recipe is one you are definitely going to want to try out for yourself. You will need quite a few ingredients to prepare this recipe but it will definitely be worth it, especially when you take the nutritional value into consideration here.

Green pepper, red pepper, yellow pepper, long grain rice, onion - this recipe is full of fresh and nutritious vegetables and delicious spices as well such as cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 450 g firm white fish fillets (such as cod or monkfish), skinned and cut into 2.5cm cubes
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 150 ml unsweetened orange juice
• 1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 medium red pepper, deseeded and sliced into rings
• 1 medium green pepper, deseeded and sliced into rings
• 1 medium yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced into rings
• 1.2 liters fish stock
• 350 g long grain rice
• salt and pepper
• crusty bread to serve
• fresh oregano leaves and lime wedges to garnish

1. Place the cubes of fish in a bowl and add the cumin, oregano, salt and pepper, lime juice, orange juice and sugar. Mix well, cover and leave to chill for 2 hours.
2. Place the garlic, onion and peppers in a large pan. Pour over the stock and stir in the rice. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
3. Gently add the fish and the marinade juices to the pan. Bring back to the boil and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally but taking care not to break up the fish, for 10 minutes until the fish is cooked and the rice is just tender.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste and transfer to a warm serving plate. Garnish with fresh oregano and lime wedges and serve with crusty bread.

“If you prefer, you can also use rum in the marinade instead of the orange juice”.

Everyone loves a good stroganoff, but if you are trying to stay healthy then you are going to want to make sure you choose a stroganoff that is going to be full of fresh and nutritious ingredients. Take for instance the chicken stroganoff recipe, which features savory ingredients such as chicken fillet, onions, cloves, tomato puree, mushrooms, and green pepper.

This is a fantastic recipe that the whole family will love, and one of the best things is that you can refrigerate the leftover portions and keep them for up to a week.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 350 g lean chicken fillet
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 25 g plain flour
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 425 ml fresh chicken stock
• 125 g button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large green pepper, deseeded and diced
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 4 tbsp low fat natural unsweetened yogurt
• salt and pepper
• rice, freshly boiled to serve
• ground nutmeg and chopped parsley to garnish

1. Trim away any excess fat and silver skin from the chicken, then cut the meat into slices about 1 cm thick.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the chicken, onion and garlic for 4 to 5 minutes until lightly browned.
3. Stir in the flour and tomato puree, pour in the stock and stir to mix thoroughly.
4. Add the mushrooms, pepper, seasoning and nutmeg.Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the yogurt.
6. Garnish the boiled rice with chopped parsley. Spoon extra yogurt on top of the chicken and mushrooms and dust with a little ground nutmeg.

“You can buy ready made chicken, vegetable and fish stocks from leading supermarkets. Although more expensive they are better nutritionally than stock cubes which are high in salt and artificial flavorings. However, home made stock is the best of all!”