KIT LIST

If you’re cutting back on calories, there are some simple cooking methods that will optimise flavour. It’s worth investing in a few items of equipment that make your life easier and your mealtimes more satisfying.

Blender or food processor These make light work of soups and sauces. A food processor is useful for really working flavours into ingredients, for example when you’re making my Lamb doner. It’s also handy for whizzing up cauliflower into ‘rice’.

Cook’s blowtorch I know this sounds a bit cheffy, but you can get a decent cook’s blowtorch quite cheaply and it offers an easy way to create those delicious, sticky, caramelised and charred effects and the smoky flavours you usually only achieve by roasting or frying food in lots of cooking fat or oil. Blowtorching is also a very useful way of searing meat without frying it, or adding crunch to your ingredients. To use a blowtorch safely, don’t touch the flame and always check the gas has been switched off when you finish. Place the food on a metal tray before you start and make sure there is no flammable material, such as alcohol, nearby. Always light the blowtorch before putting it near raw food, or you run the risk of getting fuel on the food. The best technique is to use a sweeping motion, where the flame waves slowly back and forth across the surface to evenly ‘scorch’ the food. Don’t concentrate too long on one area, or the food may burn.

Deep-lipped baking tray This is really useful for when you’re pre-roasting mince, which I often do. You can break up and turn the mince over as it cooks and if the meat releases any juices as it cooks (turkey mince is likely to do this) then they won’t spill into your oven.

Graters A micro or fine grater is a must for grating lemon zest, garlic and ginger. A larger box grater is best for grating carrots, courgettes and other veg. Grating ingredients makes them go further, so you won’t need to eat as much.

Griddle pan Using one of these will give meat and vegetables a lovely charred effect, as in Griddled veg and halloumi with couscous, but you can just use a normal frying pan instead.

Muffin tray Muffins are a handy breakfast choice when you’re short on time, and you’ll need a muffin tray to bake them in. I also use a muffin tray to make ‘tacos’.

Non-stick pans A good non-stick frying pan and large saucepan will cut down the need for oil when you’re frying.

Spiralizer I can’t stop talking about how great these are! Spiralizers are basically a glammed-up version of a veg peeler. You can turn courgettes into courgetti – a brilliant low-calorie alternative to pasta that actually tastes of something, unlike the original spaghetti. You can also spiralize cucumbers and firm fruit and veg, such as apples, carrots and squashes.

Thermal flask and food storage containers Sticking to a diet is all about thinking ahead and being prepared. Invest in some good freezer storage containers so you can freeze portions of soup and make extra batches of meals to stash in the freezer. No excuses for reaching for the takeaway menu! Most of the meals in this book can be packed up and taken to work for lunch too. A flask is great for soup, making dieting in the winter months a whole lot easier.

Thermometers (oven and meat) It’s worth making sure your oven is at the correct temperature before you start cooking, which you can check by placing an oven thermometer on the middle shelf. It is consistently hotter near the top, where the main heating element is positioned, so as a general rule, if you need something to brown well on the surface, such as a gratin, put it on an upper shelf in the oven. Some of my recipes involve cooking meat for a long time at a lower temperature than usual, so I recommend you also get a meat thermometer to check that your meat is properly cooked through.