RECIPES: Davina McCall swaps 'bad carbs' for 'smart carbs'

Fancy trying some of her recipes yourself? Here are three from her new book, Davina’s Smart Carbs...

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK (Serves four)

Ingredients

• 300g carrots, cut into chunks
• 300g swede, cut into chunks
• 10g butter
• 150g spring greens, cabbage or Brussels sprouts, shredded
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• Olive oil spray
• Poached or fried eggs, to serve (optional)
• Salt and black pepper

Method

BRING a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the carrots and swede and cook them for about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain thoroughly, then tip them back into the saucepan and leave them over a low heat for a few minutes, just to help steam off any excess liquid. Swede in particular can get quite waterlogged, so this is important.

Mash the carrots and swede with the butter until fairly smooth. Tip the mash into a bowl and leave it to cool, then chill it in the fridge for a while to firm it up.

Wash the greens thoroughly, put them in a saucepan with a little water and cover the pan. Place the pan over the heat and cook for a few minutes until the greens have wilted down, then drain them thoroughly and leave them to cool.

When you’re ready to cook the bubble and squeak, mix the root veg mash and the greens together and season with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large nonstick frying pan and gently fry the chopped onion over a medium heat until it’s softened and caramelising around the edges. Add this to the vegetables, then tip everything back into the frying pan and spread the mixture out into a large round.

Cook the bubble and squeak over a medium heat for several minutes until it’s nice and brown underneath and cooked through.

Meanwhile, preheat your grill to its highest setting.

Spritz the top of the bubble and squeak with olive oil spray, then pop it under the grill for three minutes until it’s browning around the edges and in patches on top.

Cut it into wedges and serve with poached or fried eggs, if you like.

LAMB AND AUBERGINE CASSEROLE (Serves four)

Ingredients

• 2 aubergines, cut into 2.5cm cubes
• Olive oil spray
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 600g lean lamb leg or shoulder, trimmed of fat and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2tsp ground allspice
• 1/2tsp ground cumin
• 1/2tsp ground coriander
• 1/2tsp cayenne or hot chilli powder
• 1/4tsp ground cinnamon
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml chicken stock or water
• 1tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1tbsp lemon juice
• Small bunch of parsley, leaves only, to serve
• Salt and black pepper

Method

PREHEAT the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Put the aubergines in a bowl and spritz them with olive oil spray, then turn them over and repeat. Spread the aubergines on a baking tray and roast them in the oven for about 20 minutes, until they’re starting to brown.

Heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole dish. Add the sliced onion and cook it slowly over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes, until it’s soft and translucent, then turn up the heat and add the lamb. Cook until the lamb is well browned, stirring regularly, then reduce the heat and add the garlic and spices. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the tomatoes and the stock or water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat, put a lid on the casserole dish and simmer for an hour until the lamb is becoming tender.

Add the aubergines and the pomegranate molasses, cover again and cook for another 30 minutes.

Remove the lid from the casserole. If the sauce is very liquid, simmer until it has reduced slightly, then add the lemon juice. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

BAKED PLUMS (Serves four)

Ingredients

• 25g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 8 ripe plums, halved and stones removed
• 25g honey
• 75g ground almonds
• 25g flaked almonds, plus extra to garnish
• Seeds from 3 cardamom pods, ground
• 1/4tsp ground ginger
• Pinch of cinnamon
• To serve: 1tbsp honey (optional)
• 150g creme fraiche or yoghurt

Method

PREHEAT the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

Grease an ovenproof dish with a little butter. Place the plums, cut side up, in the dish.

Put the 25g of honey with the butter in a small saucepan and warm them over a gentle heat until they’ve melted together. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir the almonds and spices into the butter and honey. The mixture should be quite crumbly, but it should clump together when squeezed.

Spoon about a dessertspoon of the mixture into the centre of each plum half. Bake the plums in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until they have completely softened and the topping is golden brown.

Whisk the honey, if using, into the creme fraiche or yoghurt. Serve the plums with dollops of the sweetened creme fraiche and a few more flaked almonds as a garnish, if you like.