Looking for a bit of inspiration for some delicious healthy meals? Take a look at this selection of delicious European dishes from the Healthy Recipes (available in 11 languages), an initiative of the Fighting Obesity through Offer and Demand (FOOD) programme. The FOOD programme aims to improve the nutritional quality of the food offered in restaurants and to facilitate consumer choice through improved information and increased awareness, making the healthy choice more obvious and more accessible. Created by a selection of expert chefs, from starter to dessert, these European dishes won’t disappoint!
1. Courgette carpaccio, tomato pesto and mandarin sorbet
- Starter, Spain
- By Chef Francisco Sarabia
- Restaurant: Grupo Oter
- Serves 2 – 30 mins preparation
Ingredients (for the carpaccio):
- 1/2 courgette/s
- 5 g of rocket
- 5 g of Parmesan shavings
- 2 cherry tomatoes
- 2 sun-dried tomato halves
- 1 scoop of mandarin orange sorbet
- A drizzle of olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Ingredients (for the pesto):
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon toasted pine nuts
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 very ripe tomato
- Salt and pepper
Method:
- To make the pesto: mix all of the ingredients in a food processor and set aside at room temperature.
- Thinly slice the courgette lengthwise with a paring knife and set aside with a drizzle of olive oil to soften the slices.
- Dress the plate with the pesto, arrange the thin slices of courgette on top, followed by the rocket, Parmesan and tomatoes. Season and add the finishing touch of a scoop of mandarin orange sorbet.
2. Caldo verde
- Starter, Portugal
- By Chef Fábio Bernardino
- Restaurant: Travel & Flavours
- Serves 4 – 40 mins preparation
Ingredients:
- 220 g onions
- 120 g leek greens
- 80 g white sweet potato
- 500 g Tronchuda cabbage
- 10 g chorizo
- 20 g garlic
- 400 ml aromatic stock (made using vegetable scraps)
- 6 fresh mint leaves
- 1 pinch of pepper
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Method:
- Pour 600 ml of water into a saucepan. Add the pepper, nutmeg, chopped onion, garlic and leek greens. Let reduce for 10 minutes.
- Add the sweet potato and simmer another 20 minutes.
- Once cooked, blend until smooth.
- Blanch the cabbage leaves for around 30 seconds.
Remove and leave to cool. - Julienne the cabbage and chorizo into strips.
- Serve the soup piping hot, garnished with the strips of cabbage and chorizo. Sprinkle with chopped mint.
3. Kale and Romanesco cabbage soup with chickpeas and croutons
- Starter, Italy
- By Chef Stefano Callegaro
- Restaurant: Stefano Callegaro
- Serves 4 – 40 mins preparation
Ingredients:
- 200 g kale
- 200 g Romanesco cabbage in florets
- 400 g pre-cooked chickpeas
- 150 g of tomato purée
- 100 ml of water
- 4 slices of rye bread
- 100 g crème fraîche
- Rosemary, sage, thyme
- Salt, pepper, olive oil
- 1 potato
Method:
- Kale – Cook the kale for 5 minutes in lots of salted boiling water. Cook the potato in a different saucepan. Remove the central part of the kale, which is too thick and not suitable for eating, then drain it and allow to cool in water and ice to maintain its bright colour. When the kale is thoroughly cooled, drain it again and, without pressing it, place it in a bowl for the following stage.
- Chickpeas – Heat a dash of olive oil in a saucepan with a clove of garlic and a sage leaf. Once everything is fragrant, add the chickpeas and then stirring constantly, brown them on the bottom for a few minutes. Add the tomato purée, water and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes.
- Romanesco cabbage – Cook the Romanesco cabbage florets in plenty of salted boiling water for 7 minutes before draining them and seasoning them with a drop of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Croutons – Heat a cast iron grill, lightly oil the bread with just a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and then add the rosemary leaves and place the bread on the grill with the rosemary touching the grid; toast well and then cut into square croutons.
- Dressing – Take the kale that has been previously blanched in the water. Together with a drizzle of olive oil and the cooked potato, mix everything together until you achieve a smooth consistency. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and add salt and pepper. Just before serving, heat the cream for one minute in the microwave. Place a spoonful of chickpeas in the centre of the plate and then pour the kale cream all around them. Artfully distribute the Romanesco cabbage florets and decorate with a few dollops of crème fraîche and rosemary bread croutons.
4. Tunisian tagine-style gluten-free cake
- Starter, France
- By Chef Sophie Vignal
- Restaurant: Les P’tits Gueuletons
- Serves 8 – 40 mins preparation
Ingredients:
- 8 eggs
- 1 large potato (e.g. Bintje)
- 2 wedges of spreadable cheese
- 100 g grated Emmental cheese
- 1 tablespoon thick crème fraîche
- 100 g grated carrots
- 50 g peas
- 4 slices goat’s cheese
- 5 fresh mint leaves
- Salt
- Pepper
- Gluten-free flour (for the baking pan)
Method:
- In a bowl, beat the eggs with the crème fraîche, salt and pepper.
- Add the grated Emmental.
- Cook the potato in boiling water and then mash it with the goat’s cheese and the cream cheese. Incorporate this mixture into the egg mixture, then add the chopped mint and vegetables (peas and carrots).
- Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan.
- Bake at 180°C for 45 minutes.
5. Stoemp vegetarian cottage pie
- Main Course, Belgium
- By Chef Mark Silverstein
- Restaurant: 22b
- Serves 10 – 60 mins preparation
Ingredients (for the mince):
- 250 g onions
- 500 g meat substitute (e.g. soya or tofu proteins)
- 250 ml vegetable stock
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 pinch of white pepper
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
Ingredients (for the stoemp):
- 1 kg potatoes
- 50 g milk
- 100 g butter
- 1 egg
- 250 g leeks
- 250 g fresh spinach
Method:
- Peel and finely chop the onions. Soften them in a frying pan with oil. Add the meat substitute. Simmer for 10 minutes on low heat before adding the vegetable stock. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Remove from the heat and add the beaten eggs.
Mix well and then spread evenly in a baking dish. - Peel and dice the potatoes.
Cook them for 15 minutes in boiling salted water.
Drain, add 50 g of butter and 50 g of milk, and then mash. - While the potatoes are cooking, gently fry the finely chopped leeks in a frying pan with 50 g of butter for 10 minutes.
- Rinse the spinach and cook with the leeks for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Mix with the mashed potatoes and spread over top of the meat substitute. Bake at 190°C for 35 minutes.
Serve piping hot.
6. Crushed green peas and trout
- Main Course, Czech Republic
- By Chef Ondřej Panoš
- Restaurant: Spojka
- Serves 4 – 20 mins preparation
Ingredients (for the trout):
- 800 g trout
- 6 ml rapeseed oil
- 16 g butter
- 1 pinch of salt
- Lemon juice
- 5 g parsley
- 5 g mint
Ingredients (for the crushed green peas):
- 600 g peas
- 150 g shallots
- 6 ml rapeseed oil
- Salt, pepper
- 1 lemon (juice)
- 10 g mint
Method:
- Crushed green peas – Chop the shallots and soften them in olive oil, then add 2/3 of the green peas and season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat while stirring the mixture, then add the lemon juice and chopped mint. Crush with a fork to obtain a purée. Mix in the rest of the peas. Keep warm.
- Trout – Fry the trout fillets skin side down in rapeseed oil.
Remove from heat when done. - Serving – Season the trout fillets and sprinkle with the freshly chopped herbs (mint and parsley). For a heartier meal, you can serve this with boiled potatoes and a bit of butter.
7. Barley potage with sheep’s cheese and tempeh
- Main Course, Slovakia
- By Chef Matúš Serafin
- Restaurant: Veg Life
- Serves 4 – 80 mins preparation
Ingredients:
- 300 g barley grains
- 200 g marinated tempeh
- 200 g Bryndza sheep’s cheese
- 100 g sour cream
- 50 g chives
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- Salt
- Four pepper blend
Method:
- Soak the barley grains in water for at least 1 hour.
- Strain andrinse the grains and cook in a saucepan just as you would cook rice for approximately 20 minutes.
- Pre-heat the oven to 190°C.
- Meanwhile, dice the tempeh into 1 cm cubes and brush them with sunflower oil.
- Arrange the tempeh cubes on a baking sheet and bake at 190°C for 15 minutes.
- Mix the cheese with the sour cream and the barley grains once the water has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper.
- Arrange the cubes of tempeh on top of this mixture and sprinkle with chopped chives.
8. Spinach, pumpkin and parmesan risotto
- Main Course, France
- By Chef Maxime et Jean-Sébastien
- Restaurant: Pollen
- Serves 6 – 55 mins preparation
Ingredients:
- 320 g of pumpkin (deseeded)
- 160 g fresh spinach (stems removed)
- 55 ml crème fraiche
- 15 g parmesan cheese
- 30 ml olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 540 ml vegetable stock
- 320 g risotto rice
Method:
- Clean the spinach, take off the stems and remove the seeds from the pumpkin
- Cut the pumpkin into medium-sized cubes (about 2 cm) and roast it in the oven at 180°C in half the olive oil for 40 minutes
- Then heat the other half of the olive oil in a pan and add the rice so that it is coated with the oil
- Add the crushed garlic and rosemary and allow it to cook for 2 minutes over a medium heat to release all the aromas
- Then little by little, add the vegetable stock, ensuring that it is fully absorbed between each ladle. When adding the final ladle of stock, add the spinach.
- Once the leaves have reduced, add the parmesan, the crème fraiche and the cubed pumpkin
- Season to taste with salt and pepper…
9. Sericaia
- Dessert, Portugal
- By Chef Fábio Bernardino
- Restaurant: Travel & Flavours
- Serves 6 – 45 mins preparation
Ingredients:
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 500 g milk
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 3 eggs
- 35 g flour
- 25 g cornstarch
Ingredients (for the plum purée):
- 150 g plums
- Juice of 1 orange
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 100 ml water
- 1 star anise
Method:
- Infuse the cinnamon, anise and lemon zest in the milk, gradually warming it.
- Separate the egg yolks and mix with flour and cornstarch to form an even paste. Pour the warm milk over the paste and heat until it thickens.
- Remove the spices. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture, then pour into a ceramic dish and bake at 160°C for 30 minutes.
- For the plum purée:
Gradually infuse the cinnamon and anise in a saucepan with the water. Add the chopped plums and orange juice and leave to stew. - Serve a slice of sericaia with the plum purée and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
10. Moist chocolate-beetroot cake
- Dessert, Belgium
- By Chef Nouria Alami
- Restaurant: Nutri-Challenge
- Serves 8 – 20 mins preparation
Ingredients:
- 200 g dark chocolate
- 200 g cooked beetroot
- 3 eggs
- 80 g sugar
- 80 g flour
- ½ sachet of baking powder
- 40 g butter
- 1 pinch of salt
Method:
- Heat the oven to 180°C.
- Melt the chocolate with the butter in a bain marie. Beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the flour and yeast. Mix until you achieve an even consistency, then add the melted chocolate.
- Puree the cooked beetroot in a blender and add to the mixture.
- Pour into a cake pan and bake 45 mins in the oven.
