Jamie Oliver’s Super Food Challenge Day #5

Find out about more about The Happy Foodie Super Food Challenge here.

What I Made:

• Smoky Veggie Feijoada, Black Beans, Squash, Peppers & Okra (Black Bean Stew)

What I Thought:

Chilli con Carne features high on my list of go-to family recipes and, with its blend of smoky paprika, peppers and beans, I had high hopes that Feijoada would hold similar appeal. It also promised to be perfect get-ahead dish to cook for guests (we had three over on Friday evening).

It didn’t disappoint. The feijoada stew was simple to prepare in advance, just requiring a quick blast of heat before serving. It proved (almost) universally popular and, as expected, was rich with the flavours more usually associated with Mexican food. The hearty and comforting stew was lifted beautifully by the freshness of the salsa and the brown rice offered a welcome crunch to pull the whole dish together. Portion sizes were generous, and there are plenty of leftovers, which are now in my freezer awaiting a busy weeknight when I just want to be able to throw a healthy meal together without fuss.

Sadly, youngest daughter remained unmoved by this latest attempt to woo her with Jamie’s Super Food. She’s no fan of squash, so perhaps I should have guessed that her bowl would remain untouched. One pretty big victory on the child front, though. They have both declared a love of brown rice so that’s an ingredient switch I’ll be making regularly from now on.

What I made:

• Skinny Carbonara with Peas, Almonds, Lemon and Garlic

What I thought:

I was out for breakfast and lunch on Friday so was only able to cook one thing from the book. I chose the Skinny Carbonara as it was so quick and easy to prepare and I wasn’t due to get home until late. It was a bit of a gamble to choose a pasta dish as I was cooking for my Italian partner, who is generally not a fan of recipes that try to reinvent Italian classics, but we both agreed that it was really very nice – creamy yet light, fresh yet comforting. He is also a coeliac so I used gluten free brown rice spaghetti, which worked perfectly as a substitute. I was cooking in a different kitchen so didn’t have a food processor, which Jamie’s recipes so often require. I had to mash the peas with a fork, which was a little labour-intensive and created a coarser sauce than in the book, but the results were delicious nonetheless!

What I made:

• Mango and Oat Yoghurt with Blueberry Sauce
• Griddled Steak & Peppers Herby Jewelled Tabbouleh Rice

What I thought:

Fruit and yoghurt is something I eat regularly, but this was a new level of breakfast deliciousness. Instead of a heavily sugary granola, I had oats toasted with fennel seeds and coconut flakes, and instead of cold blueberries, I had them briefly warmed with a little water, which made a quick and easy sticky sauce. The addition of fennel seeds to this dish is a genius touch. It’s one of those spices that hovers between sweet and savoury and stops the mango and rich sauce from being overwhelming first thing in the morning. I’m going to make an enormous batch of the oat/coconut/fennel mixture and have it ready to go at all times.

I had been looking forward to my Friday night steak dinner all week, and it didn’t disappoint at all. The herbs hitting the hot brown rice filled the kitchen with an intoxicating smell, and the whole combination of the dish was unbelievable: tender, meaty fillet steak; warm, comforting rice; sharp, salty feta; sweet pops of pomegranate; rich, oily roasted peppers. It was my dream dish – something decadent that you could still easily eat out of a bowl. Perfect for a Friday night on the sofa.

Join us in our Super Food Challenge for a chance to win the complete Jamie Oliver cookbook collection! Find out more.