Catherine Saxelby's Foodwatch | Recipes - Healthy heart - Subcategories and recipes

This is an easy way to dress up chicken pieces - and there's only four ingredients! While it's in the oven, you can do the vegetables or throw together a large salad.

Cooking for vegetarians and meat-eaters in the one household? This easy recipe is one of those that can do double-duty, satisfying both camps - it's filled with a mixture of rice, beans, tomato, corn and cheese which makes for good protein for the vegetarians AND it can become a delicious accompaniment to a plain grilled steak or fish for the carnivores.

A flavoursome accompaniment to grilled meat or fish.

This smoothie gives you lots of nutrition for a third of the fat and kilojoules of normal milkshakes. And it's a delicious way to take in more oat bran for soluble fibre. Great for hungry teens and very active people.

A delicious quick-to-make recipe, this egg dish is a cross between an omelette and a quiche - but without all the fuss or the fat of pastry! With its pumpkin base, it's a complete meal, ideal for vegetarians.

This salad is a fresh and zesty accompaniment to grilled fish on the barbecue. It has almost no fat, heaps of fibre and we've kept the salt down by being frugal with the fish sauce - a little goes a long way! If you haven't got a turnip, it still turns out fine.

I love this easy chicken recipe from McCormick with lots of paprika and oregano to add antioxidants. Also a good one for a gluten-free diet as pure dried spices have nothing else added (eg thickeners) and so are safe for coeliac disease.

Try this easy pasta recipe when you need a quick dinner and all you've got in the cupboard is a can of salmon and some fusilli or penne pasta. It's low GI (good for diabetes), low in saturated fat and high in those helpful omega-3s.

Here's an easy lamb recipe with two slow-release low GI carbs - lentils and yoghurt. You feel fuller for longer!

A great high-fibre filler for dieters in cold weather - heat a bowl or microwave a mug whenever you're hungry. This is the sort of soup that gets promoted in Kickstart Diets or various Detox regimes (not that I'm a fan of either). But this soup is low in kilojoules/calories and high in veggies and fibre so it's a dieter's best friend.

This is an interesting main meal salad or it can be served piled onto rice crackers as a pre-dinner nibble. You can prepare it ahead and store covered in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Don't add the dressing until the last minute.

This is a delicious, easy soup to make at home. If you are on a low salt diet, use water instead of the stock or cook up a batch of your own home-made stock without any salt.

A tangy and fresh tasting salad. Serve as is for a light lunch, or try adding some noodles, strips of chicken and tofu for a more filling meal. Once you've added the apples and dressing, serve immediately. I like this salad made with one sweet and one tart apple.

A variation on the traditional baked apple - this time with a crunchy oat and nut topping. Sweetened with maple syrup and orange juice, instead of sugar.

An easy old-fashioned dessert that's ideal for those cold nights. It starts with dried fruit (whatever you have at home) and plumps them up with tea along with the flavour of orange rind, cinnamon and cloves. One of my all-time favs.

Here's my fav fruit salad recipe. It's easy and you can substitute any fruit you have on hand - a great way to use up bits and pieces.

Got some bananas that are too-ripe?  Don't throw them out. Mash and use to whip up these easy muffins.

A refreshing tangy dessert which makes use of the wonderful navel oranges in season during winter. Perfect to serve after a curry or hot spicy main course. And it's low in fat and sugar, so it's good for you.

History has left no clue as to the identity of the "Betty" who first layered breadcrumbs and apples to create this dessert.

Simple yet stunning, make this easy dessert when nectarines are in season.  Works well with peaches too.

This recipe creates a light cheesecake which is a perfect summer dessert with fresh fruit. The filo provides a paper-thin outer shell instead of pastry or biscuit base and facilitates cutting.

This is an old favourite of mine that's so quick and easy to bake. It's high in fibre with little fat yet moist and delicious.

Plums and other blue-red fruit such as cherries, blueberries and cranberries, are rich in a particular type of antioxidants known as anthocyanins. Here's a low-fat version of the strudel using plums instead of apples.

If you enjoy muesli (as I do), you'll love this crispy version that gets baked in the oven.  No added fat of any kind. Lots of variations from different seeds, nuts or dried fruit.

This moist and delicious loaf will help keep your heart healthy & your cholesterol low. It's low in saturated fat and rich in fibre from the fruit, nuts and oat bran, while the walnuts boost your omega-3 intake and the sterol spread lowers cholesterol absorption.

Here is a traditional dessert recipe that's been given a makeover. It's lower in fat, especially saturated fat, rich in low GI ingredients like the oats and apples but lightly sweetened. It's a healthy treat for everyone, but is especially suitable for someone with diabetes.

This recipe makes a refreshing summer drink without the high sugar content of fizzy drink or juice. It's fat-free and also gives you the benefits of tea's polyphenol antioxidants which can neutralize harmful free radicals, keep your skin looking younger and dampen the ageing effects of the sun on the skin.

If you have lots of zucchini (courgette or squash), this is a quick recipe to turn them into a lovely light soup. The trick is to cook both the zucchini and the leeks long enough so they're nice and soft before you puree.

This is a smooth filling soup which nourishes the stomach and the soul. It still tastes wonderful even if you decide not to add the chicken pieces.

The combination of spinach, mushrooms and tofu gives a strong rich flavour to what is basically a low-fat soup.

This is an interesting clear soup which can be made hotter and spicier with the addition of chilli or can be a vegetarian dish if you omit the chicken.

Normally I'm a big fan of fresh spinach (I even grow it myself) but this easy soup is a great stand-by if you can't get the fresh version or you've got to get 'something' cooked and on the table in under 15 minutes - no mean feat by anyone's standards. It uses frozen spinach which is one of the more nutritious frozen vegetables and a handy thing to keep in your freezer.

Here's a hearty soup that's low in fat but high in fibre and flavour. Of all the legumes, lentils are the most convenient, requiring no pre-soaking overnight and no long hours of cooking.

Here's a dead-easy soup idea from the people at Salt Matters who eat a healthy diet without any added salt or salted foods. You first prepare the sweet potato and then add a can of reduced-salt tomato soup to thicken and add flavour.

This is a quick way to add a little zing to any fish fillet. If you haven't fresh rosemary, you can use the dried version, but add it later with the lemon juice and wine.

A simply divine combination for when mangos are in season. Try to choose a mango that's firm or even a little underipe with its skin tinged with green.

This delicious recipe rewards you with omega-3 fats from the fish while the crunchy salad underneath gives you a boost of minerals and fibre. And the curried-yoghurt topping is rich in calcium.

Tuna teams nicely with tomatoes, eggplant, capsicum and olive oil - all key ingredients of the heart-winning Mediterranean Diet.

Absolutely beautiful over a bed of soft rice. The spicy sauce also does justice to chicken pieces or vegetables.

I love this quick yet healthy pasta dinner. Use up whatever vegetables you have hanging around in the fridge and you'll have a family friendly meal ready in under 30 minutes. Not bad!

Use this flavoursome variation of the usual basil-based pesto to enliven any fish.
 

Sardines are an oily fish which is high in omega-3s. Easy and convenient in cans, most people just put them on toast. This is a tangy recipe that uses them in a different way.

This recipe shows how to get the omegas in balance. It gives you the omega-3s from the prawns topped up with more from canola oil, walnuts, rocket and spinach. There's little competing fats. And it's light and low in kilojoules so it keeps you at the right weight - carrying excess weight strains and loads the lower joints in your ankles and knees.

A great idea for a summer barbecue. So simple to prepare - and no washing up afterwards! The fish takes on the fragrance of the lemon, herbs and onion yet retains its simplicity and freshness.

Easy and full-flavoured, this salad gets better the day after as the flavours develop. The beans makes it low GI and high in fibre while the tuna adds protein and those all-important omega-3s.

Try this quick and easy recipe based on pasta plus a can of tuna. Best of all, it gives your omega-3s a boost!

Like something smooth and sweet after a meal? All you need is three ingredients! Easy!