4 Body + Soul
These are some of the dishes used by participants in Professor Taylor’s
trials. As well as reversing type 2 diabetes, some lost as much as 30lb
Step 1 — ultra-low-calorie dishes
Easy vegetable curry
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, thickly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp curry powder
2 large carrots, thickly sliced
400g swede, cut into 2cm chunks
1 × 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
425ml vegetable stock
4 tbsp fresh coriander, choppedMethod
1 Place the oil in a large pan over a medium
heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook
gently, stirring until the onion softens. Then
stir in the curry powder and cook for 1 min.
2 Add the carrots, swede, tomatoes, stock,
3 tablespoons of the coriander, and stir.
3 Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and
put the lid on. Simmer for 30 min, stirring
occasionally, then remove the lid and cook
for 20 min, until the vegetables are soft.
4 Season and scatter with the remaining
coriander before serving.Spiced roasted veg traybake
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20-25 min
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small cauliflower (about 300g),
broken into florets
250g broccoli, broken into florets
400g cherry tomatoes on the vineMethod
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6.
Mix all of the spices together in a large
bowl with the olive oil and 2 tablespoons
of water, until smooth.
2 Add the cauliflower and broccoli to
the bowl and toss to coat the vegetables
evenly.
3 Tip into a baking dish, place the tomatoes
on top, season with salt and pepper and
roast for 20–25 min.
4 Serve while warm.Leek and turmeric soup
with roasted cauliflower
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serves: 2
Ingredients
100g cauliflower, broken into
very small florets
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp ground cumin
½ medium onion, peeled and
finely chopped
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 medium courgette, roughly chopped
1 large leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
500ml vegetable stock
Handful of fresh coriander leaves,
to serve (optional)
Freshly ground pepperMethod
1 Preheat the oven to 240C/gas 9.
2 Place the cauliflower on a baking
tray, toss with half the olive oil and
sprinkle with half the cumin powder.
Season and roast for 10 min, turning
halfway through.
3 Meanwhile, place the onion in a
non-stick saucepan with the remaining
olive oil and 1 tablespoon of water,
and sauté over a medium–high heat
for about 5 min, stirring from time
to time.
4 Add the turmeric, courgette, leek, the
remaining cumin powder and another
tablespoon of water to the saucepan and
cook for 5-7 min, stirring regularly to
encourage the vegetables to cook
evenly — they will wilt quite a lot.
5 When nicely softened, pour in the
stock, bring up to the boil and simmer
for 10 min.
6 Remove from the heat and blitz with
a hand blender until almost smooth —
it is nice to keep a little texture. Season
to taste and serve garnished with the
roasted cauliflower florets and a little
coriander, if using.100
Approx
calories
per portion
for all recipesSpiced roasted veg traybakeThe 3-step diet plan
Low-calorie recipes
to get the weight off
Step 2 — increase
Easy breakfast bake
Prep time: 5-10 min
Cook time: 35-40 min
Serves: 2
Ingredients
½ medium red onion (about 80g),
peeled and sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp low-salt soy sauce
2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
(or 165g chestnut mushrooms)
200g or about 16 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 × 400g can of haricot beans, drained
1 × 400g can of chopped tomatoes
50g kale, roughly chopped
4 medium free-range eggs
Handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley,
to garnish (optional)Method
1 Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5.
2 Place the onion, garlic, olive oil, soy
sauce and a splash of water in a saucepan
over a medium heat and sauté for 2–3 min,
until softened. Add the mushrooms and
cook for 5 min, stirring from time to time.
Finally, add the cherry tomatoes and cook
for another 3–4 min.
3 Add the beans and tinned tomatoes,
and simmer everything for about 10 min,
adding the kale for the final 5 min.
Season to taste.
4 Transfer everything to an ovenproof
casserole dish, spreading it out evenly.
Crack the eggs on top and bake for
10–15 min, or until the eggs are just
set. Serve garnished with parsley.
Note The base mixture gets better
after a day or two in the fridge, so
if you’re just making for one, save
what you don’t use and enjoy it again
the next day.Curried red lentil soup
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
½ medium onion, peeled
(about 80g)
1 garlic clove, peeled
20g/2cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled
¾ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp garam masala
200g red split lentils
1 × 400g tin chopped tomatoes
800ml vegetable stock
1 cinnamon stick (optional)
20g natural yoghurt, to garnish
(1 tsp per portion)
Handful of fresh coriander, to garnish
½ chilli, sliced, to garnishMethod
1 Place the onion, garlic and ginger in a food
processor and blitz to a paste. Transfer to a
medium saucepan with the oil and sauté for
5 min over a medium heat, until soft. Add
the chilli flakes and spices and cook for 1 min.
2 Stir in the lentils, tomatoes and stock, and
bring to the boil. Add the cinnamon, if using,
reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 min.
3 To serve, remove the cinnamon, check the
seasoning and top each bowlful with
yoghurt. Garnish with coriander and chilli,
if using.Calories
per portion380
Calories
per portion230
Recipes by food writer Kathryn Bruton
and participants in Professor Taylor’s
studies into diabetes and weight loss