Comforting crumbles

At HFG we love finding ways to make our favourite dishes healthier. From satisfying pies to decadent desserts, we believe that with a bit of nutritional tinkering most culinary treats can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet.

In our November issue, we put the spotlight on fruit crumbles and our chefs surpassed themselves when experimenting with healthier fillings and toppings. In fact, they managed to concoct so many delicious variations there wasn’t enough room for all of them in the magazine. But we didn’t want you to miss out, so we thought we’d share the leftovers with you here. A serving of either crumble contains one of your 5-a-day and is low in saturates and salt.

Apple and raspberry

Serves: 6

Prep: 5 min

Cook: 20 min

400g tin sliced apples

200g frozen raspberries

60g caster sugar, plus 1tbsp extra

60g self-raising flour

40g rolled oats

30g low-fat spread

1tsp vanilla extract

6 small scoops low-fat ice cream, to serve

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas 5. Combine the tinned apples, frozen raspberries and the 1tbsp caster sugar in a 1.25 litre baking dish.

2 Put the flour and oats into a mixing bowl, then rub in the spread with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the remaining 60g sugar.

3 Sprinkle the vanilla extract over the fruit, then add the crumble topping. Bake for 20 min or until golden. Serve with the ice cream.       

Per serving: 238kcal, 3.7g protein, 4.9g fat, 2.4g saturates, 35.1g sugar, 3.9g fibre

Strawberry and almond

Serves 6

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 25 min

125g reduced-calorie strawberry jam

500g strawberries, halved

25g toasted flaked almonds

60g caster sugar, plus 1tbsp extra

60g self-raising flour

40g rolled oats

30g low-fat spread

1tsp vanilla extract

6 small scoops low-fat ice cream, to serve

1Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas 5. Warm the jam in a saucepan, then add the strawberries and stir to combine. Transfer to a 1.25 litre baking dish.

2Put the flour and oats into a mixing bowl. Rub in the spread until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar and almonds. Sprinkle over the strawberry mixture, then bake for 20 min or until golden. Serve with the low-fat ice-cream.

Per serving: 258kcal, 4.8g protein, 7.2g fat, 2.6g saturates, 34g sugar, 3.1g fibre

Pick up the November issue of Healthy Food Guide magazine for eight more variations including a classic apple and sultana and an exotic pineapple, rum and raisin.

A fresh start in food…

By Melanie Leyshon

Home-delivery food service Hello Fresh is not a takeaway, more a  ‘make-at-home’. All you do is browse online and choose three meals from their current recipe selection. Each week a box of quality ingredients (meat is ethically reared and fish comes from sustainable sources), together with step-by-step recipe cards, is delivered to your home.

Hello Fresh Butterflied Mexican Chicken

Since the launch last year, 3 million meals with an international flavour have been delivered across the UK. Hello Fresh best-sellers include prawn and prosciutto linguine and lamb kofta with almond couscous and cucumber salad. Prices start from £36 for three veggie meals for two. Patrick Drake, who started the company and heads the creative recipe team, talks to HFG.

What your background?

I was a lawyer at Goldman Sachs, but always loved cooking and teaching, so I decided to quit law and try to get a cooking show! I remember writing down this notion one day at work, along with the five steps I’d need to take to get there.

Patrick Drake founded Hello Fresh

How did you get on…?

Step one – to get as many culinary mentors as possible, so I started cooking in the kitchen of my firm at lunchtime. After work, I’d hop a cab and swap pin stripes for chef's whites on the way to the Cuckoo Club in Mayfair, while weekends were spent working for top Spanish chef Jose Pizarro. Pretty soon I resigned from my job… and, when I told my boss I wanted to get into cooking on TV, he almost choked on his cappuccino. What followed were petrifying auditions at New York’s Food Network, hours making videos for YouTube and a stint with Heston [Blumenthal] at the Fat Duck in Bray. Five years on, I’m happy to say I have a TV series in 47 countries and Hello Fresh, my food company, which teaches thousands of people to cook from the comfort of their kitchen. It's almost scary how my thoughts turned into reality.

Hello Fresh are fairly healthy meals that come in generous portions?

Yes, it’s all about healthy food, but we are not a pure health food company. We design each recipe to be nutritious, balanced and fresh, but if we think a spoonful of crème fraîche will complete the dish, we'll add add it (your readers can use reduced-fat ingredients, if they prefer). The biggest problem in the UK is the amount of processed food people buy and the gap that creates between that and our vision of preparing simple healthy meals at home. Nutritious, home-cooked food shouldn’t be seen as an indulgence but rather an everyday habit.

Are you health-conscious?

I have a busy lifestyle and need to refuel at least every two hours to keep going – as my friends and colleagues know! Many of us tend to put healthy food last, but it should be our priority. Whenever I’m tight for time, I force myself to take the time to eat and that way I work far more efficiently.

There’s an international flavour to Hello Fresh dishes…

That’s because I'm from London, although my family lives in Hong Kong and I've lived in France, Japan and Hong Kong - I love to move around - keeps life adventurous!

For details of the boxes, visit hellofresh.co.uk