FOOD: Phil Vickery’s healthy low-cost fixes – family feasts for £5 or less
Welcome to a bumper helping of recipes from my new book Save Money Good Diet, which is all about eating healthily for less.
For a big part of my life I worked in top hotels and restaurants living the cooking dream, and achieving a coveted Michelin star. Later I opened a brasserie serving relaxed, easy food for which you didn’t need to dress up. It was fun, lively and very busy. Many of our regular customers preferred to eat there rather than at the more formal restaurant, and eventually I decided I wouldn’t concern myself with Mr Michelin and would instead crack on with simple, tasty food. I have never looked back.
‘For the book I have tried to cook everyday meals more healthily and with less money,’ writes Phil Vickery
I have cooked on the telly for the best part of 25 years. I have never had a problem cooking with low-cost prepared ingredients – name me a chef who doesn’t use frozen peas or tomato ketchup! At first the food purists (and certain well-known chefs) accused me of ‘selling out’. Even now I get the odd kicking on social media. But it didn’t deter me. Although I never compromise on flavour, I will always look for ways to save money and make cooking easier.
For the book I have tried to cook everyday meals more healthily and with less money. I have cut down the calories, salt, fat, oil and sugar. I have also sought to reduce the amount of meat or fish protein, not only because we don’t need as much as we think, but also because it’s cheaper to use tasty alternatives.
Save Money Good Diet isn’t a diet book: it lets you cook and enjoy food with a nod to being healthier and more prudent. As my wife once said to me about the Michelin-star experience, ‘I don’t want to worship the Great Food God.’ Hear, hear to that! Oh, and by the way, the year I got my Michelin star, I cooked the head inspector a frozen, defrosted chicken and a sponge pudding with custard (made from powder) for dinner. I rest my case!
Recipes and text from Save Money Good Diet by Phil Vickery
Save Money Good Diet by Phil Vickery will be published by Kyle Books on 30 May, price £14.99. As well as brilliant recipes, there’s useful advice on eating healthily on a budget from nutrition therapist Ian Marber and every dish comes with a full nutrition breakdown. To order a copy for £11.99 until 2 June, visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 0844 571 0640; p&p is free on orders over £15.
Save Money Good Diet by Phil Vickery will be published by Kyle Books on 30 May, price £14.99