Edwards - Feel-good family food: healthy mealtimes made easy

Dean Edwards fail-safe recipes and down-to-earth style have made him a firm favourite with the millions of viewers who watch him cooking up a storm every week on ITVs Lorraine .

As a busy working dad, hes all too familiar with the never-ending challenge of getting wholesome, tasty, fuss-free meals on the table. The hectic demands of family life dont leave much time for inspiration! But now you can get mealtimes back on track with Deans new collection of delicious everyday recipes that the whole family will enjoy.

Feelgood Family Food is all about appetizing ingredients, healthy meals and happy, well-fed families, so tuck in!

Dean Edwards was born and bred in Bristol, where he still lives with his wife and their daughter, Indie. His love of food was inspired by his father, who cooked beautifully but was a tradesman by profession. Although he became a digger driver himself, Dean always cooked for the love of it and in 2005 was persuaded by his friends and family to enter MasterChef . He went all the way to the final but was pipped at the post prompting thousands of viewers to flood the BBCs switchboard with complaints that he should have won.

Following a stint at the Michelin-starred Midsummer House in Cambridge, Dean worked on various television programmes, including Take on the Takeaway , This Morning and Saturday Cookbook . He is currently the resident chef on ITVs Lorraine .

Dedication

At the time of writing this book I lost three very special people in my life, people who were also very proud of me. This book is dedicated to my Gramps David The Bone Phillips, Scott Shreds Morrison and my Uncle Lionel. You are massively missed by everyone. xxx

Eating, and food in general, has always played a huge part in my life. Ive bordered on the obsessive at times, and I apologize to all the people Ive bored to tears over the years, as I chatted about what I was planning for dinner. Some say I could send a glass eyeball to sleep when sharing stories about food!

The nostalgia that comes from sharing food in a family environment gives me a warm feeling, and I still cherish memories from my childhood when I was lucky enough to have amazing, healthy food, lovingly prepared by my parents and grandparents. If Im honest, I took this for granted as a child, and when faced with a plate of greens or my mums special mung beans my mind often wandered to potato shapes and turkey drumsticks. Much later I realized how fortunate we were to be fed so well and I promised myself that I would pass this on to my children if I was ever lucky enough to have them. Fast-forward to the present day and I am the adoring father to Indie-Roux, my beautiful little girl. Healthy family food is now top of my agenda and Ive come up with a collection of family-inspired recipes which even the novice home cook can make with ease.

Whether or not my mindset on food changed because I became a father or because of the increasing bad press on convenient ready meals, I dont know. Perhaps I realized I had one last try at holding on to my youth! Whatever the reason, I can put a precise date on my eureka moment: 13th February 2012. This was when I decided that I needed to take a good look at the food I was putting into my body and cooking for my family. On that day I saw that all those years of eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, had finally caught up with me. I was bang out of shape, in my mid-thirties and had to decide whether to continue down that route or do something about it. I didnt want to be the only dad in the park not able to chase my little one around, so I decided to clean up my diet and to start exercising again.

Like so many people, my health and well-being had become secondary to work and in any downtime I had I would indulge in my favourite pastime of lazing about on the sofa watching TV and eating junk. Sound familiar? I am so thankful for the choices I made and I now feel so much healthier. I have much more energy and am in the best shape of my life and so are my family. I truly believe Ive not only changed my own life but also my familys. And that includes the lives of future generations, as Im hoping Indie takes this message on board. Its never too early to introduce your family to healthy home cooking.

Im not a nutritionist, but I know what I should be putting into my body. My quandary was this: food has always been and will always be my great love, and so many of my pleasures have revolved around cooking and eating food and still do. When I decided that I wanted to start eating more healthily I wasnt willing to compromise on flavour. I didnt want to be deprived of the joy of planning delicious meals to eat and enjoy with family and friends. I felt that a simple well-balanced diet, full of fresh ingredients, was the way forward. I used to think that foods laden with sugar and fats were the tastiest. In some respects thats true, but you cant tell me that a Thai salad with a zingy dressing isnt just as satisfying and good to eat as a fatty pie. In fact Ive found myself eating much more food than ever. Breakfast has become my most important meal of the day. Previously Id either skipped breakfast or tucked into biscuits, chocolate and fizzy drinks. Horrendous, I know, but those extra ten minutes in bed seemed more attractive than getting up and making a quick and nutritious bowl of porridge or a smoothie. Now we all have a breakfast packed with goodness before we race out of the door in the morning, so why dont you try this too? For later in the day, try making your own healthier versions of your favourite takeaways. And have an amazing one-pot supper that takes minutes to cook and saves on the washing up.

I wanted my recipes to be fuss-free; meals that families could easily get on the table in as short a time as possible. With the meals in this book you and your family will eat well and you wont miss those high-sugar, fatty foods. All this doesnt mean you cant cheat here and there everything in moderation, right? But with this approach a balanced diet packed with vegetables, lean meat, fish and fresh fruit, as well as other simple ingredients that are in your cupboard already or available from your supermarket we can all make changes that affect our bodies both inside and out, and start feeling great! I know I do.

USEFUL TIPS

Onions, garlic, shallots, potatoes and other root vegetables should generally be peeled before using, unless otherwise specified.

I use medium eggs in my recipes, unless otherwise specified, and I prefer to cook with free-range eggs if possible, but thats up to you. I have suggested free-range in recipes where eggs are a main ingredient.

Chillies vary in heat and not everyone loves them as much as I do! Feel free to use more or less chilli according to your taste. In some recipes Ive suggested deseeding the chillies but again thats up to you.

I love olive oil for some dishes and for salad dressings, but for cooking Im using coconut oil more and more. Some diet experts are now saying that some refined oils arent good for us, particularly when theyre heated. Coconut oil is not expensive, its easy to use and store and, just in case you were wondering, it doesnt taste of coconut. Ive suggested using coconut oil in many of the recipes in this book so give it a try and see what you think.