Anthony - Bored of Lunch: The Healthy Air Fryer Book

Nathan Anthony is a Northern Irish Homecook who set up a lockdown food blog Bored of Lunch to get people cooking, eating healthier and give them something to focus on during the pandemic. By day Nathan works at a FTSE100 company so cooks in a way to suit his pretty hectic schedule. Initially aimed at busy professionals this quickly expanded to all those working from home, busy parents and those who want quick, calorie-controlled recipes.

Welcome to my second Bored of Lunch book. Wow! That sounds so surreal saying that. If you are new to Bored of Lunch you are very welcome! I think you are going to love these books.

For those who dont already know me, my name is Nathan, and Im not a chef and I dont work in the food industry. I am a busy home cook with a full-time job so the recipes in this book, like the recipes I post online, are tailored for those who want delicious healthy food that isnt going to take them ages to make.

I published my first book, The Healthy Slow Cooker Book in January 2023 and its aim was to encourage people to embrace this amazing time-saving kitchen gadget to enable you to make healthy (or sometimes just healthier ) food. Well, now its the air fryers turn.

For anyone who already follows me online, you know how much I love my air fryer. Not only does it make it possible to create lower-fat versions of your everyday favourites, it is also much faster than a conventional oven and (my favourite part) only uses a fraction of the electricity, making it a much more cost-effective way to cook.

Now, Im not a dietitian, and I dont come from a fitness background but I do count my calories, just so I can keep an eye on what Im eating over a week. With this in mind, I have included the calories for all of the recipes for anyone else who finds it useful to track. Thats not to say that all the recipes in this book are super lean or low calorie. Just like my first book, there is a full range of recipes in here to help you manage a healthy balance of nutritious food that also makes you feel satisfied.

On the pages that follow you can expect recipes to recreate some of your favourite takeaways in the Fakeaways chapter ( ). Add to that, chapters full of starters and snacks, sides and some delicious sweet treats, I know youll find food in here for any occasion, no matter who youre cooking for. I hope you enjoy these dishes, and please do share them with me on social media. I love seeing people recreate my recipes at home.

Love,

Nathan

In my opinion an air fryer is one of the best kitchen gadgets you can have in your arsenal, especially if you are counting calories or trying to slim down. These brilliant machines reduce the need for oil when frying food to merely a small spray, because they cook using hot air instead, but they still give that awesome crispiness that we all desire from fried food. The compact space through which the heat is blasted cooks the food quicker, too. One of the additional benefits of an air fryer beyond speed is how cost-effective they are, because they use much less energy than your traditional oven or hob, thus saving you time and money.

Every air fryer is slightly different, and even when different machines are set to the same temperature some will cook things quicker than others, in my experience, so get to know your own machine. You might need to slightly alter the timings set out in this book by 12 minutes, but you will pick this up quickly. I now know my air fryer like the back of my hand.

Air fryers that have a basket or drawer tend to perform better than those with an oven-like door. Some machines rotate, which I wouldnt recommend as this will remove any coating you have applied such as breadcrumbs on chicken, for example. If you have a drawer-based air fryer, you can give it a gentle shake during cooking to ensure nothing sticks, then you will get a very even cook across all the contents.

The air fryer that I recommend for roughly four portions of food would be a 7.5L machine mine has two drawers so I can separate, for example, chips from chicken, which is perfect. There are so many types of air fryers to choose from, the one I recommend has a handle on the drawer. Some air fryers have shelves and look like mini ovens, but I have found they are pretty much just an oven and dont give the same crispy results.

This table gives the perfect guide to cooking in your air fryer. Some of the cooking times may vary and might need to be adjusted based on the weight of products and your air fryer, so this is just a general guide (see ). The sizes used are standard supermarket product averages.

FISH	Cod fillets	1012 minutes	200C
Scallops	78 minutes turn halfway through	200C
Tuna steak	12 minutes	180C
Salmon	1214 minutes	180C
Prawns	7 minutes	180C

VEG	Potatoes (chopped into small chunks)	20 minutes	200C
Potato (whole)	45 minutes	200C
Sweet potato (whole)	35 minutes	200C
Kale	6 minutes	200C
Sliced mushrooms	7 minutes	200C
Tomatoes	6 minutes	170C
Broccoli florets	8 minutes	200C
Tenderstem broccoli	56 minutes	200C
Asparagus	6 minutes	200C

MEAT	Whole chicken	1 hour 15 minutes	190C
Chicken breasts	1718 minutes	190C
Chicken drumsticks	22 minutes	200C
Chicken tenders	11 minutes	200C
Chicken wings	1522 minutes	200C
Sausages	15 minutes	200C
Bacon slices	89 minutes	190C
Beef burgers	1215 minutes	190C
Pork chops	10 minutes	200C
Steak	815 minutes adjust on preference	200C
Rack of lamb	2225 minutes	200C
Lamb chops	11 minutes	200C

FROZEN FOODS