At Santhem Residences, we pride ourselves on being able to supply fine dining cuisine in our Fable restaurant, or a delicious home-baked pastry in our café. However, we know that sometimes there’s nothing like enjoying a home cooked meal, especially during the winter months. In this blog, we’ll take you through some of our most loved easy winter recipes that are sure to be both delicious and nutritious!
Why is it important to have healthy winter meals?
Maintaining proper nutrition throughout the year is important, but it becomes even more important during the winter months. The colder weather brings in winter illnesses and lower temperatures, which our body needs help fighting. As we get older, having healthy winter meals becomes key to supporting our immune system, improving our wellbeing, reducing the risk of health problems, and most importantly, staying warm! During the winter months we recommend including some of these meal tips:
- Make your hot meals nutrient-dense by adding vegetables and including protein in most dishes.
- Add additional calories without the extra volume, such as sauces, gravies, grated cheese, and honey.
- Have several small meals and snacks throughout the day if you prefer these over heavy meals.
- Try some nutritious boosting alternatives, such as swapping regular mash for mashed sweet potatoes.
For our five easy winter recipes, we’ve used these tips to help us create exciting and warming winter meals that we’re sure you’ll enjoy!
Beef stew
This one pot recipe is healthy, warming, and easy, which makes it the perfect lunch or dinner meal. The meat provides protein, the potatoes for energy, and the vegetables are great for adding vitamins and minerals. This recipe needs 5 to 10 minutes of preparation time, and then you can leave it to stew for 95 minutes.
Method:
- Start by frying the meat in oil to seal most of the juices and then add in onion for a few minutes until soft.
- Sprinkle some flour over the meat and then add stock and stir well until boiling.
- Add carrots and potatoes and leave to simmer on a low heat for 1 and a half hours; make sure there is always a gravy in the stew, so add more stock if necessary.
- If you’d like, you can add in pearl barley and cook this according to the instructions, ready to add at the end.
- Add some cabbage in the last 20 minutes, and just before serving, gently mix in the pearl barley.
Sweet potato soup
This colourful and warming winter meal is great for making in a batch to store in the fridge for the next day or frozen in portions to reheat whenever you fancy. The soup contains sweet potato and butternut squash, which both contain a variety of beneficial vitamins and minerals. This easy winter recipe takes 10 minutes to prepare and only 15 minutes to cook.
Method:
- First, cover your vegetables with boiling water in the saucepan and cook until soft. We like to add red and yellow peppers to our soup as well, but you can add your vegetables of choice!
- Add some of your favourite herbs and black pepper to taste.
- When your vegetables are cooled, blend them until smooth using a freestanding or stick hand blender.
- Serve with a granary roll or sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.
Lentil curry
This chosen healthy winter meal is sure to be a big hit with anyone. It’s extremely easy, but that doesn’t mean it compromises on the taste. Lentils are an excellent low-fat source of protein and are usually a cupboard staple. This quick lentil curry takes 5 to 10 minutes to prepare and up to 30 minutes to cook.
Method:
- To start, wash and soak the lentils by following the instructions on the packaging.
- Add a bay leaf to the lentils and boil in water until tender, then drain.
- Heat up a small tin of baked beans in a pan.
- Peel and chop an onion and an apple and add some crushed garlic along with curry powder and fry in olive oil for 15 minutes until soft and browning.
- Add the lentils, baked beans, and lemon juice to taste, and accompany with a garnish of cucumber pieces.
One-pan salmon
This salmon dish is another one of our favourite one pot recipes that’s so quick and easy to make. Including salmon in a dish is not only a fantastic source of protein, but its omega-3 and B vitamins are great for your heart health and energy during the winter months. This nutritious meal only takes around 15 minutes to make!
Method:
- Preheat your oven to around 200 °C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, or make sure to thoroughly grease the pan with vegetable oil.
- Next, mix your preferred vegetables in a large bowl along with 2 tablespoons of oil as well as any seasoning, then spread them into a layer on your baking sheet.
- Put your salmon fillets, skin side down, between the vegetables and brush with some more olive oil.
- Roast for 12-15 minutes until salmon is flaky and mostly opaque, then enjoy.
Vegetable lasagne
A vegetable lasagne is another one of our popular warming winter meals. The number of vegetables in this recipe makes it a great source of fibre and nutrients that’s perfect for a winter’s day. This dish takes only 25 minutes to prepare and just over an hour to cook, which means you have time to relax while it bubbles away.
Method:
- First, make your tomato sauce by adding some onions, garlic, and carrots to a saucepan with a bit of olive oil. When they’ve softened, add some tomato puree and stock, then leave to simmer and cool, then give it a blend.
- You can also make the white sauce by melting some butter in a saucepan, stirring in plain flour, and cooking for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in some milk and bring to the boil, making sure to stir until it thickens.
- Then lightly oil your baking tray and add your chosen veggies to cook until they’re lightly browned.
- When your vegetables are ready, assemble your lasagne with layers of vegetables, sauce, pasta, and cheese. Bake until golden brown.
To find out more about the healthy winter meals we provide at Santhem Residences, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to show you around and offer a little glimpse of what your dream retirement can look like—through winter and beyond!