Real Food

I watched a program about ultra-processed food (UPF) last night.  Whilst I do agree with the program that 60%+ of the average diet should not be made up of this crap, the statements were made (and I have heard these many times before) :- a) real food is more expensive that UPF b) real food is difficult to make c) real food requires elaborate equipment to prepare.

So just for shits and giggles I made this for our lunch.  All the ingredients came from Lidl and I costed  them at £4.67 for 4 people – or about £1.20 per head.  It also would have cost a few pence for electricity/gas to cook.  This fed four very generously – in fact if you added a couple of extra peppers it would do six.  Total equipment required – chopping board, sharp knife, bowl, spoon, microwave oven, single burner hob.

Stuffed peppers with couscous and beans.  Served with flatbreads.

Make some dough with wholemeal flour, yeast and salt.  Make a tomato sauce with sunflower oil, onion, garlic, a large red chilli, dried mixed herbs and two cans of chopped tomatoes.  Remove seeds and microwave peppers until soft.   Make couscous in microwave and stir in a can of red kidney beans and a couple of spring onions.  Stuff couscous into peppers, pour over tomato sauce and microwave until fully hot.  Make flatbreads in frying pan.  Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with a spoonful of Greek yoghurt.

Just over £1 per portion.  Entirely free from additives.  Vegan (apart from the yoghurt).  It took about an hour to make and needed a minimal amount of equipment and skill.  Super tasty.

I really don’t understand why people keep on eating “ready meals” which are expensive, unhealthy and don’t even taste nice.