Emily English is the viral nutritionist who has been helping women reshape their relationship with healthy eating with delicious recipes that go viral. “Nutrition isn’t about restriction or misery,” she says. It also doesn’t need to be high-effort and fussy. With three million social media followers, two bestselling recipe books and £1 million in the bank, English shares dishes from her latest book, So Good Express.
1. Pesto-ish ricotta-stuffed omelette
Clare Winfield
Serves 1
Prep: 3 minutes. Cook: 4 minutes. 350 cals. 28g protein
I’m a big fan of a breakfast omelette — they’re quick, filling and you can create variety with different herbs and vegetables. Eggs and ricotta are best friends. Paired with parmesan and fresh basil, this is reminiscent of pesto without the fuss of getting out a blender.
Ingredients
3 medium eggs
Salt and black pepper
1 tsp butter or olive oil
1 heaped tbsp ricotta
1 tbsp grated parmesan
Small handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve
Handful of rocket, to serve
Method
1. Crack the eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk well. Heat the butter or olive oil in a nonstick frying pan over a medium-low heat. Pour in the eggs and cook gently, pulling the edges inwards with a spatula to allow the uncooked egg to flow underneath.
2. Once the omelette is mostly set but still a little soft on top, dollop the ricotta across one half of it. Sprinkle with the grated parmesan, a crack of extra black pepper and the chopped basil. Carefully fold the omelette in half and cook for 30 seconds more.
3. Slide onto a plate, scatter over some basil leaves and serve with rocket.
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2. Honey salmon with sesame avocado crush
Clare Winfield
Serves 2
Prep: 5 minutes. Cook: 10 minutes. 567 cals. 34g protein per serving
A good salmon bowl is a weekly staple in my house. Finish this quick pan-fried salmon with a squeeze of lime and scoop it up with crisp nori sheets.
Ingredients
For the salmon
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1 tsp white sesame seeds
Salt and black pepper
2 skinless salmon fillets (about 260g in total)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp runny honey
For the avocado crush
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1 small garlic clove, finely minced
Half a red chilli, finely diced
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 medium avocado (about 150g flesh), lightly crushed
Juice of 1 lime
A quarter of a cucumber, deseeded and diced
For the bowl
1 x 250g pouch cooked brown or jasmine rice
To serve
Fresh coriander
Pinch of sesame seeds
Lime wedges
Nori sheets (optional)
Method
1. Mix the sesame seeds with a pinch each of salt and black pepper on a small plate. Pat dry the salmon fillets with kitchen roll and then press them into the sesame-seed mix to coat the tops.
2. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the salmon for 3-4 minutes on the seed side. Flip, drizzle over the honey and cook for another 3-4 minutes until golden, sticky and cooked to your liking. Remove and set aside.
3. Add the spring onions, garlic and diced chilli to the same pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Drizzle in the sesame oil, sizzle briefly, then remove from the heat.
4. In a small bowl, mix the crushed avocado with the spring onion mixture, lime juice, cucumber and a pinch of salt.
5. Heat the rice according to packet instructions and divide between bowls. Serve the salmon over the rice with a generous scoop of the avocado crush. Garnish with fresh coriander, sesame seeds, lime wedges and use nori sheets for scooping, if you like.
3. Cheat’s morning shakshuka
Clare Winfield
Serves 1
Prep: 3 minutes. Cook: 6-8 minutes. 287 cals. 20g protein (without bread)
This shortcut shakshuka uses a good-quality pasta sauce with no additives, for full flavour and zero chopping. Crack in your eggs, let them gently poach in the rich tomato base and scoop it up with toast or warm pitta. You won’t believe how good this is for such minimal effort.
Ingredients
150g good-quality pasta sauce (no additives)
Handful of spinach
Half a red or green pepper, deseeded and finely diced
2 medium eggs
Salt and black pepper
15g crumbled feta
1 tbsp chopped parsley
Toast or warm pitta, to serve (optional)
Method
1. Pour the pasta sauce into a frying pan over a low heat. Stir through the spinach and pepper. Let the sauce bubble gently for 1-2 minutes to warm through and thicken slightly.
2. Use the back of a spoon to make two wells in the sauce and carefully crack an egg into each one. Reduce the heat to low, add 1 tbsp water to create steam and cover, cooking for 5 minutes until the egg whites are just set and the yolks remain soft.
3. Season generously with salt and black pepper, then scatter over the crumbled feta and fresh parsley.
4. Serve straight from the pan with toast or warm pitta for dipping, if you like.
4. Sage butter fried eggs with Turkish yoghurt
Clare Winfield
Serves 1
Prep: 5 minutes. Cook: 5 minutes. 350 cals. 28g protein (without bread)
This is one of my favourite quick flavour combinations that I often have on the weekend. Just the right mix of rich and fresh. One pan, five minutes.
Ingredients
120g thick Greek yoghurt
Salt and black pepper
Half a small garlic clove, finely grated, or ½ tsp garlic granules
1 heaped tsp butter
4 sage leaves
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 large eggs
Warm flatbread or toast, to serve (optional)
Method
1. Spread the yoghurt in a shallow bowl, season with salt and pepper and stir through the grated garlic or granules.
2. Melt the butter in a small pan and add the sage leaves and chilli flakes. Fry for a few seconds until fragrant.
3. Crack in the eggs and fry in the sage butter until the whites are set and the edges golden. Flip if you want.
4. Place the eggs on top of the yoghurt, then pour over the butter from the pan and the crispy sage leaves.
5. Serve at once, with bread if you like.
5. Hot honey cottage cheese avo toast
Clare Winfield
Serves 1
Prep: 5 minutes. Cook: 2 minutes. 364 cals. 14g protein
Cottage cheese has made such a comeback, and this is one of my most viral recipes (if you can even call it a recipe). Creamy, herby avocado with cottage cheese and a drizzle of warm chilli honey. Sweet, salty, spicy and ready in minutes. A solid high-protein breakfast or quick lunch.
Ingredients
Half a medium avocado
Small handful of chives and basil, finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and black pepper
1 x 45g slice of sourdough bread, toasted
2 heaped tbsp cottage cheese
1 tsp runny honey
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
Method
1. Mash the avocado in a bowl with the chopped herbs, lemon juice and some salt and pepper.
2. Spoon the herby avocado over the toasted sourdough, then spread the cottage cheese on top.
3. Warm the honey with the chilli flakes (10 seconds in the microwave or gently in a pan) and drizzle over to finish.
6. Broccoli carbonara
Clare Winfield
Serves 2
Prep: 5 minutes. Cook: 15 minutes. 566 cals. 36g protein
Carbonara is actually such a quick pasta dish to make and I love how it uses ingredients most of us have in the refrigerator. This is my “when a carbonara meets a classic cheesy broccoli pasta” recipe — definitely not authentic, but by no means any less delicious.
Ingredients
150g dried pasta (spaghetti or short pasta)
Salt and black pepper
200g broccoli florets
4 Parma ham slices, roughly torn
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs
50g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra (optional) to serve
Method
1. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to packet instructions, adding the broccoli for the final 3-4 minutes. Reserve 150ml of the pasta cooking water, then drain.
2. While the pasta cooks, heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the Parma ham until crisp, adding the garlic for the final 30 seconds.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with the parmesan and a generous pinch of pepper.
4. Add the hot pasta and broccoli to the pan with the Parma ham, remove from the heat and quickly stir in the egg-parmesan mixture, adding splashes of the reserved pasta water until the sauce is silky and clings to the pasta.
5. Serve straight away, with extra parmesan if you like.
Extracted from So Good Express by Emily English (Seven Dials, £25), published on May 7. To order a copy, go to timesbookshop.co.uk or call 020 3176 2935