Do you do your best to plan your shopping and food so you are never caught short, but find that, somehow, life always intervenes and leaves you bare-fridged and in search of the nearest take-away outlet?

Well, I have a solution for you!

Make sure you always have a well stocked freezer and cupboards, and with a few select ingredients, you can throw together a healthy, satisfying meal in minutes, without falling off the proverbial wagon…

I would also suggest that if you are finding this happening regularly, then you should review your planning and preparation strategies! Luckily all my clients review goals, action plans and suchlike each month and I remind them to plan their weekly food and give them a shopping list template to make things a bit easier. Getting into the regular habit of shopping at certain times makes life a lot easier! Also, there is ALWAYS a better alternative than a take-away – in the age of 24 hour supermarkets, salad available in service stations etc – make sure you don’t let a less than perfect situation merely provide you with the excuse you were looking for to make a poor food choice, you know you’ll regret it!

Anyway, back to the recipe.

All you need:

Canned chickpeas (organic in water)

Canned chopped tomatoes

A red onion (these last in the fridge for ever, the only thing needed in the fridge and you could do it without!) and a clove or 2 of garlic.

Bag frozen spinach – the whole leaf, Sainsbury’s do a baby leaf that works well

Garam masala (or any spices you like really)

Balsamic vinegar, celtic sea salt, black pepper (all optional to taste)

Frozen cod fillets, or other lean protein of choice, if you like.

Coconut oil, or butter

With these ingredients you can make the delicious:

‘Emergency’ Spinach and Chickpea (and fish or chicken if you like!) Curry:

* Steam 500 + g frozen baby leaf whole spinach, or a couple of bags of regular spinach if you have it. I actualy prefer using frozen (the new baby leaf from Sainsburys is great) as it doesn’t shrink so is easier to cook, plus has the added benefit of meaning that this is a quick option you can make even when the fridge is bare (so long as you have an onion, which you could leave out really…).
* I actually tend to do this with a 1kg bag spinach and double up on the chickpeas / tomatoes and save some for future meals.
* Meanwhile, saute a red onion in coconut oil (or butter), add a clove of garlic (or you can add this later if you prefer). Add a tablespoon or so of garam masala and stir.
* Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas and add these to the pan, stirring to coat in all the spicy yumminess…
* Add the steamed spinach to the pan (drain any excess water) and add a tin of chopped tomatoes, and a sqirt of tomato paste. Stir well.
* I also add a splash of balsamic at this point, and some celtic sea salt & black pepper, and cook a while longer to let the flavours do their thing.

You can serve this as a side dish with some salad and some lean protein of choice. The first time I made this I steamed a few pieces of cod / salmon (again straight from the freezer) and then stirred the fish in to make a complete meal (veggies of course can leave that bit out!). I split it into several tupperware pots and took away with me for the weekend, along with some salad and some Juice in a Bars, so I was well sorted and not left to junk food after a hard days windsurfing!

Would love to hear what you think!

There are loads of recipes in the Fit Body Fix Members Manual, to make healthy eating a way of life, and a truly enjoyable one at that. Dropping dress sizes without deprivation or dieting, that is a win-win situation!