All the joys of comfort food without the bloat.
Ingredients
- 60g butter
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 500ml milk
- ½ tsp dry mustard powder
- 100g cheddar cheese, grated
- 600g tuna (in brine), drained
- 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
- 2 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
- 4 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
- 20g paprika
- 1 head iceberg lettuce
- 1 tomato, thinly sliced
- Juice of a lemon
- Salt and pepper
Per serving:
- 1 976kJ
- 23g carbohydrates
- 55g protein
- 16.8g total fat
- 1.4g fibre
- 854mg sodium
Method
1 – Begin with the sauce. Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add the flour and stir over low heat for a minute. Remove the pan and add the milk slowly, stirring with your other hand until it’s smooth. Return the pan to the heat and stir until the sauce boils and thickens.
2 – Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Take it off heat, whisk in the mustard powder and two thirds of the cheese. Only stop whisking when the sauce is rich, smooth and cheesy.
3 – Flake the tuna with a fork, throw into the cheesy sauce, add the parsley and egg. Season with salt and pepper, spoon mixture into four ovenproof ramekins.
4 – Make the topping by mixing together the bread crumbs and rest of the cheese and sprinkle over the mornay. Add a hint of colour by dusting some paprika. Shove into a preheated oven at 1800C. Bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.
5 – Shred the lettuce roughly. Add the sliced tomato – season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Toss. Serves 4 Per serving: 1 976kJ, 23g carbohydrates, 55g protein, 16.8g total fat, 1.4g fibre, 854mg sodium
Find Your Core – Take The Effort Out Of Getting Pitted
An Apple – If you’re making baked apples (stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts or raisins – can you smell them yet?), you’ll want to remove the core first. The easiest way is to dig in and with a melon baller. Just be careful not to puncture the blossom end or the filling may leak out from the bottom of the apple.
A Head of Lettuce – Here’s a core move that’ll impress all your leaf-eating friends. Smack the bottom of the head of lettuce sharply on the counter to loosen the core. Turn the head of lettuce over and pull out the core in one piece. After that, fill the hole left by the extracted core with water to rinse soil from the lettuce. Separate the leaves, wash again if necessary, and dry.
A Pineapple – Don’t let the barbs and spikes intimidate you. Start by trimming the ends of the fruit so it will sit flat on a work surface. Now cut it into quarters. On each quarter, slide a knife between the skin and flesh to remove the skin. Stand each peeled quarter on end and slice off the portion of tough, light-coloured core attached to the inside of the piece.
A Tomato – If that cake decorating set your mom gave you in hope that you’d be married by now is gathering dust, here’s a good reason to bust it out: a large star tip (used with a pastry bag) can be used as a tomato corer in a pinch. Pierce the tomato at the stem scar with the pointed end of the tip, give it a twist, and use the tip to cut out and remove the core.
A Pear – Poaching pears? Core that curvaceous little number like a dream using a measuring spoon. We found that a sturdy rounded metal measuring teaspoon is just the right size and shape to carve out the core cleanly and easily.
