Do you ever consider the amount of energy you use when cooking? Cook, TV Broadcaster and all-round-lifestyle-guru Laura Jackson has devised a series of low-energy summer recipes in collaboration with EON to help inspire your sustainable cooking adventures. Laura’s recipes can help you save up to £146 per year by adopting sustainable cooking methods, from the ingredients used to reducing your energy consumption, every element of the recipe has been considered. If you’re wanting to shift to a more sustainable way of living, these recipes could be a great starting point.
“Each element of every recipe, including appliances, methods and ingredients has been meticulously crafted to ensure that they’re making a real difference to the amount of power being consumed in the kitchen.”
– Laura Jackson on Sustainable Cooking
New research from E.ON has revealed that more than a third (36%) of people have become aware of the amount of energy they’re using at home over the course of lockdown. Additionally, over half (54%) of Brits would change their cooking habits to become more sustainable to save energy if they knew how to. Here’s a couple of Laura’s delicious recipes to kick off your low energy culinary adventures…
Citrus Salmon, Salsa Verde with New Potatoes & Asparagus – Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 4 x120g salmon fillets, skin removed
- 4 slices of lemon
- Salt & Pepper
Salsa Verde
- Handful coriander, roughly chopped
- Handful parsley, roughly chopped
- Handful dill, roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- Juice 1 lemon juice
- 5 tbsp of olive oil
- Salt & pepper
Veg
- 20 spears of asparagus, trimmed
- 650g new potatoes, halved
Method:
- Boil your kettle (this should take approx. 2 mins). Place the potatoes in a pan of salted boiling water over a medium heat. Leave to partially cook for 4 minutes.
- Line your salmon steamer basket with parchment, then place your steamer over the potatoes and add the salmon. Sprinkle lightly with salt and lay one piece of lemon on each piece of salmon. Put the lid on and leave for 6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the salsa; put the herbs, garlic, onion, lemon, olive oil and salt & pepper in a bowl and mix to combine. Taste for seasoning, if you like it zingy add more lemon. Put to one side.
- Take off the lid and salmon basket when the time is up. Place the empty basket on the bottom of the steamer and put in the asparagus. Put the steamer with the salmon on top of the asparagus and replace the lid. Cook for 5 minutes until the asparagus are bright green and firm to touch.
- Once the asparagus are cooked everything should be ready. Check the salmon, this should be pale and cooked through. Check the potatoes by inserting a knife, if it easily inserts and falls off these are ready to drain.
- Plate up the salmon, asparagus and potatoes and drizzle over the salsa verde.
One Pot Past with Cherry Tomatoes, Red Pepper, Artichokes, Capers & Chilli -Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 300g spaghetti
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 shallots, finely chopped (approx. 50g)
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 450g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 10g thyme
- A glug of extra virgin olive oil
- 975ml freshly boiled water
- 1 tsp veg stock powder or 1/2 stock cube, crumbled
- 3 tablespoon baby capers
- 2 whole roasted red peppers, finely chopped (jarred works well)
- 12 marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
- ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
- Salt & pepper to taste
To finish
- 40g grated parmesan or 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper
- Drizzle of Olive oil
Method:
- Put the pasta ingredients into a large saucepan/sauté pan along with a pinch of sea salt. Cover the pasta ingredients with the water and put the pan on a high heat. Place the lid on the pan until you get a good rolling boil (2-3 mins).
- When you have a rolling boil, carry on cooking the pasta for an additional 9-10 minutes. Continue to stir the pasta while it cooks. When the pasta is al dente, turn off the heat and carry on stirring. The residual heat will keep softening the pasta and the cooking liquid will have thickened to form a nice sauce.
- Finish the pasta with the grated cheese or nutritional yeast. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and a glug of olive oil.
- Use tongs to serve the pasta from the pan and spoon over the sauce. Top with extra parmesan if you wish.
Laura has created four exclusive new recipes that are perfect for alfresco dining at home, they can be found HERE. All the recipes have been designed using energy-saving techniques and minimal waste ingredients to help you be more energy efficient in the kitchen, they are cost-effective, easy to make and ideal for feeding all the family.
Happy sustainable cooking!
