Mackerel and brown rice kedgeree

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Rachel shares her healthy and nutritious smoked mackerel and brown rice kedgeree. It is the perfect thing to have if you are counting calories but still wanting a filling and highly satisfying meal.

First published in 2015

Some people are stoic against hunger pangs. I'm not one of them. So when I think about eating healthily I don't look for ways of depriving myself, but for ways of filling myself up in a nutritious and efficient fashion.

High-satiety foods are a great place to start. They're the foods which 'satiate the appetite' and are proven to give you a feeling of fullness over others – fish and eggs and brown rice are all good examples. I know I'm not the only one who still has space for a cheeseburger after a portion of low-satiety chips. But I'm less likely to hunker after a burger after a portion of high-satiety brown rice.

Another cunning tactic is to introduce big flavours through spices. A teaspoon of turmeric powder or a teaspoon of chilli powder bring so much flavour and excitement to a dish at the price of a mere 8 calories, while shop-bought sauces are often loaded the exact things most diets instruct you to avoid.

This dish ticks both boxes, as it includes fish, eggs, brown rice and spices. A kedgeree is often thought of as breakfast here in the UK but add a few greens (kale in this case), ramp up the spiciness and it makes a substantial main course. Lots of kedgeree recipes use cold smoked haddock – which is delicious – but hot smoked mackerel doesn't even require any additional cooking, removing a step from the recipe. It's a quick dish, it's easy, it's filling ... but most importantly it's delicious.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Method

1
Start to cook the brown rice according to the instructions on the pack. After five minutes, heat a teaspoon of oil in a frying pan, and cook the sliced onion at a low heat for 6-8 minutes. You want it to turn soft and clear, rather than browning
2
Start boiling an egg in a small saucepan, and leave for 7 minutes.
3
Increase the heat, and add the mustard seeds to the frying pan. When they start to pop, add the chilli powder and turmeric. Stir for a minute or so to make sure the onions are coated in all of the spices. Add 50 ml of boiling water to the pan along with the kale leaves, so they steam quickly in the spiced water
4
Remove the skin from the smoked mackerel and tear up the mackerel into bite sized chunks. Put into the pan along with the cooked brown rice, and stir until any water has evaporated. Serve in a shallow bowl with a halved or quartered boiled egg
First published in 2015

Rachel is a cook, food writer (food editor of Reader's Digest) and all-round epicurean.

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