Fitness guru Joe Wicks is back with lean recipes to swap sit-ups for sit-downs with family and friends at the dinner table
Joe Wicks is back with a cook book, Cooking For Family & Friends featuring recipes that will make you the star of the dinner party
HE is the curly haired, super-toned South Londoner who has gone from small-time personal trainer to one of the richest men in fitness.
After breaking publishing records The Sun’s favourite food and fitness guru Joe Wicks is back — this time with a cook book featuring recipes that promise to make you the star of the dinner party.
Moving away from his Lean In 15 trilogy, Joe’s new book Cooking For Family & Friends has no fitness guides.
So no burpees for breakfast or post-dinner push ups, just mouth-watering meals and scrumptious snacks.
And Joe, 31, also known as The Body Coach, is sharing his favourite recipes from it with Sun readers over two days to help get you healthier with home-cooked food.
He says: “It is about showing people you can still socialise, eat delicious food and stay lean.
“I often get asked, ‘I’m going out, how do I stay in shape?’ or ‘I’ve got friends coming over, how can I stay healthy?’
“I want to show being lean is a lifestyle, not a chore that means you have to sacrifice your life.
“I’ve pulled all of my family favourite recipes together, the things I cook when my mates come over, to create a really delicious cook book I’m really proud of.
“I always say you can’t outrun a bad diet so it’s vital you know your way around a kitchen so you can give your body the fuel it needs to work properly.”
Before his rise to fame, Joe lived with his parents in Surbiton, south-west London and worked at a sports shop before completing a sports science degree and becoming a personal trainer, leading fitness camps in Richmond, Surrey.
He says: “When I was running bootcamps I met some people who were going to the gym twice a day but weren’t seeing any changes at all.
“One of the biggest mistakes people make is they exercise loads then don’t eat enough. If you don’t eat enough food your body holds on to fat.
“The worst thing you can do is spend two hours at the gym then eat a salad.
MOST READ IN FOOD
“Since day one, it’s been my aim to get more people cooking healthy food, and I believe this book will do just that.
“The recipes are tasty, easy to make, and as I’ve designed them to serve four to six people, you and the whole family can enjoy them and stay lean together.”
Joe’s new book shows a different side to the super-toned fitness guru, away from the gym and at home with friends and family.
He says: “It’s a shift from my three Lean In 15 books in that it’s all about bringing people together with food, while still keeping lean and healthy.
“This book was about pulling together not only my favourite recipes but also my mates’ and family’s recipes, things I know are crowd pleasers when you have people round.
“There is a big misconception when you are trying to get lean and eat healthier, that it isolates you from your friends and family. That’s not enjoyable or sustainable
“With these recipes, I’m going to show eating healthy can be fun and inclusive for everyone at every occasion, even parties, barbecues and Sunday lunches.
“I love how food can bring you such good memories. There are some proper banging recipes in here, such as toad in the hole and beef stew with dumplings — home-cooked classics that remind me of my Nanny Kath.
“This is what food is all about and I can’t wait for everyone to get their hands on these.”
- Cooking For Family & Friends: 100 Lean Recipes to Enjoy Together, by Joe Wicks, out June 1st, published by Bluebird.
Smokey Joe's Pizza
JOE SAYS: “Next time you fancy a pizza night, give this one a try instead of ordering a greasy takeaway – it’s so much healthier and tastier. Making the dough yourself is easy and you will feel proud when you sit down to eat your very own handmade pizza.”
Post-workout. Serves two. Prep 25 mins, plus proving time. Cook 15–20 mins
YOU NEED:
1 x 7g sachet of fast-action yeast
250g strong flour, plus a little extra for rolling
Salt
40g semolina
For the topping
115g baby spinach
125g kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
50g barbecue sauce
150g cooked chicken, torn into strips
2 eggs
Tip: Flour your surface well and persevere with the kneading and it will come together
METHOD: First, make the dough by placing the yeast into a jug and pouring over 150ml of warm water. Whisk together.
Tip the flour into a large bowl and add a good pinch of salt. Pour the yeast mixture into the flour and use a fork or a wooden spoon to bring it together. When the ingredients are roughly combined, generously dust a clean work surface with flour and tip the dough onto it.
Now knead the dough for about 5min. You can do this any way you want, but I find that a mixture of pounding, folding and squeezing seems to work well. The dough should become elastic with all the ingredients fully combined. Bring the dough into a ball shape, place in a large bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place to prove for 90min.
When you are ready to cook the pizza, preheat your oven to 220C/200 fan/Gas 7.
Tip the dough out of the bowl and “knock it back”, which means kneading it again for a couple of minutes until the air is worked out of it.
Dust a clean surface with flour and roll out the dough to a circle of even thickness, slightly thicker than a pound coin. Scatter the semolina onto a flat baking tray and carefully move your rolled dough onto it.
Don’t worry if the pizza loses a bit of shape, just push it out with your hands.
Next, make the topping. Tip the spinach leaves into a large colander and pour over boiling water to wilt them. Then rinse the spinach under cold running water until it is cool enough to handle, and give it a good squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible. Put the spinach into a bowl with the kidney beans.
Tip the chopped tomatoes into a sieve, give them a shake to remove a good amount of the liquid, and then tip the leftover tomato into the bowl with the spinach and kidney beans.
Pour in the barbecue sauce and mix the ingredients together.
Spread the mixture evenly over the pizza base, leaving two little indents in the centre. Scatter the chicken all over the mix then carefully crack an egg into each hole.
Cook the pizza in the oven for 15–20min, until the egg whites are set, but the yolks are still runny.
Serve immediately.
TIP: Your pizza dough might feel a little wet to begin with. Flour your surface well and persevere with the kneading and it will come together – the wetter the dough, the better the pizza.
Tandoori Chicken with Chickpea Salad & Chapatis
JOE SAYS: “This is going to take your barbecue to the next level. The chicken tastes awesome and the homemade chapatis are really easy. You’ll feel proud when you serve this to friends.”
Post workout. Serves 4, Prep 15 mins, plus marinating time. Cook 20 mins
YOU NEED:
1.25kg boneless, skinless chicken thighs
400g zero-fat yoghurt
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
4cm fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
400g wholemeal flour, plus a little extra for dusting
1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve
For the salad
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 bunch each of fresh coriander and mint, rough chopped
2 red chillies, finely sliced – and de-seeded if you don’t like it hot
½ cucumber, de-seeded and diced
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper
This is going to take your barbecue to the next level
METHOD: Tip the chicken into a large dish. Mix together yoghurt, ground spices, ginger and garlic, then pour over the chicken.
Give them a good stir to coat the chicken and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Make the chapati dough by slowly working 200ml of warm water into the flour with a wooden spoon. When all the water is roughly incorporated, tip the mixture on a clean, floured surface and knead for 5min until you reach a smooth, elastic dough.
Plonk it back in a clean bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rest for 10min.
Mix together the chickpeas, onion slices, coriander, mint, red chillies, cucumber and tomatoes along with the juice of 1 lime. Season, cover and leave to sit at room temperature until you’re ready to eat.
Light the barbecue then, about a half-hour before you’re ready to cook, remove the chicken from the fridge and allow to rest at room temperature.
Lay the thighs flat over the hot barbecue and cook for 6–8min each side.
If you’re using a griddle pan, cook for about 4min on each side, until chicken is fully cooked.
Check by slicing into one of the larger pieces to make sure the meat is white all through, with no raw pink bits.
If you’re unsure, transfer the chicken to the oven, preheated to 220C/ 200 fan/Gas 7, for another 5min.
Take the cooked chicken off the heat and leave it to rest.
Divide the dough into six large pieces or eight smaller ones, roll each into a circle about the thickness of a pound coin on a clean, floured surface.
Put the chapatis directly on your barbecue or griddle pan and cook for about 90 seconds each side. When the chapatis are cooked, serve alongside the chicken, chickpea salad and lime wedges.
Guilteee Chocolate Fondant
JOE SAYS: “My philosophy is, if you’re going to treat yourself, at least do it properly. This is the tastiest treat in the whole book. Is it lean? Erm no, but that’s why I love it and enjoy it so much as a treat once in a while.”
Serves 4. Prep 10 mins. Cook 16 mins
YOU NEED:
125g dark chocolate
125g butter, roughly cubed
3 eggs
125g caster sugar
50g flour
4 Lindt Lindor Milk Truffles (the red ones) or Ferrero Rochers
Ice cream, to serve
Equipment
Electric beaters – optional
4 ramekins
Tip: You can also cook these in Dariole moulds then turn them out. If you do, knock a minute off the cooking time
METHOD: Preheat oven to 200C/180fan/Gas 6.
Crack the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of boiling water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Leave the ingredients to melt, stirring only when they are almost completely melted. Remove the bowl from the pan and leave to cool a little.
While the chocolate is melting, crack the eggs into a bowl and tip in the sugar. Beat together for about 5min (or 3min with electric beaters) until the mixture has increased in volume, is a pale yellow colour and is slightly mousse-like.
When you are happy with the consistency, stir the egg mixture through the chocolate mixture then finally fold in the flour.
Place four ramekins onto a baking tray and pour equal amounts of the mixture into each one, then poke a Lindt truffle or Ferrero Rocher into the centre of each ramekin – don’t worry if the chocolate isn’t totally immersed in the batter; the cake mixture will rise over the top.
Slide the tray into the oven and bake for 16 minutes, then remove and leave the puddings to sit for 2min before turning them out, scooping on a big dollop of ice cream and getting stuck in.
TIP: You can also cook these in Dariole moulds then turn them out. If you do, knock a minute off the cooking time.