Delay the health-kick for a while and enjoy these comforting stew and quesadilla recipes that are just a little bit indulgent, writes DOMINI KEMP

A FEW MONTHS AGO, I was sent a copy of a book called Omega 3 Cuisineby Alan Roettinger, co-authored by Udo Erasmus. Anyone who has ever been in a health food store has probably seen Udo's Oils for sale, so I guess it's fair to say that the book isn't full of recipes for deep-fried Mars bars. Instead, it promises lots of recipes that are full of the "building blocks of life" and stresses how high heat can render food less nutritious, if it ends up charred or burnt.

For most chefs, colour equals flavour. So a book that wants you to leave fruit and vegetables natural, barely cooked (bordering on raw) and truly unadulterated means great self-restraint for most cooks. (No chargrilled broccoli with lemon and chilli butter or goose-fat roast potatoes then).

So it is with some regret, and a heavy dose of honesty, that I confess I am not yet ready to open up Udo’s book. I just can’t quite get into the no-caramelisation zone. But I promise to be back to it soon and to try out some light, healthy and nutritious dishes. I just think we all need another week or two of tasty stuff to eat before any sort of purge should be pursued.

I tried out this Sicilian lamb stew from one of my favourite books, The Cook's Bookedited by Jill Norman, and although the idea of serving a lamb stew for a lunchy/brunch do may seem a bit odd, the fact that it was such a delicious, rich, meaty stew under a dotted blanket of Pecorino cheese made it seem more of a daytime dish than an evening one. It was a complete one-pot wonder as you throw some spuds in there, too. We all tucked into this after a very long, blustery walk, and it really seemed to bring the last few days of friends and family festivities to a perfect ending.

The black bean quesadillas are a new take on my regular turkey and ham ones. Children wolfed into these and I’ve found that baking these in a roasting tin works better than frying them. They seem to crisp up better and were easier to flip over. Also, frying stuff means you have to remain focused and paying attention, unlike oven-cooking. I kept firing these into the oven, forgetting about them, rescuing them and realising they were crisp, brown and delicious rather than burnt and inedible. Always a plus.

Sicilian lamb stew

Serves 6

2 onions peeled and thinly sliced

3-4 tbsp olive oil

5 slices smoked streaky bacon, diced

Salt and pepper

1 kg boneless lamb shoulder, diced

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

250ml red wine

450g baby new potatoes

250ml water or stock

200g Pecorino, diced

Preheat an oven to 160 degrees/gas mark three. Sweat the onions in half the olive oil, for about 8-10 minutes in a heavy-based saucepan (with a lid). Turn up the heat and add the bacon and allow the onions to brown a bit and the bacon to caramelise. When that’s done, remove the bacon and onions onto a plate while you brown the lamb in the rest of the olive oil, over a high heat. Season well and really keep this going until you have good patches of brown on the lamb chunks.

Put the onions and bacon back into the pan. Add the garlic and wine and simmer to reduce by half, then add the water or stock.

Bring up to the boil, and then put in the oven with the lid on for 45 minutes. Taste and make sure it’s well seasoned, add the baby potatoes to the pot and then cook for another 45 minutes with the lid on. Taste again and make sure you are happy with the flavour, consistency and tenderness of the lamb. If it’s too tough, add some more stock or water and cook for another 20 minutes.

Take the lid off the pot, and add the cheese 10 minutes before the end, so it has a chance to melt. Remove from the oven and let it rest for a while before serving in big bowls.

Blackbean tortillas

This would serve 4-6 as a light snack. Serve them on their own or else purée a couple of avocados with some garlic, a splash of Tabasco sauce, a squeeze of lime juice and some salt and pepper for an easy dip.

1 tin (400 g) black beans

100ml crème fraîche (approximately)

80g strong cheddar, grated

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

Salt and pepper

4 flour tortillas

Olive oil

This couldn’t be simpler. If you want to jazz it up for grown-ups, then add a pinch of ground cumin or ground coriander or chilli flakes to the black beans. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees/gas mark six. Drain and rinse the black beans. Mash them to a bit of a lumpy paste with a potato masher. Add the crème fraîche, cheese, garlic, and season well. Mush them up a bit more.

Oil a roasting tray. Place a tortilla on the oiled roasting tray and spoon half the mixture into a circle on the tortilla, leaving a good three-centimetre rim around the outside. Smooth it down, top with another tortilla and smear or brush the top with some more olive oil. Bake until it’s crisp on the bottom (eight minutes or so). Flip it over, bake for another few minutes then remove from the oven and place on a chopping board. Allow it to cool and settle for a moment, before slicing and serving.

These are so easy you could just set up a mini conveyor belt and keep churning them out. You will be very popular.

DOMINI RECOMMENDS: Here are two very high-brow restaurant books for cooks that have everything. ‘Quay’ from Australia’s Peter Gilmore, is slightly less intimidating than ‘Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine’, from Nordic genius René Redzepi. Both are pretty stunning.