Tuck into a healthy plateful of lightly cooked fresh vegetables with a delicious cheese and spring onion sauce.

Serves:

4

Preparation time:

20 minutes

Cooking time:

20 minutes

Approximate cost for recipe:

£5.48

Approximate cost per serving:

£1.37

• 200g cauliflower, broken into florets
• 200g broccoli, broken into florets
• 200g carrots, sliced
• 200g sugar snap peas or fine green beans, trimmed
• 200g baby corn
• 2 medium courgettes, sliced

Sauce:

• 20g low fat spread
• 6 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 40g plain flour
• 300ml (½ pint) semi-skimmed milk
• 50g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
• Ground black pepper

1. Put the cauliflower, broccoli and carrots in a steamer positioned over a large saucepan of steadily boiling water. Steam for 10 minutes, then add the sugar snap peas or green beans, baby corn and courgettes. Steam for about 10 more minutes, until the vegetables are cooked, yet still retain a little crunchiness. Alternatively, the vegetables can be cooked in a small amount of boiling water until tender.
2. When you have added the second batch of vegetables, start to make the sauce. Melt the low-fat spread in a saucepan and add the spring onions, cooking them gently for 2-3 minutes to soften them. Stir in the flour and cook gently over a low heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Gradually add the milk, stirring until it is mixed in. Return to the heat and bring up to the boil, stirring all the time until the sauce thickens.
3. Add the cheese to the sauce and stir over a low heat until melted. Season with some pepper.
4. Share the vegetables between 4 warm plates. Pour the sauce over each portion and serve at once.

Tip 1: Steaming is a good way to keep the goodness in fresh vegetables, so try to use this method more often.

Tip 2: If you’re not confident about making the sauce, use a 25g sachet of savoury white sauce mix, following pack instructions. Omit the spring onions and add the grated cheese once it has thickened.