Celebrity chef cooks Carmarthenshire recipes

Celebrity chef Dudley Newberry, cooked up a feast of healthy meals and treats from recipes devised by Carmarthenshire residents and organisations on a visit to the Elli Centre, Llanelli.

Yvonne McLavy, for Carmarthenshire County Council said, “The recipe cards were published by Carmarthenshire County Council, and the Carmarthenshire Public Health Team, on behalf of the Local Health Board.  The aim is to encourage residents to cook easy to follow, healthy and tasty meals. The cards will soon be available on the county council website.

“Recipe submissions were received from a whole range of people from the Carmarthenshire community.  These included submissions from cooking groups, youth clubs and professional caterers.

“The youngest chef was Cameron Bryant, aged 10, from Llanelli.  Cameron designed a recipe called Pizza Face.  This was a tantalizing tortilla with tomatoes, pineapple, mushrooms, pepper and grated cheese.

“One of the recipes that Dudley cooked at the launch event was Executive Roasted Cous Cous.  This was a submission from the chief executive of Carmarthenshire County Council, Mark James.  The recipe included a host of tasty vegetables, and was a rich source of fibre and essential vitamins. It was easy to cook taking less than 40 minutes.”

Dudley said, “I think the launch of these healthy recipe cards is an excellent idea and I hope they encourage more people to cook up some home-made treats. Inspiration comes from all corners – whether it be a cook book, a cookery show, or from our own friends and family.”

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Food Standards Officer, Nicky Bicknell said,

“The event was held as a one-off extension to the Keep Well This Winter activity. The partnership activity included the public health team, local health board, local authority, health services, the fire service, as well as voluntary and private bodies. During the day a number of stalls were available, all with information about healthy living.

“Lots of people came along to see Dudley cooking these healthy recipes and also took the opportunity to visit the organisations present and to take home some free giveaways.”

Health Promotion Practitioner for Carmarthenshire Public Health Team, Caroline Nichols, added, “We want people to log-on to the website and take advantage of these free and tasty recipes. Eating healthily doesn’t have to mean missing out on tasty food, but it will make a difference to our health.

“More than 60 per cent of the UK adult population, and nearly 30 per cent of children, are overweight, with obesity rapidly becoming Britain’s number one health threat. In fact here in Carmarthenshire 54 per cent of the population is overweight or obese. Obesity has a number of health, social and psychological implications. For example, 50 per cent of those who are obese have at least one associated health problem, such as heart disease, type-two diabetes, high blood pressure of osteoarthritis.”

Senior Health Promotion Specialist for the NPHS in Carmarthenshire, Liz Newbury-Davies, said, “In order to address being overweight or obese, people need to be making permanent changes to their lifestyles rather than wanting a quick fix. We need to eat a healthy balanced diet and it’s equally important to be regularly active.

“Anyone with weight-related health concerns, or those who are seriously over-weight, should contact their GP for help.”