Jess Meyer
Jamie Oliver's new Channel 4 series, Jamie: Eat Yourself Healthy, started this week, promising plenty of "nutritious nosh". The first episode delivered several delicious dishes, including sustainable meatballs and a smoked salmon omelette that covers all food groups. But we're more intrigued by Jamie's chicken dish, which is doing the rounds on TikTok. The recipe? Chicken with, erm, blueberries.
"I'm telling you, it works," says Jamie. "I've been doing it for years, and it is a beautiful thing." Wow – you think you know a person...
As an experienced food editor, I've seen plenty of unusual combinations. But I'll admit I wasn't entirely convinced by this pairing at first. This is purely down to personal taste – fruit 'n' meat doesn't always tend to whet my appetite.
But I trust Jamie, I like to eat a balanced diet, and the spiced chicken and berry grain bowl in question ticks a lot of boxes. I also appreciate how he's always sharing new ways to cook. From turning the humble Yorkshire pudding into a vibrant summer platter to teaming up with Samsung on tech-savvy kitchen tricks, he's always finding fresh ways to make food exciting.
After rewatching the recipe a few times, I've started to come round to the idea – blueberries aren't cloyingly sweet and they have a delicious tang that should complement, rather than overpower.
And, as our Food Editor Jess Meyers agrees, "Fruit and meat pairings often work well, and we're used to several traditional combinations - pork and apple, turkey and cranberry, duck and orange. Blueberries give natural sweetness and a fantastic tart pop without dominating the flavour of the dish.
"They also have a slightly floral quality, like grapes or figs, that works really nicely with earthy spice mixes like ras el hanout - an aromatic North African blend that often includes rose petals or lavender. When you blister them in a pan, all that lovely juice gets caramelised, adding loads of flavour, and a bit of cheffy flair, with very little effort. This sort of sauce works really well with chicken, but it's equally delicious with pork or venison."
The best Jamie Oliver cookbooks for healthy eating
Jamie's new book is out on 11th September, but you can pre-order it now. A tie-in to the new C4 series, it focuses on healthy eating and comes with a 2-Week Health Kickstart Plan. Expect the usual quirky copy and easy-to-follow recipes.
Jamie's focus on nutrient-rich foods that still pack flavour has become his benchmark and this cookbook reads as well as it did when it was published 10 years ago. Fun fact: it's the recipes in this book that helped Jamie lose two stone.
Making veg sexy isn't easy, but it can be done. There's a plethora of meat-free recipe books on the market now, but Jamie's remains one of the most family-friendly, yet with enough recipes to satisfy adventurous home cooks.
Often referred to as a superfood, blueberries are rich in antioxidants and vitamins, making them one of the best fruits we can eat. The dish is also "packed full of fibre", says Jamie – something we could all do with more of, given that the vast majority of UK adults don't get enough.
"It's something a bit different," admits Jamie. "But when you eat it all together, that's when the good stuff happens." Ok, Jamie, you've twisted my arm. I shall watch the rest of the Eat Yourself Healthy series, I shall buy the accompanying cookbook, and – in the spirit of living each day as if it's my last – I shall give your blueberry chicken dish a whirl.
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