CALORIE DENSITY: 18% = 585kcal/(785ml x 4)
- Black Eye Beans: 235g: 230kcal (235ml) Asda Black Eye Beans in Water 400g for 55p
- Sardines 100g: 200kcal (100ml) Asda SP Sardines in Tomato Sauce 120g can 35p
- Pearl Barley 125ml (100g): 55kcal (200ml) Asda Pearl Barley 500g packet 55p = 11p
- Gravy: 20g: 100kcal (250ml) Asda SP Gravy Granules 200g for 20p = 3p
- Measure 250ml of pearl barley into a large container, add 750ml of water and microwave for 10mins at 800W and 30mins at 100W.
- Rinse with water, add half of this to a large serving bowl and store the other half in the fridge for use another time.
- Open the can of black eye beans, drain and add to the bowl containing the pearl barley.
- Open the can of sardine, rinse off the tomato sauce with water and chop/mix into the bowl containing pearl barley and black eye beans.
- Measure 250ml of water into a glass jug, microwave at 800W for 3mins 30secs, add 4 heaped teaspoons of gravy granules stirring vigorously as you do so until the gravy thickens without any lumps.
- Add the gravy to the bowl containing the pearl barley, black eye beans and sardines.
- Add salt to taste (a teaspoon for me), mix well and microwave for for 5mins at 800W.
Serve as it is or divide into portions. This makes one meal for a man like me (large frame and vigorously active) or two meals for a lady. The calories of the meal don’t matter because when you indulge in eating natural low density food which has a density of less than 25% you just eat as much as your appetite dictates and then stop eating. This meal tastes equally delicious with any of the pulses although I have to say that chickpeas are my favourite! The pulses I regularly use are: chickpeas, butter beans, cannellini beans, borlotti beans, haricot beans, pinto beans, black-eyed beans, black beans and kidney beans. You could add some green vegetables if you like but I just take multi-vitamins because they’re more effective and a lot cheaper.