A good way to get more vegetables into your daily diet is by thinking of alternatives ways to substitute them in and perhaps  'hiding' them in meals. So I decided to make a fish pie but instead of making a white sauce, I thought I would steam and blend cauliflower into a puree and use this as the base for the sauce and it was delicious. I have done the same with macaroni cheese before - by replacing the white sauce with cauliflower puree.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 45 mins

Ingredients (for a family of 4-5)

Salmon (around 400g or 4 fillets)

1 medium Leek, thinly sliced

1 large cauliflower, cut into florets

4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

Dill, 1 tsp dried or handful of fresh chopped thin

50g peas, frozen or fresh

50g Cheese, grated (red leicester, cheddar) 

Peel, chop and boil the potatoes ready

Steam or boil the cauliflower until soft and blend or blitz into a puree. If the puree is too thick - you can add some milk or some of the fish stock (later) to make it more into a sauce.

Boil water (you can use stock if you wish but I found it was enough flavour without) and pop the leeks in and cook for around 8 minutes until soft. 

Add the salmon to the pan with the leeks and simmer on low heat until just cooked - this may take around 5-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon. Try not to overcook the fish. Once cooked, spoon the fish out and put onto your baking tray.

Put the peas into the same pan and boil until cooked (3-4 minutes). Spoon into the same dish as the salmon.

If the consistency of the cauliflower puree is too thick - you can add some milk or some of the fish stock for extra flavour. Mix this cauliflower sauce in with the salmon, leeks and peas and give it a good stir to make sure the sauce is all incorporated. Season with salt and pepper as you wish. I sometimes add some spinach at this point - great meal to add all sorts of vegetables into it.

Mash the potatoes (adding some butter and milk if necessary) once it is cooked and spread over the the salmon filling. Spread some grated cheese on top of the potatoes and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes. If you are preparing the meal early ready to be eaten later, I would suggest baking the fish pie for around 30-35 minutes until it is hot inside.

Products featured: Oogaa silicone bowl - if you want to make individual pies for the children, these bowls are great for baking and serving all in one (remember to make sure filling is cool before serving to young children).