As we start the year, there’s always the temptation to go a bit bonkers with the resolutions.

I gave up making them years ago, not only because I know I’m incredibly weak-willed and give up most things within weeks, but because it seems rather a silly and arbitrary thing to do on a specific date. However, after the excesses of the holidays, it is nice to calm things down, food-wise, and let the body recover with some good, healthy-minded cooking.

I’m not saying we should all be drinking lukewarm lemon-water and eating only spinach and dried apricots (or whatever’s this week’s diet trend – hands off that one, by the way, just in case it’s a winner!) but we might want to tone down the use of butter and sugar, ease up on the alcohol, and get stuck into some nice salads and fresh veg.

What you need to do is keep things interesting, so you don’t feel that all you’re doing is eating rabbit food every meal.

I find that getting some sauces and dressings made helps a lot. A honey-soy-sesame sauce makes a brilliant finishing sauce for stir-fried vegetables, or it can serve as a marinade for meat, poultry and fish.

A nice garlic-laced yoghurt dressing, (perhaps with the influence of fresh dill and oregano) makes a simple plate of crudités a Mediterranean delight, and it can sit in the fridge for days.

Some shop-bought light mayo can be combined with all manner of ingredients to lend a helping hand to many dishes – try sweating onions in a little oil and adding curry powder to make a Coronation-style slaw sauce, or smashing some slow-roast cherry tomatoes and capers in there for an excellent accompaniment to a simple wedge of roast salmon or tuna.

I like to have a sweet chili sauce handy, and a personal favourite (thanks to many holidays in Switzerland) is Maggi seasoning sauce, which adds a deep savoury kick to grilled meats and fish, as well as stir-fries and salad dressings.

Those jars of Christmas chutney can be spooned into mayo and yoghurt, too, boosting dishes like cold roast ham and leftover chicken. Stock those shelves with a few intriguing ingredients and you’ll find taking it easy an awful lot more pleasurable.

This week, then, we’re making something a little different, and with a nice healthy feel to it.

It’s a dish of spiced beef with a tasty winter vegetable slaw.

This recipe is an absolutely brilliant way of cooking beef in a different way than your usual, and makes a sort-of homemade Bresaola (the famous long-cured beef from northern Italy, which graces a good many charcuterie plates). It’s brilliant for slicing and nibbling when the munchies take over, and much better for you than heading to the bread bin. Having some tasty protein about is a great way of helping the weight stay off, or at least I’ve found it to be so.

My own downfall is carbohydrate and fat, and a big buttery sandwich is the last thing I need when trying to shift a little timber.

Unfortunately it’s the easiest thing to put together, not to mention delicious, so we must try our hardest to make sure there’s healthier, less stodgy alternatives on offer to stave of the carb-rush.

This beef is marinated for days in a deep, spicy salt-sugar cure, then slow-roasted and pressed, leaving it a super-savoury block of meat, crammed with tongue-tingling spices which, when sliced thinly, fills the palate with big flavours.

We’re pairing this with a lovely wintery slaw full of crunchy textures and tangy flavours; a great supper dish, good for the body and the soul.

FOR THE BEEF:

3kg topside of good local beef

40g light brown muscovado sugar

40g dark brown muscovado sugar

110g Maldon salt

25g black peppercorns

25g allspice berries

1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

1 teaspoon cloves

2 star anise

FOR THE SLAW:

½ small red cabbage

1 fennel bulb

2 carrots

1 large stick celery, finely chopped

1 small red onion, halved and very thinly sliced

60g pumpkin seeds, toasted

60g sunflower seeds, toasted

100g toasted chopped walnuts

2 tsp capers

The juice and zest of 2 lemons

1 heaped tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsps good mayonnaise

1 tbsp zero-fat Greek yoghurt

3 tbsp olive oil

Maldon salt and freshly-ground pepper

A large handful of flatleaf parsley, finely chopped

METHOD:

Rub the sugars into the beef then place it in a large metal or glass bowl, or plastic tub with lid. Cover and leave for a day in a cool place - ideally out of the fridge.

Mix the salt and all the spices together with a pestle and mortar or in a spice grinder until finely smooshed. Rub this well all over the meat, and put it back into the container.

Leave for 6 days, turning occasionally. It can be kept in the fridge at this point, but a cool larder is ideal as it won’t dry out the meat as much. Just mind the cat/dog.

When it’s ready, pre-heat the oven to 120°C / Gas ½. Scrape off any surplus spices and put it in a baking dish and add a large cup of water. Roast in the oven for about 5 hours, basting frequently.

When the beef is fully cooked, allow it to cool completely, then wrap in greaseproof paper and then in foil and leave to set for at least a day in the fridge, preferably under weights.

Unwrap and slice as thinly as possible to serve.

For the slaw, slice the red cabbage as finely as you can and place in a large bowl. Halve the fennel bulb and trim away any brown bits. Slice as finely as you can and add to the red cabbage.

Finely shred or grate the carrots, and add to the bowl.

Add the celery, the red onion, the walnuts, capers, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, oil, mustard, yoghurt, zest and juice, and toss this with the vegetables, seasoning with salt and pepper, and finishing with plenty of the chopped parsley.

Serve alongside slivers of the spiced beef.