Cook up and slim down with The Daly Dish

The Daly Dish cookbook from Gill is already a smash hit with a record-breaking 5,000 pre-orders under its belt before it even hit bookshelves.  Authors Gina and Karol Daly are Ireland’s favourite slimming Instagram home-cooks.

Deirdre Nolan, commissioning editor at Gill Books, asked the happy couple to write a cookbook last year, and when it was announced in February it quickly amassed more than 5,000 pre-orders, creating unprecedented demand on Eason’s website and breaking all pre-order records for Irish bookshops. 

Deirdre said: ‘I was a huge fan of The Daly Dish’s slimming recipes from the start and can testify to their indulgent deliciousness! I just knew a cookbook from them would be a hit and it has been a joy to see the excitement build among fans about the release today. I can’t wait to see more people eating and enjoying these fabulous recipes and sharing them online in the coming months.’ 

Gina and Karol Daly are an ordinary couple with a weight-loss story that has garnered them an extraordinary following on Instagram. Together they have lost almost ten stone, fast becoming Ireland’s favourite slimming couple by sharing homemade weight-loss recipes that look like they are straight from the local takeaway.  

Describing their approach as ‘bold food made healthy’, their Instagram accounts are a genuine reflection of a happy life with the kitchen and food at its centre. Here they can be seen cooking up a storm and encouraging others to try the recipes they have devised and to love their food and life while still losing weight and smashing #familygoals and #couplegoals! 

The Dishes’ food is anything but what you would expect from slimming food, and now their cookbook looks set to be one of the surprise hits of the year. Sections like Dishy Dinners, Ask Me Airfryer, Savage Snacks and Saucy Sauces (and, yes, the recipe for that cheese sauce!) offer the holy grail of slimming – eat the food you love and slim at the same time. 

If you’re not already following them, do so now (@thedalydish, @mister.dish). Stuck at home along with the rest of the country for the next few weeks, they’ll continue to cook up a storm and have family fun in the kitchen, sharing recipe inspiration daily. Start tonight with their famous Friday night fake-away – the ‘Sexy Spice Bag’ and watch out for more, as for the next week on our blog and social channels we will be sharing a recipe a day that you can indulge in and have fun cooking at home. 

About the authors 

Gina and Karol Daly met 12 years ago when they worked together at O2. Theirs was a whirlwind romance – they were engaged within two weeks of their first date and married six months later. It wasn’t all plain sailing though, as Gina suffered an ectopic pregnancy just weeks after the relationship began and almost lost her life. She was told she might never have children but, happily, within six months was pregnant with their daughter Holly, now 10, and a year later again with their son Ben, now 8. Gina and Karol’s love of life extended to their love of food, and as they settled into married life they began to pile on the pounds, with Gina requiring a gallstone operation. Having lost some weight for the operation, she began to feel healthier and better in herself, and so joined a local slimming club where she lost four stone. When the food got boring and she missed her treats, Gina decided to improvise. She set up an Instagram account (@thedalydish), where she shared her slimming but indulgent-looking and -tasting recipes. She amassed thousands of followers, and Karol joined her in setting up an Instagram account (@mister.dish) and losing weight too. Day to day, Gina is an illustrator and runs The Bitch Box with Karol, an online greeting card company that shares their unique sense of humour and flair for design, which is also reflected in The Daly Dish.