All tagged simple healthy food
I came up with this recipe during Lockdown. My daughter was getting fed up with the amount of meat her brothers were demanding at mealtimes and was begging for some vegetarian meals. Although the title states curried, this is a very mild flavour as my daughter doesn’t like super heat - she’s more of a masala girl! It’s super quick to make and so can easily be rustled up alongside other meals. You can eat this on its own, or add some brown rice for a slightly more substantial meal.
After my recent trip to California, where I had lots of salads, I was inspired to make my own Californian salad. I have used ingredients that were used in many of the salads I tried - kale, quinoa, feta, avocado and almonds. It seemed typical of many of the salads to contain fruit. I am not a fan of fruit in my salad so instead chose to add lemon to a dressing and include some fruit that way!
I love the lebanese salad tabbouleh and it works brilliantly with buckwheat rather than bulgar wheat. Buckwheat is a gluten free grain despite the name so this salad is a fabulous gluten free alternative to tabbouleh. This might seem a lot of parsley - but tabbouleh is traditionally a parsley salad with a small amount of bulgar wheat. Parsley is packed with vitamin C and antioxidants and so very good for us.
Deliciously spiced, easy to make and very green these falafel are sure to be a hit. Falafel are traditionally deep fried, but we have baked them with just a brush of olive oil to make them healthier. We have spiced them using a Zhoug paste from Belazu that is seasoned with coriander and jalapeño. It’s easily available from supermarkets.
I love a salad. In the spring and summer I make sure I have one at least one a day and in the winter I just warm up a few of the ingredients to make a warm salad. To stop myself getting bored I am always changing the ingredients. My salads are never boring with just lettuce and cucumber - I make sure I pack them with lots of delicious vegetables. They are always colourful and contain at least four different vegetables or herbs.
These are so tasty that even my husband who has decided he doesn’t like sweet potatoes loves them! And for him to go back for seconds on a veggie dish is high praise indeed! They could be served for breakfast with a poached egg on top or alongside a green salad for lunch. For most people 3-4 rosti would be enough for lunch – although my husband did eat 6 the first time I cooked these for him!!
We all love a curry in our house and Saturday nights have become a curry night ritual. Pleasing different palates is not always easy - some like a hot curry and others not so much. However this tikka masala seems to please everyone! I know it’s not traditional to add spinach to a tikka masala, but i like to add another vegetable whenever I can! I use 6 chicken breasts to feed my brood of 5 as my two teenagers are permanently hungry. However, unless you too have growing teenagers then adjust portions by using 1 chicken breast per person.
I almost didn’t write this up as a recipe - after all it’s nothing complicated and fancy. Just 6 ingredients thrown together. However it’s been a winner in my house with all the family and so I thought I would share with you - after all we all need those quick and simple recipes to keep us going day in day out! To serve 4 or even 6 then just alter the amount of chicken breasts. My two teenagers seem to be going through a growth spurt at the moment so I often cook 6 chicken breasts for the 5 of us!
In an effort to simplify good home cooked family food without compromising on taste or essential nutrients, having a few recipes for versatile delicious sides is key. This is a dish I used to make with my grand mother as a child in France. She used to serve it with Toulouse sausages, or roast chicken. Should you have leftovers( I doubt it unless you save yourself a portion) I have found that cold the next day it makes a delicious salad, topped with crumbled feta.
This is a perfect dish when you want a vegetarian meal that looks a bit special. Can easily be doubled to provide a meal for four if needed. It’s very easy to make, but still looks impressive. I am always looking for ways to include more mushrooms in my diet as they are so highly nutritious for us. See the tip below for all the benefits.
As the health industry continues to boom, there are more and more products claiming to make you healthier and it’s easy to be seduced into thinking that taking a daily ‘superfood’ will help to make you healthier. However if you are sedentary and consume a typical Western diet that is high in saturated fat and low in fibre and phytonutrients then a glass of wheatgrass a day will not protect you from cancer or cardiovascular problems.