Including lots of variety in your daily diet is hugely important, to ensure you are getting all the nutrients you need for a healthy life. Just because a bowl of freshly steamed vegetables are healthy doesn’t mean you can eat them for every meal every day and be bouncing with health. As with everything in life, it’s about balance.
Balancing your intake of carbohydrate, protein and fats, and also balancing your intake of vitamins and minerals is easy if you eat a variety of foods (which is why taking a supplement of just one vitamin or mineral is never a good idea – they all need each other, a bit like us!). And one of the easiest ways of doing this is to have a cook-off once a week, when you prepare lots of great tasting foods that can be stored in the fridge for you to tuck into over the following days.
The food shown here was all made in a couple of hours – all very simple and great when served together – just get the radio and your apron on, and get cooking!
Meze ideas show here:
-Cook up brown or black rice, steam broccoli then stir them together with a few tablespoons of pesto (homemade is best!).
-Roast halves of peppers with peeled and chopped garlic cloves and vine cherry tomatoes.
-Pan-fry slices of halloumi (no extra oil needed).
-Cook quinoa as per pack instructions, toss with chopped herbs, diced tomato and cucumber and add a few handfuls of nuts and seeds.
-Quick houmous – blend together drained can chickpeas, roasted red pepper (optional), garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a little nut butter of your choice (add a little water for a looser consistency if you like) – you can also add avocado or walnuts for an extra omega-3 boost.
If you want to boost your protein intake, serve these great colourful foods with grilled salmon or chicken, or top with a couple of softly poached eggs – delicious!