Health and Nutrition • with Hilary Abbott
Moroccan spiced lentil and black chickpea soup
For me, as a Nutrition professional, feeling sparkly again begins with eating the right food. Loading up on whole unadulterated foods, just as nature intended them to be and steering clear of all that unprocessed business, the foods your body doesn’t recognise throwing it out of balance.
Ingredients
1 can black chickpeas or other beans
1 cup cooked lentils
2 tins chopped tomatoes
½ red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 fresh red chilli
Vegetable stock
Method
In a large non stick pan, heat a tbsp olive oil and cook the onion, garlic chilli and dry spices for a couple of minutes. Add your vegetables, chickpeas and tomatoes. Make sure there is enough liquid to cover the vegetables. Add vegetable stock accordingly. Boil, reduce and simmer until all the vegetables are tender. Adjust the seasoning to your taste and serve with a sprinkle of mixed seeds for some omega 3 crunch.
Black bean halloumi and spinach stew
One of the key elements of nutrition that directly impacts and improves low mood is blood sugar. You can quite easily recognise the signs and then take action to become the master of your own blood sugar balancing and feel a whole lot better, improving your energy, mood, and also controlling your weight. A total bonus for not only you but the people around you who may have noticed that you have been behaving like a cranky grizzly bear who has been disturbed from a very deep sleep.
Ingredients
1 onion
2 peppers
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 can black beans
(or other beans) rinsed
and drained
1 can chopped tomatoes
125 g halloumi (extra firm tofu or tempeh for vegan version)cut into bite-size cubes
A generous handful of
coriander and parsley
1 -2 tsp smoked paprika
1 small bag of baby spinach
1 tbsp ground cumin
Method
In a large non stick saucepan heat a tablespoon of olive oil to cook the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes. Add the cumin, smoked paprika and peppers and cook for a further five minutes. Add the beans, halloumi or tofu and tomatoes, bring to a boil then simmer for about ten minutes until the vegetables are tender. Finish the dish by mixing in the spinach to wilt and serve with the fresh herbs. Delicious served with wild rice.
Sweet potato chocolate brownies
Eat protein with every meal. Plant based sources include chickpeas, beans, lentils, tempeh, tofu, seeds and nuts. Eat healthy fats daily. Avocado, nut butter, nuts, seeds, coconut oil, rapeseed oil olive oil. You need it for healthy brain function and energy.
Foods high in B vitamins help mental stability. Nuts seeds, leafy greens. Include a B12 supplement into your diet as we cannot get enough of this from food no matter
how well you eat.
Ingredients
2cups cooked mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup cacao powder
1 cup smooth almond
or peanut butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 squares of 70% cocoa solid
dark chocolate
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with non stick baking paper. Mix all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth spread evenly into the tin and bake for 20 minutes until the top feels firm. Break up some 70% dark chocolate onto the top whilst the brownie is still warm. Allow to cool slightly before serving if you can wait that long!
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