Tag: protein

Super Food Salad

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Super Food Salad

superfood salad

Photo doesn’t do it justice!

This recipe is adapted from the Leon restaurant recipe book. We have this every week, usually with salmon or sausages. I make a bit extra so there’s some in the fridge for lunch the next day.

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Dried Quinoa

Quinoa (pronounce keen-wah) is high in carbohydrate, and has a slightly nutty taste and makes a nice change to rice or cous cous. Unusually for a non-meat/dairy food it contains complete protein, which means it as all the amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. It’s a myth that it’s high in protein. As a comparison, quinoa has about 8g/100g, while most meat has about 20-30g/100g.

Ready to eat

Ready to eat

Quinoa can be bought in most supermarkets. ready to eat or dried. If you buy dried (much better value) then you need to cook it by putting in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover it, bring to boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes with the lid on, keeping on eye on it so it doesn’t dry out.

To reduce the calories:

Leave the feta out, and add extra veggies. It will lower the protein content of the recipe, but if you’re having it with a portion of fish/chicken/meat etc. this won’t matter. Oil has 100kcal per tablespoon, so you can either reduce the olive oil to 1-2 tbsp, or just use lemon juice on it’s own.

So here’s the recipe. Just toss the ingredients together and mix in the dressing!

100g cooked quinoa

100g cooked broccoli

100g frozen peas, thawed

100g feta cheese, crumbled

¼ cucumber, cut in to thin sticks

handful pumpkin and sunflower seeds (toasted in the grill)

handful chopped parsley

handful chopped mint

 Dressing:

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp olive oil

8 essential tips for weight loss (and feeling fab!)

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 The key to a healthy weight and feeling fabulous: 8 essential tips………

  1. Aim for small changes that you can sustain longterm, rather than a quick fix diet for a few days or weeks. Think “where do I want to be in a year”, rather than, “I want to lose a stone in 2 weeks”
  2. Listen to you body. Don’t starve…..low blood sugar levels will affect your concentration and make you grumpy. For most people, this would mean eating at 3 meals a day, with a snack in between. Eat until satisfied, not stuffed.
  3. Nutrition Basics – get the foundations of your meals right, and the rest shall follow! Always try to have protein at each meal, a fist full size of wholegrain carbs, and 1/2 a plate of veg or some fruit.
  4. Eat Breakfast– if you don’t feel like eating first thing in the morning, have something with in an hour or two of waking.
  5. Have Healthy Snacks to avoid becoming ravenous. Don’t skip meals to try to cut calories. It may make you feel virtuous at the time, but you are more likely to snack on high calorie foods or overeat unhealthy choices at your next meal.
  6. Be aware of what fluids you are drinking – frappacinos, non-diet fizzy drinks, fruit juice etc. can add 100s of calories to you daily intake. Replace with low calorie drinks eg. a cup of tea, americano, small skinny latte herbal, tea, water.
  7. Choose wholegrain carbohydrates ie. wholemeal bread, brown rice, oats. These make you feel fuller for longer. They also blunt rises in insulin (insulin promotes fat storage).
  8. Plan ahead, so that you know that you will have access to something healthy to eat. If you are not at home, always have a healthy snack with you in your bag or in your desk drawer at work.

Tomato & Lentil soup/sauce

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Here is a great recipe for a soup/sauce using tomatoes and lentils that is high in protein, slow release carbs, and full of antioxidants. Especially good for post workout recovery snack/meal! It has just four ingredients and takes about 20 minutes to make.

Photo on 25-09-2013 at 12.17 #7

Why’s it so great?

  • the whole pot is 400 kcal, 25g protein and 30g fibre
  • lentils are low GI, meaning the carbohydrate is released slowly, avoiding peaks and troughs in blood sugar levels. Lentils have some iron.
  • high protein makes it filling, so you’ll be less inclined to snack later on
  • tomatoes are high in lycopene, an antioxidant, which may reduce prostate, breast and stomach cancer risk and lower cholesterol. Tomatoes are also packed full of other vitamins e.g. vitamin C, which enhances the absorption of iron in the lentils!
  • it’s cheap……..approximately 80p for the batch
  • add more water for a more liquid soup, or less water for a sauce. Use the sauce as a base for bolognaise (you can use less mince than normal) or on its own as a pasta sauce
  • for those of you in strength training, super charge with protein by adding some chopped up chicken breast or tuna.

It is incredibly filling. I usually have about half for lunch and the other half as a snack in the afternoon. If I’m pushed for time, I leave out the onion.

Here’s the recipe:

tin chopped tomatoes

100g red lentils (dry)    

1 onion

Chicken/beef stock cube made up to approx 300ml with boiling water

Chop the onion, put in saucepan with lentils and stock. Bring to boil, turn heat down and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add more water if necessary. Add the tin of tomatoes. For extra flavour add a squirt of tomato ketchup, a dash of worcester sauce, and a sprinkle of cumin. For a smoother soup or sauce, use a blender.