Mood boosting foods curated for you:
For quick feel good mealtime moments? Listen to these:
Positive Food Memories
Chocolate Meditation
Mind Body Acceptance
Lockdown Love Club
Lockdown is tough. It’s wreaking havoc on our mental & physical wellbeing. Here’s our fave recipes & eating experiences to optimise the link between the gut & brain, to get you feeling good, inside and out, through food.
Here’s your week 4 shopping list too!
Chicken schnitzel and slaw with sweet potato chips
Serves 4, 30 mins, warm, salty, crunchy, zesty.
Adding apple in your slaw is a great way to add more variety in to your meal. Our version also includes pepitas – some seedy goodness!
INGREDIENTS
Schnitzel
- 2 cups bread crumbs
- 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp lemon rind
- 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ cup plain flour
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp milk
- 4 chicken breasts (thinly sliced, schnitzel style, un-crumbed) OR you can use a mallet to beat down the chicken breast into thin schnitzel sizes.
- Olive oil or vegetable oil for shallow frying
Slaw
- 1 coleslaw pack mix
- 1 green apple grated or finely sliced
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp white wine vinegar
Chips
- 2 sweet potatoes (sliced into chips size)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees
- Place sweet potato on oven tray, drizzle in olive oil and top with sesame seeds and toss then place in the oven for 25-30 minutes
- Combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, lemon rind, parsley and garlic powder on a plate. Season with salt and pepper. Place flour on a separate plate. Whisk egg and milk together in a shallow bowl.
- Coat 1 piece of chicken in the flour, shaking off excess. Dip in egg mixture. Coat in breadcrumb mixture.
- Heat oil on a fry pan over medium-high heat.
- Cook chicken in batches for 4-5 mins each side or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Combine your slaw ingredients in a bowl
- Pop your sweet potato chippies, snitty and slaw on a plate and enjoy!
Image credit: Taste
Positive Food Memories
This meditation will support you to visualise a positive memory with food, real or imagined to strengthen your relationship with food.
Lamb kofta & cous-cous salad
Serves 4, 30 mins, aromatic, fresh, crunchy, zingy.
Green, leafy vegetables, like the baby rocket in this salad, are rich in brain lovin’ nutrients like vitamin K, folate, and beta carotene.
INGREDIENTS
Couscous
- 2 cups couscous
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tsp butter
Kofta
- 750g lamb mince
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 2/3 cup finely chopped parsley
- 2/3 cup finely chopped mint
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 ½ tsp ground coriander
- 1 long red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
Toppings
- 200g cherry tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 cup drained roasted red capsicum strips, chopped
- 100g feta, crumbled
- 1 ½ tbsp pine nuts, toasted
- 60g baby rocket leaves
- 1 whole lemon (wedges) to serve
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 8 wooden skewers (soaked 30 min prior to cooking)
INSTRUCTIONS
NB: if you’re using wooden skewers, soak them for at least 30 minutes prior.
- Bring the stock to the boil on the stove. Add the couscous, cover and turn off the heat. Let the couscous steam for about 4mins. Once all the water is absorbed, add butter and pop on low heat until the butter melts. Fluff the couscous with a fork whilst the butter is melting.
- Meanwhile, combine mince, onion, 1/2 cup parsley, 1/2 cup mint, cumin, coriander and chilli in a bowl. Using your hands, mould 1/4 cup mixture around 8 skewers. Place on a plate.
- Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Add oil. Cook lamb mince mixture for 7-8 minutes, turning, or until browned and cooked through.
- Meanwhile, add tomato, capsicum, feta, nuts and remaining herbs to couscous. Season and stir to combine. Serve kofta with salad, rocket and lemon wedges.
Image credit: My Food Bag NZ
Pumpkin & cauliflower dahl (V, GF, DF)
Serves 4, 30 mins, warm, smooth, comforting, aromatic.
WIRL tip: this recipe is heart warming, try and sit down with the TV off and take in the smell, site, taste- let it take you away somewhere spicy!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
- 4 cups room temperature water
- ½ butternut pumpkin (diced)
- ½ head of cauliflower (sectioned in to small pieces)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 green chili, stemmed, seeded, and minced (serrano for spicy, jalapeno for more mild)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- Juice of one half a lemon
Serve with:
- 1 x large pack of brown rice (enough for 4)
- 2 x naan bread (pre-pack or from your local) (omit if GF)
- Big dollop of yoghurt on each (omit if DF)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the rinsed lentils in a large saucepan along with 3 cups of room temperature water, pumpkin and cauliflower. Turn the heat to medium and allow the lentils to cook for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a medium skillet set over medium heat. Add the cumin and cinnamon; cook for 60 to 90 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the onion, chili, garlic, and ginger; cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the onions are turning translucent.
- Add the turmeric, cardamom, paprika, salt, and tomato to the pan. Cook until the tomato begins to fall apart, about 2 to 3 minutes. Discard the cinnamon stick.
- Once the lentils are cooked, drain off any excess water that is on top of the lentils, but do not drain off all the water. Stir the spiced onion mixture into the pot of lentils. Add the lemon juice and stir well. Taste and add salt as needed. If it is too dry, then add some water. If it is too wet, then cook on low until it thickens to your liking.
- Garnish with cilantro; serve with brown rice, naan (omit if GF) and a big ass dollop of yoghurt (omit if DF).
Image credit: Cook I Doo
Muesli Slice (VG, DF)
Serves 9, 30 mins, chewy, sweet, satisfying
These little numbers are made with oats. Oats are a source of prebiotics which our microbiome will thank you for!
INGREDIENTS
- 50g butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup pistachios
- 1/2 cup pepitas
- 1/2 cup of almonds
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup self-raising flour
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Line a 20cm square cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
- Place the butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and the sugar has dissolved. Let it cool for a little
- Mix together the remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Combine the liquid mixture with the dry ingredients and stir.
- Spoon the mixture into the lined pan and use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface.
- Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until golden. Let it cool before cutting into squares!
Your Fave Chocolate
Today we implore you to eat chocolate. Food is so much more than nutrition.
It can bring us immense joy, and especially comfort in these tricky times we find ourselves in!
Chocolate Meditation
This is us giving you unconditional permission to play with your food. Get real curious with your choccy today.
This practice is a mindful eating meditation that will help you tune into all of your senses to really maximise your enjoyment.
This is your dietitian speaking, you are allowed to eat chocolate.