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Recipes for better well-being

Keep it raw as much as possible

Keep it raw as much as possible

I planned on eating just one Easter egg over the weekend but I ended up eating two giant eggs, gorging myself on cake until I hated myself, and drinking like a sailor.

Now I feel rubbish and to make matters worse I’m off to Spain soon for a much awaited holiday and have to squash myself into a bikini in a matter of days – yikes.

It’s difficult enough to contend with a pasty out of shape body in dire need of deforestation but being full of booze, chocolate and cake, well, it takes the biscuit.

I desperately need to cleanse my body and obtain a feeling of wellness but don’t want the full detox experience and definitely don’t want a home colonic or to spend three days drinking spider’s tears.

All water or juice diets are hard, particularly when you’re busy, and I don’t fancy the idea of vegetable juices. I still want to feel like I’m having a meal but want at least one of the dishes to be raw to take advantage of all the important enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

So for lunch I’m having warm broccoli soup but by steaming the broccoli for just a couple of minutes, the meal remains raw yet warm and nourishing.

For dinner I think I’ll go for a Yotam Ottolenghi dish which contains asparagus and parsley. Asparagus contains the amino acid aspargagine which is a strong diuretic, stimulating the kidneys, while parsley is a cleanser of the kidneys, liver, and urinary tract and is one of the highest sources of chlorophyll, acting like iron to oxidize the blood.

By snacking on raw vegetables, seeds and adding some delicious fruit juices into the mix I’m bound to feel great in a matter of days before I undo all the work on holiday.

What do you tuck into when you need to give your body an over-haul?

Warm Broccoli Soup

Serves two

Ingredients:

  • ½ avocado
  • 6 -8 decent size Broccoli Heads
  • ½ red onion
  • 1 celery stick
  • Big handful of spinach
  • An inch of root ginger
  • Cumin (Optional)

Lightly steam the broccoli (4-5 minutes) and put with all ingredients in a blender. Add garlic, pepper, Salt to taste.

Asparagus, lentils and watercress salad

Serves two

Ingredients:

  • 100g green lentils
  • 60g watercress, thick stalks removed
  • 20g parsley
  • 5 tbsp olive oil, plus extra
  • ½ garlic clove
  • Salt and pepper
  • 200g asparagus, cut into 6cm pieces
  • 50g young pecorino, or other light ewes’ milk cheese, cut thin
  • 2 lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions:

  1. Wash the lentils in cold water, then put them in a saucepan and cover with plenty of fresh water. Bring up to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until just cooked.
  2. While the lentils are cooking, put 40g of the watercress, the parsley, oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor, and blitz. Cook the asparagus for two minutes in simmering, salted water and drain. Keep warm.
  3. Once the lentils are cooked, drain and stir into the watercress ‘pesto’. Check the seasoning – you’ll probably need more salt. To serve warm, toss together the lentils, asparagus and remaining watercress. The cheese slices should be integrated carefully while you’re plating up, so that they don’t break up. Finally, drizzle over a little oil and serve with a lemon wedge.

3 Comments

  1. Same as yourself, if I feel like I’ve overindulged in crap (like the chips I had at 3am two nights in a row this weekend…) I just go back to basics, lots of veg and quinoa, chickpeas etc. Nothing makes you feel better than eating lots of healthy food – as long as it’s tasty of course! Oh and drinking lots of water too – am making a concerted effort to do that from now on.

  2. I also had late night chips and woke up with a rock in my belly. Lots of water with lemon in it makes you feel instantly better.

  3. i love miso soup .. i add in loads of veggies, some noodles, prawns and lots of chillies to clear the head and the body of lots of toxins and nasties! its also really warming and tasty.