Is there a greater way to show your mum how much she means to you than through food?! Spoil your mum this Mother’s Day with a healthy, nutritious take on the traditional Sunday roast.
Nutritious Sunday Lunch
Starter: The Best Ever Guacamole Recipe
Star Ingredient: Avocado
Avocados are very high in a fatty acid called oleic acid, also found in olive oil, which many trials have shown causes a reduction in bad (LDL) cholesterol, and a subtle increase of good (HDL) cholesterol. They are also very high in the fat-soluble antioxidant vitamin E. This helps protect skin cell membranes from damage and can be an important part of a natural skincare regime.
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
- 2 very ripe avocados
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 red onion, very finely chopped
- 150g pitted green olives, roughly chopped
- 1 small red chilli, finely chopped
- 15g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- sea salt
Method
- Scoop all the avocado flesh into a bowl and mash well with a fork. It doesn’t have to be completely smooth, as a bit of texture is great here.
- Add the lime juice, oil, garlic, chilli, onion, olives, and coriander, with a generous pinch of salt, and mix well.
- Serve with carrot, radish, baby corn and any other veg for dipping
Mains: Chicken Tray Bake Recipe
This is a similar basis from which Dale Pinnock makes his Nutritious Sunday Lunch. Here the meat juices flow into the vegetables and everything cooks down together to make a serious bit of comfort food.
Star Ingredient: Root Vegetables
Root vegetables’ sweetness comes from oligosaccharides, which act as fuel for the good bacteria in our gut, stimulating their growth and replication. Bacteria regulate many aspects of digestion, from processing nutrients and breaking down food, to immunological function.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 1 large sweet potato, diced
- 1 red onion, peeled, halved and sliced lengthways
- 2 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 carrots, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic: 2 left whole, unpeeled & smashed, 2 finely sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 small chicken
- sea salt & black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6
- Spread the vegetables out in a deep roasting tray, with the 2 whole, smashed garlic cloves, (reserve the sliced garlic) bay leaves and cinnamon
- Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. Using a knife, cut small incisions into the chicken flesh and push individual slices of garlic into the incisions
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for around 1 hour. remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to a clean, separate roasting tray. Return the chicken to the oven for a further 20 minutes, until cooked.
- Place the tray with the roasted vegetables on the hob (stove top). Add 200ml water, turn up the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes so that all the meat juices and flavours mix together with the water to make a thick sauce that will cling to the roasted vegetables. Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted vegetables and salad.
Dessert: Coconut Panna Cotta
Star Ingredient: Stevia
Stevia is a plant-based sweetener that’s truly benign. Many so-called healthy sweeteners claim to be completely harmless but send blood sugar levels sky high. Stevia has no influence on blood sugar at all, which means we can enjoy the sweetness without compromising our health. It’s available in health food shops and some supermarkets. The sweetness of different brands varies, so you might need to adjust the quantity accordingly.
Makes 4 small or 2 large Panna cottas.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon agar agar
- 400ml coconut milk
- 1 vanilla pod
- 1 tablespoon stevia, or to taste
- toasted coconut shavings, to serve
- fresh raspberries, to serve
Method
- Dissolve the agar agar in 2 tablespoons water (check the instructions on the packet).
- Put the coconut milk in a pan. Split the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife, then add them to the coconut milk along with the stevia.
- Place the pan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly for 6 minutes.
- Add the agar agar mixture and keep stirring for another 2-3 minutes.
- Pour into moulds such as small wine glasses or ramekins.
- Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
- Serve on their own or scattered with toasted coconut shavings and raspberries.
