Healthy recipes for the new year

All aboard the healthy bandwagon. Destination: New Year. Route number: 2013.

How are your new year’s resolutions coming along? I have five. I have already broken 3. Oh well, I am doing better than I was this time last year, by which stage I had broken all of them.

This post is somewhat out of character. I do not usually jump on the healthy bandwagon. Especially not in the most miserable month of the year. But I was encouraged to at least think about healthy food this week (even if I haven’t eaten any) because I wrote a guest post for MPN Online suggesting healthy recipes from across the blogosphere.

In the process I was reminded that healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring. I started by trawling through my own blog for healthy recipes and was pleasantly surprised to find many more than I was expecting.

I should establish that by ‘healthy’ I do not necessarily mean low fat or low carb, I mean nutritionally balanced. Officially, a balanced diet includes vegetables and legumes, fruit, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts and whole grains. For me, balance means all things are allowed in moderation. You are much more likely to break your health regime if you try to cut out all the things you love in any case.

Thinking about this reminded me of a great article by Margaret Willson, an anthropologist, in a book I read recently for my Masters. The book is called Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession and the article is called ‘Indulgence’. Willson looks at coffee culture in Seattle. She is particularly perplexed by the practice of adding cream to a coffee ordered with low-fat milk. She is interested in how this reflects the tensions between indulgence, morality, pleasure and restraint and what she sees as “a particularly American way of negotiating the line between indulgence and restraint”.

The part that interested me most, and which is most relevant to this post, was her reasoning for why, despite the overwhelming popularity of diet foods in the US, Americans are still growing ever fatter. She suggests that this is because Americans love the taste of fat. In the case of diet foods, people either trial the low-fat product and go back to the original or they add fat to them to improve the taste. I have done this myself. On the occasion that I have bought myself a low calorie meal – yes, I admit, I do occasionally buy these – I have either added something to make it taste better or more filling, or I have ended up eating something with more calories later because I wasn't full enough!

Sidney Mintz, another anthropologist, highlights that consumption of both fatty foods and diet foods are increasing simultaneously. Willson summarises his argument thus: “Americans are eating more fats and sugar, yet at the same time they are buying other, low-fat foods to make them feel less guilty. And they are eating those too.” Ever rewarded yourself after the gym with a pizza for one? It is much the same concept.

The key point I am trying to make is that I think you are better off sticking to a nutritionally balanced diet, which pretty much allows for everything in moderation.   

Here are some recipes from my blog to get you started:

How about a mezze selection? A truly rounded meal. Choose from spicy lamb mince (a lean option if you wish) or falafel (baked not fried if you prefer) with a selection of salads (tabbouli, fattoush and/or pomegranate and feta salad) and dips (baba ganoush, hummous and tzatziki) served with wholemeal pita bread. This is a great meal which I often make for guests and extremely well balanced, though rather a lot of effort if you go with the full spread.

If you are looking for something simpler then try my larp (Thai minced meat or fish salad) served with fresh greens and wholemeal rice. Or how about chicken pinchos (kebabs) with ensalada campera (Spanish summer potato salad) and mixed leaves?

The Spanish are rather liberal with their olive oil, so you may want to reduce the quantity slightly if you are worried about your weight. However, our bodies and brains do need some fat and olive oil is top of the list of healthy fats, along with nuts, avocados and oily fish. As Dr Craig Hassad writes in his book, The Essence of Health: The Seven Pillars of Wellbeing:

Olive Oil is emerging as an important food for reducing our risk of chronic desease. Olive oil is rich in fatty acids and antioxidants, vitamin E and other trace plant nutrients. There is extensive evidence supporting olive oil as beneficial to cognitive health.

Continuing the Spanish theme Claudia Roden’s potaje de garbanzos y espinacas (chickpea and spinach stew) is hearty, warming and full of goodness.

Stephanie Alexander’s Moroccan chicken is another good stew and, served with cous cous, covers all bases. Just make sure you get some good quality saffron.

If it is just a snack you are after then asparagus wrapped in prosciutto served with a soft-boiled egg is full of protein and vitamins and will please those on a low-carb diet. While ‘eggs in purgatory’ is a great simple supper when you’re at the end of a long day.

One of my favourite salads is Angela Hartnett’s ricotta and spring vegetable salad, which you may like to try if you are somewhere warm. More suited to the season where I am would be Sylvena Rowe’s smoked aubergine salad, though I think this works better as a side, rather than a standalone dish.

Many more recipes can be adapted to make them healthier. For example, my plaice with chunky salsa verde and puy lentils; cut the croutons and butter and grill the fish and you have a healthy, well balanced meal. You can apply such tactics to any meal really. You just need to have an idea of what will work and what won't, or more specifically, how much you can change a dish before you start to sacrifice too much on flavour.

A healthy January is starting to look much more appealing. I might just jump on board.