Healthy food seems to be everywhere at the moment, from magazines to social media and restaurants, healthy eating is definitely in. This trend stems from the fact that nowadays, people are way more health conscious and are looking for ways to incorporate healthy meals into their lives and daily routines.
It can be really hard to untangle what actually is healthy eating and how to make it work for your life, so take a look at our guide to what eating healthy means and how can you make healthy meals using healthy ingredients that still taste good.
Clean Eating
Clean eating is one of the most popular health trends of the moment, but what does it actually mean? At its core, clean eating is trying to eat food as close to its natural state as possible, which means saying goodbye to processed food in the name of healthy eating.
Clean eating as a lifestyle applies to everyone in different ways, but here are a few guidelines to follow the clean eating lifestyle:
Eating smaller meals five to six times a day
Choosing organic clean foods whenever possible
Drinking at least two litres of water a day
Avoiding processed and refined foods
Learning about portion sizes
Importance
Living a healthy diet has never been as important as it is now, with obesity rates increasing and studies revealing the importance of healthy lifestyles throughout your life. Eating healthily can do great things for your skin, hair and overall wellbeing. It might seem daunting but there are some really easy ways to include healthier ingredients in your meals and live a healthier lifestyle.
Trends
Some of the health trends of recent years have been sensible, whereas others have been a little stranger:
Eating baby food
This supposedly helps you lose weight because the food comes in smaller containers, takes less energy to digest and comes enriched with vitamins and minerals.
Juicing
This trend is one of the ones that is said to do wonders for your digestive system, juices are said to have extra vitamins and low fibre.
DIY beauty products
Trying to use natural products for your beauty routine has been huge for a few years now. People are aiming to use less harmful chemicals and make their own beauty products.
Coconut everything
Coconut oil, water, bread… we’ve seen it all over the past few years. Said to have great health benefits both on and in your body, coconut has been one of the hottest healthy ingredients of recent times and is now used in lots of healthy recipes.
Kefir
This is a fermented dairy beverage that is packed with beneficial probiotics that help to give your immune system a little extra edge.
Gluten Free
With gluten widely considered to be an unhealthy part of most people’s diets, gluten free foods have become a huge trend in recent years. Most products now come in gluten free versions.
Popular Healthy Ingredients
Some of the most popular healthy ingredients are available at your local supermarket which have lots of uses:
Chia seeds
Goji berries
Flax seeds
Quinoa
Almond milk
Nut butters
Amaranth
Buckwheat
Chickpeas
Lentils
Edamame
Seaweed
Kale
Avocado
Sweet Potato
Some recipes to keep you healthy
Healthy recipes can a bit of a reputation for not being as tasty as something that is less good for you, but these dishes are here to prove that theory wrong. These healthy meals are made from the best healthy ingredients and are sure to become favourites in your kitchen.
1. Roasted Cauliflower with Lemon, Caper and Chilli Dressing
This is an easy, healthy and delicious healthy food recipe that works as a meal and a side dish; it’s a vegan recipe that also works for those that are gluten free and on the Mediterranean diets.
Serves Six
Prep: Five Minutes
Cooking: 25 Minutes
Ingredients:
1 Cauliflower
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Lemon, zested and juiced
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Toss the cauliflower florets with a spoon and a half of the olive oil and spread them over a large baking sheet
3. Season well and roast for 25 minutes in the oven
4. Whilst this is roasting, combine the rest of the olive oil with lemon zest and juice, chilli capers and most of the parsley in a bowl.
5. Season with some fresh black paper
6. Take the cauliflower out of the oven and arrange in a serving dish
7. Pour the dressing over and toss to coat
8. Scatter the rest of the parsley on the top and enjoy.
2. Sweet Potatoes and Chickpea Puree
This healthy recipe is great as a dip to give a healthy element to snacking and it works really well with crackers. This is another recipe suitable for those that are vegan; it’s incredibly rich in vitamins.
Serves: 6-8
Prep: Five minutes
Cooking: 45 mins
Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato
1 can chickpeas (400g) drained
1 small clove garlic
1 tsp salt
220ml of extra virgin olive oil
Fresh black pepper
Instructions:
1. Heat the oven to 220C
2. Prick the potato with a fork and roast in the oven until tender, this should be around 45 mins
3. Remove from oven and leave to cool
4. Rinse the chickpeas and put them in a food processor with the garlic, salt and sweet potato flesh
5. Whilst blending, add the olive oil to form a smooth puree
6. Transfer to a serving dish and grind some pepper on top to finish
3. Spicy vegetable and Quinoa one-pot laska
This is a great high fibre dish that is one of the easiest healthy meals to make and requires only a little bit of washing up.
Serves Four
Prep: Five minutes
Cooking: 15 mins
Ingredients:
1 sliced onion
4 tbsp. vegetarian korma or madras curry paste
1 Litre of milk
750 grams frozen mixed veg
175g quinoa rinsed
Instructions:
1. Simmer the onion and the curry paste with a little bit of water in a large saucepan, stirring occasionally.
2. Heat the milk in a jug in the microwave
3. Add the vegetables and quinoa
4. Stir in the Milk
5. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for around 10 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked
4. Super Berry Smoothie
This healthy food recipe is great as a snack, pick-me-up between meals, or even as a breakfast replacement, these berry smoothies are a great way to make sure you get the vitamins you need in an easy and delicious way.
Serves Four
Prep: 10 mins
Cooking: none
Ingredients
450g frozen berries
450g fat free strawberry yoghurt
100ml Milk
25g porridge oat
2 tsp honey (optional)
Instructions:
1. Blitz the berries, yoghurt and milk in a food processor until nice and smooth
2. Stir through the oats
3. Pour into four glasses and add some honey if you want to
5. Dried Fruit Energy Nuggets
This recipe makes some great energy boosting snacks that are nutritionally balanced, healthy and most importantly tasty. This recipe makes about six, but you can also double up on the recipe to create snacks that will last you through the week.
Serves Six
Prep: 10 mins
Cooking: none
Ingredients:
50g soft dried apricot
100g soft dried date
50g cherry
2tsp coconut oil
1tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions:
1. Blend the apricots along with the dates and cherries in a food processor until very finely chopped
2. Tip into a bowl and use your hands to work in the coconut oil
3. Shape the mix into walnut sized balls
4. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds
So, there you have it, a great guide to get started eating healthily. Making the changes to your life can help you feel better inside and out as well as added benefits like sleeping better, more energy during the day and even feeling more productive and being able to focus better. It can seem daunting to have a healthier lifestyle, but if you just introduce it bit by bit, you will get there in the end.
So give one of these great healthy meals a go and let us know what you think. If you have any healthy suggestions, we would love to hear from you!