Healthy Lunch Ideas

Cobb Salad with Kefir Dressing to feed your gut bacteria

 Kefir is a probiotic superfood, a fermented milk drink similar to yoghurt and with a texture like buttermilk.  The fermentation process makes kefir slightly fizzy and, more importantly, results in the production of billions of ‘good’ bacteria in the drink. These good bacteria support the population of our good gut flora, promoting healthy digestion and also supporting our immune systems.

Most people use kefir in their breakfast or mixed into smoothies but it can also be used to make a delicious creamy salad dressing. Using this dressing as an alternative to your usual salad dressing is another way to get probiotic foods into your diet.

A Cobb salad is made from a mix of different vegetables (it’s a great way to use up leftovers), combined with chicken, blue cheese, bacon and boiled eggs, so my version is slightly lighter. Feel free to adapt this recipe by using different vegetables, but try to always incorporate a variety of lots of different vegetables.

My Cobb salad recipe contains lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, avocado, roasted chickpeas, and asparagus, packing 7 different types of vegetable into this meal. Research continually shows that those with healthy gut bacteria populations eat a variety of different vegetables and plant foods. We should aim to get as many different vegetables into our diet as possible and try and get out of the habit of having the same old usual vegetables every day. This recipe is one of my favourite ways to do that.

Ingredients (serves 2 with leftovers)

  • 2 cooked chicken breasts
  • A handful cherry tomatoes, chopped,
  • Half a cucumber, chopped
  • 100g cooked asparagus, chopped
  • A handful radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 head little gem lettuce, thinly sliced
  • 1 can chickpeas, roasted with olive oil
  • 1 avocado, peeled and chopped into chunks
  • 150ml kefir
  • ½ tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ garlic clove, crushed

 Method

  1. Whisk together the kefir, mustard, mayonnaise, olive oil and garlic clove for your dressing.
  2. Place all your vegetables on a wide serving platter, don’t mix together your vegetables at this point but place the vegetables in separate segments on the platter.
  3. Serve with your dressing on the side.

 

See Sarah’s Instagram page for lots more lunch bowl ideas and my favourite ginger, scallion, turmeric oil recipe as a nutritious flavour enhancer to top off lunch bowls.

 

 

Mexican Sweet Potato Lunch Bowl

Swapping regular white potatoes for sweet potatoes is a great way to up the beta carotene content of your diet. Beta carotene is the orange pigment that gives sweet potatoes their orange colour (you’ll also find it in carrots, green leafy veg and pumpkin).

Beta carotene has a number of health benefits. Getting more of it in your diet can:

Improve female fertility – women who ate more beta carotene were found to have better quality eggs and therefore better chances of conceiving.

Improve our skin condition – when we eat beta carotene our body converts it into vitamin A. Vitamin A is probably the most important nutrient for skin health: it helps maintain collagen levels, prevent pigmentation and ensure healthy turnover of skin cells.

Beta carotene can also protect the skin from the sun, people who eat more beta carotene develop a degree of natural protection from the sun, meaning it takes longer for them to develop sunburn when exposed to the sun’s rays.

On top of all that sweet potato is a great source of soluble fibre, which looks after our gut health and feeds the gut microbiome. So why not give these lunch bowls a go – a great alternative to your usual sandwich or wrap.

INGREDIENTS

Makes 2 bowls

2 large sweet potatoes
1 cos lettuce, shredded
1 avocado, diced
100g feta cheese
1/2 tin black beans, drained
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped or 1 tsp chipotle paste
Juice of half a lime
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 180c. Cube the sweet potatoes and toss with 1 tbsp olive oil and season. Roast in the oven until tender, this should take about 25-35 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are cooking make your black bean and avocado salsa by combining the tomatoes, black beans, avocado, lime juice and chilli (or chipotle paste) with some salt and pepper to taste.

3. Assemble bowls by placing a layer of lettuce on the bottom and then top with your cubed sweet potatoes, black bean and avocado salsa and feta cheese. Enjoy!