RECIPES: to Improve your Mood and Brain Health

Food for Mood Series #3

Smiling at your food makes it taste better, so I hear...

To wrap up this third and final entry of my Food for Mood series, it's about time I shared with you some practical tips to incorporate the best mood foods.

These recipes and meal ideas are some of the ways I personally include the top 10 foods for boosting your mood and overall health.

They are quick, easy and usually easy to adapt if you happen to be missing one or more of the ingredients.

Here's the list from my previous post of the top 10 mood foods for brain health:

1. Fatty fish

2. Nuts and seeds

3. Avocado

4. Berries

5. Dark chocolate

6. Turmeric

7. Fermented foods

8. Leafy greens

9. Whole-grains

10. Bananas

Now for those recipes I promised...

Breakfast recipes:

Chia Seed Pudding with Berries and Nuts

• Ingredients: Chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla essence, berries of your choice (fresh or frozen), chopped almonds, honey.

• Instructions: Mix 2 Tbsp chia seeds with 2/3 cup almond milk with a splash of vanilla and let sit overnight. Top with berries, a dollop of yoghurt, chopped almonds, and a drizzle of honey.

  
  

  

  Chia seed puddings are easy to meal prep ands store for a few days.

  
  

Choc Berry Smoothie with Kefir

• Ingredients: Frozen berries (1 cup), kefir yoghurt (1/2 cup), a splash of milk, 1 Tbsp nut butter, 1 Tbsp cacao powder and 1 tsp flaxseeds.

• Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix til smooth. For an icy texture, add a small handful of ice cubes before blitzing.

Choc berry, gut-healthy smoothie

Savoury recipes:

Quinoa Salad with Leafy Greens and Fermented Foods

• Ingredients: Quinoa, kale, finely chopped broccoli, sauerkraut/kimchi, chickpeas, avocado, almonds, olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate seeds.

• Instructions: Cook quinoa and let it cool. Toss with chopped broccoli, kale, sauerkraut/kimchi, avocado, chickpeas and almonds. Dress with olive oil and lemon juice. Fresh pomegranate seeds add a fresh burst of colour and flavour.

  
  

  

  Quinoa and kale salad is an easy base to mix and match flavours with what you have in the fridge.

  
  

Turmeric Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon

• Ingredients: Sourdough toast, 2 eggs, smoked salmon, turmeric, salt and pepper, alfalfa sprouts or herbs to garnish.

• Instructions: Whisk eggs, turmeric and pepper with a splash of milk in a bowl, before lightly cooking in a frying pan over medium heat. Toast sourdough and assemble all ingredients, finishing with the herbs/alfalfa and additional seasoning.

My favourite way to eat eggs; gooey scramble with turmeric.

Salmon with Turmeric and Brown Rice

• Ingredients: Salmon fillets (2), turmeric (1/2 tsp), soy sauce (2 Tbsp), olive oil (2 Tbsp), garlic (1 clove), brown rice ( 2 cups, cooked), spinach (2 cups), frozen mixed veg (1 cup).

• Instructions: Marinate salmon with turmeric, olive oil, soy sauce and minced garlic. Cook rice in water until just cooked. Heat extra oil in a frying pan and combine rice and salmon, cooking for a few minutes, once the salmon begins to look opaque, add the frozen veg and spinach. Pour over any remaining marinade.

Frozen veggies are the best thing to stock-pile in your freezer, ensuring you always have nutritious food on hand. for a quick recipe such as this.

Fish Tacos with Kimchi

• Ingredients: Mackerel fillets, whole grain tortillas, kimchi, avocado, coriander, lime.

• Instructions: Grill mackerel fillets and flake into pieces. Serve in tortillas with kimchi, sliced avocado, coriander and a squeeze of lime.

Nothing beats a good fish taco!

Sweet recipes:

Dark Chocolate and Walnut Energy Bites

• Ingredients: Cacao powder (2 Tbsp), walnuts (1 cup), dates (1/2 cup), chia seeds (2 Tbsp), nut butter (1 Tbsp), coconut flakes (1/2 cup).

• Instructions: Blend dates, walnuts, cacao, nut butter and chia seeds. Roll into balls and coat with coconut flakes. Refrigerate until set.

If you make a double batch of these, they last for 1 week in the fridge or up to a month in the freezer

Blueberry and Turmeric Porridge

• Ingredients: 1/2 cup of Oats, roughly 2/3 cup of almond milk, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1/4 tsp turmeric, honey, almonds and seeds.

• Instructions: Cook oats with almond milk and a pinch of turmeric, adding blueberries half way through cooking. Top with extra blueberries, honey, nuts and seeds.

This recipe is a warm and cozy way to support your hormones and mood, with hidden turmeric that blends in seemlesly.

Recipes are all well and good, but sometimes we just need a quick tip or two to mix things up with our already healthy meals.

Here are some quick and easy ways to include these ingredients into some meals you might already be making yourself:

• Sardines on home-made pizza.

• Adding seeds to smoothies.

• Avocado mango salsa with fish or chicken.

• Frozen berries (cheaper and convenient) can be added to breakfast in granola, porridge, smoothies, with yoghurt or in a salad.

• Dark chocolate (min 70%) in place of milk chocolate in baking.

• Turmeric whisked into scrambled eggs.

• Kimchi in an omelette.

• Leafy greens fresh in salads, blitzed in smoothies, wilted In bolognese/curries/stir fry/soups etc.

• Whole-grains in salads, soups, healthy fried rice etc.

These foods and the above recipes are just the tip of the iceberg as to what's possible when you start to focus on whole foods.

Finding ways to add in these foods into your current diet, into the recipes you already know and love, is the simplest way to get started.

The best way I've found to include these nutritious foods in your diet, is to make sure they're always on rotation in your kitchen - having them in your house will make it easier to reach for them and learn how to get creative with different flavour combinations.

If you include these mood foods in your diet, expect to feel as happy and energised as this

For those who would like to dive deeper into this topic, you might like to visit my past articles, Food for Mood series #1 and Food for Mood Series #2.

If you try any of the recipes mentioned in this post, then please let me know.

Mindfully,

Merran