If you think eating healthily equates only with eating salads and vegetables, perish the thought (no pun intended)! This is something I believe most of us have been (perhaps almost unconsciously) ‘taught’ over the years, which might also make you think that eating healthy is boring and tasteless. I discovered that eating healthily is anything but those things – read on to understand why Healthy Eating isn’t Just About the Salad!
When aiming to eat as clean as you can, you have to make the most of what you eat, from scratch. This might seem like hard, time-consuming work – if you decide to look at it that way. I choose not to, instead I look at it as a creative process. I love to be the one who puts together different flavours to come up with new taste combinations. I also love to think about the outcome and how to make it look amazing. It’s actually a very satisfying feeling to eat something that you know will fuel your body with nourishing nutrients that also looks delicious. So, how do I make healthy cooking more fun? Here are some tips:
1. Remake recipes
Take any food that you don’t think fits into the description of “healthy” and re-make it. I do this ALL the time. I seek inspiration from most dishes that I see or hear of and then, by taking some ingredients away and adding others – I make it healthier. For example, let’s make a ‘Pasta Bolognese’ healthier. First, you can replace the minced meat with crushed almonds, if you want a vegetarian version. Then take a look at what the base is supposed to be made of and see what you can make yourself – tomato sauce for example is pretty easy to make from scratch. As the name suggests, it’s made of tomatoes! Most of the spices, herbs and onions are good for you – so don’t take them away, instead, replace the pasta with spiralized zucchini, or go for a gluten-free bean pasta option instead. Done!
2. Enjoy the process
Put on some good music and be present in the creation process. Yes, it takes time to cook but you don’t have to do it every day. Be smart and plan what you’ll eat for the next few days. That way, you can easily designate some time to make fantastic food!
3. Believe in yourself
Don’t stare yourself blind at a recipe, allow yourself the freedom and flexibility to experiment and try out new flavours that YOU like. In the beginning you might come up with a few (hopefully still edible) duds, I know I did – but today I barely ever follow a recipe, I only look at it for inspiration. This makes me feel like a chef and I truly get into that role while cooking.
