We may know the basics of eating healthy and what good, whole, nutritious food looks like, but how many of us put that into practice in our daily lives? With full-time jobs, children to care for, and social and recreational activities filling up our hours, preparing healthy meals at home is often low on the list of priorities. And when we do make time for it, it doesn’t always go well. One study of 112,000 adults shows that when study participants spent an additional 10 minutes on food preparation in any given day, they spent less time exercising that day. The more time they spent on exercise, the less time they spent preparing food. Not a great trade-off.
As part of The National's #healthyliving initiative, we wanted to show people just how easy it can be to make healthy food at home. We invited 20 readers to Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi to join us for the Healthy Cooking Experience on March 27, 2015. Guests included stay-at-home mums, businesspeople, food bloggers and a few people who admitted they're not that handy in the kitchen. Our guests arrived at 11am for coffee and an introduction; but long before they arrived, the hotel's chefs, a dietitian from Imperial College London Diabetes Centre and I hit the markets to pick up the ingredients for the day's cooking.
We were at the fish market in Mina Zayed at 8.30am, picking out the freshest catches. We specifically sought out seafood that packed a nutritious punch. Fatima Sadek, the dietitian from ICLDC, said: “Most seafood is a healthy option. It’s packed with vitamins and minerals and it’s a lean protein.” We filled our cooler with fish high in beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, such as yellow-fin tuna, mackerel, belt fish and calamari. We also grabbed prawns and clams. Next up – the fruit and vegetable market, where we loaded a trolley full of fresh herbs and greens, lemon, pomegranate, pineapple, mango, papaya, red onion, mangosteen, rambutan, multi-coloured capsicums and more. We chose produce in every colour – an important part of healthy eating. Sadek told us: “A good rule of thumb is to look for colourful fruits and vegetables, especially those with a deep colour, like dark green and deep orange, as most often these will contain antioxidants, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and many other nutrients, including fibre that is both heart- and gut-friendly.”
As our guests arrived, they were split into three groups. One group made appetisers with Stratos’s head chef Grant Balinger; another worked on main dishes with Amalfi’s head chef Pascal Sfara; and the third prepared desserts with Market Kitchen’s head chef Jordan Annabi. Justin Galea, the hotel’s director of food and beverage, shared his top cooking tips with each group, while Sadek shared nutritional information on the ingredients we chose. For two hours, our guests chopped, sliced, whipped, diced and cooked an array of healthy dishes, all while soaking up valuable health tips from Sadek.
We closed the day by talking about – and, of course, eating – the food we’d cooked. We started with a deliciously healthy dish of steamed clams with coriander, red chillies, garlic and ginger in a rich Asian stock. The appetiser group also prepared a smooth grass-fed beef tataki (see opposite page). Mains included several platters of seafood: fresh calamari, giant tuna steaks, tender tuna carpaccio, sultan Ibrahim (a local fish) covered in roasted vegetables, and roasted prawns. Much of the seafood was simply roasted, at high heat, with a healthy drizzle of lemon juice and olive oil. It was unfussy, flavourful and there was no need to add any seasoning – salt or otherwise – to the dishes. For desserts, we had pineapple carpaccio topped with sweet pomegranate seeds and a rich Thai basil sauce; a moreish plum clafoutis (made with almond flour) that was so good, we hear it might soon be added to the permanent menu at Market Kitchen; and a coconut sago, which won best in show for presentation (turn page for the recipes). Served in hollowed-out coconut shells, the dessert was a perfect blend of textures and flavours: refreshingly smooth, jelly-like sago; soft, sweet mango, rambutan and mangosteens; rich, creamy coconut milk (low fat) and a hint of jasmine. Each of the dishes, including the desserts, was a healthy option, but each one also delivered on flavour. That’s something guest Riyana Hameed didn’t expect. “The healthy stuff is not always tasty,” Hameed said, “but today, it was an eye-opener.” Hameed, a businesswoman who is trying to lose weight, said: “I’m trying to change my food habits. I love food, but I’m doing my best to bring my weight under control. This is the first time I’ve had a meal where I don’t feel guilty. It was well organised and everything was so healthy and so delicious – no guilt at all.”
By the end of our cooking experience, our guests learnt the most important part of healthy eating is choosing the right ingredients. Galea said: “Buy fresh seasonal produce and keep it very simple. Make trips to local markets. Be inspired by what’s on offer. A morning trip to the market puts you in a healthy mindset from the get-go.” He added: “I believe our guests walked away with a newfound confidence that food does not need to be complex and most importantly, cooking in itself is a healthy exercise.”
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JOHN STONE BEEF TATAKI
Serves 6
Ingredients
2 raw beetroot, cored and finely grated
1/4 red cabbage, cored and finely sliced (one quarter cabbage – not 1/4 cup)
1 small red onion, halved and finely sliced
6tbsp crème fraiche
1 bunch chervil (French parsley)
200g John Stone tenderloin, cleaned
Ingredients for the dressing
5tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2tbsp balsamic vinegar
1tbsp extra fine capers
Sea salt, for seasoning
Black pepper, for seasoning
Method
Whisk ingredients for the dressing and set aside.
Mix the beetroot, red cabbage and red onion in a bowl. Toss the dressing and vegetables together. Divide the salad onto six plates. Place one tablespoon of crème fraiche on each plate and garnish with chervil leaves.
Season the tenderloin with salt and pepper. In a hot pan, sear the tenderloin on each side for a total of two minutes, then remove from heat. Finely slice the tenderloin and place on each salad plate. Sprinkle sea salt and cracked black pepper over the beef and serve.
● APPETISERS
CLAMS EN PAPILLOTE
Serves 5
Ingredients for master stock
7.5L water
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 ginger knob, sliced
1 small handful of shallot ends
1 stick cassia bark
2 star anise
375ml light soy sauce
75g Chinese rock sugar
Ingredients for the clams
1kg fresh clams, washed and rinsed
200g each of:
- ginger, peeled, sliced and cut into thin strips
- garlic, thinly sliced
- spring onions, sliced thin on the diagonal
- coriander stalks, roughly chopped
- red chillies, cut thin on the diagonal
- coriander leaves, for garnish
Method
Place the ingredients for the stock into a pot and boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat and leave to cool, allowing the flavours to develop. When cool, place two ladles of it into a deep tray. Add the rest of the ingredients except the coriander leaves and cover with a lid or foil. Place covered tray into an oven at 200C and steam for 10 to 12 minutes, or until all the clams have opened and the meat inside is firm but not overcooked. Divide the clams with some of the stock between five bowls. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
Recipes by Stratos head chef Grant Balinger
● DESSERTS
PINEAPPLE CARPACCIO
Serves 5-6
Ingredients
1 pineapple
1 pomegrante
100g Thai basil leaves
Method
Peel pineapple. Then use a very sharp knife or electric slicer to thinly slice pineapple.
Blanch the Thai basil leaves for 20 seconds in boiling water (enough water to cover the leaves), then dip them in a bowl of ice water. Squeeze excess water from the leaves and blend smooth with a little water until you reach a sauce consistency. Set aside.
Cover five or six plates with thin slices of pineapple. Remove seeds from pomegranate and scatter over the pineapple slices. Pour Thai basil sauce over each plate.
Tip: to easily remove pomegranate seeds, halve the fruit, hold it over a bowl and pound the outside of the fruit with the back of a large spoon until all the seeds fall out.
COCONUT SAGO, EXOTIC SALAD AND JASMINE SAUCE
Serves 4
Ingredients for salad
600g mango, sliced
200g red papaya, sliced
200g rambutan, peeled and sliced
200g mangosteen, peeled and sliced
For coconut sago
2 young coconuts, juice only (set halved shells aside)
100g tapioca pearls
For jasmine sauce
500ml milk
4g stevia
1 can of reduced-fat coconut milk
1 drop of jasmine essence
pinch of salt
Method
Heat tapioca pearls in the coconut juice in a pan until tender, then cool. Mix all salad ingredients in a bowl. For jasmine sauce, boil milk, stevia and coconut milk together. Once boiled, add 1 drop of jasmine essence and a pinch of salt. Then cool.
Place coconut sago in the bottom of four bowls (or in each half of coconut shells). Add exotic salad. Then pour jasmine sauce on top.
CITRUS FRUIT SALAD WITH SPICED JUICE
Ingredients for the spiced juice
200ml water
3g stevia
3g orange zest
2g lemon zest,
1 vanilla bean pod
3g star anise
1 clove
1g fresh ginger
1 drop Tabasco sauce
6ml fresh lemon juice
Method
Bring all ingredients except the lemon juice to a simmer. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Rest for two hours in the refrigerator. Strain and set aside.
Ingredients for fruit salad
2 oranges, peeled, segmented, then halved
1grapefruit, peeled, segmented, then halved
100g lemons, peeled, segmented, then halved
200g limes, peeled, segmented, then halved
Method
Soak all ingredients in spiced juice before serving. Keep mixture well chilled and serve in syrup.
PLUM CLAFOUTIS WITH CITRUS SALAD
Serves 4
Ingredients
225ml reduced-fat milk
150g almond flour
100g honey
3 eggs
150g ripe plums, roughly chopped
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180C.
Mix the milk, almond flour, honey and eggs well by hand or in a food processor or blender.
Place chopped plums around the bottom of a 1-inch-thick oven-safe baking dish.
Pour batter over cherries and bake at 180C for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm with citrus fruit salad.
Recipes by Market Kitchen’s head chef Jordan Annabi
sjohnson@thenational.ae
