Creating a Balanced Meal without A recipe
One the main principles of the HolisticNiss nutrition philosophy is that you don't need complicated recipes or trendy “superfoods” to be able to make a healthy well balanced meal.
What you do need is a set of guidelines, ideas and basic cooking knowledge to help you work your own magic in the kitchen and onto your plate.
Of course recipes can be very helpful, especially to newbies in the kitchen, but they shouldn’t be taken as a be all and end all. Food is a personal choice and every good recipe should be open to interpretation and should withstand some modifications based on personal taste and ingredients on hand.
If you're new in the kitchen, this can seem intimidating, but cooking from scratch doesn’t have to be an elaborate affair. If you can chop, you can cook.
The reality is that most of us lead hectic lifestyles these days and meal times can sometimes unintentionally be an after thought.
I'm a holistic nutritionist, wellness coach and self-proclaimed whole food junkie and I sometimes find myself standing in the kitchen without a clue as to what I should make for dinner. Not because I don’t know what it takes to create a well balanced meal, nor because I lack cooking skills, but because I’m human, and sometimes I struggle too.
Thankfully, I have options. Occasionally, we turn to dinning out or ordering in. Lately we’re happy to order in once a week to support local establishments who are struggling in light of the pandemic and just to get a break from cooking. With three us home for 3 meals a day, it’s full on homechef mode, not to mention snack duty for a ravenous 5 year old.
Sometimes, I turn to my favourite cookbooks or blogs for ideas and inspiration. I’m not very good with following recipes and can never resist the urge to make a dish my own, but having those tried and true go to’s sure helps when I’m all out of ideas.
Most of the time though, when I don’t have a plan, I just pull stuff out of the pantry and fridge, which I keep stocked with a variety of whole food ingredients, and create a spur of the moment no fuss pantry meal that we can enjoy while nourishing our bodies.
What you see here are a few of those pantry meals or what I like to call à la carte meals. The term 'à la carte' is French for food that can be ordered as separate items rather than part of a set meal and that's just what these are, a combination of delicious things that work well together.
Here are a few meal ideas from recent family meals, to get you started.
Lemon Pepper Salmon fillets (brush with extra virgin olive oil, top with lemon slices, a pinch of salt & fresh ground black pepper and bake for 15 minutes at 180 °C) , greens dressed in umeboshi vinegar and tricoloured Quinoa Salad with Strawberries and Asparagus.
Salmon Patties (from The HolisticNiss Pantry Guide), rosted sweet potatoes, steamed green beans, roasted cauliflower with a Lebanese tarator sauce aka tahini lemon dressing (from this recipe).
Barley with Pine Nut Parsley Dressing (from this recipe) & Walnuts, Blood Orange & Balsamic Caramelized Fennel, Balsamic Roasted Asparagus and Radicchio, and Garlic & Thyme Cashew Cheese on sourdough toast.
Arugula dressed with balsamic vinegar, za’atar spiced flat bread, hummus bi tahini, olives, pickles, a sunnyside up egg sprinled with sumac and a veggie loaded summer pasta salad (from this recipe).
How to create a balanced meal, in 5 easy steps
Load up on greens
Greens are a nutrient powerhouse. They help us fight inflammation and provide fiber and essential vitamins and minerals. They should be included in as many meals as possible. Add a side salad and/or sautéed greens, or add them directly to your preparations. Frozen greens count too.
Add Complex Carbohydrates
Complex carbohydrates like whole grains and non-starchy vegetables help us stay fuller longer and slow down glucose absorption due to their high fiber content. They are also loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. Starchy vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes may also be included.
Choose Quality Proteins
Protein keeps you fuller longer and stabilize blood sugar levels. A rule of thumb is to get 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight, about 54g if you weigh 68kg/150lbs. Aim to spread this out across all meals and snacks.
Don’t fear fats
Healthy fats help us feel satiated, slow down carbohydrate digestion and prevent cravings. They also help us absorb fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Each meal should include a modest amount of heart-healthy fat like extra virgin olive oil and/or whole food sources like nuts, seeds, olives and avocados.
Make it tasty
Food is just as much about sustenance as it is about pleasure. It's important to nourish your body with essential nutrients, but it's also important to enjoy what you eat.
Adding herbs, spices, condiments and ferments to your food not only enhances all the flavours but may boost nutrient absorption as well.
As an example, Vitamin C rich foods like lemon juice increase the bioavailabilty of minerals (eg. iron, zinc, calcium) in certain foods (eg. beans, lentils, greens).
As you can see, all you need are a few simple ingredients to pull together a deliciously nourishing well balanced meal. So go ahead and make your next meal a nutrient powerhouse of delicious flavours that will tantalize and delight your senses. Check out the recipes section of this blog for ideas and inspiration.
