Three fabulous recipes to help make up your essential nutrients needed while pregnant:
Yoghurt-soaked oats with fresh fruit, seeds and honey
Serves 4
- 1 cup raw oats
- 1 cup low-fat Bulgarian yoghurt
- 1 cup apple juice
- freshly cut fruit: any mix of strawberries, bananas, pawpaw, apple, etc
- 4 T mixed pumpkin, linseed and sesame seeds (look out for ready mixed jars in supermarkets or health stores)
- 4 T honey
- dried cranberries
Method
- Stir the oats, yoghurt and apple juice together and refrigerate, covered overnight.
- Toast the seeds in a pan, add the honey, and stir until it becomes runny and bubbles.
- Spoon some oats into a bowl and top with the fresh fruit.
- Drizzle on the warm seeded honey and sprinkle with dried cranberries.
A batch of oats can be made and stored in the fridge for up to a week. To soften the honey mixture, heat it in the microwave for a few seconds or over a bowl of hot water.
Grilled salmon with citrus, walnut and sweet potato
Serves 2
- 500 g sweet potato chunks
- 1-2 T olive oil
- salt and milled pepper
- 1 orange
- 1 T chopped walnuts
- 1 T chopped coriander
- 1 tiny clove garlic, crushed
- 2 salmon or salmon-trout fillets, about 180 g each
- baby spinach, cress and rocket leaves
Method
- Tip the sweet potato onto a baking tray and toss with the olive oil and some seasoning. Roast at 200ºC for 30 minutes or until tender and browned on the edges.
- Finely grate ½ tsp zest from the orange. Combine with the walnuts, coriander and garlic. Season to taste.
- Season the salmon and place skin-side down in a non-stick pan over a low to medium heat. When the skin has crisped (about 5 minutes), flip and cook the other side for a minute or two until cooked through, but still moist.
- To serve, pile greens onto plates and top with the potatoes and salmon. Squeeze on some orange juice and sprinkle with the walnut mixture.
Spring vegetable steam-fry with tofu, ginger and ponzu sauce
Serves 3-4
- 297 g firm tofu
- cornflour
- olive oil
- salt
- 1-2 t crushed garlic
- 1 T crushed ginger
- ½-1 t crushed chilli
- 1 punnet salad onions, halved lengthways
- 1-2 baby cabbages, thinly sliced
- 140 g sugar snap peas
- 135 g asparagus tips
- 130 g baby corn
- 3 T ponzu sauce
sprouts (optional)
For serving:
Steamed brown and wild rice with lentils (try ready mixed from supermarkets)
Method
- Drain the tofu and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into cubes. Tip some cornflour into a wide bowl, then add a third of the tofu, turning it to coat.
- Heat 1-2 T olive oil in a non-stick pan. Gently fry the coated tofu until golden. Remove to a plate and sprinkle with a little salt.
- Repeat with the remaining tofu.
- For the steam-fry, heat 1-2 T olive oil in a wok. Stir in the garlic, ginger, chilli and spring onion. Add the remaining vegetables. Stir-fry for a minute, then add 3 T water.
- Lower the heat, cover and steam for 5-10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender-crisp.
- Stir in the ponzu sauce and tip into a serving bowl.
- Top with tufts of sprouts if using and serve with the rice and lentils.