ISLAND LIFE

Refrigerator muffins are just one of many treats recommended by Eat Well Tasmania as an “easy and novel way” to eat fruit and vegetables.

“You keep the mix in the fridge and can scoop out a portion and cook it as required,” says Melanie Blackhall, formerly president and now a board member of the statewide organisation, which champions healthy eating.

“Less than seven per cent of Australians are getting the recommended serves of vegetables each day. We need to encourage people to eat vegetables earlier in the day rather than leaving it until the last meal of the day, when it’s hard to manage [the recommended] five serves of vegetables on the one plate.”

Blackhall, who is shown at the launch of Eat Well Tasmania’s ongoing Get Fruity campaign at Government House late last year, says the challenge is to show people just how easy it is to increase their daily intake of healthy foods to the recommended five serves of vegetables, and two serves of fruit.

“That’s the ideal, but really we’re just saying try to add more. Even if you add just one more serve a day, that’s a good thing,” Blackhall says.

The organisation, which recently launched a Tasmanian seasonal produce guide in partnership with Fruit Growers Tasmania, has a bank of fruit and veg-based online recipes, created by the executive chef at Government House, Ainstie Wagner.

“There’s a raft of recipes, which incorporate fruit and vegetables in interesting and novel ways,” Blackhall says.

These include broccoli fried rice, cauliflower and cannellini bean risotto and omelette with roast capsicum and wilted spinach.

The recipes and seasonal produce guide are available at eatwelltas.org.au