DOCTOR’S ORDERS
These six recipes go beyond an apple a day to help you keep illness at bay
The year 2017 saw a little-known GP publish a recipe book in the hope of encouraging the masses to understand the power of food as preventative medicine. The wellness crowd bought the book – and into the movement itself – and Dr Rupy Aujla has since become known as the face of culinary medicine
Want in on the plate-beforepills maxim – the idea that paying attention to what you eat now could pay off in months or years to come by helping you swerve some of the most common lifestyle-related health conditions of our time? Then Dr Rupy Aujla is your man. Or, should that be, the man.
18 months on from the publication of The Doctor’s Kitchen, which made him a household name in the health industry (there ain’t none bigger right now) and spurred him to sign up for a master’s in nutritional medicine at the University of Surrey, Dr Aujla is spearheading the Culinary Medicine UK initiative, a programme teaching health practitioners the foundations of clinical nutrition. So, that he’s found the time to write a second book puts your failure to pick up the dry cleaning into perspective, doesn’t it?
The Doctor’s Kitchen: Eat To Beat Illness does what it says on the tin – it’s packed full of dishes that can boost brain health, immunity and protect against cancer thanks to their high-achieving ingredients. Have a look at the following recipes, decide which you’ll cook first, then pick up your dry cleaning on the way to do the food shop. Job done.
COD BITES WITH LEMON AND SAMPHIRE
‘We should all eat more sea vegetables. There are loads of varieties available, including kelp and dulse. Samphire grows on our coasts in the summer months and has an incredible micronutrient value – you can find it at the fishmonger, or in many supermarkets.’
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SERVES 2 | CALS 582 |
FAT 38G | PROTEIN 37G |
CARBS 18G
INGREDIENTS
50g milled flaxseed • 2 tsp sweet paprika • 1 tsp ground cumin • 1 tsp cayenne pepper • 1 tsp dried thyme
• 400g cod cheeks, cut into 5cm chunks (white fish fillets such as cod, hake and pollock also work if you can’t find cod cheeks) • 4 tbsp olive oil • salt and pepper
• 150g new potatoes, quartered • 100g samphire
• 200g rocket • 50g pickled red cabbage • 1 lemon METHOD
1| Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Mix the flaxseed, spices and dried thyme in a bowl. Coat the fish chunks with half of the oil, then thoroughly coat with the flaxseed mix, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and lay them on the lined baking tray. Bake for 12 to 14 mins until golden and cooked through.
2| Meanwhile, bring a pan of unsalted water to the boil, add the potatoes and parboil for 6 mins. Drain and set aside.
3| Add the rest of the oil to a frying pan over a medium heat and add the potatoes (don’t season – the samphire is salty enough). Sauté for a few mins until they form a light golden-brown crust.
4| Toss the samphire in the pan with the potatoes for 1 to 2 mins to lightly cook, then plate up with the rocket. Serve with pickled red cabbage, lemon wedges and the baked cod bites.