Your 'Five a Day'

I read an intersting article on the BBC website a couple of weeks ago about Britons and their five-a-day. The article claimed that only one in every five Britons eats five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. I can't find any similar statistics for Ireland, but an educated guess says they would read in a similar way. This is NOT good news!

This got me thinking about my own eating habits and whether or not I eat my own five-a-day everyday. This in turn leads to other questions such as, 'what is one portion?' and in my case, 'do mushrooms count as one of them?'!

So, let's get this out of the way: one portion is roughly equivalent to a fist-full, so the needs of a child are obviously very different to those of an adolescent or an adult.

I have to admit that until a couple of years I was not very good for eating fruit. I had always snacked on bananas and remember eating apples as a child as well as my mother freshly squeezing citrus fruits and making me drink it before school, but as I got older the smell of fruit (especially lots together) really repulsed me and except for my trusted bananas with lunch and before exercising, I was a disaster area. I suppose I was cocky about the whole thing; the theory goes that you need these nutrients to be healthy, but I reasoned that I was never sick so why should I eat them. Roll out the biscuit tin instead, I thought - the wisdom!

Reading more about fruit recently, I realised that so many of them are superfoods - in the same league as the much talked-about seeds, and cancer-fighting crusader and all-round legend, garlic! BUT we have to be careful because a lot of them are sugary, so the message is not to rely on them for all five portions in a day.

But sure, why would you when you have vegetables at your disposal? Unlike fruit, vegetables I am on board with. The stir-fry might be done to death, but it IS quick, healthy and cheap so is always something you can fall back on. It's also good if you don't like cooking, but don't want to eat food from a microwave or your local chipper. Here's a link to a really quick and basic Bord Bia stir-fry recipe.



Simple beef stir-fry

I am a big fan of roasting veg in the oven. I either do a pile of tomatoes, garlic and mushrooms in one dish and a load of peppers, courgettes, onions, garlic, baby sweetcorn, mange-tout or sugar snaps, etc. in another. I find these go well with baked fish or grilled chicken.





Oven-baked trout



Roasted vegetables



OR, roasted root vegetables (butternut squash, parsnip and carrots. If I'm treating myself, I will add sweet potatoes, but I try not to!) on a bed of mixed salad leaves with red wine vinegar, olive oil and garlic dressing. This is lovely with fried fish - though prepare for the kitchen to stink!

These meals are guaranteed to pack you full of your five-a-day without difficulty.

Let me know of any good recipes you have that incorporate lots of fruit and\ or veg into your day. If you want more details on the meals I have mentioned above, please leave a comment and I will get back to you.

And does anyone know if mushrooms count?! ;)