Taken from Cooking, Blokes & Artichokes by Brendan Collins (£20, Kyle Books)
WHY
Skirt steak is the ideal sandwich cut. It’s cheap, fast and easy to cook, tender enough that you won’t put your jaw out trying to bite through it and it has a rich, intense beefy flavour. It’s also a naturally slim piece of meat, no more than half an inch (1¼cm) thick and about ten centimetres wide, which makes it the perfect dimensions for laying a slab between two slices of bread. Adding the heat of horseradish, creamy mayo and peppery rocket rounds out the flavours perfectly. If you think you like sandwiches made with grey deli roast beef, you’ll go nuts for this.
WHAT
350g skirt steak
Steak is high in protein (with around 25g per 100g) and B vitamins.
2x10cm slices ciabatta
It’s higher in good fats than other bread because it’s made with olive oil.
30g unsalted butter
Unlike other spreads, butter contains a healthy hit of vitamins A and D.
2 handfuls of rocket
The dark leaves are packed with potassium and vitamins A and C.
1½ tbsp horseradish
Horseradish is surprisingly high in the antioxidant vitamin C.
75g mayonnaise
Let’s be honest: there’s nothing healthy about mayo… but it tastes good.
HOW
1 Trim any excess fat off the steak, rub it with the marinade (see below), and place it in a sealed food bag or covered container in the refrigerator for at least two, but no more than eight hours – more than that and the meat will turn mushy when you cook it.
2 Heat up the barbecue or place a grill pan or cast-iron pan over a high heat for five minutes. Remove the steak from the marinade, scrape off any excess herbs and garlic, season it with salt, then grill the meat to your liking. Mediumrare will take about one minute per side.
3 Toast the bread if you want, or simply butter it. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise and horseradish.
4 Spread the horseradish mayo on the bottom slice of bread, then put down a bed of rocket, followed by your meat, a seasoning of black pepper and the top slice of bread.
175g dark chocolate (approx 80% cocoa solids) 350g soft tofu 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder Juice and zest of 2 oranges Grated orange zest and chocolate (to serve)
Makes 4 servings
TO MAKE
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool slightly.
• Blend the tofu, protein powder and orange zest and juice until smooth and creamy.
• Spoon into four dishes and chill in the fridge until set.
• Decorate with a little orange zest and grated chocolate.
WHY SHOULD I HAVE IT?
Flavonols in chocolate are thought to protect against the cellular and tissue damage caused by intense training. Tofu is a good protein source but don’t eat it too often because it contains phytoestrogens, which can affect your testosterone levels.
Per serving
Calories 294
Protein 26.2g
Fat 6g
Carbs 32.5g
Protein balls
INGREDIENTS
180g peanut butter 90g agave honey 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder 45g porridge oats Makes 10-12balls
TO MAKE
• Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and form into walnut-sized balls.
• Place the balls in the fridge for a couple of hours until they harden.
WHY SHOULD I HAVE IT?
Peanut butter is a good source of monounsaturated fats, which are linked with improved cardiovascular health, and it’s also packed with protein and fibre. Oats are a source of beta-glucans, a soluble fibre that can lower cholesterol via its interaction with the bacteria in your gut. Agave honey adds sweetness, but it’s low-GI, so it doesn’t have the fat-storing effect of other sweet foods that contain sucrose.
Per ball
Calories 133
Protein 5g
Fat 8g
Carbs 12g
Protein squares
INGREDIENTS
170g almond butter 75g butter 100g honey 100g dried apricots, chopped 25g mixed seeds 1tsp cinnamon ½tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder 100g wholemeal self-raising flour 150g porridge oatsMakes 8 squares
TO MAKE
• Melt the butter, almond butter and honey in a large saucepan.
• Add the protein powder, apricots, seeds, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda, flour and oats.
• Press into a greased or lined baking tray.
• Bake at 180°C/gas mark 4 for 20 minutes until the edges are crisp but it is still soft in the middle.
• Leave in the tray until completely cool, then cut into eight squares and refrigerate.
WHY SHOULD I HAVE IT?
Almond butter is high in monounsaturated fats, vitamin E and manganese. Seeds are rich in essential minerals such as zinc and copper, which play critical roles in energy metabolism.
There’s nothing like a steaming bowl of porridge on a cold morning – or a warm morning, for that matter, because the oaty breakfast is pretty much the healthiest way you can start your day. It’s packed with slow-release carbohydrates to fuel you up, not to mention protein to build muscle and keep you feeling full (plus an extra hit from the milk). It’s ready in minutes – in fact, you can do it in the microwave if even the simple method below is too much of a faff for you – and you can top it with almost anything you like for bonus health points.
INGREDIENTS
50g porridge oats
200ml milk
1tbsp manuka honey
2tbsp pecan nuts, halved Handful of blueberries
TO MAKE
• Put the milk and oats in a pan.
• Cook over a medium heat for eight to ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Top with the remaining ingredients and serve immediately.
Get the goodness
Milk is packed with muscle-building protein and calcium, which helps your body to metabolise fat efficiently.
Manuka honey contains methylglyoxal, an antibacterial agent that helps the body to fight infection.
Pecan nuts are high in heart-healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, as well as providing another hit of protein.
Blueberries offer pterostilbene, a compound that helps the body break down fat and lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
Why? Magnesium is an important dietary mineral, and deficiencies are associated with impaired sleep quality. Such deficiencies are more common in athletes because you lose magnesium through sweat. Supplementation can improve your sleep quality and is most effective for sleep-deprived people who also have low dietary magnesium intake – those with healthy magnesium levels may not find that their sleep quality improves after taking supplements. But although increasing your magnesium levels can help improve sleep quality, it does not have a sedative effect – that means you don’t need to worry about getting sleepy or drowsy after taking it.
How to take it Magnesium isn’t a time-dependent supplement – in other words, you don’t have to take it immediately before bed. The standard dose is 200mg of elemental magnesium, while magnesium oxide is not recommended for supplementation because it can cause diarrhoea and isn’t as easily absorbed as other forms. Magnesium gluconate should be taken with food; all others are fine on an empty stomach.
2 Lavender
Why? Lavender oil has been traditionally used in aromatherapy for its relaxing scent. Recently, it has also been used as an oral supplement to treat anxiety and reduce intrusive thoughts, which can increase the time it takes to fall asleep. It’s also been shown to improve sleep quality, though more research is needed to determine the exact mechanism behind this effect.
How to take it To supplement with lavender, take 80mg of lavender oil 30 to 45 minutes before bed. As mentioned, lavender supplements are particularly effective if you have intrusive thoughts that affect sleep, and they may also have a positive effect on general anxiety. Lavender aromatherapy has also been found to improve sleep quality when used either at night or in the afternoon. You’ll need an aromatherapy machine to benefit from this at night (safety reasons) but candles are fine for daytime sessions. Dosage is more approximate than with oral supps, but studies on lavender use a minimum of 30 minutes’ exposure. It’s thought that using lemon balm alongside lavender can bring greater benefits.
Everyone likes ribs, but the secret to making this muscle-building pork feast taste amazing is Chinese five-spice powder. It takes its name not from the number of ingredients, but the way this single spice mix hits on all five principal tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. The sweet, spicy flavour acts like a bridge between salt and the heat of chillies, giving these ribs a really round, warm deliciousness. It also lends meat a handsome reddish tone – like the one you get when you put meat in a smoker – which is a big improvement over the unappetising grey tinge that ribs can take on when they’re cooked in the oven.
WHAT
HOW
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
2 Season your ribs on both sides very simply with salt and pepper and dust with the Chinese five-spice powder.
3 Place the ribs meat-side down in a pair of aluminium or glass baking dishes. Cover the dishes with foil and roast the meat for four hours.
4 Drain off the drippings. Flip the ribs over using two spatulas (and an extra pair of hands, if you have them) so the meat side is now up. Be gentle, as they may be so tender they start falling apart.
5 Paint a layer of palm sugar caramel sauce on the ribs and return them to the oven uncovered for a further 20-30 minutes. Serve straight out of the oven.
Photography Jean Cazals, iStock
Taken from Cooking, Blokes & Artichokes by Brendan Collins (£20, Kyle Books)
Better eating, digested
Make sure you’re getting the most from your food to get lean with less effort
Here’s a truth that might be hard to swallow: even if you’re prepping everything you eat, sticking religiously to your five-aday and eating more wild-caught salmon than a grizzly bear, there’s a chance that your best-laid diet plans are falling apart the moment it all goes into your mouth. The part of the puzzle you might be missing? Digestion – the process by which your body extracts the essential components from all your carefully cooked creations.
“Ultimately, digestion is everything,” says Luke Leaman, body composition specialist and founder of Muscle Nerds (musclenerds.tv). “If you’re not able to digest and assimilate your food you’re not able to get things into your body that you need.” The process starts before you take a bite: when you smell, look at or (according to some research) even think about food, your body begins the processes you need to digest it, from producing saliva to upregulating the enzymes it uses to break the food down.
By giving your system a crucial nudge here and there, you’ll extract more nutrients from what you eat. Leaman explains how to make sure you’re not biting off more than you can, er, digest.
Q HOW CAN I TELL IF I’VE GOT PROBLEMS WITH MY DIGESTION?
A LOOK AT WHAT’S COMING OUT
“First, look in your toilet bowl. If there’s undigested food in there, it’s a sign you aren’t digesting or assimilating your food properly. Similarly if you’re eating and getting bloated, getting gassy, there could be a problem.”
Q WHAT’S THE SIMPLEST STEP TO BETTER DIGESTION?
A MASTICATION
“The first thing to address is chewing your food. William Banting, who wrote what’s often called the world’s first diet book, Letters On Corpulence, said that people weren’t chewing enough, and it’s still true today. Nobody really masticates: it’s just chew, chew, swallow. If you’re shovelling a Tupperware container of food down in 30 seconds, you aren’t helping yourself. It sounds like the dumbest thing ever, but do you chew until your food is liquid? That’s the easiest place to start.”
Q WHY DO I FEEL WORSE WHEN I’M STRESSED?
A BECAUSE YOUR BODY’S NOT FOCUSING ON DIGESTION
“Stress impairs digestive function. If your body’s chronically stressed and in fight-or-flight mode, it won’t care about digestion. Stress also depletes the acids your stomach uses to break down food. If you’re really stressed, you’ll start pulling sodium into cells and retaining it, and you need sodium to make that acid. It’s not just about cortisol – if someone’s stressed for a long time, their body stops producing cortisol and starts running on adrenaline. The key is keeping the sympathetic nervous system in balance and achieving a ‘rest and digest’ state. Stretch, do yoga, have a nap, do some meditation… they all work on stress, and they’re all free.”
Q WHAT ABOUT THE THINGS I ACTUALLY EAT?
A THINK PLANTS
“Eat like a vegan or a vegetarian and add meat if you want. You need vegetables for fibre, phytonutrients and a host of other stuff. A healthy body doesn’t want to be fat.”
Q HOW OFTEN SHOULD I BE EATING?
A PROBABLY LESS FREQUENTLY THAN YOU THINK
“Eat three or four meals a day. People eat six, eight, even ten times a day, but if you’re eating that much a day your body never has a chance to chill out. Aim to have three meals a day, with a shake or a snack around your workout. If you find you’re still hungry add something else elsewhere in the day.”
Q SHOULD I TAKE SUPPLEMENTS TO HELP ME DIGEST?
A MAYBE, BUT FIX THE BIG STUFF FIRST
“There are a few options if you want to do this. A nice broad-spectrum digestive enzyme might help if you’re having issues. Also consider pepsin, which breaks down meat, or ox bile, which emulsifies fat. But they’re for fine-tuning once you’ve fixed the bigger stuff. Start on chewing, stress levels and the veg in your diet, then go from there.”
Leaman suggests you eat “like a vegetarian or vegan” because the fibre and nutrients in veg are crucial to digestion (you can have meat too)
Photography iStock
ACTIVATE LEAST MODE
Your body doesn’t digest well under stressful conditions, and for good reason: for our ancestors, getting chased by a sabre-toothed tiger was a good time to divert resources to flight (or fighting) and not digestion. Unfortunately, your nervous system has trouble distinguishing between your nine-to-five worries and a life-or-death situation, and so you need to calm down. Download the Headspace app, take ten minutes a day to meditate, and add some mobility to your evening routine.
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THE SIZE, IN SQUARE METRES, OF YOUR SMALL INTESTINE
A key issue with digestion is surface area. Stretched out to full size, your small intestine has the same area as a tennis court. Stress denatures certain tissues in the intestine, which means food moves through your digestive system too quickly because of the reduction in surface area. Keep a handle on stress, and you’ll keep your small intestine in shape.
It’s hard to avoid kale these days. The so-called superfood is found in everything from salads to smoothies because of its antioxidant phytochemical content. And now new research suggests that the leafy green can also improve heart health: subjects drank 150ml of kale juice every day for three months and then had their blood compared with their pre-trial samples. The results, published in the Biomedical And Environmental Sciences journal, found that blood concentrations of healthy HDL cholesterol increased 27% and that the ratio between “good” HDL and “bad” LDL cholesterol improved 52%. High LDL cholesterol can significantly increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
