Madeleine Shaw: Healthy Lunch Recipes

Madeleine Shaw, the goddess of healthy eating, shares her easy lunch recipes

Madeleine Shaw is mama to baby Shay, a nutritional therapist, cookbook author and yoga teacher. We interviewed Madeleine here — check out her fab advice to new mamas and how she got back into shape after giving birth. Madeleine has authored a number of stunning cookbooks, the latest of which is A Year Of Beautiful Eating. Check out her delicious healthy recipes in this gallery. 

Click through the gallery for some of her favourite healthy recipes from her latest cookbook.

“My favourite film of all time is Grease . . . so you can see where the name comes from. This is basically a combination of all the things I love about summer. It’s a real mixture of things, but it really packs a punch. Say hello to flavour and goodbye to soggy lettuce in Tupperware, and take this to work instead!”

Serves 2

2 large beetroots
1 tbsp avocado oil or melted coconut oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
100g buckwheat
1 cucumber, chopped into 1cm chunks
1 mango, peeled, stoned and chopped into 1cm chunks
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
1 jalapeño chilli, deseeded
4 tbsp hummus
1 tbsp chopped walnuts

For the dressing
2 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp nutritional yeast (if you can find it)
1 tsp tamari
pinch of chilli powder
pinch of smoked paprika
1 tbsp cold water

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

2. Peel and cut the beetroots into 2½cm chunks. Put in a roasting tray and mix with the oil and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 30–40 minutes until cooked through.

3. While the beetroots are cooking, cook the buckwheat and make the dressing. First rinse the buckwheat in warm water, then place in a pot with 250ml of cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for 12 minutes until cooked through and all the water has been absorbed. Whisk the dressing ingredients together.

4. Mix the cucumber, mango and lime juice together with the coriander and jalapeño. Plate up the roasted beets with the cooked buckwheat, hummus and walnuts, plus the cucumber and mango salad. Drizzle over the dressing.

“One of my favourite summer recipes is sweetcorn fritters, which go amazingly with mashed avocado and tomato salsa. Tomatoes really are the superfood of the summer. They’re bursting with lycopene, which gives them their beautiful red colour, and has wonderful benefits for our skin, helping to protect against sunburn, as it has the ability to block UV light. Carry on munching those tomatoes throughout the summer season!” (All year round for us in Singers, then!)

Makes 6 fritters, serves 2

250g uncooked corn kernels
2 eggs
1 garlic clove, crushed
big pinch of salt
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp baking powder
2 spring onions, chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
3 tbsp porridge oats
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges

For the tomato salsa
½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 beef tomato, diced
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
¼ red onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
pinch of salt

Directions
1. Place three quarters of the corn in a food processor along with the eggs, garlic and salt. Blend until smooth. Add the rest of the corn, the spices, baking powder, spring onions, fresh coriander and oats, and process for 10 seconds. Then pour the fritter mixture into a bowl. Melt the coconut oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Pour 2 tablespoons of mixture into the pan to form a fritter. Fry for 3 minutes on one side, then flip over and cook for another minute until cooked through.

2. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the rest of the mixture to make 6 fritters.

3. To make the salsa, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve the fritters with slices of avocado, the salsa and wedges of lime to squeeze over.

Serves 2

1 tbsp coconut oil or butter
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed
500ml chicken stock
200g button mushrooms
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
2 chicken breasts or thighs, cut into strips
100g rice noodles
2 eggs
salt, to taste
2 carrots, julienned
juice of ½ lime
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions
1. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the ginger and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Next add the stock, mushrooms, chilli, tamari and chicken pieces. Cook for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook your rice noodles as per the packet instructions in a separate pot. In another pot, boil the eggs in plenty of water for 4 minutes, until the whites are cooked but the yolk is still runny. Once cool enough to handle, peel and slice the eggs in half and sprinkle on a little salt.

3. Just before serving, throw the carrots and cooked noodles into the soup and squeeze in the lime juice. Top with the boiled egg halves, spring onions and sesame seeds, then serve immediately. This is my take on one of our Japanese favourites. Ramen has totally exploded in popularity in recent years, but what many people don’t realise is that it’s so easy to make at home when you want a warming meal. Chicken stock is great when you’re feeling run-down because it contains immune-boosting minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon and sulphur, which makes ramen such fantastic comfort food.

“Potatoes have gotten a bad rep over the years. Sure, they are a bit carby, but cold potatoes are rather spectacular. You see, cold potatoes contain lots of starch . . . which is amazing for your gut. And a healthy gut means clear skin, so let’s get munching on those spuds – yum!”

Serves 4

2 leeks, trimmed
1 tbsp avocado oil or butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
400g Jersey Royals
50ml veggie or chicken stock, just boiled
sprig of fresh oregano, leaves picked and chopped
100g rocket
1 fennel bulb
2 spring onions
30g walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions
1. Finely chop the leeks into thin slivers. Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the leeks with a pinch of salt and pepper for 20 minutes, until golden and caramelised.

2. While the leeks are cooking, boil the potatoes in a pot of simmering salted water for 20–25 minutes until tender. Drain them and slice in half, then put back into the same pot you cooked them in. Pour over the hot stock and add the oregano and a pinch of salt. Leave while you prep the rest of the salad.

3. Place the rocket in a bowl. Thinly slice the fennel with a mandolin into fine ribbons and add to the rocket, then tip in the cooked leeks and potatoes. Finely chop the spring onions and throw them over the salad, along with the nuts, parsley, a big pinch of salt and the olive oil. Toss and serve.