Forget five a day – research has found we should be filling up on 10 portions of fruit and veg a day. Here are some suggestions of how you could do it.
A study by Imperial College London has found we should be 10 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, twice the current recommended amount, to improve our overall health and help us live longer.
Fancy trying it for yourself? We’ve rounded up a list of recipes to help you pack the fruit and veg into breakfast and lunch and dinner, without having to sacrificing the things you enjoy.
Breakfast
Half an avocado counts as one of your ten-a-day, so eating two halves of avocado with baked eggs inside is not only a hearty and nutritious breakfast, but will also count as two of your 10-a-day. Bonus!
This straightforward Middle Eastern recipe has a great name, but tastes even better. The base ingredients are onions, garlic, tomatoes, eggs and paprika – everyday stuff. But together, they make a wonderfully fresh tasting breakfast and contain up to three of your fruit and veg portions. Did you know a heaped tablespoon of tomato puree counts as a portion?
Mushrooms are a great way of cramming in the veg without feeling like you’re eating too many leafy greens. A handful of shrooms in a tortilla will set you on your way to a healthy day, but add in some goat's cheese for more flavor and substance.
This recipe contains nearly all of your five a day, including spinach, which is an excellent source of vitamins K and A, iron, magnesium and more. Craftily, this recipe calls for frozen fruit – keeping a frozen supply at the ready means you don't get the unpleasant shock of finding that it has gone bad in the fruit bowl.
Lunch
Like smoothies, soup is a great way of cramming your veg portions into one delicious meal. Pile in the carrots and blend with some fennel for a tasty and healthy lunch. Add a bit of baked focaccia or flatbread on the side if you’re looking for a bit extra (unfortunately this does not count as one of your portions!).
This easy salad is bursting with fresh flavours and is perfect for the warmer months. The unusual combination of the sweet strawberries and the peppery rocket combined with the sweet and sour of the shallots and honey make a perfect salad for any dish. With avocado, strawberris and rocket, there’s at least two of your 10 a day here.
Anything that is packed with veg is a guaranteed way of ticking off your daily intake of goodness, but these tortas make eating veggies that little bit more exciting. The dish consists of layers of grilled vegetables interspersed with creamy mozzarella make this a pretty, summery dish, yum.
It’s quick, it’s easy and it contains almost four of your daily requirements. Baby sweetcorn, tenderstem, courgettes, water chestnuts, fresh root ginger, cashew nuts, coriander... Mark Sargeant's super stir-fry is health in a frying pan.
Dinner
Bacofoil teamed up with TV chef Dean Edwards to create a classic Brazilian soul dish with a tasty twist. Packed full of hearty and juicy vegetables, it’s the perfect healthy midweek meal to share with friends and family.
Sweet potato and Tenderstem broccoli make a delicious and nutritious combination that’s packed with vitamins, minerals and fibre. The sweet flavour and tender texture of the broccoli and sweet potato make this dish a good choice for children and gets them well on their way to their 10 a day.
With the classic Morrocan tagine flavours of both hot and fragrant spices combining with sweet and sour fruit, this stew also has the contrast of slow-cooked vegetables and the quickly stir-fried okra at the end. Okra divides people like few vegetables can. If you are not a fan, try some green beans instead.
This is (deliberately) not overly sweet – so feel free to up the sugar content to 150g or even a little more – but it contains both beetroot and raspberries, which will count for two of your 10 a day.
Liked that? Try these:
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How to control your food portion sizes
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