5 easy, delicious weeknight dinners that are also great for your gut.

Our guts have taken a beating this year from the continual myriad of stress, uncertainty, and disruptions to routine. If we aren't still in lockdown, many of us are working from home, we have cut down on social activities diminishing many opportunities for incidental exercise.

Coming out of winter it's all too easy to fall deep into comfort, instead of nutrition. In a nutshell: we are stressed out, eating more, moving less and I, for one, am feeling sluggish.

"Psychological and emotional stress can affect gut microbiome balance," Mikhaila Todd, Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, specialising in gut health, tells Mamamia. "And when your gut is unhealthy, your whole body is at risk."

Mikhaila explains: "The digestive, immune, nervous, and endocrine systems all communicate and interact with each other, so when your gut is not functioning properly, the processes of the other systems can be compromised."

So how can we turn this around? "Diet is the most powerful influence on your gut microbiome," Mikhaila says. "Negative symptoms may have the potential to be reversed when the offensive triggers are removed and replaced with a healthy diet, supplementation and regular exercise."

OK, so mixing up what we're having for dinner could be a good place to start. Let's run through some quick, easy recipes to spice up those weeknight dinners, and how they're good for your gut.

1. Satay spring curry by Mikhaila Todd

Mikhaila Todd's satay curry recipe. Image: Mikhaila Todd 

How is this good for our guts? Mikhaila explains: "This plant-based recipe contains a high amount of soluble fibre (onions, garlic, sweet potato, zucchini, peas and jackfruit). The leftover fibres that we can't digest, feed good bacteria in the gut producing beneficial vitamins and short chain fatty acids as a by-product that nourish gut lining."

Prep/Cooking time:

30 minutes 

Serving Size:

4 serves

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 large thumb grated ginger
• 2 TBSP curry powder
• 1 can pulled jackfruit
• 2 TBSP peanut butter
• 2 TBSP tamari (or soy sauce if not GF)
• 1 zucchini
• Handful of snow peas
• 1 small sweet potato
• ½ cup frozen peas
• 1 can coconut milk
• Handful of spinach
• 2 cups cooked brown or white rice  

Method:

• Heat oil in a medium saucepan then add onion, garlic, and ginger to sauté for 5-7 minutes on low/medium. Wash and cut zucchini, sweet potato (in small pieces) and snow peas while cooking. Bring out frozen peas to thaw.
• Mix in curry powder to the saucepan, drain jackfruit can and pull the pieces apart with hands adding to the saucepan, mix through for 3 minutes on medium/high.
• Add cut zucchini, sweet potato, snow peas, coconut milk, peanut butter, and tamari (or soy sauce). Bring to boil while mixing then cook on low/medium for 15 minutes, add a splash of water if not all ingredients are covered by liquid.
• Fold through peas and spinach for a further few minutes.
• Serve with brown or white rice.

2. Gut-nourishing healthy pizza by Kale Brock, via Nutra-Life

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A post shared by Nutra-Life (@nutralifeau) on May 12, 2019 at 2:56am PDT

How is this good for our guts? Mikhaila explains: "LSA (linseed, sunflower seeds and almonds) helps calm and sooth gut lining while the high-fibre punch can also help keep bowels regular. Thyme is found in many stomach tonics for its anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties."

Prep/Cooking time: 

45 minutes 

Serves:

2-4 serves 

Ingredients:

The Crust

• Almonds or almond meal – 1 cup
• LSA (Linseed, Sunflower seed, Almond) meal – 1 cup
• Salt – 1 teaspoon
• Gluten free baking soda – 1 teaspoon
• Eggs – 2 large or 3 small, beaten
• Italian herbs (optional)

The Sauce

• Olive oil – 1 teaspoon
• Spring onions – 3 onions
• Garlic Cloves – 2 cloves
• 1 can diced tomatoes or 400g fresh chopped tomatoes
• Handful thyme
• Handful chives
• Himalayan salt – ½ to 1 teaspoon
• Pepper to taste

Method: 

• Crust: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius 
• In a food processor, blend almonds until a fine meal is formed
• Add in LSA, salt and baking soda until combined well
• If using almond meal, simply combine ingredients in a bowl. If using herbs, add them in now. 
• Add eggs and blend until a ball begins to form. This can be done in either a food processor or by hand. 
• Roll and press onto a lined baking tray so the dough is 5mm thick. 
• Cook in oven for 10 minutes or it begins to turn golden brown.
• Sauce: Prepare a frying pan on medium heat. 
• Spread oil over pan and cook onion and garlic for 1-2 mins. 
• Add in tomatoes, thyme and chives and simmer until it begins to reduce. 
• Then… spoon tomato sauce and top with your favourite pizza toppings.
• Return to cook for a further 10-15 minutes, then add avocado, rocket, or any other special treats you like 

 3. Zucchini frittata, by the CSIRO Healthy Gut Diet

Zucchini frittata. Yum. Image: Getty. 

How is this good for our guts? "The high-water vegetable celery, can be helpful for activating hydrologic acid resulting in improved digestion. Zucchini is also high in water and contains insoluble fibre helping foods to move through the gut easily," Mikhaila says.

Prep/Cooking Time: 

25 minutes   

Serving Size: 

4 serves 

Ingredients

• Olive oil, 1 tablespoon, garlic infused
• 2 medium Zucchinis, cut into 2cm dice
• Celery, 1 stalk, thinly sliced
• Lactose free milk, low fat, ½ cup
• Eggs, raw, 4 x 60g eggs 
• Cheddar cheese, vintage, 100 g, crumbled
• Baby spinach, 1 cup
• Basil, ½ cup
• Gluten-free bread, mixed grain, 4 slice(s), e.g. chia and sunflower, toasted

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the zucchini and celery and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened and light golden. 
• Meanwhile, whisk together the milk and eggs in a jug and season with freshly ground black pepper.
• Reduce the heat to low and pour the egg mixture into the pan. Stir gently for 20 seconds, then leave to cook, untouched, for 8 minutes or until the edges have set firm and the top and centre are still runny.
• Preheat the oven grill to high.
• Sprinkle the cheddar over the egg mixture, then place the pan under the grill for 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden and the centre is completely set when tested with a knife.
• Stand for 5 minutes, then cut into quarters and scatter with the combines spinach and basil. Serve each portion with a piece of toast alongside.

TIP: You can add 2 cups (270 g) chopped unpeeled sweet potato to the zucchini mixture in the pan – just cook it for an additional 5 minutes to soften.

 4. Carrot and kale dhal by Brown Paper Bag Nutrition, via Nutra-Life

Carrot and kale dhal. Image: Getty 

How is this good for our guts? Mikhaila explains: "Ghee is well known in Ayurvedic medicine to improve absorption availability of the small intestine, lubricate the gastro-intestinal tract and other tissues in the body. Red lentils boosts a meals fibre content working to improve overall gut function."

Prep/Cooking Time:

30 mins

Serving Size:

4 serves

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 2 (400g) medium brown onions, sliced
• 3 (350g) carrots, grated
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 6 curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 2 cups red lentils
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 stalks (50g) kale, leaves removed and torn, and stalks discarded, to serve
• 1/3 cup picked coriander leaves, to serve
• 2 tablespoons ghee, to serve

Method

• Heat the ghee in a saucepan over a medium heat.
• Add the onion and cook, stirring for 5 minutes until translucent.
• Add in the grated carrot and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
• Stir in the garlic, coriander, cumin turmeric, curry leaves, mustard seeds, ground ginger and chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.
• Add in the lentils and cherry tomatoes with 3 cups of cold water and stir to combine. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil.
• Remove the lid and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.
• When ready to serve, stir through torn kale leaves and the extra ghee. Divide the dhal between bowls and top with fresh coriander leaves.

5. Pesto pasta by Mikhaila Todd.

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A post shared by Mikhaila Todd 🌱 Health Coach (@mikhailatodd) on Aug 17, 2020 at 11:53pm PDT

How is this good for our guts? "Using zucchini to bulk up pasta mass creates a high-fibre green and cleansing meal," Mikhaila says."The combination of basil and zucchini can work together to restore natural PH levels. Lemons themselves contain a prebiotic fibre called pectin, useful for feeding good gut bacteria."

Prep/Cooking time:

20 minutes 

Serving Size:

4 serves 

Ingredients:

• 4 portions of short GF pasta (roughly 450g)
• 1 zucchini grated or zoodled
• 1 cup frozen peas

Pesto Ingredients:

• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 3/4 cup cashews
• 1 clove of garlic
• Juice of a lemon
• 2 Large handfuls of fresh basil (including stalks)
• 2 Large handfuls of baby spinach
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional – sprinkle of nutritional yeast or cheese

Method

• Boil water in a medium saucepan and cook pasta according to packet instructions
• While pasta is cooking add pesto ingredients to a food processor or Nutribullet cup and blend, adding a splash of water if needed.
• Grate zucchini and put aside.
• When pasta is cooked, drain the water and place cooked pasta back on the stove adding grated zucchini, thawed peas and pesto sauce stirring on medium for 5 minutes.
• Salt and pepper to taste, option to sprinkle with nutritional yeast or cheese.

Which one will you be making? Let us know in the comments.

Want some more inspo? Visit Nutra-Life's Get Gut Fit hub here.

Feature image: Getty/Mikhaila Todd