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BEAT BLUE MONDAY WITH MOOD-BOOSTING RECIPES FROM ALDI

Beat the blues with a wonderful 3-course meal featuring mood-boosting ingredients!

Top tips for feeling good inside and out from Trisha’s Transformation

Blue Monday falls on the 18^th of January this year and is typically the day where most people feel a bit blue following the celebrations of Christmas and the long stretch until January payday.

Forget ‘New Year, New You’, Aldi wants to spread a bit of ‘New Year Cheer’ with a great list of comforting food ideas & the nutrients that contribute to that mood boosting feeling.

Some fabulous foods to help boost your mood:

1. Dark chocolate (has been shown to boost mood)
2. Salmon (omega 3 may help with symptoms of depression)
3. Oats (slow release sugars help maintain blood sugar levels which can affect mood)
4. Eggs (great source of B12, a deficiency of which has been linked to low mood and depression)
5. Brazil nuts (poor selenium intake linked to low mood)
6. Pumpkin seeds (rich in magnesium, low intakes linked to low mood and depression)
7. Lean red meat (keep iron stores up to fight off tiredness and fatigue which can cause low mood)
8. Asparagus (one of the richest plant sources of tryptophan)

Aldi Ambassador and Chef Trisha Lewis has provided her top tips for enhancing your mood this January so you can feel good in both body and mind!

• Get outside in the fresh air- no matter what the weather is like it will clear your head.
• Make your bed when you get up and get that organised.
• Drink lots of water- this keeps you alert!
• Ring a friend or a loved one and have a chat for 30minutes.
• Fill yourself with nutrient packed fresh ingredients. Aldi’s weekly Super 6 fruit and veg offers means there’s always high quality fresh produce at great prices to choose from. It’s also very important to get lean protein into your diet. Aldi has a wide range of award winning Irish meat so you won’t be stuck for options!
• Reduce the screen time on your phone as this can lead to comparison.
• Reach out – the chances are in this pandemic your friend or family member is probably feeling the same!
• Accept the day as it is for what it is and make Tuesday into Triumphment Tuesday because Blue Monday is gone!

Aldi has some great recipes online which incorporate the above ingredients, so it’s time to try these out at home and banish those Blue Monday moods! Aldi has picked a starter, main and a dessert for you to create the perfect Blue Monday feast!

STARTER: Quinoa and Vegetable Fritters (incorporating eggs)

Serves: 12 people

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

150g The Foodie Market Quinoa

75g cooked Nature’s Pick Broccoli

1 Nature’s Pick Scallions

½  Nature’s Pick Courgette (grated)

50g cooked Country Fresh Kale

1 tbsp freshly chopped Nature’s Pick Mint

1 tbsp freshly chopped Nature’s Pick Parsley

2 Healy’s Farm Large Irish Fresh Eggs (beaten)

50g The Pantry Gluten Free Plain Flour

30g Specially Selected Parmigiano Reggiano 24 Month Mature

1 tbsp Solesta Olive Oil

75g Duneen Dairy Organic Wholemilk Natural Yogurt

1 tbsp The Pantry Lemon Juice

½  tsp Stonemill Paprika

Method:

1. Rinse the quinoa and then cover with 300ml cold water, bring to the boil and then simmer for 10-15 minutes until fluffed up and cooked through. Then leave to cool
2. Add the cooked kale and broccoli to the quinoa along with the spring onion, grated courgette, mint and parsley and combine.
3. Next add the flour, eggs and Parmigiano and mix until smooth. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add 1-2 tablespoons of mix per fritter into the pan
4. Cook for 5 minutes until crisp and then flip over and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Mix the yogurt with the lemon juice and paprika and serve

MAIN COURSE: Pan Fried Salmon with Potato Salad (incorporating salmon)

Serves: 4 people

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4x110g Skellig Bay Salmon Fillets

15g Kilkeely butter for frying

Juice of half a Zest Lemon 

Pinch of Stonemill salt

Freshly ground Stonemill Black Pepper

300g Mixed Lettuce Leaves (washed)

1 Nature’s Pick Cucumber, topped and tailed, de-seeded and sliced

For the potato salad:

1kg Specially Selected Baby Potatoes steamed, cooled and diced

1 Nature’s Pick Onion finely diced

250ml Duneen Dairy Low Fat Natural Yogurt

250ml Clonbawn low fat crème fraiche

1tsp Bramwells English Mustard

1tbsp Bramwells Distilled vinegar

Method:

1. Place the sliced cucumber into a bowl with the mixed leaves
2. Put the cooled diced potatoes into another bowl
3. Add the onion to the potatoes and mix together
4. Put the yoghurt, crème fraiche, mustard and vinegar into a bowl and blend well
5. Add this to the potato mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon
6. In a hot pan melt the butter
7. Place the salmon fillets in the pan and fry on both sides until brown
8. Reduce heat and add the salt, pepper and lemon juice
9. Cook for a further 10 minutes, turning regularly, until cooked through.
10. Serve

DESSERT: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies (incorporating dark chocolate)

Serves: 12 people

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Brownie:

150g x Kilkeely Butter

100g x  Moser Roth Dark Chocolate 70%

100g x Moser Roth Milk Chocolate

200g x The Pantry Caster Sugar

3 x Healy’s Farm Large Irish Fresh Eggs

200g x The Pantry Self-Raising flour

For the Topping:

100g x Moser Roth Milk Chocolate

65g x Kilkeely Butter at room temperature

125g x The Foodie Market Smooth Peanut Butter

1 handful x Snackrite Honey Roasted Peanuts

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Grease a 25cm square tin
3. Melt the milk and dark chocolate and butter together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.
4. Stir in the sugar and add the eggs 1 at a time
5. Add the flour and mix to a batter
6. Pour into the greased tin and bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes for a gooey brownie or 20-22 minutes for a more cakey brownie
7. Allow the brownie to cool in the pan
8. To make the ganache, gently melt the chocolate over simmering water
9. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter then add the peanut butter and whisk into a smooth consistency, spread the ganache over the cooled brownie and sprinkle over the peanuts
10. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour before cutting and serving