Danielle Woodward gets mindful with her meals and tests a food delivery box from new company Mindful Chef.
Mindfulness is everywhere these days. There are mindful courses that claim to improve your mental wellbeing, instructions on how to add mindfulness to every area of your life, from exercising to commuting, and even a comedy pastiche, The Ladybird Book of Mindfulness (Michael Joseph, £8.99) which adds much-needed humour to what can be an obsession with discovering this Zen-like state of calm and fulfilment.
However, ‘healthy recipe box company’ Mindful Chef inspired by mindful eating – when we actually stop and think about what we’re putting in our mouths instead of just guzzling what’s to hand – has created inspiring food boxes that actually make it easy to create tasty, good-for-you meals.
Founded by three friends just last year, the produce is sourced from their home region of the West Country with suppliers such as Dartmoor-based Eversfield Organic (red meat), Langridge Organic (vegetables) and Celtic Fish & Game based in St Ives.
They offer a Classic Box, with healthier alternatives to traditional protein-and-veg combinations – current recipes include beef meatball and tomato basil ragu with squash noodles, and hot smoked salmon and coconut fish pie with carrot mash, plus a Plant box for vegetarians – including quinoa tagine with chickpeas, sweet potato and olives, and spicy black bean burgers with avocado, tomato and millet salad.
They claim it’s ‘plate to prep in 20-30 minutes’, which is ideal after coming home from a long day at work, famished but having zero energy to actually concoct something nutritious and satisfying.
I was really looking forward to trying the Classic Box, which included recipes for sundried tomato chicken, squash and baked avocado egg, and spiced lamb and sweet potato curry with broccoli ‘rice’.
Like having a sous-chef already sourcing all the ingredients you need, I just had to chop them, which was no hardship and read the easy-to-follow recipes. It was just over 30 minutes until I sat down to eat – but I blame that on my young children who haven’t quite learned the value of patience yet.
If I had to choose my favourite dish, it would be the spiced lamb and the broccoli ‘rice’ (grated broccoli) was really nice; such a simple way of changing how to eat veg that actually makes it more exciting and palatable for those who struggle to eat their greens (ahem).
The egg baked in half an avocado in the chicken recipe was a bit odd, but it was tasty and meant I got a good hit of protein from the egg, plus all the good unsaturated fats from the avocado. I wasn’t that keen on the squash; it was just a bit bland for my taste but I did like the flavour of the chicken and found it so filling, I took the leftovers to work for lunch the next day.
The food is all organic, with no refined carbs and gluten-free, so it ticks a lot of boxes for those following a healthier more ‘mindful’ diet. The recipes are inventive and really do taste great, filling you up in a way that most ‘healthy’ food just doesn’t.
It’s reasonably priced, from £7 per meal, and you can choose the box to suit your lifestyle, plus the website has plenty of recipe inspiration, so you can recreate them for yourself. Give The Mindful Chef a go – it’s a great place to start your culinary mindfulness journey.
Visit Mindful Chef website for more mindfulness