What a colourful days eating we had today.  We were blessed with glorious sunshine which makes everything brighter but I think our food would have shone brightly even if it was raining outside.

I made the most of working from home and started the day with an early dog walk.  Lara came too which is great because apart from the lovely company she is a good pace maker and we got round 3 minutes quicker than I do on my own.  Great start to the day.

After working for a bit I made breakfast.  Look at these colourful foods!  I genuinely get really excited looking at a pile of vibrant fruits and veggies and thinking of all those nutrients and how my body will love me for them.

Beet and Berry Smoothie

• 1 frozen banana
• 1 blood orange
• 7 – 10 strawberries
• 1 large carrot
• 1 raw beetroot
• 250 ml coconut water

Blitz until smooth.

Check out the colour of this smoothie – I promised I have not enhanced the colour at all!

And how did it taste?  A little bit more beetrooty than I like but it was easily drinkable.  I felt myself glowing with goodness from the inside out as I drank it.

Lunch was tomato-tastic as it was based on 5 types of tomatoes.

Chopped up with Mozarella and an avocado, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with fresh basil, oregano and salt and pepper.

Tricolore!  Yum.

Followed a little while later with some Brazils, almonds and 3 dates.

Lara cooked dinner for us and it was totally delicious and wonderful and I want it again.  The recipe was an Ottolenghi one for Soba Noodles with Mango and Aubergine.  Lara made it exactly as per the recipe except she left out the chilli and we had to use a mixture of soba noodles and thinner egg noodles.  It was lovely and I recommend you give it a go.

Noodles with Aubergine and Mango

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 120ml rice vinegar
• 40g sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 lime, grated zest and juice
• 300ml sunflower oil
• 2 aubergines, cut into 2cm dice
• 300g soba noodles
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large mango, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
• 40g basil, chopped
• 40g coriander, chopped

Method

1. In a saucepan, gently heat the vinegar, sugar and salt, until the sugar dissolves- about a minute.
2. Remove from the heat and add the garlic and sesame oil. Set aside to cool, then add the lime zest and juice.
3. Heat the sunflower oil in a large pan and shallow-fry the aubergine in three or four batches. Once golden-brown, transfer to a colander, sprinkle liberally with salt and leave to drain.
4. Cook the noodles in plenty of boiling, salted water – as per instructions on packet – then drain and rinse under cold water. Shake off the excess water and place on kitchen towel to dry.
5. In a mixing bowl, toss the noodles with the dressing, aubergine, onion, mango and half the herbs.
6. When ready to serve, add the rest of the herbs, mix and pile on a plate or in a bowl.

This is good when left to sit on the side and cool down to room temperature for an hour or so as it allows the flavours to combine well.  But you may not be able to wait that long!

I hope you had a colourful day too 🙂