Coronavirus: 3 Easy and Healthy Recipes to Try During Work from Home

Fuelling your body with quality meals can help the current challenging times. With the coronavirus ongoing spread, social distancing has led to more home-cooked meals. A lot of us are working from home. While it should have made life easier, the workload has just doubled. There are times when we are eating late or at times we even end up skipping meals. To make the best of health Entrepreneur India spoke to Gurmeet Arora, Founder of Flax: Healthy Living who gave us some DIY recipes.

"I believe one of the best ways to keep occupied during these challenging times is to incorporate healthier foods into our diet. Balanced eating in tandem with a healthy lifestyle can work to strengthen our immune system and protect us from developing COVID-19-related health complications," said Arora.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Here are the recipes personally curated by Arora to cover all kinds of meals in an average person’s day. These recipes are not only delicious but also offer a lot of variety in ingredients that are not difficult to find in your kitchen. These meals provide are power-packed with complete nutritional profile and gives your body a much-needed boost in essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

So while you are working, make sure to add these recipes for healthy living:

Superfood Salad

For those looking to strengthen their immune system during COVID-19 season, this gluten-free and vegan salad is an immunity quick-fix. 

"This recipe is packed with delicious superfoods like chickpeas, kale, and blueberries that are rich in nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, and antioxidants. All these nutrients have been shown to critically affect our body’s immune response, and getting them regularly through food is a must," he said. 

Time: 15 minute

Ingredients:

➢ 1 bunch (2-3 cups) of raw kale leaves

➢ 1 cup of boiled or canned chickpeas

➢ 1 cup thinly sliced strawberries

➢ 1/2 a cup of chopped onion

➢ 1 cup blueberries (or 1/4th cup of dried blueberries)

➢ 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (or seeds of your choice)

For the Chia Balsamic Dressing

➢ 1/3 cups of water

➢ 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

➢ 1 clove of garlic, finely minced

➢ 1 tablespoon of chia seeds 

➢ 1/4 teaspoon of table salt

Preparation: 

1. First, prepare the salad dressing by tossing all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whisk all the ingredients together by hand using a spoon for a thinner consistency. Alternatively, pulse all ingredients in a blender for a thicker texture. 

2. Keep the dressing mixture aside and it will naturally thicken as the chia seeds absorb water and swell up.

3. Wash, massage, and tear up the kale by hand into bite-sized pieces. Drain the boiled or canned chickpeas and add them to the bowl of shrunken and softened kale. Add onion, strawberries, and blueberries to the mix.

4. Toss the dressing into the salad mixture, and evenly coat all the ingredients. Sprinkle sunflower seeds over top.

Protein-Packed Chicken Tikka Masala

One sure-fire way to reduce your stress during your quarantine is to bond with your loved ones. Here is a mouthwatering chicken tikka masala recipe feeds a total of four.

This dish is chocked-full of protein, healthy omegas, and inflammation-reducing spices. Serve it with brown rice for some slow-burning carbohydrates and additional fibre.

Time: 30 minutes. 

Ingredients

➢ 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil

➢ 1.5 pounds of boneless chicken cut into 2-inch pieces

➢ 1 cup of unsalted chicken stock

➢ 1.5 cups chopped yellow onion 

➢ 5 minced garlic cloves

➢ 1 tablespoon of grated ginger

➢ 2 tablespoons of salt-free tomato puree

➢ Spice blend: 1.5 teaspoons of turmeric powder, 1.5 teaspoons garam masala, 1/4 teaspoons of cayenne

➢ A quarter cup of heavy cream

➢ 3/4 teaspoons of kosher salt

➢ 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Preparation:

1. Cook oil over high heat in a large, heavy pot. Toss the chicken and evenly coat it in the oil by turning occasionally for 5–6 minutes until browning.

2. Add garlic, onion, and ginger to the chicken while constantly stirring for 2 minutes. 

3. Add tomato puree, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne pepper while stirring for another 2 minutes.

4. Stir in chicken stock, heavy cream, and salt. Reduce to a simmer while stirring occasionally for around 10 minutes until the curry thickens

5. Add chopped cilantro as a garnish over the curry and serve with brown rice.

Nutriboost Smoothie:

For many of us, being quarantined at home all day can lead to mindless snacking and weight gain. "Preparing this for your snack cravings by keeping healthy snack recipes on-hand. This simple nutrient-dense smoothie recipe is one such recipe. It is low in calories while being rich in iron, magnesium, potassium, and antioxidants," he said.

Time: 5 minutes to prepare and requires only three common household ingredients.

Ingredients:

➢ 1/4 cup dates

➢ 1 medium-sized banana

➢ 3/4 cups almond milk

Preparation:

1. Chop banana and dates into small pieces and add to a blender with almond milk.

2. Blend all the ingredients until a thick liquid consistency is reached. 

The economy may be suffering right now, but our health shouldn’t have to as well. With the current crisis, we should all aim to make healthier eating choices with the goal of supporting your vitamin intake, gut health, and immunity. At the end of the day, eating nutritiously doesn’t have to be a chore. Just like the smoothie recipe, it can take less than five minutes of your time.