Tim Spector. Photo: Issy Croker
Tim Spector makes a compelling argument for healthy eating. As a professor of epidemiology at King’s College London and founder of the Zoe nutrition app, his speciality is our gut and its link with our mental and brain health. “Our brains receive most of their input about our health from our guts and the microbes that live in them, which are linked together through a vast network of nerves and immune cells,” he says.
His new book, Good Mood Food, is “for anyone battling symptoms such as stress, anxiety, low mood or lack of energy”. And it boasts that following his dietary advice can even postpone or prevent dementia and Parkinson’s. Perhaps not surprisingly, Good Mood Food shot to the top of the bestseller lists on publication.
To be blunt, he basically advises that we should all chomp through 30 different vegetables a week. The book is divided into chapters with life-affirming titles such as Mindful Mornings, Bright and Bold Mains and Don’t Skip Dessert. Today’s recipe includes miso, which ticks Tim’s box that we should incorporate fermented foods into our diet, as they boost gut health – and it includes an incredible 11 plants!
Words by Jane Ferguson
Photographs by Issy Croker
Tim’s miso fish traybake with black beans
As delicious as it is colourful, this recipe will banish any fears you have of cooking fish. The thickness of the fish you choose will determine the cooking time: thinner pieces will cook in 8-10 mins; slightly chunkier pieces of fish might need closer to 12 mins. Try to source your fish from a trusted supplier and ask if it has MSC certification.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tbsp miso
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
500g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 x 400g tin black beans, drained and rinsed
150g sugar snap peas
150g tenderstem broccoli, roughly chopped
4 skinless fillets of haddock or cod (roughly 550g)
100ml chilli roasted red pepper dressing (see below)
Salt and black pepper
Top-ups
Dill
Mixed seeds
Swaps
Any beans for black beans
Tofu for fish
Pollock for cod or haddock
Kimchi for chilli roasted red pepper dressing
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas Mark 7 and line a roasting tin with baking parchment.
Mix the miso and 2 tbsps of the olive oil together. Toss with the tomatoes and black beans until thoroughly coated. Transfer to the lined tin, season with a little salt and pepper and roast in the oven for 10 mins.
Carefully remove the tin and stir in the sugar snap peas and broccoli, coating them in the juices. Nestle the pieces of fish into the vegetables and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Season the fish and transfer to the oven for 8-12 mins, depending on the thickness of your fillets; it is cooked when it is opaque throughout, can be pierced with a knife and flakes easily.
Drizzle the dressing over the fish and vegetables, and serve.
Chilli roasted red pepper dressing
Makes a larger quantity than you will need for one dish but can be used for so much more than salads. Stir through a bowl of tinned beans and some veg and you have an instant lunch with a big hit of flavour. Drizzle on to sandwiches or wraps, or use as a dip.
Makes 250ml
Ingredients
50g sauerkraut
25g cashew nuts
50ml extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and black pepper
85g roasted red pepper from a jar
½-1 tbsp gochujang (depending on your love of spiciness)
20g piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
Juice of ½ lime
Method
1. Place all the ingredients into a jug and blitz with a handheld blender until completely smooth. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Good Mood Food by Tim Spector is published by Jonathan Cape (RRP £30; to order at a discount go to the Nerve Bookshop here)