The key to managing peri-menopausal symptoms through diet, is to choose well balanced meals containing protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats for sustained and balanced blood sugar.
Quinoa is a wonderfully sustaining carbohydrate, richer in protein and higher in nutrients than most other grains. It’s also gluten free and makes a great alternative to cous cous, which is rather more refined.
This meal provides really good levels of fiber, which helps to detoxify unopposed estrogens, preventing them from being reabsorbed into the bloodstream and binding them for excretion. Its these unopposed estrogens that typically cause the symptoms associated with peri-menopause. Eat up your fiber if you want to clear out these harmful estrogens and manage your symptoms better. This means eating a diet rich in nuts, seeds, wholegrains, vegetables, pulses and beans.
Chickpeas are also a wonderful vegetable protein and complex carbohydrate with good levels of fiber but not only this - Chickpeas are also rich in phytoestrogens which help to reduce unopposed estrogens.
If you add a portion of oily fish, such as salmon to the dish, this really helps to promote healthy estrogen metabolites even more so, as well as reduce the harmful estrogen metabolites. Choose omega 3 rich foods to manage symptoms, such as oily fish, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, chia seeds.
Moroccan chickpea and tomato stew with quinoa and roasted vegetables
Serves 2
For the stew:
1 x 400g tinned tomatoes
1 small onion, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas
1 tsp dried cumin
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried coriander
Pinch of chili flakes
Himalayan salt and black pepper to season
1/2 juice of lime
For the Quinoa and roasted veg base:
Any mixed veg (around 2-3 cups peeled and roughly chopped, for example, onion, leek, mushrooms, peppers, baby corn, eggplant, carrot, butternut squash, zucchini)
120g Quinoa
Himalayan salt and black pepper to season
To serve: Fresh coriander, sliced olives, squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice
Start by preheating the oven to 180 dc. Prepare the vegetables you are using and coat them in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Add them to a roasting tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until nicely roasted and soft.
Whilst you are waiting for the roasted vegetables to cook, prepare the quinoa and stew.
To make the stew, add a little olive oil to a saucepan, over a medium heat and sauté the garlic and onion for a few minutes to soften. Add all the dried herbs and seasoning and let the onion/garlic soak in the flavors. Stir in the can of tomatoes and cook with the pan lid askew for around 10 minutes on a gentle simmer. Add the chickpeas to warm through for a further 5 minutes. Add the lime juice at this point too.
Whilst the stew is simmering, prepare the quinoa as instructed. Once the quinoa and vegetables are ready, combine and season. Plate the quinoa base with the stew on top and garnish with fresh coriander, olives and lemon/lime juice before serving.
Optional: Add lamb, chicken, salmon, or feta to the dish
