My clients know I’m always banging on about leafy greens! But while red cabbage isn’t green, it is a brassica and offers many of the same benefits. It’s an excellent source of B vitamins essential for health, and it also contains those wonderful red-purple polyphenols called anthocyanins, which are powerful anti-inflammatories. This was my dinner yesterday and also did double duty as leftovers for lunch today — a completely meat-free meal, packed with gut-loving foods.
Just for fun (and because I’m a total food geek), I popped the ingredients into Cronometer to get a nutrient breakdown — mainly to check how much protein was in my lunch.
I aim for around 25–30g of protein per meal, as that helps me meet my daily target. This one came in at 29.8g — target hit! Halloumi is relatively high in protein, so it’s a great addition to meals when you’re going meat-free.
29.8g protein | 182.6g carbs | 31.4g fat
Plus loads of B vitamins — around 54–81% of my daily intake of B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B9 (folate).
Also a decent hit of B12, biotin and choline, alongside vitamins A (beta-carotene), C, D, E and K.
Minerals-wise: calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, sodium and zinc.
And a whopping 22.5g of fibre — hello happy gut!
I tweaked the recipe and will probably tweak it again when I repeat, but with the addition of a home-made French-style dressing (olive oil, apple cider vinegar, oregano, mustard & garlic) it was delicious.
INGREDIENTS
2 tbsps Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2cm cubes
Half a Purple Cabbage, chopped
1 Red Onion (roughly chopped into large wedges)
Sea Salt & Black Pepper (to taste)
150 grams Halloumi (cut into large pieces)
150g Mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp Ground Sumac
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Good handful of chopped parsley or basil or herb of your choice
70g of giant couscous – cooked per packet instructions
French dressing
Walnuts
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C
2. In a large roasting pan add the olive oil, minced garlic, squash, cabbage, red onion, salt and pepper and toss to combine. Roast for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the roasting pan and add the mushrooms, sumac and halloumi. Place back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
4. Cook 70g Giant couscous as per packet instructions. When veggies are cooked, mix in the couscous.
5. Drizzle the lemon juice on top. Divide between plates and top with herbs, a handful of walnuts and the French dressing!
A high-fibre, gut-loving, gluten-free, portable recipe — just one of hundreds in my recipe database that I’ve built from scratch over the past few years. All my clients get access to this when they sign up to work with me. The database includes guidance on meal planning, plus inspiration for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and drinks — and even where to shop for ingredients you might not be familiar with.
While I may ask clients to follow a particular way of eating, I created this resource because when I worked with a therapist myself, I realised that rigid recipe lists didn’t work for me — some things just weren’t my bag!
There are meal plans if you want everything mapped out for you, but you also have the freedom to choose. And yes — most of the recipes have been tested by me before they make the cut.
If you’re thinking about working with a nutritional therapist because you’re feeling under par, have a few niggles you’d like to address, or are living with a chronic health condition you’d like support with, you’re very welcome to book a completely free 30-minute call with me. We can chat through what you need and see whether we’re the right fit for each other.