Nutrition & Lifestyle Coach Charlotte Lau
explores the benefits of incorporating another healthy ingredient into our diets. This month it’s rainbow veg

With many of us relying on less healthy convenience foods, invest some time to retune your palate by concentrating on ‘eating the rainbow’ this month. The more colours we eat, the more variety of compounds called Phytonutrients we consume. These incredible compounds help support everything from our heart health and fighting cancer cells to reducing inflammation and reversing brain aging.
Different coloured foods contain different phytonutrients; for example orange foods, such as carrots and peppers, contain beta-carotene which benefit our immune system and supports healthy vision. Red foods, like tomatoes, contain lycopene which may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and heart disease. Polyphenols, a type of phytonutrient, have powerful antioxidant effects as well as lowering inflammation, improving brain health, supporting your microbiome and improving immune function and blood sugar control.
One of the best places to find polyphenols is in brightly coloured, fibre rich vegetables; so try to include more broccoli, red onions, spinach, asparagus, carrots, artichokes, berries and olives. Eat the rainbow! Choose vegetables for snacks, include them at breakfast, challenge your family or friends to see how many different colours they can eat each week and focus on bringing more colour into your diet, rather than what you should exclude from it.

Rainbow roast vegetables & tofu

Serves 4

  • 2 x 400g packs of firm tofu, cubed
  • olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 3 sprigs of rosemary
  • 1 butternut squash, chopped into 2cm chunks
  • 1 aubergine, chopped
  • 2 red onions, quartered
  • 2 courgettes, chopped
  • 4 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 2 peppers, one red one yellow, cut into chunks
  • salt and pepper
  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°C fan.
  2. In a bowl, combine the tofu with 1 tbsp of olive oil, the lemon juice, one of the chopped garlic cloves and a pinch of chopped rosemary and salt and pepper. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 30 minutes. 3. Place the butternut squash and aubergine on a baking tray and toss with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes, then add the onions, courgettes, carrots and remaining garlic and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper, toss and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
  3. Add the peppers, marinated tofu and any marinade left in the bowl and roast for a final 20 minutes.
  4. This is delicious served with brown rice or quinoa.

Charlotte runs Plume Nutrition, where she offers support and advice for weight management, controlling cravings, sleeplessness, stress and increasing energy levels. Find out more at plumenutrition.com

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