Believe it or not chocolate and popcorn are both regarded as ‘brain food’; chocolate for its antioxidant-rich cacao beans and popcorn for vitamin B6 and for maintaining good cholesterol levels.
However, there are lot more wonderful foods – and recipes – to keep the brain in tip-top shape.
Best of all, some of these are included in nutritionist, Delia McCabe’s book Feed Your Brain (RRP $34.99).
She says eating the right foods can help us feel light, bright and ready to conquer anything, whereas the wrong foods can leave us feeling sluggish and unmotivated.
Delia has broken down how different foods affect the brain and complemented them with easy recipes plus answers to questions about what is for good for the body.
To whet your appetite, here’s a recipe from her new book.
Sun-dried Tomato and Sweetcorn Polenta
INGREDIENTS
Good quality organic pasta sauce
1 cup polenta
2 1/2 cup water
1 cup sweetcorn or 2 fresh sweetcorn, kernels sliced off
5 spring onions finely chopped
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (if in oil, drain and retain oil),†finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil
Salt to taste
1 medium eggplant, washed, tops removed and sliced into strips
1 red capsicum and 1 yellow capsicum, seeded and sliced into 6 strips each
3 Tbsp water
3 Tbsp olive oil
6 asparagus spears, trimmed (optional
Fresh basil, to garnish (optional)
2-3 Tbsp olive oil, extra
1/2 cup black or green olives, to serve
1 cup green pesto
2-3 Tbsp olive oil, extra to serve
METHOD
Preheat oven to 160∞C. Coat an oven-proof dish (20x25cm) with olive oil.
To make polenta, pour water into a large saucepan and cover. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and add polenta, stirring well to ensure no lumps form. Add sweetcorn, onions, sun-dried tomatoes, basil and salt and cook for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Pour cooked polenta into oiled oven-proof dish. (If you use instant polenta, follow the instructions on the packet and then continue.)
Cook eggplant and capsicum in water for about 30 minutes until soft and juicy, then add olive oil, stirring to coat.
Place asparagus in a bowl, and pour over boiling water. Leave asparagus in water for 1 minute, then drain.
Slice polenta into six pieces and place each piece on a separate plate, on a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce.
Serve each topped with 1 tablespoon of the tomato sauce, equal amounts of the vegetable mixture, asparagus, olives and pesto, and drizzle with extra olive oil, topping with the basil.