Superfoods That Are Good for Our Body and The Planet

Hellmann’s Quinoa Edamame Salad (Photo: NMA)

Step into most supermarkets, and we would be presented with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and meat for us to pick from. Chances are, we would gravitate towards the ones that we are familiar with, and this is not the most ideal approach! Did you know that 75% of the global food supply comes from only 12 plant and five animal species? This reliance on a small range of foods could spell trouble for both our health and our planet.

We all need to do our part in reducing the impact that our plates have on our planet. Recently, Knorr and WWF teamed up to compile the Future 50 Foods which highlighted 50 types of food that are good for both our body and the environment. Here are a few of these delectable ingredients which you can easily incorporate into your diet.

Quinoa

An increasingly popular staple available in café menus that incorporated into breakfasts and salads, quinoa is a complete protein that contains all nine of the essential amino acids. It is gluten-free and contains an exceptional balance of protein, fat, minerals and vitamins. If you’ve never had quinoa before, try out this Shrimp Rice Bowl recipe, but replace the rice with quinoa as a healthier alternative.

Enoki Mushroom

Also known as winter mushrooms or golden needles, these long, thin, delicate mushrooms grow all year round in wild clusters. Enoki mushrooms are widely used in soups and salads. Incorporating this ingredient to your dish could be as simple as adding it into this Chicken Soup with Oyster Mushrooms recipe to enhance the lovely umami flavour of the soup.

Sweet Potato

Sweet potato is versatile because there are so many ways to enjoy it. Feel like you want a healthy snack? Just steam or boil it in water. Have a baby at home? Make sweet potato purée. Having a barbecue night? Just put your sweet potatoes on the grill. There are many ways to cook sweet potatoes, so much so that you can eat it every day for a week without getting tired of it! If you’re looking for inspiration, check out this recipe for Baked Potatoes with Eggs, and substitute regular potatoes with sweet potatoes instead!

Sesame Seeds

Sesame seeds, which can be eaten raw, toasted, and as a paste, have a high oil content and are considered an excellent source of iron and magnesium. They add crunch and a nice nutty flavour to sushi, salads, soups, noodles, and rice dishes. A quick and easy recipe you can try out is the Sesame Crusted Salmon with Roasted Sesame Dressing – the sesame helps lend an interesting texture to the salmon. Sesame seeds also make a wonderfully fragrant oil that is great in stir-fries – you can try it with our tasty Crunchy Vegetable Stir-fry recipe.

Spinach

Although the powers of spinach were highly overstated by Popeye, the cartoon character who was supposed to get his legendary strength from consuming cans of it, this tender vegetable does contain many important nutrients that are good for us. It is particularly high in vitamins A, C and Vitamin B6, and contains iron and other minerals. The next time you want to prepare a salad dish like Ayam Percik Caesar Salad, be sure to include spinach as one of the ingredients.