Nourish your brain

Keep the brain healthy and boost your mood with these nourishing recipes from Nutritionist and author of the Brain Boost Diet, Christine Bailey (www.christinebailey.co.uk).

Sweet potato gratin fish pie

Fish pie is traditionally a stodgy comfort dish. This lighter version is packed with omega boosting fish and shellfish, plus veggies for an antioxidant boost. Swapping potato for a combination of sweet potato and cauliflower is the perfect way to reduce overall carbohydrate and packing in plenty of protective antioxidants. If you want to make this dairy free as well, you can substitute the milk for coconut milk and omit the cheese. This dish can also be frozen making it an ideal standby weekday meal. Salmon is packed with plenty of omega 3 fats. More than two-thirds of the brain’s fatty acids are docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and salmon is an excellent source of these essential brain fats.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium leeks cleaned, trimmed and shredded
• 150g of smoked haddock, filleted and skinned
• 150g of cod fillet, skinned
• 150g salmon fillet, skinned
• 100g raw king prawns
• 500ml semi-skimmed milk or canned coconut milk
• 1tsp Dijon mustard
• 1tbsp cornflour
• 1 lemon zest.
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 1tbsp fresh parsley chopped
• 1tbsp fresh dill chopped
• 1 sweet potato 150g weight, peeled left whole
• ½ cauliflower, about 150g cut into florets
• 1tbsp olive oil2tbsp Parmesan cheese grated
• To accompany: green salad and lemon wedges

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.
• Place the shredded leeks in a large frying or sauté pan that has a lid and add one tablespoon of water or vegetable stock. Steam fry for five minutes with the lid on, or until the leeks are soft.
• Add the fish, prawns and the milk, mustard to the pan and simmer with the lid on for a further five minutes, or until the fish is opaque and starting to flake and the prawns are pink. Drain (reserve the liquid), remove the fish, prawns and leeks and put them into an ovenproof dish.
• Mix the cornflour with a little water to form a smooth paste. Add it to the hot milk liquid. Heat it gently, stirring well until the milk thickens about two minutes and then season to taste with salt and pepper and lemon zest. Stir in the chopped fresh herbs.
• Pour the milk sauce over the fish and leeks.
• Meanwhile, place the whole peeled sweet potato into a large pan of boiling salted water with the cauliflower florets and blanch for two minutes. Remove from the pan, cool slightly, grate the potato and cauliflower into a large clean tea towel and squeeze gently to remove excess liquid. Tip the mixture into a bowl. Add the olive oil and parmesan cheese, toss and season. Scatter the mixture over the fish.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown, and the filling is bubbling hot.

Recipes copyright Christine Bailey