Maybe it’s the English accent, the rakish sandy-colored hair or the charming British vocabulary peppered with words like “lovely,” “veg” and “fantastic,” but Jamie Oliver makes healthy eating seem surprisingly easy and enjoyable.
“Nourishing food should be colorful, delicious, and most importantly, fun,” the celebrity chef writes in his new book “Everyday Super Food” (Ecco).
The vibrant, lighthearted approach to healthy living imbues the book and Oliver’s life.
Earlier this year he turned 40, and one of the biggest changes he’s made as he’s gotten older isn’t related to diet, but to sleep.
“I used to survive on three to four hours a night, but that isn’t anywhere near enough,” he tells The Post. “I’m now averaging six to seven hours a night, and I feel like a completely new person. I wake up ready to hit the ground running!”
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To keep running throughout the day, Oliver subscribes to a diet packed with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy proteins — and the occasional indulgence. Cooking and eating nutritious fare, he insists, can be as simple as making easy substitutions and tossing in a superfood, be it chia seeds or acorn squash, to everyday meals.
“I want people to know that any change, even if it’s small, can make a difference,” he says. “Simple things, such as choosing whole-meal and whole-wheat varieties of things like bread or pasta, can make a big difference.”
Read on for his favorite nutritional powerhouses, with tips and a recipe for incorporating them into your diet.
Jamie Oliver’s favorite ingredients for maximum flavor and nutrition
• Squash
•Eggs
•Mushrooms
•Chia seeds
•Oats
•Shrimp
•Sweet potatoes
•Dates
•Seeds
•Sardines
A hearty lunch under 600 calories
This delicious, colorful lunch will cause massive office envy. Keep in the fridge and mix before serving.
Portable Jam Jar Moroccan Salad
Spoon 1 cup cooked whole-wheat couscous into the base of a 1-liter jam jar. Add the seeds from half a pomegranate. Mix 2 heaping tablespoons of fat-free plain yogurt with 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and 1 teaspoon finely chopped preserved lemon, then season to taste and spoon over the couscous.
Fill up the rest of your jar with 2 inches of sliced English cucumber, ¼ head of shredded bibb lettuce, ½ of a coarsely grated carrot, one peeled and sliced blood orange, 2 ounces drained chickpeas, the torn leaves from two sprigs of fresh mint and two sprigs of fresh cilantro, ½ an ounce of feta cheese, 1 good pinch each of toasted sesame seeds, chopped pistachios, and cumin seeds.
Put on the jar’s lid, and you’ve got a lunch to go. Serves 1.