In a hurry? Here are a few quick tips from Gino;

Pulse Power: Gino loves using lentils and dried peas—just soak them in the morning and let a pressure cooker do the rest for quick, delicious meals.
Roast to Perfection: Forget boiling—roasting veggies brings out their natural sweetness and gives you those tasty, crispy bits everyone loves.
Breakfast Boost: Ditch the cereal and kickstart your day with overnight oats packed with chia seeds and fresh fruit for a tasty, nutritious twist.
Wrap Up Lunch: Swap out your usual bread for a whole grain wrap stuffed with veggies and a rainbow of dips — lunchtime never looked so good!
Snack Smart, Sweet Treats: Snack on nuts and seeds, and satisfy your sweet tooth with NuMi Carrot Cake Energy Balls.

For Gino’s full take, read on…

Incorporating more plant-based foods into your diet can significantly improve your health, supporting gut health, reducing inflammation, and providing essential nutrients. Here at NuMi we recommend aiming for 30 portions of plant per week! However we do recognise that making a big shift to a more plant-centric diet can seem daunting. In this post, Gino, our in-house chef will share five simple swap-outs that make adding more plants to your meals effortless. Alongside this he shares tips and tricks to boost your plant intake by adding flavour.

A Huge Fan of Pulses
Gino is a huge fan of pulses, particularly lentils and dried peas. He always makes sure to soak them in the morning. One of his favourite tools for cooking pulses is a pressure cooker, which significantly speeds up the process—a handy solution, especially since the time it takes to cook pulses can often be a barrier to using them more frequently.

Roasting Vegetables for Enhanced Flavour
Vegetables don’t just have to be boiled, according to Gino. He loves roasting vegetables because the process caramelises them, enhancing their flavour and creating those crispy bits that everyone enjoys. When roasting, Gino doesn’t bother with heating up fat in a pan. Instead, he cuts up the vegetables, tosses them in a small amount of oil in a bowl to get an even coating, and then lets the oven work its magic to create those delicious, tasty edges that are synonymous with roasted foods.

Breakfast Boosts
Gino is all about starting the day right, and he recommends swapping out traditional cereals for a plant-based start to your day. One of his go-to options is overnight oats packed with chia seeds and topped with fresh fruits. This simple swap not only adds fibre but also provides a healthy dose of omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, setting a healthy tone for the rest of the day.

Lunchtime Enhancements
When it comes to lunch, Gino suggests replacing regular sandwich bread with a whole grain wrap. Fill it with plenty of vegetables and one of his favourite rainbow dips (LINK TO RECIPES). This swap not only increases your plant intake but also provides a range of nutrients, including protein and fibre, making your lunchtime both delicious and nutritious.

Dinner Delights
Dinner is a great opportunity to introduce more plant-powered options into your meals. Gino loves to substitute or complement meat-based dishes with lentils. Whether added to a shepherd’s pie or a bolognese, lentils bring heartiness and richness, along with extra vitamins and minerals, to your standard recipes.

 

Snacking Smart
Gino is all about snacking smart, too. Instead of reaching for processed snacks, he recommends choosing nuts and seeds. Almonds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds are excellent choices, offering healthy fats, protein, and a variety of micronutrients. These snacks keep you full and energised between meals. For a flavour boost, check out Gino’s tips for roasting nuts (LINK TO GINO’S NUT TIPS).

Plant Puds!
For dessert, Gino loves transforming traditional treats into plant-based delights. His Carrot Cake Energy Balls are a perfect example. Made with wholesome ingredients like grated carrots, nuts, dates, and warming spices, these tasty treats satisfy your sweet tooth while adding more plants to your diet. Whether as an after-dinner treat or a midday snack, these energy balls pack in nutrients and flavour, making it easy to enjoy a healthier alternative to traditional desserts.

How to Assess Vegetable Freshness
When Gino buys vegetables, he always tries to assess their freshness. He knows that fresh vegetables have better texture and flavour, and he’s even aware of research suggesting that fresher vegetables have more beneficial microbes, which can enhance our microbiome.

Gino uses all his senses to determine the freshness of vegetables. He looks at the point where the vegetable was cut from the plant, as this area tends to spoil quickly. He checks for vibrant, even colour, sniffs the vegetable to ensure it smells as it should, and gives it a squeeze to see if it still feels full of water and life. If possible, he even tastes a little bit—whether it’s a leaf or a berry. Greengrocers are generally okay with this, he finds. While Gino hasn’t figured out how to listen to vegetables, he jokes that if you start talking to them and asking how they’re doing, you know you’re really in touch with your veg!

The Importance of Local and Seasonal Produce
Gino also pays attention to where his vegetables were grown—the closer, the better. He believes that eating locally grown produce naturally keeps your diet seasonal, which in turn helps maintain variety. He even quotes musician turned organic avocado farmer Jason Mraz, who said, “rid yourself of vanity and just live with the seasons.”

The Organic Debate
There’s also the matter of organic produce. In Gino’s opinion, if you can afford it, you should definitely prioritise organic where possible. He points out that organic food is grown with far fewer pesticides and research shows that it contains more antioxidants. Since we eat vegetables not just for their fibre and starch but also for their micronutrients, Gino believes organic produce is worth the investment. Plus, it generally tastes better. According to him, organic vegetables taste more like themselves—if you know what he means.

Budget-Friendly Tips
Gino acknowledges that organic produce has a bad reputation for being expensive. To save money, he suggests steering clear of imported vegetables, which are always pricier. Once again, he brings it back to the importance of eating seasonally. It’s simple, really.

Avoiding Sameness in Vegetarian Dishes
To avoid sameness in his vegetarian dishes, Gino makes sure not to use the same ingredients every time. It’s easy, he says, to fall into the trap of just combining peppers, courgettes, aubergines, red onions, and mushrooms in different ways. By mixing things up, he keeps his meals interesting and full of variety.

For more on the benefits of organic vegetables, Gino recommends checking out this article: NCL.ac.uk – organic veg.