Podium Power Porridge, Superfast Superfood Salad, an Isotonic Sports Smoothie and Raspberry Recovery Bars....

Podium Power Porridge, Superfast Superfood Salad, an Isotonic Sports Smoothie and Raspberry Recovery Bars....

Matt Lovell, elite performance nutritionist to Olympic athletes, premiership footballers and international rugby players, has teamed up with Seasonal Berries to create a series of Berry Power recipes and nutritional tips to support their partnership with the BUPA Great Run races.

He has developed four recipe ideas using strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries to support your training regime: Podium Power Porridge, Superfast Superfood Salad, an Isotonic Sports Smoothie and Raspberry Recovery Bars.

Podium Power Porridge:

If there were such a thing as the ‘fruit Olympics’ then blueberries would definitely be in podium contention for their powerful antioxidants, fibre and vitamin C.

Porridge is a great way to start any day.

Most commercial breakfast cereals are too high in sugars, so take a couple of minutes while the kettle is boiling to make Podium Power Porridge and get your day off to a fantastic start.

The oats are high in soluble fibre that keep you feeling fuller for longer. The nuts and seeds supply healthy fats and extra fibre, and the whey protein powder adds vital protein.

Ingredients:

• 60g oats
• Pinch of salt
• 5g flax seeds (ground)
• 5g chia seeds (ground)
• 100ml semi-skimmed organic milk.
• 150g blueberries
• 30g vanilla whey protein powder

Method:

1. Put the oats, seeds and milk into a pan and bring to the boil.  
2. Keep stirring – the hotter the pan, the faster you need to stir.  
3.  extra milk if you prefer.
4. When cooked, stir in the blueberries and protein powder and eat straight away.

PERFORM

Isotonic Sports Smoothie:



This is a delicious smoothie recipe.  

Strawberries are high in fibre, Vitamin C and potassium – one of the main salts in isotonic drinks that can help prevent you getting cramps.  Coconut oil helps boost your metabolism and immune system and cottage cheese is a great source of protein and calcium.

You can add ground flax seeds for extra fibre and omega 3 oils, oats for more carbs and whey protein powder for protein.  Often people make the false assumption that consuming whey protein is going to build muscles, but actually you need to do specific types of weight training to build new muscle.

Whey protein helps repair the damage that endurance running will do to your body.
Add a spoonful of honey or Stevia, a natural sweetener, if you wish.

Ingredients:

• 125g fresh strawberries
• 100g cottage cheese
• 300ml semi skimmed milk
• 1 teaspoon virgin organic coconut oil
• 4 large ice cubes

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients into a blender and whizz until smooth.

Nutritional Information:

• Total Calories 320 Kcal
• Protein 23g
• Carbs 33g
• Fat 12g

Raspberry Vinegar:

Vinegars can be a key component of any athlete’s diet and are an underutilized food source.We all know we should be eating more salad and an oil and vinegar dressing has many nutritional benefits. Vinegar, although acid in nature, has an alkalising effect on the body – great as the typical Western diet is very acid forming.

Another way to incorporate fruit vinegars into your diet is as a refreshing drink – use them as you would use orange squash. Add a few ice cubes and you’ve got an amazingly refreshing drink. You can even drizzle a fruit vinegar over strawberries or natural yoghurt as a delicious snack or pudding.

Making vinegar with berries like raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries is an innovative new way of enjoying their flavours and nutritional benefits.

Ingredients:

• 500g raspberries
• 500ml apple cider vinegar
• 60g granulated sugar

Method:

1. Squash your summer fruits with the back of a fork in a glass or bowl. 
2.  Pour the vinegar over and leave in a sealed air tight container for two to seven days, depending on the strength of flavour you prefer. 
3.  Give it an occasional stir.
4. After letting your vinegar steep, drain through muslin for two hours, or overnight.
5. Add the sugar to the liquid and bring to the boil for ten minutes. 
6.  For a low carb version, leave the sugar out and add some Stevia after boiling.
7. Pour into sterilized bottles and the vinegar will last for 12 months unopened. 
8. It makes a unique present at Christmas time too.



PREPARE

Superfast Superfood Salad:

The flavour combinations in this salad work really well and the colours shout health and vitality.

 The vitamin C from the blackberries will increase the amount of iron absorbed from the spinach; spinach regularly appears on the lists of super foods and has high levels of calcium, iron, magnesium and manganese.

 Iron is an important part of haemoglobin, the substance in our red blood cells that transports oxygen around our bodies.

Walnuts are a great source of omega 3 oils and feta cheese is lower in fat than cheddar.

The fat from the cheese and olive oil in the dressing help the absorption of fat soluble vitamins from the spinach.

Perfect for eating on its own or served with flaked smoked mackerel for a delicious lunch or supper.

This is a good meal to have on a day when you are not training as it will help keep you full without eating a lot of carbs.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 200g fresh blackberries
• 150g-250g fresh spinach leaves
• 50g feta cheese
• 20g walnuts
• 20ml raspberry vinegar
• 10ml olive oil

Method:

1. Lay the spinach leaves on a plate or bowl.
2. Arrange the blackberries, crumbled feta cheese and walnut pieces on top of the spinach.
3. Mix the raspberry vinegar and oil in a bowl and drizzle on top of the salad.

Nutritional Information:

• Total Calories 469 Kcal
• Protein 17g
• Carbs 23g
• Fat 35g

RECOVERY

Raspberry Recovery Bars:

These are a delicious high calorie snack to have as part of your recovery from training or a race. 

You could even crumble one up and serve over natural yoghurt or cottage cheese or as a delicious pudding with a few extra fresh raspberries on the side.

Raspberry Flapjack Slices are packed full vitamin C from the raspberries and healthy fats from the nuts, seeds, butter and coconut oil.  

Try to use organic butter as it is higher in omega 3 oils and healthier than margarine.  

Oats are a superfood as they release their energy slowly and are high in the soluble fibre beta-glucan that can help lower cholesterol.

If you are on a budget don’t be put off by having to buy the extra flax seeds, pumpkin or chia seeds – just add what you miss out with extra oats, or just buy one of the types of seeds.

Ingredients:

• 350g oats
• 25 g flax seeds
• 25 g pumpkin seeds
• 25g chia seeds
• 50g organic butter
• 50 g virgin coconut oil
• 50g honey
• 250g raspberries
• 20g coconut flour/oat flour

Makes 10 bars

Method:

1. Grind the oats and seeds as this makes the mixture slightly finer and helps it stick together – these flapjacks have a tendency to crumble more than regular ones as they are lower in fat.  
2. If you are short of time, grind only the flax seeds and chia seeds as your body doesn’t break these down.
3. Melt the coconut oil, butter and honey in a saucepan and add to the dry ingredients.  
4. Add the oil/honey mix in stages, stirring well to make sure it is all incorporated.
5. Spoon two thirds of the mixture onto a baking tray and press it down firmly into the edges, ensuring it is at least 1cm deep.  
6. Bake at 180C for 5 minutes.
7. While it is baking, blitz the raspberries in a blender or mash them with a fork.  
8. Add the flour to thicken the consistency, and mix together
9. Remove the base from the oven and smooth the raspberry mixture over the top.
10. Sprinkle the remaining third of the oat mixture on top of the raspberries and press it down gently so it sticks into it.
11. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes or until brown on top.
12. Leave to cool before cutting into pieces.

Nutritional Information:

Per bar:

• Calories 285 Kcal
• Protein 7g
• Carbs 29g
• Fat 15g

He is also offering nutritional advice on what to eat pre and post training and for race day to help enhance performance and increase enjoyment of race training Power Race Nutrition Plan.

Recipe and photo credit Seasonal Berries