Gut instinct: recipes from a doctor and chef to nourish and delight

You might remember Saliha Mahmood Ahmed from her 2017 MasterChef UK victory, but did you know that this gourmand is also a doctor? Specialising in gastroenterology, Dr Ahmed wants to encourage her readers to cook with more diversity in order to boost their immune systems, help their digestive systems run smoothly and keep their guts happy.

According to UCD, research has shown that a healthy gut can improve many other aspects of our health, including the immune system, cardiac health and more. Dr Ahmed’s latest cookbook The Kitchen Prescription has gut health at the forefront, with 101 easy recipes that are delicious, family-friendly and, best of all, cost effective. Recipes include the likes of sunshine labneh and tomatoes on toast, masala cottage pie, and passion fruit and ginger cheesecake.

Kimchi and garlic fried rice

It’s a terrible waste for leftover rice to end up in the bin. Thankfully this recipe is a great blueprint to have in your repertoire for when you’ve cooked too much rice. The combination of garlic, kimchi and chilli oil makes for an outstanding dish that you can rustle up in minutes.

Feel free to add any other vegetables from your fridge instead of (or alongside) the suggested vegetables here. Leave out the fried eggs to keep this vegan.

Plant diversity score: 6.5

INGREDIENTS, serves 4

Vegetable oil, for frying

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

4 spring onions, finely chopped

1 grated carrot

120g (4oz) white cabbage, finely shredded

½ green pepper, finely diced

450g (1lb) cooked and cooled rice (or use ready-cooked pouches)

100g (3½oz) frozen peas, defrosted

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

200g (7oz) kimchi, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve

4 tsp Lao Gan Ma crispy chillies in oil (or any chilli oil)

4 eggs (optional)

Salt, to taste

METHOD

1. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to a frying pan or wok and crank up the heat to high. Add the garlic and spring onions. When they have started to turn golden (after just a minute or two), add the carrot, cabbage and green pepper. Ensure that the heat remains high as you want the vegetables to fry quickly and caramelise, rather than stew.

2. After 2 minutes, add the rice to the frying pan along with the peas, soy sauce and chopped kimchi. Splash about 3 tablespoons of warm water into the pan. The steam will soften the rice and bring all the ingredients together. Give everything a good toss to combine and within a minute or so your fried rice will be ready.

Taste and season with salt if you feel the dish needs it (the kimchi and soy sauce are already salty, so be cautious).

3. Fry the eggs in a drizzle of vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat until the edges are crispy but the yolks are still runny. Place the rice in 4 bowls and top each one with a fried egg and a drizzle of chilli oil. Eat immediately, with some extra kimchi on the side.

Berbere chicken, roast radishes and sorghum with garlic mayonnaise

Berbere is a deeply evocative spice mix which forms the cornerstone of Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. You can make your own, but the ready-made versions are just as good. Its complex flavour profile comes from a heady mix of chilli peppers, coriander, garlic, ginger, Ethiopian holy basil seeds, korarima, rue, ajwain, nigella and fenugreek.

Sorghum, also known as juwar, is an ancient cereal grain dense in fibre and other nutrients. As it is gluten free it makes an excellent and inclusive addition to a gut-healthy feast, but if you can’t get hold of sorghum, use pearl barley, bulgur wheat or freekeh instead.

Plant diversity score: 3.75

INGREDIENTS, serves 4

For the chicken

1 medium whole chicken, skin on

6 garlic cloves

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 heaped tsp berbere (use garam masala or ras el hanout if you can’t source berbere)

1 tsp tomato purée

1 tsp honey

Juice of ½ lemon

Salt, to taste

For the sorghum and radishes

250g (9oz) dried sorghum

400g (14oz) pink radishes, halved

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Few sprigs of tarragon leaves

or soft herb of your choice (optional)

For the mayonnaise

2 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tbsp full-fat live Greek yoghurt

1 garlic clove, grated

Juice of ½ lemon

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas mark 6.

2. Start by spatchcocking the chicken: turn the chicken over so it is breast side down, then use sturdy kitchen scissors to cut down either side of the backbone. Remove the backbone, then turn the chicken over and press down firmly on the breast. You can also ask your butcher to do this for you.

3. Pound the garlic in a pestle and mortar, then mix with the olive oil, berbere, tomato purée, honey and lemon juice to form a marinade. Smother the chicken with this marinade before placing it on a baking tray and seasoning with salt to taste. Cover the chicken with foil, transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes, then baste with juices at the bottom of the pan and roast uncovered for another 25 minutes, or until the chicken is deep brown and the skin is crisp.

4. Meanwhile, boil the sorghum according to the packet instructions: this usually takes about 30-45 minutes. Drain, season with salt and set aside. Place the radishes on a baking tray, drizzle them with the olive oil and season with salt. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, tossing once in between. You should be able to pierce the radishes easily with a fork and they should be golden brown. Toss the sorghum and the radishes together with the vinegar and tarragon (if using).

5. Mix the mayonnaise with the yoghurt, garlic and lemon juice. Serve alongside the chicken and sorghum radishes.

The Kitchen Prescription by Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed is published by Yellow Kite in hardback, priced at €27