So, why this book? Why super – and why fast?! If you have my first cookbook Superfoods , you’ll know that I introduced you to the superhero foods in each recipe. But some of those recipes take a bit of time to make and have quite a few ingredients – perfect for those days when you have a little breathing space and can slow down. Slowing down – now that’s a good thing! But if you’re anything like me and you have a hectic lifestyle (four kids and working full-time I think qualify as hectic!) but you still want to nourish your body and energize your mind so that you can keep going and going, then this book is for you busy people. Ask yourself this: do you ever feel hectic, crazy, overwhelmed, exhausted, overworked and well, just plain old busy? – then I mean you! Being busy is many people’s excuse for not eating healthily and not taking care of themselves. That used to be me, too. This book is here to help YOU. So, in order to get the best out of it, here is my advice.
Most of the recipes in this book take well under 20 minutes to make, therefore they’re super easy and the best bit is that they will make you feel great and energized. I like to think of these recipes and in particular the nutrients in the recipes as working hard to supply you with a surge of goodness and energy. I made sure of that! For this reason alone, it’s worth giving yourself 20 minutes in the kitchen every day for the positive effect it will have on your wellbeing.
There are just a couple of recipes that require you to soak something (e.g. nuts) the night before but once that’s done, the recipes take no time at all.
There are several recipes that will take exactly 20 minutes on the dot (I’ve timed them all!). In order to do this, please make sure that you have collected all the ingredients beforehand and that they are collected in front of you along with any utensils and measuring devices needed. As long as you are prepared and you don’t have to go searching for anything while cooking, these recipes are 20 minutes from start to finish.
You will be multi-tasking in a number of recipes, of course, and I always try to make this clear. For example, while brown rice is cooking, you might need to be chopping veggies, sautéing onions and/or whisking a dressing. Speaking of which, brown rice can be cooked in under 20 minutes – the trick is to keep the water boiling at all times (something I learned from a dear friend). Oh, and when you’re chopping veggies or any ingredient, roughly chopped is just fine.
That’s it! That’s all you busy people need to know in order to use this book effectively so that your body gets nourished and energized in 20 minutes or less.