This holiday season, eat right!

Together let’s make a festive yet healthy meal.

The holidays are all about gifts, giggles and good food. We can all agree that a holiday calls for food that is supposed to be fun. But it can get difficult to indulge in festive food without feeling the ‘celebratory – meal guilt’.

So we planned a complete festive and healthy meal for you; yes you read it right, it is both- festive and healthy! Read on to start preparing your meal while understanding its benefits.

Tropical Lemonade: Makes for a perfect welcome drink.

Ingredients:

Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp

Unived’s Collagen builder powder - 1 scoop

Water - 150ml

Stevia/jaggery (optional) - as per taste

Preparation:

To a clean glass add freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Add 1 scoop Unived Collagen Builder powder to it.

Add 150 ml water and stir.

You may choose to add a natural sweetener, but it tastes great without it too!

Let’s talk nutrition!

Vitamin C: Lemon juice contains about 38% of vitamin C content. Among the many functions, vitamin C plays a key role in maintaining skin health. It is a cofactor to proline and lysine which form a tertiary structure of the collagen protein. The hydroxylation of proline and lysine result in the conversion of procollagen to collagen. Some studies have shown vitamin C to reduce skin discolouration and dark spots as well as exhibit anti- wrinkle activity.

Power Ingredient: Unived’s Vegan Collagen Builder

What is Vegan Collagen Builder? It is a powder- based formulation with a blend of ingredients that synthesize, support and maintain collagen synthesis. It has amino acids like - glycine, lysine, ornithine, vitamin C and copper which help synthesize collagen. Phytonutrients in the form of citrus bioflavonoids and lutein are also added to the blend. The formulation also includes hyaluronic acid and organic bamboo extract. Silica maintains a naturally hydrated skin which reduces collagen breakdown.

Benefits:

• Increases the rate of synthesis of collagen, improving skin health.
• Reduces skin damage caused by UV- radiations.
• Slows the process of ageing, reduces wrinkles and inflammation improving the elasticity of the skin.
• Improves hydration of the skin by maintaining moisture levels making it plum, smooth, and firm.
• Improves the strength and structure of skin, hair, nails and bones.

Scrumptious Protein Burger: Breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack, burger is your answer!

Ingredients for the patty:

Chickpeas- 2 cups

Broccoli blanched- 1 cup

Tofu scrambled- 1 cup

Unived’s Organic Pea Protein Powder- 1 scoop

1 flax egg- 1 tbsp ground flax + 3tbsp water

Bread crumbs- 2 tbsp add according to the batter requirement

Salt- as per taste

Chilli powder- as per taste

The burger assembly- You can skip to add veggies as per your choice.

Burger buns- 5

Onion ring

Lettuce

Tomato rings

Pickles

Vinegared beetroot

Vegan cheese– optional

Preparation:

Pre-prep for the protein patty:

Add a cup of broccoli to boiling water and blanch for 3- 5 minutes.

Shred the blanched broccoli.

Soak chickpeas overnight and boil them in morning. They should be easily squeezable.

Wash Tofu properly and pat dry. Crumble it and keep aside.

Make the protein patty:

To a food processor add- the boiled chickpeas, shredded broccoli and crumbled tofu. Pulse until combined.

Add the flax egg and pulse again.

Collect the mixture out in a clean bowl.

Add 1 heaped scoop of Unived’s Organic Pea Protein powder and about 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and knead.

Take a small part of it and roll it into a ball between your palms.

Slightly press to flatten it.

Now coat the patty with bread crumbs and refrigerate it for 20-30 minutes.

You can choose to bake or grill the patties.

Assembling of the burger:

Divide the burger bun in two equal halves. Apply some oil/vegan butter and heat on a skillet. You can skip using butter if you like.

Spread about 1 Tbsp vegan mayonnaise to the inner side of the lower half.

Place the grilled or baked patty gently over the lower bun.

Top with onion ring, lettuce, tomato and pickle.

You can add add vinegared beetroot followed by vegan cheese based on your preference.

Place the second half of the burger bun at the top.

Your protein burger is ready!

Let’s talk nutrition!

Chickpeas: Are a rich source of protein containing all the essential amino acids except methionine. Among the micronutrients it contains - folate, managanese, iron, magnesium, and iron.

Broccoli: Is packed with bioactive compounds like – vitamin C, and E, quercetin, kaempferol glycosides and glucosinolates.

Tofu: Derived from soy, is high in proteins and phytonutrients like isoflavones.

To enrich your burger and make it more nutrition dense, select a combination of 2 or more raw vegetables for your burger toppings.

Power Ingredient: Unived's Organic Pea Protein Powder (Unflavoured)

Organic pea protein is packed with branched-chain amino acids – leucine, isoleucine and valine along with natural digestive enzymes like – acid, neutral and alkaline protease, papain and amylase. The enzymes help in quicker digestion and absorption of proteins. Pea protein is known as an ‘Intermediate- Fast Protein’, that once digested is quickly assimilated by the body. Being a clean product, it has no artificial flavors, preservatives or emulsifiers.

Benefits:

• Plant-based proteins provide a better bioavailability and digestibility.
• The high folate and iron content helps in red blood cell formation, ensuring a healthy cell function and cell growth.
• The combination of vegetables contributing to a variety of phytonutrients makes it an ideal nutrition- dense meal.

Ragi Protein Chocolate Cake: All you need is an excuse to bake this cake!

Ingredients:

Ragi flour- 1.5 cups

Baking powder- 1.5 tsp

Baking soda- 1/2 tsp

Unived’s Pea Protein Isolate Chocolate Flavour- 1 scoop

Lukewarm water 1 cup + 2 Tbsp

Cocoa powder -1/4 cup

Neutral oil- 1/2 cup

Peanut butter- 1/4 cup

Castor sugar- 1/2 cup

Apple cider vinegar- 1 Tbsp

Preparation:

Dry ingredients: Sieve all the dry ingredients into one bowl except sugar.

Wet ingredients: Cream sugar, oil and peanut butter together in a bowl.

Now mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together to form a consistent batter.

Pour the batter in a 6 inch baking pan.

Place this batter in a preheated oven and bake at 160° C for 45- 50 minutes. (The baking time may slightly differ based on the oven)

Use a skewer test to ensure that the cake has evenly baked.

Once the cake has cooled down you can add chocolate ganache at the top (optional).

Let’s talk nutrition!

Ragi Flour: Ragi also known as finger millet is a rich source of calcium along with other minerals and dietary fibre. Due to its high fibre content, it exhibits a hypoglycemic effect.

Cocoa Powder: It contains polyphenols like - catechins and procyanidins. The polyphenolic content of cocoa powder lowers the LDL cholesterol and elevates HDL cholesterol in the blood.

Peanut Butter: Peanuts are filled with bioactive compounds that are shown to have a positive impact on memory and cognitive function. It is a rich source of protein and unsaturated fats.

Power Ingredient:

Unived’s Pea Protein Isolate Chocolate Flavour. Organic pea protein isolate contains branched-chain amino acids like – leucine, isoleucine and valine. Pea protein is known as an ‘Intermediate-Fast’ protein that is once digested, it is quickly assimilated by the body. It contains a blend of digestive enzymes to enhance the protein breakdown and digestion. Pea protein offers a natural supply of BCAAs and has a complete amino acid profile making it as effective as whey protein. Enjoy a clean protein without any artificial preservatives or emulsifiers.

Benefits:

• Being a plant- based protein recipe, it has a higher bioavailability and high digestibility.
• To ensure an all-round amino acid profile the recipe is made a combination of plant proteins.
• Protein intake helps you feel full by reducing the hunger hormone - ghrelin and achieve satiety; therefore helping in weight management.

Making healthy food choices may not always mean sacrificing your favourite foods. We’ve crafted these recipes to help you indulge a little bit, while also making sure you get adequate nutrition. Try them out and get creative by playing around with the ingredients.

So cook this with your loved ones or while singing along to your favourite holiday music.

Happy holiday season!

Recipes by Akruti Sharma

Reference:

Pullar, J. M., Carr, A. C., & Vissers, M. (2017). The roles of vitamin C in skin health. Nutrients, 9(8), 866.

Blom, W. A., Lluch, A., Stafleu, A., Vinoy, S., Holst, J. J., Schaafsma, G., & Hendriks, H. F. (2006). Effect of a high-protein breakfast on the postprandial ghrelin response. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 83(2), 211-220.

Singh, P., & Raghuvanshi, R. S. (2012). Finger millet for food and nutritional security. African Journal of Food Science, 6(4), 77-84.

Puranik, S., Kam, J., Sahu, P. P., Yadav, R., Srivastava, R. K., Ojulong, H., & Yadav, R. (2017). Harnessing finger millet to combat calcium deficiency in humans: challenges and prospects. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, 1311.

Seigo Baba, Midori Natsume, Akiko Yasuda, Yuko Nakamura, Takaaki Tamura, Naomi Osakabe, Minoru Kanegae, Kazuo Kondo, Plasma LDL and HDL Cholesterol and Oxidized LDL Concentrations Are Altered in Normo- and Hypercholesterolemic Humans after Intake of Different Levels of Cocoa Powder, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 137, Issue 6, June 2007, Pages 1436–1441.

The nutritional values were taken from:

https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/ FoodData Central is resource provided by the USDA which provides data on nutrition and other food components.

http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/IFCT%202017%20Book.pdf Indian Food Composition Tables (IFCT) is source of food composition data in India, generated, developed, managed and maintained by the National institute of Nutrition (ICMR).