Book Excerpt: Kavita Devgan’s Ultimate Guide to Fuss-Free Healthy Cooking

500 Easy Delicious Healthy Recipes by Kavita Devgan talks about how a healthy breakfast can start your day right

500 easy, delicious, healthy recipes by Kavita Devgan.

(Photo: Kavita Devgan/ altered by FIT)

Book: 500 Easy Delicious Healthy Recipes

Author: Kavita Devgan

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Do you end up skipping breakfast because it's just too much of a hassle in the morning? Do you often order in because you can't find the time to cook elaborate meals that are satisfying? Do you struggle to eat healthy?

Nutritionist and author Kavita Devgan's latest offering 500 Easy, Delicious, Healthy Recipes might just be what you need to jump-start your journey towards healthy living with minimal fuss.

Here's an excerpt from the book:

You have probably heard the advice, 'Start your day right to have a great day ahead' umpteen times. What that means in nutritional terms is to begin the day with a tasty breakfast that gives us all the essential nutrients and leaves us satisfied and happy.

This is even more important today when we are working from home and unable to blur the lines between work and leisure.

A good breakfast can start you off on the right foot to take on the never-ending demands on your time and energy during the course of the day.

Tips To Get More Out of Your Breakfast

• Include at least one fruit or vegetable, preferably one that is rich in vitamin C, such as oranges, grapes, melons or amla.

• Include a good source of fibre (at least 3 gm fibre per serving). This includes foods like a whole wheat chapatti, whole grain slices of bread, whole grain cereals (bran, oatmeal, daliya, shredded wheat), brown rice, fruits, and vegetables.

• Include a good source of protein, like milk, soy milk, cheese, curd, meat, fish, poultry, beans or eggs.

• Include a bit of fat, like nuts and seeds.

Try These Quick & Healthy Recipes

Here are some delicious breakfast recipes that are also easy to make at home. 

Bread Breakfast, 3 Ways

• Legume Spread on Toast

Mash ½ cup boiled rajma or lobia beans and mix them with 2 tbsp curd. Add mustard, dill, parsley or pepper to taste.

Spread this mixture on a slice of multigrain bread.

Top with lettuce, ½ each of a sliced cucumber and tomato.

Chill and serve.

• Cheesy Tomato Sandwich

Lightly toast 2 slices of whole wheat bread, spread a thin layer of low-fat cheese spread, some mustard and chilli sauces.

Top it with 1 sliced tomato and sprinkle some black pepper and torn-up basil leaves.

Grill the sandwich till the tomatoes have softened. If you are not calorie-conscious, you can add some grated cheese as well.

• Mushroom Toastie

Sauté 1 clove of garlic in 2 tsp heated olive oil until it is aromatic.

Add 100 gm mushrooms, chopped roughly.

Cook them till their moisture evaporates.

Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and dried oregano or any other preferred herb.

Place the cooked mushrooms onto wholewheat toast.

Pair with a fruit and choose a drink to go with this breakfast, be it green tea, vegetable juice, or fresh coconut water.

Breakfast Cheelas

Soak ½ cup of whole moong for 1 hour.

Grind the moong with green chillies and 1 clove of garlic (optional). Add salt, ½ tsp each of fennel seeds and red chilli powder.

Add water to make a thick but spreadable batter. Smear a hot, flat-bottomed tawa with a little oil.

To make the tawa non-stick, rub a sliver of cut onion across it. Spread the batter on the tawa in the shape of a cheela.

Cook till both sides are lightly brown, adding just a little oil to let it cook. Serve hot. Pair this with a glass of juice or buttermilk for a protein-rich start to your day.

Fibre-Rich Parathas

For a filling breakfast, try the traditional stuffed paratha but make it healthy and low-fat.

Make the dough by kneading 50 percent whole wheat flour, 50 percent bran and ½ tsp ajwain.

Stuff the paratha with any leftovers — keema, vegetables, boiled potatoes, mashed and seasoned.

Add fresh or dried methi leaves to the dough for an exciting flavour. Cook on a non-stick tawa and smear with ghee once cooked.

Serve with a kachumbar salad.

To make this, mix 1 each of a small, finely chopped onion and tomato with plenty of fresh coriander leaves.

Season with lemon juice, salt and sugar. Pair with a glass of buttermilk seasoned with roasted ground cumin powder and black pepper

(The above is an edited excerpt. Paragraph breaks, blurbs and subheadings have been added for readers’ convenience.)

(This is an excerpt from the book titled, '500 Easy Delicious Healthy Recipes', penned by nutritionist, and health writer, Kavita Devgan. Published with permission from Rupa Publications. The views expressed here are the author's own. The Quint neither endorses them nor is responsible for them.)