A healthy Ramadan

Muslims keeping the fast typically wake up before dawn and eat a “suhoor” meal, which means they need to make something quickly that will also keep them nourished throughout the day.

The “iftar,” or evening meal, comes with its own challenges — families and friends usually gather for big celebratory dinners, which can often be filled with tempting fried foods.

These are some tips to make your Ramadan healthy: Plan for the whole month or on a weekly basis what you will be preparing for Ramadan and stick with that.

No matter what you have, keep a salad and eat it first or eat it along with your food.

Don’t drink sugar for this Ramadan.

The traditional milk or the bottled drinks you drink every day for Ramadan are loaded with sugar, artificial flavours, and food colourings. Make your own fresh juices or lemonade with unrefined sugar or stevia. If you need something packaged, go for coconut water as it helps your body to replenish the lost electrolytes.

Make breakfast healthy.

Smoothies, smoothie bowls, and avocado toast are all popular healthy choices. Organic eggs keep you full for many hours.

Other breakfast ideas are full-fat yoghurt with berries, hummus with pita bread or vegetables, and whole grain porridge with fruit.

Frying is okay on some days, but some foods like samosas and spring rolls can be baked. An air fryer is a great investment.

We all know that white flour, white salt, and white sugar are not good for us. If the recipe calls for white flour, replace some part of it with wheat or spelt flours. Replace white sugar with unrefined sugars like jaggery, agave, dates or date sugar, coconut sugar, honey, fruits or apple sauce. Replace table salt with sea salt, Himalayan or Celtic salts to get all the minerals. Keep in mind that sugar in any forms including the healing honey in Islamic culture in excess can give you blood sugar problems.

Sneak vegetables into anything you make –spinach or other greens to your pakoras, peas to your rice, ground carrots to your pasta, mushrooms to your meat dishes, etc. Do not live on processed or packaged foods in Ramadan. This is the time to nourish your body with nutrient rich home-made whole foods preferably organic after long hours of depletion. Packaged foods are devoid of nutrients and filled with many harmful ingredients our body can’t process. If you feed your body with nourishing foods, it gives the body sustainable energy to carry you throughout the day. For iftar, do not make appetiser every day. If you have to have appetisers, only make one to three pieces per person so even if you want to have more there would not be any left. If you eat more than that, keep in mind that your appetiser is not an appetiser anymore and is the main course.

If you cannot live without desserts in Ramadan, plan for low sugar or fruit-based desserts.

If you have the habit of eating after night prayers or just before going to bed, save your fruit-based dessert for that. No two servings of dessert during Ramadan.

If you suffer from constipation during Ramadan, you will have to make a conscious effort of consuming fibre-rich foods like vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.

Indigestion issues can be resolved by not overeating.

Carry a water bottle and sip water throughout the night prayers.

If you suffer from indigestion consider some teas like CCF tea made by boiling water with equal amounts of coriander seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds (1 tsp each) Practise mindful eating. Chew your food properly and slow down.

Breakfast Smoothie - Spinach and Orange Breakfast Smoothie A delicious, protein and fibre-packed smoothie that is perfect for suhoor (the morning meal eaten during the Holy Month of Ramadan).

1½ cups Greek yoghurt

1 cup baby spinach

2 cups fresh orange juice

½ tbsp fresh ginger

2 tbsp chia seeds

Using the blender of your choice, mix spinach, Greek yoghurt, ginger and orange juice until smooth.

Pour into a tall glass.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon chia seeds over top of each glass.

Baked Chicken Fajita

3 bell peppers (any colour), cut into wide slices

1 onion, yellow or red, cut into wide slices

3 large tomatoes, cut into wedges

4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1 small can green chili

1.5 lbs chicken breasts or tenders, cut into strips

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tbsp oregano, dried

1 tbsp basil, dried

2 tbsp olive oil

Freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (optional) Fresh cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place peppers, onion, tomatoes, garlic, chicken strips, and the green chili peppers in a baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. Rub the spice mix on the vegetables and chicken.

Drizzle the olive oil. Combine well.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked.

To serve, top with fresh cilantro and lemon or lime juice.

Serve with guacamole, fresh salsa, and beans (skip the bread).

Notes If you’re assembling it to eat later, cover and refrigerate. When ready to cook, pull the casserole dish out of the fridge.

Place in a cold oven then turn the oven on. This will prevent the casserole dish from cracking due to sharp temperature change.

If you prefer your fajita dish to be more dry, spread the vegetables and chicken on a larger baking sheet (like a cookie sheet) to allow room for the liquids to dry out.

Date Nut Bar

1 package pressed dates, or 13 ounces pitted Medjool dates

⅓ cup almond butter

½ cup slivered almonds

2 tbsp chia seeds

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl. With your hand, knead to combine and form a ball. You may use food-grade gloves.

Rip a good size wax paper (about 2 feet long) and place on your counter top.

Place the dough on one side, cover with wax paper, and flatten with a rolling pin until it reaches a thickness of ¾ inch. Using your hands or a knife, form a rectangle - to simplify the cutting process.

Cut into 10 pieces and enjoy.

To store in your fridge, wrap each bar with plastic paper tightly.

Store in your fridge for a week - that’s if they’re not eaten already by the first day.