Nutritional recipes for World Obesity Day

It’s becoming an increasing crisis on the world’s health front, with the growing number of people becoming obese. Miss South Africa’s first runner-up Ayanda Thabethe is helping people get healthy with recipes for World Obesity Day. 

World Obesity Day is marked on 4 March, and helps to change misconceptions surrounding obesity while taking effective and collective action. 

In a statement, the Miss SA organisation says it has projected from World Obesity Day information that 1.9 billion people globally will be living with obesity in 2035. 

This will have a massive impact on the economy as trillions of dollars will be spent on compacting obesity and it’s estimated 1 in 4 people will be considered obese by 2035. 

With Ayanda Thabethe representing SA for Miss Supranational this year, the beauty queen is on a mission to get people to eat healthy meals, particularly in combatting food insecurity. 

Thabethe provided nutritional recipes to help people struggling with their weight. Thabethe is in the final year of a BSc in Dietetics and Human Nutrition at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. 

Nutritional recipes to assist with healthy weight

Pea fritters with minty yoghurt

• Author: Ayanda Thabethe
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Starter, Side
• Method: Frying
• Cuisine: French

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 300g frozen peas
• 2 eggs
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Pinch of salt
• 1tsp baking powder
• 60g of cake flour
• Oil for shallow frying
• A handful of chopped mint
• 250g yoghurt or amasi
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Instructions

1. Defrost the peas and blend half of them, along with the eggs, garlic and salt in a large bowl. Add baking powder and flour then fold in the remaining half of the peas. 
2. Heat oil in a frying pan and using a heaped tablespoon scoop the batter into the oil. 
3. Fry the fritters until golden, turning once. 
4. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. 
5. Rinse, dry and chop up the mint leaves then mix them with the yoghurt in a small bowl. Serve the fritters with yoghurt, mint sauce and lemon wedges.

Pilchard fishcakes

• Author: Ayanda Thabethe
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x
• Category: Lunch, Dinner
• Method: Frying
• Cuisine: South African

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 400g potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 400g pilchards in tomato sauce
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• Half a bunch of parsley, chopped
• 1 medium-sized onion, chopped
• Green or red chilli, chopped (optional)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 50g flour
• oil for frying
• Lemon wedges, to serve

Instructions

1. Boil the potatoes until soft. When still warm roughly mash with a fork in a large bowl. 
2. Drain the tinned pilchards and mix into the potato, along with the lemon zest and juice, parsley, onion, eggs, flour and chilli if using and stir until well combined. 
3. Form the mixture into either large fishcakes or small croquettes. 
4. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry for 3-4 mins on either side until golden. Using a slotted spoon transfer the fishcakes onto kitchen paper to drain. 
5. Serve hot or cold with lemon wedges on the side.

Cabbage and mince bake

• Author: Ayanda Thabeth
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 40 minutes
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Category: Lunch, Dinner
• Method: bake
• Cuisine: South African

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 tbsp of oil
• 500g lean beef mince
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• ½ tsp paprika
• Chopped chilli (optional)
• 2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
• 1 medium green cabbage, roughly diced
• 1½ cups grated cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and butter a 20 X 25cm ovenproof baking dish. In a large frying pan or pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. 
2. Add the mince and onion and cook until the beef is browned, about 5-10 minutes, stirring and breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon.
3. Add the garlic, chilli if using, herbs, spices and salt and pepper and cook for three minutes while stirring continuously. 
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further 20 minutes. Add the chopped cabbage. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the cabbage is tender, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and stir in one cup of the grated cheese. 
5. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake uncovered until the casserole is bubbly and the cheese is browned, 20-30 minutes. 
6. Remove from oven and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

This recipe is courtesy of Ayanda Thabethe and the Miss SA organisation