Healthy St Patrick’s Day Recipes

St. Patrick’s Day is traditionally celebrated with a lot of food dye, some green beer and sugar-laden treats. Even I was shocked to see that a popular fast-food chains’ medium sized Shamrock Shake has 730 calories and 97 grams of sugar!! 97 grams of sugar. To put that in perspective, according to the WHO Sugars Intake Guideline, people should limit sugar intake to less than 5% of total daily calorie intake, which is approximately 26 g per day.

Let’s make this St Patty’s holiday extra special by skipping these traditions and instead, incorporating festive, but healthy foods, including our very own version of a Shamrock Shake, loaded with spinach and banana instead of sugar.

Nutritious Shamrock Smoothie

Everyone loves a green smoothie, and this may be the next best one on the block! It’s refreshingly minty and is the perfect smoothie for this holiday.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup ice

• 1 frozen banana

• ½ cup Greek yoghurt or coconut yoghurt

• 1 cup baby spinach

• 6 fresh mint leaves

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ cup nut milk

• 1 tsp ground flax

• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Optional: maple syrup

Instructions:

1. Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.

2. Depending on your preference, you can add a touch of maple syrup for natural sweetness.

3. Serve with a fresh mint leaf.

Green Hummus

I always love a delicious homemade hummus and it’s so easy to make this dish festive by adding some natural ingredients like spinach which will make it green. As for the homemade crunchy tortilla chips, it’s a must try for your St Patty’s Party.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas

• 4 tbsp water

• 2 tbsp tahini

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Juice of 1 lemon

• Handful spinach

• Handful parsley

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 tsp cumin

• ½ tsp salt

• Whole grain tortilla

• Olive oil

• Seasoning salt

Instructions:

1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and blend until combined and smooth.

2. Add more water if you prefer it to be thinner and season with more salt or pepper depending on taste. Cool for an hour and top with chopped parsley and walnuts before serving.

3. For the crispy tortillas cut a whole grain tortilla wrap, drizzle with olive oil and seasoning salt. Place in the oven at 350F for about 5-10 minutes and bake to preference. Keep an eye on it to ensure it’s doesn’t burn.

Matcha Energy Bites

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp oats

• 1 tbsp shredded coconut

• 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder

• 1 tbsp chia

• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

• 1 tbsp almond butter

• About 20 cashews

• ½ tsp matcha powder

Instructions:

1. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a moldable dough is formed. If it is too dry, you can add a touch of water until it’s the right consistency.

2. Shape into balls as they are, or you can also roll them in extra shredded coconut – although the green may not be as visible then. For mine I did half and half.

3. You can store the energy balls in the fridge for up to 1 week or you can freeze them.

Fruit Skewers with Protein Dip

I love fruit as a healthy sweet treat and this high protein dip makes it perfect for a St Patrick’s Day celebration.

Ingredients:

• Selection of fruit – kiwi, green grapes, green apples, honeydew

• 1 cup Greek or coconut yoghurt

• 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder

• Optional: 1/2 tsp matcha powder for colour

Instructions:

1. Clean the fruit and slice into cubes or use small cookies cutters to cut a variety of shapes. Thread the fruit on skewers and lay on a plate.

2. For the dip simply mix the yoghurt, protein powder and matcha powder until smooth.