Credit: Discover Great Veg
Strong Women
3 fresh and delicious folate-rich recipes to up your intake (and why it’s so important for all of us)
By Lauren Geall
11 months ago
4 min read
Vitamin B9 isn’t just needed during pregnancy, so here are three recipes to help you reach your daily recommended folate consumption.
Getting plenty of folic acid is vital during pregnancy, which is why the NHS recommends women who are pregnant or trying to conceive take a 400mg folic acid supplement daily. But did you know that folic acid – also known as folate or vitamin B9 – is something all of us should be consuming?
According to a new survey by Discover Great Veg, one in five of us think pregnant women are the only people who need folate, with 75% of us being unaware that folate can be found naturally in food.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey report showed that levels of folate (of which folic acid is just one form) in the UK diet are not as high as they should be, with average blood folate concentrations decreasing by 25-28% over the last 11 years across all age groups. That’s concerning because vitamin B9 plays a crucial role in red blood cell formation and healthy cell growth and function.
In fact, a vitamin B9 deficiency has been linked to outcomes ranging from tiredness and fatigue to anaemia and mental health issues including depression and anxiety. And in the long-term, eating a folate-deficient diet has also been linked to cardiovascular issues and even cancer.
So, how can you get more of the stuff? The NHS recommends we get 200mg of folate every day, but there are plenty of ways to bring more vitamin B9 into your diet: for example, dark leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale contain 194ug and 141ug of folate per 100g respectively. Other folate-rich food sources include chickpeas, kidney beans, broccoli and brussels sprouts.
There are, of course, plenty of ways to cook with spinach, kale and other folate-rich food sources, but to get you started, nutritionist Jenny Tschiesche has partnered with Discover Great Veg to create three delicious recipes packed full of folate and other essential nutrients. Check them out below.
Spinach and kale mini quiches
Credit: Discover Great Veg
Serves: 8
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Each portion (two quiches) contains 30% of your daily recommended folate requirement. You will need an 8-hole muffin baking tray – each muffin hole should have at least a 125ml capacity.
Ingredients
- 90g spinach
- 90g kale
- 3 tbsp water
- 6 large eggs
- 180g fresh pesto
- Ground black pepper
- A little olive oil for greasing
Method
- Preheat your oven to 190ºC. Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the spinach, kale and water. Cook for a few minutes until the leaves have wilted and reduced. Leave to cool. Pop these leaves into your food processor and blend on medium speed.
- Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the pesto and pepper then add to the cooled leaves in the food processor before blending on top speed.
- Grease the eight holes of your muffin tin with a little oil or use cases to avoid sticking. Fill each of the eight greased muffin holes with equal amounts of the eggy mixture. Put the tray in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until a cocktail stick inserted into the quiches comes out clean.
- Serve warm or cold (they’re ideal for a quick breakfast or lunchtime add-on).
Lemony chicken tray bake with kale and potatoes
Credit: Discover Great Veg
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Each portion contains 40% of your daily recommended folate requirement.
Ingredients
- 1 large leek, sliced
- 300g miniature/baby potatoes, boiled then halved
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided into 1⅓ tbsp and ⅔ tbsp (2 tsp)
- 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- Juice of 1 lemon
- One small pack of fresh thyme
- 350g kale
Method
- Preheat the oven to 210ºC .
- Toss the leek slices, potatoes, and garlic in 1⅓ tbsp olive oil in a large bowl. Season to taste.
- Spread out on one-two baking trays.
- Add the chicken thighs to the same bowl and toss with the paprika, lemon zest and lemon juice. Season to taste.
- Place the coated chicken portion on top of the vegetables, each with a sprig of thyme on top.
- Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, toss the kale in the remaining ⅔ tbsp olive oil. Stir to coat each piece well then add to the baking tray/s giving everything a good stir in the process.
- Bake for a further 15 minutes, stirring once. Check that the chicken juices run clear and if you have a meat thermometer that the internal temperature at the thickest part is at least 74C.
Kale pasta
Credit: Discover Great Veg
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Each portion contains 30% of your daily recommended folate requirement. This recipe is easily veganised – simply swap the parmesan and cream cheese for vegan alternatives.
Ingredients
- 500g pasta
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 280g kale
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 tbsp water
- 90g grated parmesan
- 240ml vegetable stock
- 180g cream cheese
Method
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
- Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the kale and garlic and fry for about 1-2 minutes, until the leaves start to wilt a little then add the water and keep stirring for a further couple of minutes.
- Transfer the kale and garlic to a food processor and blend for a few minutes then add the grated parmesan, vegetable stock and cream cheese. Blend at full speed until you have a bright green and creamy texture.
- Stir this in to your cooked pasta then warm through gently before serving.
Images: Discover Great Veg
Sign up for workouts, nutritious recipes and expert tips, plus receive our 8-week beginner’s guide to strength training.
By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy
Thank you!
You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.