going nuts for good food…

I have long been a lover of “lunch” and have always believed that food should taste delicious, but I always find I feel much better after eating something tasty that has had good nutritional benefit. Now I am no “food saint”, so trust me I prefer to cook with a little butter than an artificial oil spray but what you are cooking is key; good, fresh, in season produce, will make all the difference. 

It has been one of the joys of my role as a director at the studio is to be closely involved in the food and menu development. One of the things that I suspect everybody looks forward to when they are on a training day/conference is lunch! So we made it a core value of our business that we would “take food seriously”. Therefore we change our menu 4 times a year to coincide with the seasons and that we are offering dishes that are tasty, balanced that have a nutritional benefit.

We also try to work loosely to a “brain food” concept, foods that are high in nutritional values that increase brain power. For example whole grains that contain B6 and are said to help improve recalling information and boost concentration, also fish that contains iodine and is believed to help mental clarity.

Our lunch menus are freshly cooked from as many local suppliers as possible, there is always a high protein element to keep you fuller longer, and there will be some complex carbohydrate to give you energy, but not create a post lunch slump. (Trainers dread this straight after lunch session, as the wrong food just makes you want to sleep, rather than be energised to take on more information!) There is also lots of colourful salads and vegetable options for vitamins and “feelgood” factor, so you can enjoy some of the small treat we provide for desserts, knowing you have fuelled yourself on the good stuff!

Throughout the day too, we like to provide good food snacks, yes there are studio baked cookies, but there is also whole fresh fruit and bags of raw nuts and seeds to get your boosts.

Take a look at our menu, if from the dishes on it you can name the dishes that provide the following nutrition, you will be entered into a prize draw to win a complimentary lunch for four at the studio in Birmingham or Manchester

Competition:

Name one of our dishes that contain:

Vitamin B6
Iodine
Lycopene
Vitamin C
Iron
Vitamin E
Protein

Send your answer to Emma Jennings by Friday 31^st August 2012