3 quick recipes to boost your energy and focus, from a cookbook for exhausted execs

Eating nutritious food can get relegated to the bottom of your to-do list when you’re busy, but this can be counterproductive.

What you eat during the working day can make a big difference to how you feel and perform, according to the authors of “Executive Eats: The Cookbook for a Better Working Life.”

Grabbing something like a slice of pizza that’s high in refined carbs but low in protein, fiber, or healthy fats, can raise our blood sugar, leaving us feeling hungry and tired soon after. A more balanced meal that includes protein and complex carbs like beans or oats, which the body digests more slowly, can keep you feeling full for longer and lead to more consistent energy levels, write Adam Kingl and Jakub Radzikowski.

Kingl and Radzikowski are both Cordon Bleu-trained chefs, whose research projects at respected institutions including Imperial College London respectively span excelling at work, and the connection between professional cooking and practical science.

Here are four recipes from “Executive Eats” designed to help sustain busy professionals.

Oat and banana pancakes

Serves: 1 to 2

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe banana
• 2 eggs
• 30 grams (about 5 tablespoons) oats
• One pinch of salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• Butter for frying and serving
• Maple syrup for serving

Instructions

• Blend the banana and eggs in a blender.
• Add the oats, salt, and baking powder, and blend until well mixed.
• In a pan, melt some butter. Cook the pancakes on one side until bubbles appear on the uncooked surface. Flip and cook on the other side for one to two minutes, until nicely browned. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Coffee smoothie

Serves: 1

Cooking time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 banana, peeled
• 120 ml cold coffee
• 60 ml milk (substitute 30 ml Greek yogurt for half the milk for extra protein)
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter (or almond butter)
• 2 teaspoons honey (or agave syrup)
• A few ice cubes

Instructions:

Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

You can easily just double, treble, etc., the volume of ingredients in order to make smoothies for more people.

Savoury porridge

Serves: 1

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 50 g rye flakes (or oat flakes or other grain flakes)
• 100 ml water
• 1 teaspoon butter (or coconut oil / another fat)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Freshly ground black pepper and flaky salt

Instructions

1. In a small pot, add the water and rye flakes. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
2. Once cooked, add the butter and mustard and mix them in.
3. Season with freshly ground black pepper and salt.
4. Serve warm with a poached or soft-boiled egg and a few more flakes of salt on top.

Tuna melt

Serves: 2

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of white bread (use whole wheat, rye, or sourdough for more fiber)
• 1 can of tuna in olive oil
• 4 tablespoons sweetcorn kernels
• 1 rib celery, diced

• 1 tablespoon capers in brine, drained
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• ½ cup grated Gruyère cheese (100—150 g)
• A little butter or oil for toasting
• Ketchup (optional)

Method:

1. Dice the celery and the red bell pepper finely.
2. Chop the capers.
3. In a bowl, mix the drained tuna, sweetcorn, celery, capers, red bell pepper, mayo, mustard, and cheese.
4. Spread the mixture evenly over two slices of the white bread. Close both tuna melts with another slice of bread.
5. Toast by frying in a pan on both sides with a little butter or oil, until the outside is golden, and the inside is melted. You can also use a panini press.
6. Serve with ketchup if you wish.