Rachel Graham is a nutritional therapist and medicinal chef with more than 25 years of experience.

She works predominantly in women’s health with an emphasis on menopause.

Her new cookbook, The Menopause Kitchen , is a manual for how to nourish your body during midlife. The colourful, nutrient-rich cuisine can help mitigate your symptoms during peri-menopause and menopause.

Read more: Nutritionist reveals the small diet changes to help with menopause weight gain and brain fog

Moroccan Spiced Chicken Tagine

Serves 4+

This recipe requires overnight marination of the chicken thighs to tenderise them and maximise their flavour. It’s the perfect family dinner: bursting with taste and quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients

Marinade

• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• black pepper
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 50ml olive oil

Tagine

• 800g chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
• 2tbsp olive oil
• 3 red onions, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 800ml chicken stock
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 400g tinned peeled chopped
• tomatoes
• 60g raisins
• 400g tinned chickpeas, drained
• 1 tsp ras el hanout
• 3–4 star anise
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp harissa paste
• 1 cup dried red lentils
• pink Himalayan salt and ground black
• pepper, to taste

To serve

Moroccan quinoa or wholegrain brown basmati rice with a large handful of chopped coriander leaves, and a handful of toasted flaked almonds.

Method

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large glass food storage container and mix well.

2. Add the chicken thighs to the container and coat them well with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. The next day, preheat the oven to 180°C.

4. Put the olive oil, onion and garlic in a heavy-based, ovenproof saucepan, and cook with the lid on, on a medium heat, until soft and translucent.

5. Add the chicken stock and stir to loosen any sediment from the bottom.

6. Add the chicken pieces to the pan, along with the cinnamon stick. Season with salt and pepper.

7. Add the tinned tomatoes, raisins, chickpeas, ras el hanout, star anise, honey, harissa paste and red lentils. Cook for 1.5 hours in the oven with the lid on, until the chicken is tender and the sauce has thickened.

8. Serve with Moroccan quinoa or wholegrain brown basmati rice, topped with coriander and toasted flaked almonds.

Mediterranean Seafood Bouillabaisse

Serves 4

This delicate, filling and nutritious meal is packed with fibre and vitamin C, with the shellfish providing plenty of protein and key minerals.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• ½ celery stick, diced
• ½ fennel bulb, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• ½ leek, finely sliced
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 35g dried red lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 300ml fish stock
• 6 plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
• ground black pepper
• 225g mixed seafood (salmon, white
• fish, smoked fish)
• 16 large mussels
• 4 large premium prawns, raw
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely

To serve

• 1 tsp parsley gremolata (made from finely minced parsley, garlic, and lemon zest)
• 100g cooked wholegrain rice per person

Method

1. Gently heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion until soft (about 3 minutes).

2. Add the celery, fennel, carrot and leek, then the turmeric and half the garlic. Cook for about 7 minutes.

3. Pour boiling water over the plum tomatoes. Allow them to rest for a while, then remove the skins. Cut the tomatoes in half, remove the seeds and chop the flesh into quarters.

4. Add the red lentils, bay leaf, fish stock, plum tomatoes, tomato purée and the rest of the minced garlic to the pot. Season with salt and pepper, then cover and allow to simmer

5. gently for 15+ minutes, or until the lentils are soft and have thickened the sauce. If needed, add an extra 50ml of water.

6. Cook the rice separately, according to the instructions on the packet.

7. Towards the end of the rice cooking time, add the mixed seafood, mussels, prawns and chopped parsley to the bouillabaisse pan. Replace the lid and allow to cook on a low heat for 8–10 minutes, or until the mussels have opened.

8. Serve with rice and a dollop of gremolata.

Flaxseed Crackers

Makes 8+ portions

These tasty, fibre-rich crackers are also a great source of protein and omega-3. Enjoy them instead of bread, or serve them with hummus or other dips. You can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks.

Ingredients

• 110g whole flaxseeds
• 40g chia seeds
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
• 360ml filtered water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 80°C and line a baking tray with a silicone sheet.

2. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl, and mix well. Set aside for 1 hour, until the mixture has formed a gel.

3. Spread the flaxseed gel out on the baking tray as thinly and evenly as possible to cover the entire surface.

4. Bake for 2 hours, then turn the flaxseed mixture over. Remove the tray from the oven, place a second silicone sheet over the flaxseed mixture and flip the whole sheet over on to the other side. Carefully peel off the original silicone sheet and return the flaxseed mixture to the oven for a further 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until it is dry and brittle, and turning up at the corners.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, then break up into smaller pieces.

Smoked Mackerel Pâté

Makes 6 portions

A delicious way to get omega-3-rich, oily fish into your diet, this pâté is also dairy-free, since I use cannellini beans instead of cream cheese. Serve it as a dip with veg sticks and flaxseed crackers.

Ingredients

• 2 cooked fillets of smoked mackerel, skin removed
• 400g tinned cannellini beans or butter beans, drained and rinsed
• handful of parsley, finely chopped
• handful of dill fronds, finely chopped
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 clove of garlic (optional)
• pink Himalayan salt, to taste
• ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.

2. Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge.

The Menopause Kitchen is available at book stores nationwide.

To learn more about Rachel, visit her website.

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