Mackerel chowder

fitness
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Ingredients

2 pints of water – for stock
100g can of sweetcorn
200g smoked mackerel
200g poached smoked haddock
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, finely chopped
2tbsp single cream
1 chicken or vegetable stock cube
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced
1tbsp butter
1tbsp lemon juice
Salt and cayenne pepper

How to make it (serves 4)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the chopped onion, peppers and potato and let them sweat very gently, without browning, for around ten minutes. Next gradually add the stock, stirring continually. When it’s all in, add half of the haddock and half of the mackerel, which should be separated into flakes. Now pour the soup into a liquidiser and blend thoroughly. Add the remaining haddock and mackerel, along with the sweetcorn and cream. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice while warming gently.

Per portion:
 415 cals; 25g fat; 23g protein; 26g carbs

What you get

Smoked mackerel

Mackerel is the richest source of omega-3 fatty acids, necessary for the development of the nervous system and for the health of the brain.

Sweetcorn

Sweetcorn provides vitamin B6, needed for converting the amino acid known as tryptophan into the neurotransmitter serotonin. Depressed people have been found to have lower levels of vitamin B6.

Green peppers

Peppers contain the nutrient folate and depression is a common symptom of folate deficiency.

Jalapeno peppers

Hot peppers contain capsaicinoids, which cause pain in the mouth. This causes a flood of endorphins to be sent to the site of the pain, bringing a mood boost that lasts for about an hour.

Dietitian

Dr Sarah Schenker is a dietitian, sports dietitian and public health nutritionist, who has worked with Jamie Oliver on his Feed Me Better campaign, Premiership football clubs including Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur, and various government committees.

Sarah co-authored the book The Fast Diet, has written other books including My Sugar Free Baby and Me and Eating Fat Will Make You Fat, and has contributed to the Mail Online, the Huffington Post and many others. 

Sarah is a member of the British Dietetic Association, Nutrition Society, Association for Nutrition and the Guild of Health Writers.