from our nutrition expert
LOve your lunchbox
As those of you who’ve been along for the ride with me for years will know, there are a number of key principles I hold dear at Sabzi:
We don’t cook with ultra-processed ingredients
We work with whole ingredients, that with our skill and creativity, we turn into delicious dishes, dressings and dahls.
We make our own spice blends
We never cook with mayonnaise, or vegan ‘cheeses’
We make all of our own cakes and pastries
We cook seasonally, and with a daily changing menu that we design according to what is available locally or what is good right now in the UK. We don’t cook with vegetables coming from outside Europe.
I am proud that in spite of our period of growth, none of this has changed at Sabzi, and the principles above remain as true today as they did 5 years ago when I was getting ready to launch in Truro. Consequently, when Ginnie Davis (BSc) approached me about whether I’d ever considered commissioning some independent articles from a nutrition expert, to shout a bit louder about Sabzi’s veg-related credentials, I was excited! Ginnie brings with her a wealth of knowledge and expertise with a first-class Nutritional Science degree and behavioural change qualifications. She has previously led the NHS National Diabetes Prevention Programme for Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly and now has her own private practice in Falmouth.
Ginnie had been visiting Sabzi as a customer for quite a while, so it felt like a great opportunity to share more with you all about the health-based-value that sits within your Sabzi meals. I hope you come to eat with us principally because our food is delicious and our team is so lovely but it’s also rather nice to share all the goodness that is nestled in your brown paper box too.
The Inner Goodness of Sabzi
If you’re anything like me, you love Sabzi for the warm welcome, the sensory delight of bejewelled salads, swirling buns, and fragrant coffee. Sabzi feels instinctively good for you and that’s probably because, it is. In a world where it is increasingly difficult to find food without bizarre additives and emulsifiers, Sabzi has created a revolution of vibrant, wholesome food that’s fresh, easy and convenient to eat.
I visited Falmouth Sabzi, the pulsing heart of the Deli’s food preparation, supplying all 4 sites with freshly baked cakes, biscuits, and pastries as well as their signature salad selection and went behind the scenes to find out exactly what is in my Sabzi lunch box and what significance is given to the provenance and nutrient profile of those ingredients.
The Kitchen
There is a 10 strong team in the control room /kitchen of Sabzi and abundant platters of verdant herbs (Sabzi favourites include dill, coriander, parsley & chives), tubs of freshly chopped rainbow slaw and oven-fresh Cornish new potatoes, roasted in Sabzi spice and drizzled in its signature tahini dressing fill the kitchen fridges and line up to grace its counters. I hover by the cookie dough, prepared lovingly and in small batches by the full time bakers that Sabzi employ and discover that they make ALL of their dishes (except the traditional Arabica flatbread) from scratch, including the decadent sweet delights such as Sabzi’s Persian Love Cake, Cinnamon & Tahini buns and Blondies. Everything is orchestrated carefully at Sabzi, and dishes and sweets are created using whole ingredients that you would find in your cupboards at home.
What’s in your lunchbox?
Tantalisingly plant-packed, a Sabzi lunch box serves between 15 to 20 plant-based ingredients (this includes fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, pulses, nuts, spices and herbs). We know that consuming a large variety of fruits and vegetables and other plant-based whole foods has a favourable effect on our microbiome as these foods act as a prebiotic (food) for our microbiota. Research suggests that consuming 30+ plants per week can have a significant favourable effect on microbial diversity, creating a more stable and diverse gut profile. (1)
Plant-based meals are also rich in soluble fibre which is important for improving blood sugar control and reducing circulating LDL (or ‘bad’ cholesterol’). (2) Sabzi features a seasonal menu which changes daily, and each lunch box contains 4 salad choices, with the addition of their homemade hummus and optional Dahl. Sabzi’s lunchbox embodies the spirit of the Mediterranean diet, one of the most cited dietary patterns in the world for its impact on longevity. (3) The lunchbox is abundant in healthful fats from nuts, seeds and legumes, in harmony with a variety of colourful vegetables, herbs and wholegrains. Purchasing a Sabzi salad box saves you hours of food preparation in peeling, chopping, and marinating to create a delicious, balanced, and fulfilling meal. It is in this nutrient diversity that we experience the greatest gains for our overall health.
Thankfully, Sabzi makes this simple by serving fresh, innovative and beautiful food that is inherently good for us too.
References
1) McDonald, D., Hyde, E., Debelius, J. W., Morton, J. T., Gonzalez, A., Ackermann, G., Aksenov, A. A., Behsaz, B., Brennan, C., Chen, Y., DeRight Goldasich, L., Dorrestein, P. C., Dunn, R. R., Fahimipour, A. K., Gaffney, J., Gilbert, J. A., Gogul, G., Green, J. L., Hugenholtz, P., ... Goldasich, D. L. (n.d.). American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. 3. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems
2) Surampudi, P., Enkhmaa, B., Anuurad, E., & Berglund, L. (2016). Lipid Lowering with Soluble Dietary Fiber. In Current Atherosclerosis Reports (Vol. 18, Issue 12). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-016-0624-z 3)Tosti, V., Bertozzi, B., & Fontana, L. (2018). Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet: Metabolic and Molecular Mechanisms. In Journals of Gerontology - Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences (Vol. 73, Issue 3). https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glx227
