What’s on my plate…

This month, medic and food guru Dr Rupy Aujla on his latest cookbook, early starts, meditating and negronis

How’s 2023 been so far ?

It’s been great. I was busy with the book launch in January, a tour around the UK, the hospital food campaign I’m involved in and and now the app is taking up a lot of my time – it’s centred around delicious, easy, healthy recipes. It’s all go go go!

How do you manage all this while writing a book?

It’s been busy but I love it. I’m a proper foodie, as you’ll find out in Dr Rupy Cooks – I love a cookbook!

What’s the book about ?

It’s about helping people understand that they can cook healthy, easy recipes every day. Many of us can relate to starting with the best intentions on a Monday, but by Wednesday we’re ordering take-out or snacking in the canteen. The book shows you how to eat consistently well.

How do we eat well during the cost-of-living crisis?

You’d be surprised that you can eat well on a budget of £20–£25 per person for a week, getting three portions of veg in every meal, using ingredients like lentils and chickpeas, and reducing your meat consumption.

Why should we be following your advice?

A huge amount of resource is spent treating conditions that have stemmed from preventable lifestyle choices, like type 2 diabetes and obesity. A lot of that can also be done by controlling your diet with more wholegrains or focusing on foods that improve your gut microbiota – it doesn’t have to be about fancy probiotics or fermented foods. Food really does have a preventative medicinal value.

How do you look after your own wellbeing?

I wake up really early – 5am most days – and I have a 10-minute routine where I meditate and stretch. Our busy minds are constantly processing information. One minute you’re thinking about work, then you’re distracted by your phone, or what’s going on in the news… So I like to ground myself for those 10 minutes. I try to have a good one to two hours of no electronics in the evening. And my wife is very good at putting a stop to me working beyond 6.30pm!

What are you really excited about for this year?

I’m building a studio – our own Doctor’s Kitchen kitchen where we’ll record more content for YouTube and the app as well as the podcast, where I interview experts from around the world in different specialties.

Who do you admire right now and why?

My colleagues who work full-time in the NHS in challenging environments – medics, nurses, porters and so on. There’s no one single person – it’s time to think about collective communities who are working to overcome some of the biggest challenges of 2023.

5 Questions For A Foodie

Every issue we ask…

If you were a pudding, which one would you be?

Galub jamin cheesecake with pistachios on top.

Scrambled, fried or poached?

Scrambled. Pop it on sourdough – it never lets me down.

What’s always in your basket?

Mature Cheddar and wheaty crackers. I could eat that all day.

Favourite game-changing cooking hack?

You can use your speedy peeler instead of a mandolin. a long day, I fancy… …a no-alcohol negroni made with alcohol-free gin and bitters.

STRENGTH