Raya is coming and we can imagine your excitement to dig into all the delicious festive food! But your body can't take that sudden overload of food, so why not start prepping by going easy and eating healthier for a bit, before you treat yourself to some delicious Raya food that you've sorely missed over the past two years ? We compiled a list of suggested recipes perfect for any time of the day. It tastes as delicious as your favourites, but it’s much healthier and it changes up your menu a bit too! ?

9 Healthy Recipes From Around The World For Ramadan 2022 And Beyond

1. Thai Green Curry Fried Brown Rice

Credit: My Plantiful Cooking

If you think fried rice can’t be made healthy, this recipe will make you think again! It can be ready in under 30 minutes, it’s hearty and it’s only 200kcal! This recipe is perfect for those who still need their rice for sahur, but you’re looking for a rice meal that isn’t too filling, especially if you’re eating during the wee hours of the morning. We bet you definitely want to check this out.

Recipe by My Plantiful Cooking

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Feeds: 4 people

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon green curry paste

1 medium carrot chopped

½ cup green peas ( frozen or canned )

2 cups cooked cooled brown rice

¼ cup Ayam Brand’s Coconut Milk

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Instructions:

Heat up a tablespoon of oil in a cast-iron skillet / non-stick pan. To make it oil-free, omit the oil and use ¼ cup of broth/water instead.

Add the curry paste and garlic in. Saute until fragrant, for 2-3 minutes.

Next, stir in the carrots and cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the rice, coconut milk and green peas and cook for another 4-5 minutes, or until they are thoroughly heated. Turn off the heat.

Pour in half the soy sauce, give it a taste and add more, if needed. You can also add more green curry paste to make it spicier.

Serve and enjoy while hot!

2. Healthy Big Breakfast

Credit: yumeat™

As the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and this applies to sahur for Ramadan as well, so why not start your day with a Healthy Big Breakfast? ? What’s interesting about this recipe is that it uses Plant-Based Luncheon from yumeat™! Many assume that luncheon meat is made out of pork, but here at yumeat™, it’s suitable for many dietary needs, including for Muslims! You might also be thinking, ‘isn’t luncheon meat unhealthy?’ ? yumeat™’s Plant-Based Luncheon products are made with sustainable ingredients such as non-GMO soybeans, wheat and mushroom. The products also do not contain preservatives, cholesterol, MSG, antibiotics and hormones ?

And the best part of it all? It’s ready-to-eat, no thawing required, has a long shelf life when kept at room temperature AND it’s so versatile! Whether you’re rushing to make it for sahur, or you’re looking to be a little healthier, yumeat™’s Plant-Based Luncheon comes in handy! Here’s the recipe you’ve been waiting for ?

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Feeds: 1 person

Ingredients:

3 slices yumeat™ Plant-Based Luncheon

50g button mushrooms, halved

75g cherry tomatoes, halved

Baked beans

2 fried eggs

Cooking oil spray

Instructions:

Spray a skillet pan with oil to grease. Heat the pan over medium heat. Grill the yumeat™ Plant-Based Luncheon, toss often until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.

Add tomatoes to one side of the pan and mushrooms to the other side. Cover and cook over medium heat until the tomato skin begins to wilt and the mushrooms are tender. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.

Spray a little more oil. Crack 2 eggs and fry until they are cooked to your liking.

Heat up the baked beans. Then serve together with the warm yumeat™ Plant-Based Luncheon, tomatoes, mushrooms and eggs.

3. French vanilla & cinnamon overnight oats

Oats are an appetising source of proteins and carbohydrates, which keeps you full longer! And one useful fact about it is that it can be made overnight!

Why not switch your milk to coconut milk instead? Coconut milk contains healthy fats which prolong the feeling of satiety and reduces your cravings, which we know Ramadan bazaars this year will truly be the test of our temptations ? Still looking for an option to choose? Ayam Brand's Coconut Milk is made from only natural ingredients, and is free from preservatives, colourings, and flavourings! As a non-dairy product, it's also suitable for those who cannot handle dairy!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes for mixing, 3 – 8 hours (overnight)

Feeds: 1 pax

Ingredients:

100g pecans, toasted and chopped

A handful of fresh mixed berries, chopped

¾ cup of Ayam Brand’s Coconut Milk

½ cup rolled oats

A pinch of cinnamon powder

¼ tsp French vanilla extract (alcohol-free)

1 tbsp honey/maple syrup

Instructions:

Mix all the ingredients above except for the fruits and nuts. Store with a lid that’s air-tight in the refrigerator.

Top the fruit and nuts on top of the overnight oats. Ready to serve.

4. Bubur Lambuk (Spiced Congee)

Credit: @abby.aziz for Instagram

Need something light and comforting? This Bubur Lambuk recipe definitely ticks off the checklist for that ?

Preparation time: 10 min

Cooking time: 40 mins

Feeds: 2 people

Ingredients:

2 shallots

3 garlic cloves

3cm ginger

2 pandan leaves

1 cup of Ayam Brand’s Coconut Milk (or more if you wish to make it creamier)

1-star anise

2 cloves

1 tablespoon fennel powder

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon green cardamom

1½ tablespoon oil

Instructions:

Saute sliced shallots and minced garlic in oil at medium heat until fragrant

Add sliced ginger and continue to saute

Add aromatics like pandan leaf, star anise, cloves, fennel powder, cinnamon stick and cardamom. Continue to sauté until fragrant

Stir fry chicken meat and add rice

Add the chicken stock into the pot and bring to a boil. Allow the rice to simmer until soft. When the water has reduced and rice is at the desired texture, add Ayam Brand’s Coconut Milk to get your desired thickness of the porridge, salt and pepper to taste

Garnish with fried shallots, chilli slices and parsley. Enjoy!'

5. Kimchi Jjigae

Credit: @fongkitchen for Instagram

If soups are your go-to meal, this nourishing, spicy meal will be your best friend ? It’s perfectly tangy, filling enough to prevent you from overeating. You can make it even healthier, by swapping out your meats with yumeat™ Plant-Based Luncheon!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Feeds: 2 people

Ingredients:

2 cups kimchi (diced)

¾ pound (340g) yumeat™ Plant-Based Luncheon (cut into bite size pieces)

1 tbsp sesame oil

½ onion (chopped)

1 tbsp gochujang

1 tbsp gochugaru

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

½ tsp minced ginger

3 cups water

½ block tofu (slice about ½ an inch thick)

2 scallions (chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Pour sesame oil into a pan and swirl it around. Add the luncheon bite-sized pieces and cook over medium-high heat.

Add kimchi to the pot and stir-fry for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, gochujang, gochugaru and soy sauce. Combine everything thoroughly.

Pour water into the pot and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to simmer and let the stew cook for another 20 to 30 minutes. Add tofu after the first 10 minutes and scallions at the very end.

Serve it with a bowl of white rice and enjoy!

6. Ikan Bakar Lemak Chilli Padi by Nadiah M Din

Credit: Malay Heritage Centre

If you’re having your extended family over for iftar this Ramadan, having ikan bakar and a range of classic Malay dishes makes a homely and delicious meal! This paste used for the ikan bakar is a delicious and easy way to add flavour to your meal. You'll only need to add it to the fish, wrap it up and grill it for 30 minutes! ?

Before you proceed, you might be wondering why this was added to the list. Well, as much as we can try to be healthy, sometimes a little ‘cheat’ day or two could help keep us motivated to stay healthy! ? Furthermore, what’s important is the time spent together with our loved ones. But that doesn’t mean you can’t adapt your ingredients accordingly! This dish requires coconut milk, and you get a healthier version of it from Ayam Brand. And the best part of it all? Ayam Brand offers a versatile range of coconut milk that can be used to make many dishes such as curries and desserts as well!

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Feeds: 1 to 2 people

Ingredients:

1 seabass 2 garlic cloves

3 diced green chilli padi

3 red chilli padi

1 tumeric

2 candlenut

5 shallots

2 onions

2 lemongrass

1 key lime

1/2 cup of corn flour

Pink Himalayan salt

Brown sugar

1 cup of Ayam Brand’s Coconut Milk

Olive oil

2 galangal leaves

6 kaffir lime leaves

Instructions:

Lemak cili padi paste

Blend all diced ingredients with water

Add olive oil to the pan

Pour blended ingredients into the pan, stir

Pour coconut milk into the mixture, stir

Add lime juice, brown sugar, salt

Add a little bit of cornflour, stir into the mixture

Fish preparation

Lay banana leaf on top of an aluminium foil

Place sea bass on the banana leaf

Apply the lemak cili padi paste inside and around the fish

Garnish the fish with lime leaves and galangal leaves

Wrap the fish in the aluminium foil and banana leaf, secure tightly

Grilling

Add a little bit of olive oil to the pan

Place the aluminium foil wrapped fish into the pan when it's hot

Cover the pan

The fish would be ready to eat in 30 - 40 minutes

Serve with rice. Enjoy!

7. Spaghetti Bolognese

Credit: Unsplash

If you eat something light and quick when you first break your fast, you’ll definitely get hungrier as the night progresses. A delicious bowl of spaghetti bolognese ought to do the trick ? It’s flavourful, uber filling and perfect to last you through the night before sahur! It also makes a nice dinner too! This recipe switches your usual ground meat options to yumeat™’s Plant-Based Minced Meat. It meets the best of both worlds - tasty and healthy! ?

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Feeds: 1 person

Ingredients:

50g yumeat™ Plant-Based Minced Meat

56g Spaghetti Pasta (dry weight)

The Sauce:

2g olive oil

2g garlic clove

10g yellow onion

40g water

80g canned diced tomatoes (60g tomato solids + 20g tomato juice)

5g tomato paste

Half a teaspoon of white sugar (add or reduce according to your preference)

Half a teaspoon of soy sauce

2 dried bay leaves

¾ teaspoon of dried oregano

Half a teaspoon of salt for taste

Half a teaspoon of black pepper

¾ teaspoon of dried basil

Instructions:

Drain the packet of yumeat™ Plant-Based Minced Meat. Keep the drained oil which is canola oil for cooking later.

Cook the spaghetti as per the instructions on the packaging.

In a separate pot, heat it up. Then fry the onions and garlic in olive oil until brown. Add the plant-based minced meat and fry together until brown.

To make the bolognese sauce, mix all the sauce ingredients together. Then add the sauce to the plant-based minced meat mixture above.

Stir evenly and bring the heat down to medium. Simmer for 5 minutes, add water if the sauce gets too thick.

Pour the sauce over the cooked spaghetti and serve.

8. Moroccan-inspired coconut and chicken tagine

Credit: The Food Blog

This easy and freezable tagine dish is sure to be a family favourite. It's rich, full of depth of flavour and ideal for feeding a hungry crowd! ? Usually, chicken stock is used, but coconut milk gives an extra depth of flavour that complements the spices in this dish. With tons of fibre and protein, and only slightly over 500 calories, it’s a healthy meal that will keep you satisfied throughout the night ?

Recipe By The Food Blog

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Feeds: 4 people

Ingredients:

2 tbsp peanut oil

3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless cut into quarters

Salt & pepper

cloves garlic minced

1 medium onion thinly sliced

1 tablespoon harissa spice blend (you can buy online)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 400 ml can of Ayam Brand’s Coconut Milk

1 796 can crushed tomatoes

1 cup of red lentils rinsed

1 cinnamon stick/dried cinnamon

1 small acorn squash peeled, seeded and cut into cubes

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Instructions:

In a dutch oven or large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.

Season chicken with salt and pepper

Add chicken to the pot, and brown on all sides, for about 5 minutes

Add onion and garlic, cooking until softened, about 2 minutes

Stir in harissa spice, cumin, and turmeric. Cook, stirring, until fragrant.

Stir in coconut milk, crushed tomatoes, cinnamon stick, lentils, and squash

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes, until lentils and squash are tender

Remove the cinnamon stick. Serve hot, garnished with mint!

9. Japanese Luncheon Gyoza (with a healthy twist)

Credit: Pexels

If you’re in a snacky mode, these crispy and savoury Japanese luncheon gyozas will be your favourite. For those who don’t cook every day, you might not have any meats ready at home, so if you’re hungry, yumeat™ 's Plant-Based Luncheon is truly a saviour! And it’s as good as the real deal tastes, so we bet you’ll be snacking on them endlessly!

Recipe by Share Food (do note that the recipe here mentions pork, but you can replace it with yumeat™’s halal-certified Plant-Based Luncheon)

Ingredients:

1 can of yumeat™’s Plant-Based Luncheon

1 shiitake mushroom, minced

1 leaf of napa cabbage, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced

1 stalk of spring onion, chopped

¼ tsp of black pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 pack Gyoza dumpling skin

Seasonings

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp black pepper

Dipping sauce

½ tbsp soy sauce

½ tbsp halal mirin

Instructions:

Mince the yumeat™ Plant-Based Luncheon.

Add all the minced ingredients, ground yumeat™ Plant-Based Luncheon, and seasonings into a bowl. Mix well with hands or spatula.

Place a dumpling skin on your hand and place a tsp of filling in the middle of your hand. To make folding easier, lightly dust hands with flour.

Fold skin over into a fan shape and pinch the middle close. Pleat one side of the wrapper only, going from middle to right, then middle to left. (Pleats go inwards.)

Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Place gyozas in a pan.

Cook for 3 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown. Add water to the pan and cover with a lid to steam for 3 minutes or until water evaporates.

Pour the sesame oil around the frying pan for fragrance.

Arrange gyoza on a serving plate, mix sauce ingredients together and serve.

Many of us always view cooking as a hassle, and we end up either buying out or just grabbing the closest, easiest thing we could find to cook for our meals! More often than not, it ends up being unhealthy and it does not give us the nutrients and energy we need to last through our daily and spiritual responsibilities ? Adopt a few changes in your diet by choosing ingredients that are sustainable and are higher in nutritional value such as Ayam Brand’s all-natural coconut milk and yumeat™’s Plant-Based Luncheon range. These ingredients have a long shelf life, are made without preservatives, and let you enjoy all your favourite foods guilt-free ? Now that’s a Ramadan meal we all love! ?

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This article is brought to you by Ayam Brand and yumeat™.