Celebrity Health – Clodagh McKenna

Images of Clodagh McKenna © David Loftus

Clodagh McKenna is one of Ireland’s best-loved culinary experts, known for her warmth, vibrant cooking style and respect for seasonal, homegrown food. Born in Blackrock, Cork, she trained at the Ballymaloe Cookery School and has gone on to build a multifaceted career that has taken her from professional kitchens to television screens, bestselling books and creative food projects. Her latest book, Clodagh’s Happy Cooking is packed with easy, everyday, tasty recipes that make health and happiness a part of your daily routine.

You talk in the book about baking with your mum and your sisters. Is that where your love of cooking comes from?

Definitely. Growing up in Ireland, there was a lot of focus on baking on Saturday mornings, and on stews and soups and breads. Then, when I was 12, I did a French exchange for two weeks, but I got on so well with the family that they became my second family. I ended up spending the whole summer there every year until I was 18. She was a stay-at-home mum, an amazing French cook, and I learned so much from her. She came to my 50th birthday party a few months ago, and she said she always knew I was going to be a chef. She said I would never leave her side when she was cooking. So I learned a lot there, and I think that gave me a whole grounding for what I wanted to do. I haven’t looked back since.

Does cooking bring you happiness?

It definitely makes me happy. What makes me even happier is actually bringing the food to the table. There’s something really magical about seeing how people’s energy changes when they’re around the table, and you bring a delicious pot of something to the middle of it. All of a sudden the stress and the worries just melt away. I love that. I love seeing how cosy and comfortable and loved people feel.

Do you have any tips for our readers for how to cook from scratch when you have a busy life?

I guess my advice is to start with one recipe a week. Don’t think of it as a big entertaining thing; it’s just one dish you’re going to cook on a Wednesday night, or something like that. On the weekend before, get your ingredients in so that on the Wednesday you don’t have to worry about going shopping. Pick one recipe and do that one thing a week. Once you’ve done that, maybe the next week pick something different. Say, “Okay, next week I’m going to make a juice on Tuesday morning.” The week after, maybe make a bread on a Saturday morning when you’ve got more time. Do a stir-shape-and-bake bread, not a yeast bread – something simple like a soda bread. There’s no proofing, no kneading, nothing. And then, suddenly, after a couple of weeks, you’ve made a dinner, you’ve made a juice, and you’ve made a bread. Then start repeating them and slowly add more. Slowly does it, because it’s great to feel that sense of achievement.

In the book, you say you made a conscious decision about 10 years ago to prioritise self-care. Tell us about that.

I think that at a certain age your energy is different, and you tend to really start looking after yourself – or you should start looking after yourself – a bit better. I wanted to work out how I could have the energy I used to have, and how I could feel good both mentally and physically.

So, first of all, I started juicing every morning. Now, I’d find it hard to survive without my vegetables and fresh turmeric and fresh ginger every morning. I have juices for all different things. I have my regular daily green juice, but if I’m doing TV, I have my brightening juice, and if I’m feeling like I’m getting a cold or run down, I have an immune-boosting juice.

At lunchtime, Monday to Friday, I cook for my whole team, as we’re usually in the office a few days a week. I always cook a big one-pot dish for all of us. It might be a gorgeous big soup or a winter salad so that we’re all getting vegetables at lunchtime, along with pulses or beans for protein. Then I’ll have a really easy, quick supper at night. For example, last night I made a red lentil curry with sweet potatoes. It only takes half an hour to cook, and it’s so good for you. It’s full of lentils, which are so good for your gut, and it’s got plenty of protein in. I always cook every night at home. I don’t like ready-made meals; they don’t make me feel good in the morning, and I don’t sleep well on them.

You say that you have five secrets to happiness: meditation, forest bathing, cold showers, walking and dancing to music. Which one would you recommend most to people to lift their spirits?

I think the biggest one for me was when I started meditating. It’s been my saviour. Every morning, before I do anything, I listen to a 10-minute guided meditation on an app. My husband does it with me as well. We put it on before we even get out of bed, close our eyes and do our meditation. It’s guided, so you don’t have to worry about what to do, and it only takes 10 minutes.

But the thing is, for it to make a difference, you have to do it every single day. If you decide, “I’m going to do this, I’m going to change my brain,” you can, because your brain is a muscle, and it can be changed. You can alter how your brain thinks and reacts. That’s what fascinates me: no matter how you’ve grown up, what traumas or hardships you’ve had, you can change how your brain responds to everything in your past. I think meditation is something every person should have the gift of knowing how to do, because it will absolutely change your life.

Clodagh’s Happy Cooking: 100 Easy, Speedy, Healthy Recipes for Good Mood Food by Clodagh McKenna, published by Octopus, is out now, priced at €27.95.

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