Athlete Inspired Recipes: Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi’s Root Vegetable Tray Bake

We found this super simple recipe via Barcelona FC, who did a series of recipes during lockdown.

“A recipe designed for cooking beginners that will please all palates and that provides all the necessary nutrients for a balanced diet”.

We especially enjoyed their suggestion of switching the potatoes for pumpkin for a lower calorie version – bookmark this for Spooky Season! You can find the source article here.

Approx. 58g protein, 95g carb, 19g fat, 650 calls per portion

Ingredients (Serves 2):

• 30g olive oil
• Salt, 2 pinches (optional)
• 4 smashed garlic cloves
• 1 red onion
• 2 large carrots (peeled and cut on the base)
• 1 leek, rinsed and quartered lengthways
• 700-800 g quartered potatoes
• 2 Ready Cooked Chicken Breasts
• Fresh thyme

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C
2. Coat an oven dish with the olive oil, sprinkle the salt if you’re using it.
3. Spread your veg evenly throughout the oven dish – garlic, onion, carrots, leek, potatoes and thyme.
4. Pop in the oven for 35 mins, reducing the temp to 190°C
5. Defrost 4 Steam Cooked Chicken breasts as per the pack instructions, when your timer goes off add these to your oven dish, mix well and bake for a further 10 minutes.

Lionel Messi (we may not need the bio for this one…)is widely held to be one of the greatest football players of his generation — and with good reason. The record seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has conquered nearly every piece of football real estate there is to claim over the course of his illustrious football career. – Olympics.com

This list will keep growing so check the ‘Athlete Inspired Recipes’ tag for more inspo!