I was away in rural Ontario this past long weekend and brought several “ready made” meals along with me so that dinner prep would be easier. After four nights in a row of these “heat and serve”, commercially-prepared meals, however, I felt pretty awful. My stomach was gurgly and grumbly and both my energy and mood were rather low (though spending most of the weekend shoveling my way out of snowmageddon might have had something to do with that). Once back home, I made this easy and tasty tray-bake, which served as a good reminder that it really isn’t that much work to make a home-cooked meal. Especially when it is guaranteed to be far more nourishing than most commercially-prepared meals. This Roasted Chicken, Beets & Brussels Sprouts with Barley is one of those staple recipes.
You can scale it up or down to serve more or fewer people. To make preparing it even quicker, use frozen brussels sprouts (no prep required and they are best roasted from frozen). Wash your beets well and don’t peel them (the peel has a lot of nutrition). If you don’t have barley, feel free to either skip it or serve it with brown rice, farro or quinoa. Or roast some potatoes along with the other vegetables. You can easily change the ingredient proportions too. But I highly recommend that you eat all your Brussels sprouts and beets. They contain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants critical to boosting mood. And couldn’t we all use a little mood-boost these days?
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Brussels sprouts & B9
Brussels sprouts have a lot to nutritionally recommend them. But here I’m just going to highlight that they are a good source of folate, also known as vitamin B9. And folate plays a strong role in the production of these mood-boosting neurotransmitters:
- Dopamine, also known as the “feel-good” hormone, is associated with the brain’s reward system and produces pleasant sensations.
- Serotonin – like dopamine, can influence mood and emotions, but it also helps to regulate metabolism, gut motility and appetite.
- Noradrenaline – also known as norepinephrine, has a key function in how your body responds to stress, but it can also have a significant effect on your mood.
Insufficient levels of these neurotransmitters may result in symptoms of depression or other mood problems, such as anxiety and lack of motivation. You also need serotonin to make melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep. And nothing boosts mood better than a good night’s sleep!
As well as folate, the amino acid tryptophan is necessary to produce serotonin (and thus melatonin). And you need the amino acid tyrosine to synthesize dopamine and norepinephrine. Chicken is high in both of these amino acids, so this recipe has your neurotransmitter bases covered.
Beets for your brain
Beets are also a good source of folate so have many of the same benefits of Brussels sprouts. But they also contain betalains. These are the water-soluble, nitrogen-containing pigments in beets that are responsible for their gorgeous colours. Betalains have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. And these may help reduce stress and anxiety and contribute to a more positive mood both by regulating cortisol (the hormone released in response to stress) and by supporting overall brain health.
They also have an interesting aromatic compound called geosmin. It is what gives beets their “earthy” character. Geosmin is made both by bacteria in the soil and the by the beets themselves. Research has shown that inhaling this compound can make us feel good. In a 2022 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, thirty volunteers handled both soil that contained geosmin and soil that didn’t. The results showed that after just five minutes of exposure to geosmin, the volunteers had higher levels of serotonin in their blood and reduced levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation that’s linked to depression.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and that it boosts your mood and warms your heart!