Over the years the food poverty campaigner has openly documented her struggle with depression and alcohol, and her diagnosis with autism and ADHD - But one thing she has learned is getting into the kitchen is the key to putting her back on the path to recovery
Jack Monroe is reluctant to refer to the current situation as ‘unprecedented times’, but she’s struggling to come up with a more original term for the coronavirus lockdown.
“It’s such a strange time for everyone,” says Jack, who lives in Southend, Essex, with her 10-year-old son Jonathon and partner, TV producer Louisa Compton.
“Every day throws up a new challenge. It’s whether you decide to sulk about it or face up to it. I’ve done a little of both – but we’re getting there.”
Jack, 32, the budget chef famous for her thrifty recipes, is currently dealing with anxiety brought about by the lockdown.
Over the years the food poverty campaigner has openly documented her struggle with depression and alcohol, and her diagnosis with autism and ADHD.
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But one thing she has learned is whether facing a depressive slump or corona-related anxiety, getting into the kitchen and cooking nourishing food is the key to putting her back on the path to recovery.
It was this realisation that resulted in her latest cookbook Good Food For Bad Days. “I came up with the idea after being in my own depressive slump,” says Jack. “I had stopped cooking and was living on salt and vinegar crisps and white bread.”
Despite cooking for a living, Jack knows how it feels to be unable to put a meal together. “In my worst phases I can sit there belligerently staring at cookbooks thinking they’re all complicated and full of things I don’t have to hand.”
Cauliflower cheese and white bean bake
(Serves four)
£ 1 large onion/120g
frozen onions
£ 1 tbsp cooking oil
£ 400g tin butter beans
£ 400g tin cannellini beans
£ 500ml chicken stock
£ ½ tsp mustard
£ Pinch grated nutmeg
£ 1 large cauliflower/450g frozen cauli florets
£ 120g mature cheddar
£ 2 slices bread, blitzed to crumbs/4tbsp dried breadcrumbs
£ salt and pepper
1 Peel and finely slice onion and add to a large non-stick pan.
Add 1 tbsp oil and a pinch of salt and cook gently for five minutes
to soften.
2 Drain and rinse beans and tip into the pan. Cover with stock, then add mustard and nutmeg. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
3 Heat oven to 180C/fan 160/gas mark 4. Grease an ovenproof dish (roughly 20cm x 20cm).
4 Remove outer leaves of cauliflower. Cut the heavy stalk from the bottom and chop into small florets. Add cauli to the bean pan and stir through. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until soft.
5 Tip contents of the pan into dish. Grate cheese over the veg and top with breadcrumbs. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes to crisp the crumbs and melt cheese.
6 Serve immediately with black pepper on top.
For Jack, these periods of depression happen a few times a year but it was a particularly bad episode that inspired the book. “I remembered one of my best friends telling me that the times I least feel like cooking are the times I need it the most. She knows me well enough to know I find it therapeutic and restorative.
“But I don’t want people to think this is a book where you have to be depressed to cook from it, it’s for anyone who wants easy meals you can make in a hurry.”
Jack knows better than anyone the healing power of food, and after two years in therapy she’s worked out a formula for catching herself before she falls too far into depression – including the discovery that if she eats a good, balanced diet then she tends to have a better day.
Recalibration supper
(Serves four)
£ 2 large onions/240g frozen sliced onions
£ 6 cloves of garlic/2tbsp garlic paste
£ 1 large leek/140g frozen leeks
£ 1 large carrot/300g tin sliced carrots
£ 400g tin borlotti beans
£ 400ml chicken or vegetable stock
£ 400g tin chopped tomatoes
£ 1 tbsp wine or cider vinegar
£ 200g kale, spinach or other dark leafy
greens, finely chopped
£ oil
£ salt and pepper
1 Peel and finely slice onions, then add to a large non-stick pan. Peel garlic, halve it lengthways and add to the pan, or
add paste. Thinly slice
leek and carrot and add those too. Drizzle over a little oil and season. Cook over a medium heat for 5–6 minutes until it starts to soften.
2 Drain and rinse beans and tip into the pan. Pour over stock and bring to the boil.
3 Reduce to a simmer, then stir in tomatoes and vinegar. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until thick and glossy. Toss in the greens and wilt for 30 seconds (spinach) or a few minutes (kale and spring greens).
4 Serve warm with bread and butter, torn up and dunked.
“My therapist describes it as being on a long car journey and not knowing what you’re going to face. But if you keep your car in good working order and your fuel topped up, you’re ready for anything. So I deliberately started to look after myself, making sure I ate green vegetables, protein and oats, drank eight glasses of water each day, as well as other things such as taking my medication.”
In the book, Jack has provided a checklist of basic foods that have mood-boosting qualities. While she is under no illusion that diet is a cure-all for mental health, she is adamant it can help.
Jaffa Cake mug pudding
(Serves one)
£ 2 tbsp marmalade, plus extra to finish
£ 2 tbsp Nutella, plus extra to finish
£ 3 tbsp vegetable oil
£ 3 tbsp milk
£ 1 egg
£ 2 tbsp honey or sugar
£ 4 tbsp self-raising flour
1 Measure marmalade and chocolate spread into a mug and microwave for 45 seconds to soften.
2 Remove carefully and stir in oil, then milk. Leave to cool for a minute before cracking in the egg and beating it well. Add honey or sugar, then flour.
3 Place mug in microwave for 90 seconds on
high. It will rise quite a bit, but deflates
again afterwards.
4 Top with marmalade and chocolate spread, then return to microwave for 30 seconds.
5 Remove and allow to stand for a minute or two before tucking in.
“These foods aren’t going to take away the black depressive spells or feelings of uselessness,” she says. “But they are scientifically proven to give you a toolkit you can use to start digging yourself out of a hole. If you include these things in your diet over time you may see an improvement in your mood and coping abilities.”
Jack doesn’t promise a miracle cure but wants readers to know they’re not alone.
“I’ve been in some of these holes you might be in. I can’t give you the answers, I’m not a doctor and I can’t cure things for you. But I can gently guide you to the kitchen and get a meal inside you. Which for me is usually the first step to recovery.”
Top five feel-good foods
1 BANANAS contain tryptophan which is converted into serotonin, a hormone that regulates mood and sleep.
2 CHICKEN is a source of tryptophan as well as tyrosine, another amino acid that supports production of serotonin.
3 CHOCOLATE contains a natural derivative of caffeine called theobromine, which can give you a little lift.
4 LENTILS are high in folate, which may help prevent depression.
5 OATS help keep blood sugar levels stable, which has a positive impact on mood.
Recipes extracted from Good Food for Bad Days by Jack Monroe (Bluebird, £7.99)
