Relaxed, light and edified
- by the end I felt as
though I could carry my
programme through into
my day-to-day life
The Recipe
- Boil the vegetables until softened
but still al dente, and cool in ice
water. - Clean the mushrooms and cut into
quarters. Sear the vegetables on the
grill and set aside. - Mix the romesco ingredients in a
blender. Add to a bain-marie, using
parchment or baking paper to keep
it from drying out. - To build the dish, place two spoonfuls
of polenta on a plate, then add the
grilled vegetables on top and season
with a little oil and pepper.
Method
For the grilled
vegetables
- 250g spring onion
- 300g leek
- 250g black turnip
- 200g broccoli
- 150g baby carrots
- 400g artichoke
- 100g green
asparagus - 250g celeriac
- 100g mushrooms
For the creamy
polenta/romesco
- 75g corn flour
- 150g sun-dried
tomato - 60g gluten-free
bread - 1.5g Pimentón de
la Vera (Spanish
paprika) - 50g toasted
almonds - 5g sherry vinegar
- 50g roast onion
- 5g roast garlic (1
head of garlic) - 2g dried oregano
- 15g olive oil
Grilled
vegetables with
creamy polenta
and romesco
(serves four)
Thanks to its energy, corn is especially
beneficial for athletes and anyone who
works out – people who need a lot of
energy and can digest the good stuff
quickly. Corn is also the only cereal that
contains beta-carotene, and provides
fibres, carbohydrates and very high
levels of B vitamins such as B1 and B3.
Corn helps metabolise fat faster, lower
cholesterol, improves digestion, and
even relieves constipation.
Healing Holidays can arrange a 7-night Detox programme from
£4,999 per person sharing, including British Airways flights,
transfers, full board accommodation and inclusions of the Detox
programme. For more details, visit: healingholidays.com/gq Tel:
020-7529 8549.
and pizza, I started to feel noticeably
better and was more than satisfied by
the food on offer. Creations such as pad
thai made entirely from vegetables and
mushroom soup which tasted as though
it was stirred through with cream, but
wasn’t, fooled my stomach into feeling
full; while desserts which tasted dairy-
laced and calorie-clogged, but weren’t,
fooled my brain into thinking I was
being naughty when I, well, wasn’t.
I was put on the “Rebalance” pro-
gramme for my stay – as decided by
a soft spoken Spanish doctor who
examined me at the start and stated
that I didn’t have any medical issues
(short of a little stress) and that I didn’t
need to lose any weight (phew). My
programme, therefore, consisted of
acupuncture sessions (to decrease tension), intensive mas-
sages (to improve sleep and minimise stress), aqua thera-
pies (to aid detoxification) and cooking lessons (to learn the
macrobiotic secrets of the lab-like Sha kitchen). By the end
of my four days I not only felt light, regular, relaxed and
edified, but I also felt as though the programme would be
easy to carry through into my day-to-day life - post-festive
season, of course.
The majority of the guests I spoke to at Sha were on far
stricter programmes than me. Digging deeper I discovered
that there are programmes designed to tackle (real) stress
and sleep issues, those designed to prevent dementia and
others designed to help tackle serious illness. The specific
treatments on offer are, therefore, as wildly inventive and
utterly comprehensive as you would imagine.
The reality is that unlike other ultra-intensive wellness
clinics there is a flexibility to the experience at Sha which
will appeal as much to health nuts as it will to spa lovers
with flaccid moral fibre like me. There’s a lovely pool and
the beach is just down the road. In short, there’s some-
thing for everyone, whatever the goal - and on reflection
I reckon it probably was the right decision to head there
straight after a rager.
WELLNESS
04-20WellnessShaNEW_3542608.indd 137 12/02/2020 10:21
APRIL 2020 GQ.CO.UK 139