British GQ - 04.2020

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

1. Boil the vegetables until softened
   but still al dente, and cool in ice
   water.


2. Clean the mushrooms and cut into
   quarters. Sear the vegetables on the
   grill and set aside.


3. Mix the romesco ingredients in a
   blender. Add to a bain-marie, using
   parchment or baking paper to keep
   it from drying out.


4. 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

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