ℹ️ Recipe Page

This page shows a full recipe with ingredients, step-by-step method, a nutritional fingerprint and a complete breakdown — all calculated live from the Nutriofia food database.

Ingredients

All quantities are shown per serving. Click any ingredient name to go to its full food profile, including its complete nutrient breakdown.

Nutrient Fingerprint

The radar chart below the tags shows this recipe's nutritional fingerprint — how much of your daily reference intake one serving covers across eight key nutrients: Protein, Fibre, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Vitamin C, Folate and Omega-3. The bars alongside show the same information at a glance. Green = 30% or more of your daily target. Amber = 10–29%. Grey = under 10%.

Cook Once, Eat Twice

If this recipe shares key ingredients with others in the library, a 🔄 Cook Once, Eat Twice panel appears below the method. These are recipes you can batch-cook alongside — prep the shared base ingredient once and you're halfway to a second or third meal. The shared ingredients are listed on each card in green.

Logging to your day

Click 📅 Log this recipe to my day to expand the logging panel. Choose your date, meal slot (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or Snack) and number of servings, then hit Log it. All ingredients are added to your Day Tracker automatically — no need to add them one by one.

Nutrition breakdown

The full nutrition panel below the log section shows macros and micronutrients per serving. Click any nutrient name to see its complete profile including food sources, body functions and daily targets.

Glycemic Index & Load

Where enough ingredient data exists, a Glycemic Index & Load card appears below the log section. GI is a weighted average across all carb-contributing ingredients — it shows how fast this recipe raises blood glucose. GL per serving is the more practical number: GL = GI × carbs per serving ÷ 100. A low-GI recipe can still carry a high GL if it is large and carb-dense. Click the ? on that card for a full explanation, or read the full article.

Nutrition score

The score out of 100 in the image header reflects micronutrient breadth, fibre, protein and polyphenol content — with penalties for high saturated fat, sodium or added sugar. It's a measure of overall nutritional quality, not just calories. Scores of 90+ are exceptional.

💡 Values are estimates based on raw ingredient weights. Cooking methods and exact portions will affect actual nutrient intake.
← Back to recipes
🥗
Couscous & Chickpea Power Box
71 Nutrition score
Lunch 🥄 10 min prep 🔥 5 min cook 👤 2 servings

Couscous cooks in 5 minutes with just boiling water — making this one of the quickest substantial lunches you can prepare. Tossed with chickpeas, fresh veg and lemon, it works at room temperature or chilled.

vegan meal prep high fibre portable quick
Nutrient Fingerprint % of adult daily reference intake · per serving
💪 Protein
44%
🌾 Fibre
30%
🦴 Calcium
16%
⚡ Iron
60%
🌿 Magnesium
49%
🍊 Vitamin C
49%
🍃 Folate
56%
🫀 Omega-3
3%

Based on UK dietary reference values. Capped at 100% per nutrient.

💡 Make it your own: feel free to add, swap or leave out ingredients to suit your taste or what's in your cupboard. Just remember — if you change what's in the recipe, update the ingredients in your Day Tracker too, so your nutrition numbers stay accurate.
Ingredients (per serving)
Method
  1. 1 Place the dry couscous in a large heatproof bowl. Pour over 200ml just-boiled water, cover tightly with a plate and leave 5 minutes. Uncover, add a small drizzle of olive oil if you have it, and fluff thoroughly with a fork to separate every grain. Leave to cool.
  2. 2 Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Dice the cucumber. Roughly shred the spinach leaves.
  3. 3 Once the couscous is cool, add all the vegetables, chickpeas and lemon juice. Season with black pepper. Toss well, taste, and adjust the lemon.
  4. 4 Divide between two sealed containers. Scatter pumpkin seeds over the top just before eating (if you add them during prep, they soften by lunchtime). Keeps refrigerated for 2 days.
🔄 Cook Once, Eat Twice These recipes share key ingredients — cook in batch and you're halfway there
🥗 Lunch
Spiced Chickpea Shawarma Bowl
Shares: Chickpeas (Cooked, Drained), Tomatoes, cherry, raw, Cucumber
⏱ 35 min
🥗 Lunch
Quinoa & Roasted Pepper Jar Salad
Shares: Chickpeas (Cooked, Drained), Tomatoes, cherry, raw, Cucumber
⏱ 25 min
🥗 Lunch
Lemony Chickpea & Pasta Soup
Shares: Chickpeas (Cooked, Drained), Tomatoes, cherry, raw
⏱ 35 min

🔒 Members only — log in to add this recipe to your day tracker

Sign in to log this recipe

How to read GI & GL

GI (Glycemic Index) rates how fast the carbohydrates in a food raise blood glucose compared to pure glucose (= 100). Low GI ≤ 55 means a slow, steady rise. But GI says nothing about how much carbohydrate you're actually eating.

GL (Glycemic Load) fixes that. It multiplies GI by the actual grams of carbohydrate per serving: GL = GI × carbs per serving ÷ 100. This makes it the more useful number for real-world blood sugar management.

Why they can disagree — a food with low GI can still carry a high GL if the serving is large and carb-dense. Red lentil dal with brown rice is a good example: lentils and brown rice both have low-to-medium GI (slow-burning), but a full serving delivers a lot of total carbohydrate, so the GL is high — meaning a sustained, steady glucose rise rather than a spike.

Low GL ≤ 10 Modest total glucose impact per serving.
Medium GL 11–19 Moderate impact — manageable for most people.
High GL ≥ 20 Significant carb load per serving. Consider a smaller portion or adding more non-starchy veg.

GI shown is a carb-weighted average across all recipe ingredients with GI data. Source: Atkinson et al., Am J Clin Nutr 2021.

Glycemic Index & Load
36
GI Score
🟢 Low GI
7
GL / Serving
Low Load

This recipe has a low glycemic impact — blood glucose rises slowly and steadily after eating, helping maintain energy and reduce insulin spikes.

GI is a weighted average across carb-contributing ingredients. GL = GI × carbs per serving ÷ 100. Source: Atkinson et al., International Tables of GI & GL Values 2021, Am J Clin Nutr.

Nutrition per serving
1718 kJ
Energy (kJ)
501 kcal
Energy (kcal)
86.1 g
Carbohydrate
22.2 g
Protein
10 g
Fat
9 g
Fibre (NSP)
5.6 g
Total Sugars
16.5 mg
Sodium
0.04 g
Salt
Micronutrient
Potassium 984 mg
Phosphorus 456 mg
Chloride 201 mg
Magnesium 147 mg
Calcium 115 mg
Vitamin A (RE) 114 µg
Folate 112 µg
Selenium 35.6 µg
Vitamin C 19.4 mg
Vitamin K 12.7 µg
Niacin equivalents (NE) 7.9 mg
Iron 5.2 mg
Zinc 3.6 mg
Niacin (B3) 3.5 mg
Manganese 2.5 mg
Vitamin E (alpha-TE) 2.3 mg
Pantothenic Acid (B5) 1.2 mg
Copper 0.785 mg
Chromium 0.6 µg
Vitamin B6 0.57 mg
Thiamin (B1) 0.453 mg
Riboflavin (B2) 0.169 mg
Minerals
Iodine 4.5 µg
Fatty acids
Polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) 4.3 g
Monounsaturated fat 1.9 g
Saturated fat 1.3 g
Sugars (breakdown)
Fructose 1.6 g
Sucrose 1.5 g
Glucose (dextrose) 1.3 g
Maltose 1.1 g
Carbohydrate (breakdown)
Starch 80.6 g
Amino acids
Glutamic acid 1.7 g
Aspartic acid 1.1 g
Leucine 0.768 g
Arginine 0.719 g
Lysine 0.702 g
Valine 0.547 g
Phenylalanine 0.504 g
Isoleucine 0.439 g
Serine 0.437 g
Proline 0.422 g
Alanine 0.412 g
Threonine 0.385 g
Tyrosine 0.338 g
Glycine 0.338 g
Histidine 0.248 g
Methionine 0.161 g
Cysteine 0.141 g
Tryptophan 0.127 g
Carotenoids
Lycopene 2100 µg
Lutein + Zeaxanthin 2000 µg
Beta-carotene 674 µg
Proximate
Water 202 g
Vitamins
Biotin (Vitamin B7) 5.4 µg
Fats & Fatty Acids
Omega-6 (Linoleic acid) 2.2 g
Omega-3 (Alpha-linolenic acid) 0.064 g
Flavonols
Quercetin 0.075 mg
Kaempferol 0.065 mg
Myricetin 0.002 mg
Flavanones
Naringenin 2.1 mg
Hesperetin 1.4 mg
Isoflavonoids
Daidzein 0.008 mg
Isoflavonoids (total) 0.008 mg

Nutritional values calculated from Nutriofia food database per serving. Actual values may vary based on preparation method.