Herby potato salad (maybe the only potato salad you'll ever need)

This potato salad is stellar on both the nutritional and flavour fronts.
It’s the perfect balance of herby-ness, umami, creamy mayo and nutty spuds with a salty kick from the capers.
Use it as a side for pretty much anything. 

Nutrition note: Watercress is one of the most nutrient-dense veggies, except we don’t really eat much of it.
This recipe incorporates quite a large amount thanks to the reduction in volume achieved via chopping it finely.
A bag of watercress turns into a few tablespoons when shredded.
It’s utterly packed to the brim with feel-good vitamins & minerals. 
Similarly, herbs get you a lot of nutrition points too.
Here is a small overview of the nutrient content:

Watercress - Vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, folate, Vitamin B6, iron, antioxidants
Parsley - iron, Vitamin C, calcium, potassium, Vitamin A, biotin, folate, antioxidants

A couple of extra nutrition notes:
- A large proportion of Vitamin C is lost from food with cooking so this recipe capitalises on Vitamin C containing watercress and parsley by keeping them both raw.
- Cold potatoes (cooked & cooled), like the ones used in this potato salad are a superfuel for gut microbes. In a nutshell, when fully cooled, the carbohydrates in potatoes turn into resistant starches. We can’t digest these too well but our gut microbes thrive on it. Hence cold potatoes are fab for gut health.

Ingredients

300g cooked baby/ salad potatoes, I used the anya variety, left to cool completely.
30g watercress
10g parsley
5g other herbs (I used chive & oregano but anything goes)
2-3 tbsp of good quality mayo, I used Stokes mayo
10 giant capers - don’t skip this, it adds all the umami
A generous amount of sea salt and black pepper - don’t be stingey, it needs seasoning well

Method:
Put the watercress and herbs onto a chopping board.
Finely shred them until they reduce in volume by half. Here is a short video of how I did this.
Slice your potatoes in half. I sliced them length-ways because the herby goodness sticks to them more efficiently this way.
Roughly slice the capers.
In a large bowl, combine the spuds, herbs, mayo and capers.
Season this really well with sea salt and black pepper.
Stir it really well to combine it. You want to coat the spuds well.
That’s it.
Finished.
Enjoy.

Tahini hot chocolate

Cacao and tahini are both nutrient-packed ingredients that supply a whole host of otherwise hard-to-find minerals, such as magnesium and zinc.
I actually discovered this recipe at a cafe in Stockholm.
It was one of those “what in the name of hippies are we drinking now” moments but curiosity got the better of me so I ordered one.
It turned out to be a tasty drink whereby tahini added a nutty, creamy profile while the cacao gave it a rich chocolatey note. In summary, it is way more delicious than it sounds.

A word of advice: the quality of the ingredients you use will change this recipe quite considerably.
Basically, don’t be put off by getting this wrong in the first instance. If it’s not quite to your liking, then change the quantities of the ingredients. There is more on this below.

An even bigger word of advice: this is not a nighttime drink. Cacao is a stimulant, so it is much better to consume it in the morning or daytime.
Interestingly, some promising new research suggests cacao in the morning may help to reset our circadian rhythm.
Not that I needed an excuse for a morning hot chocolate, but in case you do then here it is.

Notes on ingredients:

Milk - the milk you use will change the drink. Oat milk is generally sweeter, dairy milk can add creaminess if it’s full fat and almond milk is more likely to be bitter.
Depending on your choice of milk, you may need to add more sweetness (dairy or soy) or less cacao (almond milk).
Cacao - cacao is the raw, higher-quality version of cocoa. It is unsweetened and generally quite bitter but it does contain more nutrients. It’s usually found in the health food or baking section of supermarkets.
My two favourite brands are Naturya and Aduna.
If your drink is not chocolatey enough, then you will need to add more cacao. To do this, mix 1/2 a teaspoon of cacao with one to two teaspoons of milk to form a paste and stir this in. If you try adding more cacao powder it’ll be clumpy and just float to the top.
Tahini - this is a sesame seed paste. You will find this near the spices or in the world food section of supermarkets. Alternatively, there are much nice quality versions in Middle Eastern stores.
The whiter the tahini, the milder flavour. The darker ones tend to be more bitter.
Sweetness - Unless I have really great quality honey then I generally opt for agave for sweetness because it is much sweeter, meaning I can use less. Maple syrup is another great option, however, it is much milder so you may need to add more to achieve the desired sweetness.
Xylitol is a good sugar-free sweetener option, just make sure it is fully dissolved.
Stevia drops work to a variable degree. Personally I find the taste of stevia a bit challenging.
Other ingredients - if you are into it, this recipe works well with a little bit of maca powder, a pinch of cinnamon, or 1/4 of a teaspoon of a mushroom powder such as reishi

Ingredients
1 mug of milk - literally pour the milk in a mug of your choice. Mine was approximately 250ml
2 teaspoons of cacao
2 teaspoons of tahini, reduce to 1 if you are using a non-white tahini
1-2 teaspoons of agave, honey or maple syrup

Method
Pour the milk into a pan and heat on a medium heat.
Put your cacao, tahini and agave in the mug and mix well. It will start forming a paste. This is a good way to avoid lumps of cacao.
Take a tablespoon of the warming milk and mix that into the cacao paste. It will loosen the paste and make sure everything mixes well when you pour the milk in.
Once the milk is fully warmed up, pour it into the mug.
Stir well to mix.
Taste it and adjust the flavour if required. (i.e. add more sweetness or more cacao if it needs a more chocolatey kick.)

Antioxidant turmeric and ginger shots

Whenever I feel below par, these antioxidant shots are the first thing I reach for.
Over the years, many of my nutrition clients also benefitted from (maybe “suffered” if we consider the flavour) these golden turmeric and ginger antioxidant boosters, all with a good outcome.

Here is the lowdown on antioxidants:
We have a steady supply of antioxidants inside every cell of the body.
These antioxidants are there to counteract anything that may be looking to damage our cells. This is fairly normal by the way, even the act of making energy from sugar creates unwanted “attackers” that are quickly neutralised by antioxidants.
Sometimes, however, our supply of antioxidants runs low, leaving us feeling below par.
The vast majority of our antioxidants come from food, especially from fruits and vegetables but every now and then a shortcut or additional top up doesn’t go amiss.
That’s where these turmeric and ginger antioxidant shots come in handy.

The intel on the turmeric and ginger shots:
Turmeric and ginger both contain a heap of potent antioxidants.
Sadly, they are pretty hard for us to absorb by themselves, especially curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric.
The good news is, I appraised the scientific evidence (read I did some epic nerding) to ensure the antioxidants present are as absorbable as possible.
There were two key findings:

1. The active ingredients in turmeric are fat soluble, hence the base of coconut milk.

2. Turmeric benefits from a little bit of extra help to be absorbed.
For this reason, you may have heard of the combination of turmeric and black pepper in supplements.
I’m not a fan of that combination. A little bit more on that here.
Luckily, quercetin, an antioxidant found in citrus zest is a great alternative that can similarly improve the absorption of turmeric. In addition, citrus zest contributes even more antioxidants in the form of citrus polyphenols. Just make sure that lemon is 100% organic and unwaxed, for obvious reasons.

Onto the recipe.
The ingredients are listed below but here are a few notes and storage options:

Turmeric root - larger supermarkets, especially Sainsbury’s and Waitrose tend to stock the root itself. It’s generally hidden next to ginger or fresh herbs.
Alternatively, check your local Middle Eastern or Asian store or order it online.
The recipe can still be made with turmeric powder, but it’s better with fresh root turmeric.
Turmeric powder tends to lose its antioxidant content over time. This is worth considering if you’ve left that jar of turmeric powder in your spice cupboard for years.
All in all, fresh turmeric root has a bit more going for it and has a milder (nicer) taste.

Ginger root - it’s pretty standard stuff. You get awarded extra points if you manage to get hold of organic ginger root because organic ingredients tend to have more antioxidants.

Coconut milk - this one is a biggie. Most tinned coconut milk contains a long list of unnecessary ingredients that extend to emulsifiers, thickeners and gums. Needless to say, these are not ideal but the good news is pure coconut and water-only coconut milks do exist.
Aim for one that does only contain coconut and water.
Clearspring and Biona are both brilliant options.

Lemon zest - as I mentioned before, please use organic, unwaxed lemon. Lemons, and other citrus fruit, for that matter, are usually coated with both synthetic wax and a couple of different antifungal agents. The latter are known carcinogens.

Storage:
Owing to how messy making these antioxidant shots is, my recommendation would be to make a larger batch and freeze it.
I tend to freeze them in a silicone ice cube tray and pop a couple of ice cubes every now and then.
Occasionally, I’ll defrost them by adding a little bit of hot water to the ice cubes.

Ingredients

1 tin of good-quality coconut milk
1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon 
A large chunk of ginger 
4 bits of turmeric root 
Zest of 1/2 an organic, unwaxed lemon 

Method
Peel the ginger and turmeric root.
Please use gloves to peel turmeric because it will dye your hands otherwise.
Put everything into a blender and blend for a couple of minutes until smooth.
If the coconut milk you are using is particularly thick then add a splash of water for ease. It’ll help everything blend better.
The liquid will keep in the fridge for 3 days.
Freeze in ice cube trays for longer-term storage.

Proper veggie gravy - It's a superfood

Ingredients (enough for a Sunday roast for 2)

2 onions - leave the skin on. The skin = quercetin aka the holy grail of phytonutrients
1 stick of celery
1 carrot
280g shrooms - I used a mix of chestnut & mini portobello for a darker gravy - these are a source of l-ergothioneine which is AWESOME for us. It’s basically a super antioxidant
3x cloves of garlic, leave them unpeeled
1 sprig of rosemary
2-3 sprigs of thyme
100ml red wine - once the alcohol is cooked out, resveratrol is left behind. Resveratrol is anti-aging. Yup!
2 heaped tablespoons of flour
Sea salt & black pepper - you’ll need to season everything very well
400ml (approx) of veg stock

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Pop the onions, celery, carrot, mushroom, garlic and herbs on a roasting tray.
Try and nestle the herbs underneath the onions. This will stop them from burning and becoming bitter.
Drizzle everything with rapeseed oil and roast for around an hour until browned.
Put a casserole-style dish on a medium heat and transfer the roasted veggies to it.
Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes whilst mashing everything with a wooden spoon.
Season really well with sea salt and black pepper.
Add the wine and cook for a minute more.
Pour in the veg stock.
Cook until it has reached the desired thickness, approximately 5 minutes. If it’s too thick, a splash of water will thin it.
Check the seasoning (aka taste it) and season if required.

Here is a video version of the method in case that’s easier:

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Proper gravy - It's a superfood

There are few things better than properly made gravy on a Sunday dinner.
This post is entirely dedicated to the goodness of gravy.

First things first, it’s an actual superfood.
Yes, I am a nutritionist, and yes, I am declaring gravy a superfood.

Superfood = “a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being”

Freshly made gravy is exceptionally full of nutrients. I’m not referring to the boil a kettle and pour some water over the granules kind here, I’m talking about making gravy from scratch.
Don’t worry, the recipe for the meat version is featured here and the veggie version can be found on this link (link pending).
It couldn’t be easier to do and freezes well, so make a mega batch and it’ll keep your dinners saucey for the foreseeable.

Back to the nutrients.
Properly made gravy starts with a base of veg. In this case onions, garlic, carrot and celery, which are understood to all be full of nutrients and therefore good for us.
It then contains the fresh herbs thyme and rosemary. These are also good for us.
Last but not least chicken wings contribute protein (needed) and things like collagen, glucosamine, chondroitin, calcium, B vitamins and many others. Move over expensive collagen-based face creams and joint-supporting supplements with glucosamine and chondroitin because all we really need is a bit of gravy on our dinners.

The good news doesn’t even stop there.
Let me introduce you to the wonder-nutrient quercetin.
As well as our food containing protein, carbs, fats, vitamins and minerals, it also contains bioactive compounds.
Bioactive compounds (big word, I know) are nutritional components that health claims are usually attached to.
Ever heard of garlic being good for the cardiovascular system? That’s down the bioactive compound allicin. What about the skin-boosting power of berries? That right there is the bioactive compound anthocyanin.
I’m sure you are getting the idea.
Quercetin is a bioactive compound found in onions and it’s a pretty stellar little thing.
Studies indicate that quercetin is awesome for the immune system, it may reduce blood pressure, fight inflammation and ease the symptoms associated with allergies amongst others.
Here comes the curveball. Quercetin is only really present in the skin of onions and the part where the root attaches, meaning in an average onion-containing meal, we would throw the majority of it out.
This is actually where gravy can make a mega difference.
By roasting the onions with the skin on and subsequently cooking them with stock, we are extracting that suberbly good for you quercetin and transferring it straight into the gravy.
Told you gravy is a superfood.

Also, let’s not ignore how obscenely nice tasting fresh gravy is.

Here are two recipes for super chicken gravy:

1. If you have a chicken Sunday roast happening
This is a good easy option that makes a very tasty gravy. So easy in fact that you’ll be wondering why you haven’t done this before.
The only downside is it just makes enough gravy to cover the Sunday dinner (generously so).

Here is what you’ll need:
2 small/ medium carrots, washed, don’t even worry about peeling them
1 large stick of celery
2 large onions, cut into quarters, leave the skin on them (see note about quercetin)
3-4 cloves of garlic, left unpeeled
4 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
Sea salt and black pepper
2 heaped tablespoons of plain flour
300- 500ml of good quality chicken stock, extra points for homemade

Method:
1. Put all of the veg and herbs on a roasting tray.
2. Put the chicken on top of the veg and roast as you would usually (20 mins per 500g plus 30 mins, basting halfway through).
Try and aim to have the herbs and garlic sitting directly under the chicken, this way they won’t burn.
3. Take the roasting tray out of the oven.
4. Take the chicken off the veg and tip it vertically so any juices that collected in the cavity run off. Pop the chicken on a chopping board or warm plate and let it rest whilst you make the gravy.
5. Transfer what is in the roasting tray into a saucepan, scraping as much from the roasting tray as possible.
6. Using a spoon, spoon off any excess fat that has floated to the top. You’ll want some of this fat in the sauce but not all of it.
7. Pop the saucepan on a medium-high heat.
8. Season the gravy mix well with sea salt and black pepper.
9. Cook for a minute and really mash everything down with a wooden spoon. Burst the garlic cloves, smash the celery, carrot and onions into pieces.
10. Add the flour, season again, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, in order to cook the flour out.
Some of it may catch on the bottom. Keep it from burning but otherwise, this isn’t an issue. The more you cook the mixture, the darker the gravy will be.
11. Add half of the stock and stir really well.
At this stage, everything will thicken up quickly.
12. Add the remaining stock and stir again. It should now be the right gravy consistency, thick and rich.
Allow it to come up to boil and cook for a minute or so. If your gravy is looking thin then cook it a bit longer to thicken it up.
13. Strain the liquid through a sieve to get rid of the solid parts. Make sure to press down on the solid parts as they are sitting in the sieve, so to extract any liquid from it.
Discard the solids and return the liquid to the saucepan.
14. Try the gravy and season it again if it needs more salt & pepper.
15. Warm the gravy through again and it is now good to go.

2. The chicken wing method for freezer gravy
This process is very much the same as for the chicken dinner version but instead of needing a whole chicken, it uses chicken wings.
Thus, this version can be made irrespective of whether you have a Sunday roast happening or not.
It’s a good option to make a big batch of gravy and freeze portions of it since it produces a higher yield.
Make sure to buy good quality, ideally organic, chicken wings. They are inexpensive.

Here is what you’ll need:
2 small/ medium carrots, washed, don’t even worry about peeling them
1 large/ 2 small sticks of celery
3 large onions, cut into quarters, leave the skin on them (see note about quercetin)
4 cloves of garlic, left unpeeled
4 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of rosemary
6-8 organic chicken wings
Sea salt and black pepper
3 heaped tablespoons of plain flour
500ml of good quality chicken stock, extra points for homemade
1 teaspoon of vinegar such as apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar (do not use malt vinegar)
Water

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Put all of the veg and herbs on a roasting tray.
3. “Break” the chicken wings by smashing a sharp knife directly into them in 3-4 places. Open up the wing joint. This just ensures more of the flavour is extracted.
4. Put the chicken wings on top of the veg, drizzle with a small amount of rapeseed oil and roast for 1 hour or until the chicken wings are golden.
Try and aim to have the herbs and garlic sitting directly under the chicken wings, this way they won’t burn.
5. Take the roasting tray out of the oven.
6. Transfer what is in the roasting tray into a saucepan, scraping as much from the roasting tray as possible.
7. Add a splash of water to the roasting tray and set this aside.
8. Pop the saucepan on a medium-high heat.
9. Season the gravy mix well with sea salt and black pepper.
10. Cook for a minute and really mash everything down with a wooden spoon. Burst the garlic cloves, smash the chicken wings, celery, carrot and onions into pieces.
10. Add the flour, season again, and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring, in order to cook the flour out.
Some of it may catch on the bottom. Keep it from burning but otherwise, this isn’t an issue. The more you cook the mixture, the darker the gravy will be.
11. Add half of the stock, the water from the roasting tray and stir really well.
At this stage, everything will thicken up quickly.
12. Add the remaining stock, 1 teaspoon of vinegar and a splash of water and stir again.
Allow it to come up to boil, reduce to a bubble and cook until you have reached the desired gravy consistency.
To test this, submerge a tablespoon in the liquid. It should coat the back of the spoon if it’s spot on. If the liquid falls straight off then it’s too thin, so keep cooking it.
13. Strain the liquid through a sieve to get rid of the solid parts. Make sure to press down on the solid parts as they are sitting in the sieve, so to extract any liquid from it.
Discard the solids and return the liquid to the saucepan.
14. Try the gravy and season it again if it needs more salt & pepper.
15. Allow it to cool and portion it into freezer bags.

Pro tips:
- If you want to go fancy, you can add a bit of wine. This would need to go in after the flour and be allowed to “cook out”. Basically, allow it to cook until most of the liquid disappears.
Continue the gravy by adding the stock and follow the remaining points.
White wine works best.
- Go fancy at Christmas by adding a bit of sherry or port. Do this the same way as the wine method described above.
- You can pour the cooking juices from any meat into the gravy. Do this as you are warming it through before you are about to serve the gravy.
- Smoked bacon or lardons are a legitimately good addition for a smokier flavour. The chicken wing method allows for this, just simply add them at the time of roasting. A couple of rashers are enough.
- A teaspoon of cranberry sauce is a nice addition for a more sweet & sour flavour. Stir this through at the end.