This is the kind of dish that can be thrown together from those last few ingredients from the back of the cupboard. Just keep some chopped tomato or passata in there and the rest can easily be adjusted.
Read moreSeaweed away
Seaweed may not be the most obvious superfood, after all, most of us are used to seeing it in a less than attractive, washed up on the beach kind of scenario.
There is, however, a lot going for it. For starters, it's a good source of some essential nutrients, including folate, iron, magnesium, calcium, iodine and Vitamins A and C.
Secondly, it's delicious.
For this recipes, dulse (purple seaweed) is combined with orange, dill and toasted hazelnut.
It's a simple yet impressive dish that is a total treat for the taste buds.
Ingredients for 2:
1 orange
a large handful of dried dulse or other seaweed
a small bunch of dill
a small cup of hazelnuts
sherry vinegar & olive oil to serve
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Toast the hazelnuts for 10 minutes until lightly coloured. Set aside to cool.
Soak the dried seaweed for 10 minutes. Discard the water and pat dry the rehydrated seaweed.
Peel and thinly slice the orange.
Strip the dill fonds off the stalk and discard the stalks.
Start by dividing the orange slices between two plates, lay the seaweed on top, scatter over the dill fonds and top with the toasted hazelnuts.
Drizzle the salad with a generous glug of olive oil and a teaspoon of sherry vinegar.
Serve immediately.
Sweet potato & turmeric curry
Some days only a warming bowl of curry will do the trick in filling you up.
The good news is this recipe is pretty amazing but takes next to no effort. It is one I regularly rely on for those evenings when there is nothing in the fridge and cooking seems like a hassle.
Ingredients:
1” piece of ginger roughly chopped
2x sticks of lemongrass, outer leaves removed and thinly sliced
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove of garlic, sliced
1 red chilli, sliced
juice of 1 lime
1 tsp turmeric
400ml (1 can) coconut milk
800g cubed sweet potato
3x cardamom pods
2x pinches of sea salt
black pepper to season
fresh coriander to serve (optional)
Method:
Blend all of the ingredients apart from the coconut milk, cardamom and sweet potato to puree in a blender, food processor or smoothie maker, adding some water if required.
Cook the puree on a medium/low heat for 10 minutes; pour in the coconut milk, add the cubed sweet potato & cardamom and cook on a low heat with a lid on for 30 minutes or until the sweet potato is cooked, remove the lid for the last 5 minutes to thicken.
Garnish with fresh coriander before serving.
Probiotic cashew mayo - plus a chicken & quinoa salad
Inspired by a recent trip to Planet Organic, this probiotic cashew mayo is nothing short of being a genius condiment.
It adds the kind of creamy and mildly acidic flavour that complements a wide variety of dishes very well.
Whilst it may sound out of the ordinary, blending cashews into a mayo foregoes the need for the addition of preservatives and added chemicals that commercial mayos are loaded with.
It's a pretty easy to make and doesn't need to be constantly kept in the fridge, alas it's a perfectly transportable lunch ingredient.
The addition of raw apple cider vinegar means this cashew mayo comes with the added benefit of being "probiotic".
Probiotics are simply live bacteria and yeasts that are good for health, in particular, they boost the digestive system.
Raw fermented products such as apple cider vinegar, yoghurts, sauerkraut and now this mayo are good sources.
Ingredients for the probiotic cashew mayo
100g cashews, soaked in water for a couple of hours or overnight
125ml water
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1/4 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper to season
Method:
Drain the cashews.
Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth.
Check the taste and season with more sea salt and freshly ground black pepper if required.
Chicken and quinoa salad
To make the salad, shred 1 poached chicken breast.
Put the chicken on a plate with a mix of greens such as sliced sugar snap peas, blanched asparagus and rocket.
Add 120g of cooked quinoa and drizzle liberally with the cashew mayo.
The 5 surprising benefits of chocolate
During a recent radio interview, the presenter came out with the following statement: "You won't make me give up chocolate will you?".
The nutritionist part of my brain was automatically flashing red. How can you diplomatically answer such a question? Yes, the average bar of chocolate is more sugar than cocoa, but the darker varieties can be advantageous.
Chocolate may not be quite as good for you as salad, but there is some evidence that it may not be entirely bad either.
Here is some science on the benefits:
It increases brain power
A recent study published in the journal Appetite found chocolate to be beneficial for cognition (1). Subjects that regularly consumed chocolate fared better on several tests such as “working memory” and “abstract reasoning” amongst others.
Whether or not this study was inspired by the average office on any given afternoon isn’t clear, but what it does prove is that chocolate boosts brain power.
It protects your ticker
A review paper by the University of Freiburg, Germany, concluded that specific compounds within cocoa may be beneficial for the heart (2).
Flavanols and epicatechins found in chocolate are thought to exert a blood pressure lowering effect by encouraging the blood vessels to relax.
If you think that’s too good to be true then here is the best part: to get a sufficient quantity of these compounds 100g (or a full bar) of chocolate is required.
The only caveat is to pick a high-quality dark chocolate since sugar has an opposing effect.
It’s a good source of iron
Vegetarians and vegans rejoice: dark chocolate is a more abundant source of iron than meat.
In fact, research by the Molise University, Italy, found 90% dark chocolate to contain three times as much iron as beef gram for gram. (3)
For best results, combine a few squares of dark chocolate with Vitamin C containing foods such as kiwi or oranges since Vitamin C improves iron uptake.
It’s a natural SPF
It is not suggested that you forgo suncream, however, researchers at The University of Quebec, Canada, found convincing evidence that high cocoa chocolate may offer some protection against sunburn (4).
According to this study, just 40g of dark chocolate per day increases the skin’s resilience against sun damage. Unsurprisingly, milk chocolate doesn’t exert the same effect.
It makes you feel good
This isn’t exactly new knowledge since any self-confessed chocoholic will tell you that, yes, chocolate does indeed make you feel good.
The science on the connection between mood and chocolate consumption was, however, lacking. This is until the clever scientists at Gettysburg College conducted a study.
They proved that chocolate does indeed increase mood, particularly if it is eaten “mindfully”. By paying attention to the chocolate that you are eating, instead of scoffing it down whilst multitasking, positive mood is amplified.
Please enjoy chocolate responsibly. Life is about balance so don't dodge the salad.
References:
(1) Crichton GE, Eliasb MF, Alkerwid A (2016) Chocolate intake is associated with better cognitive function: The Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. Appetite,100: 126-132.
(2)Vlachojannis J, Erne P, Zimmermann B, Chrubasik-Hausmann S (2016) The impact of cocoa flavanols on cardiovascular health. Phytotherapy Research, 30: 1641-1657.
(3) Cinquanta L, Di Cesare C, Manoni R, Piano A, Roberti P, Salvatori G (2016) Mineral essential elements for nutrition in different chocolate products.International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 67: 773-778.
(4) Mogollon JA, Boivin C, Lemieux S, Blanchet C, Claveau J, Dodin S (2014) Chocolate flavanols and skin photoprotection: a parallel, double-blind, randomized clinical trial.Nutrition Journal, 13: 66.
(5) Meier BP, Noll SW, Molokwu OJ (2017) The sweet life: The effect of mindful chocolate consumption on mood.Appetite, doi: 10.1016/ j.appet.2016.09.018.