Oct 19, 2018 | Anna's Best Recipes, Breakfasts & smoothies, Cakes, biscuits & bars, Recipes by category
These are light, fluffy and a real celebration of Autumn. Unlike totally grain-based gluten free cakes, these keep fresh and moist for days (just keep them somewhere cool). I like to use reusable silicon muffin cases for this – muffins come off really cleanly and you are reducing waste as well. I adapted the recipe from one I found on supermummy.com. with a bowl of natural coconut or dairy yoghurt and some berries these would make a good breakfast too. Yummy!
To make this into a breakfast enjoy each muffin with a generous dollop of unsweetened coconut/almond or dairy yoghurt. This gives more protein to keep you fuller longer….
To make 12 x 7cm muffins
2 level tbs honey or maple syrup
100g coconut oil (or butter, if you want dairy), melted with the maple honey and cooled
3 tbs unsweetened plant milk (or cows milk if you eat dairy)
1/2 tsp of vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp vanilla extract (not essence, if you want to be gluten-free)
2 large eggs*
75g buckwheat flour
75g ground almonds
1 level tsp baking soda (also called bread soda)
Generous pinch Himalayan salt
For the apple pieces:
2 apples, eaters or cookers
Optional: 1 tbs unsulphured raisins
1 tbs buckwheat flour
1 level tsp Ceylon cinnamon
*If you have any leftover egg whites in your fridge, this is a good place to use them up. Instead of using 2 large eggs, I used two small/medium ones then at the end, with the apple pieces I folded in 2 very stiffly beaten medium egg whites*. The result was fab.
1. Peel core and dice the apples. Toss in a bowl with 1 tbs buckwheat flour and the Ceylon cinnamon until fully coated. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven (fan 180C standard 195)
3. Beat butter/coconut oil, milk, syrup/honey, vanilla and eggs in a bowl until frothy.
4. In a separate bowl whisk buckwheat flour, ground almonds, baking soda and salt together. Add to the liquid mixture and beat until fully amalgamated.
5. Fold the coated apple pieces into the mixture (along with the optional 1-2 stiffly beaten egg whites if you have some hanging around the fridge).
6. Spoon the mixture into 12 x 7cm muffin cases, supported by a muffin tin if you have one (this gives a nice shape to the finished product). If you don’t have a muffin tin, use a baking tray for the muffin cases.
7. Heat your oven to 180C while the muffins rest for a few minutes.
8. Bake 20-25 minutes (mine took 20) until golden on top. They are done when a skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
Why these are better for you:
Buckwheat is eally a seed rather than a grain. It is packed with a polyphenol (natural plant chemical) called rutin. Rutin is a powerhouse for aiding collagen production. Collagen is needed for healthy bones, tendons, ligaments, gut, connective tissue, and for keeping you younger a lot longer. Rutin has recently been on my mind as I implement a programme to heal tendonitis. I had a few minor shoulder injuries a few years back that prevented me moving properly (for 4 years), the tendon got pinched an inflamed. Ouch!!! Nothing like a (lot of) discomfort to refocus the mind on a few forgotten foods.
Sweetened with coconut sugar or maple syrup and containing apple to help feed these good bacteria these are SO much better for you than standard muffins loaded with refned sugar and toxic oils.
Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free. In EVERYBODY (whether gluten-sensitive or “normal”) gluten tears the lining of your small intestine. The damage lasts a minimum of 3 hours in ALL people (recent research has filmed this!). This damage allows bacterial fragments, gut bacteria and undigested food to spill into your bloodstream- putting your immune system into “attack” mode. This is a factor in inflammatory, autoimmune and mental health conditions. Using coconut oil or butter instead of omega 6 oils (like rape, sunflower, for example) means you avoid toxic trans fats produced by heating or refining nut/seed oils like sunflower, vegetable, rapeseed, sesame or peanut. Butter is healthier than damaged polyunsaturated oils.
Oct 11, 2018 | Anna's Best Recipes, Cakes, biscuits & bars, Desserts & drinks
My friend Gretta shared the recipe for these delicious no-cook treats (from paleogrubs.com) with me. So easy and a real crowd-pleaser. Lovely as a decadent treat with a cup of green tea. Do use soft moist dates, otherwise the mix doesn’t stick together. I’ve left the measurements in cups because it’s quicker to make that way. If you are feeling fancy, use miniature cake/petits fours cases to serve.
As cashews are high in lectins (natural proteins that inhibit digestion) if you have a sensitive gut limit these to one or two and not every day.
1/2 cup (raw) almonds (1 cup is 230ml or a standard mug)
1/2 cup cashews
1½ cup Medjool or other soft moist dates, pitted
Zest and juice of 2 limes (organic if possible)
1/2 cup pure desiccated coconut
1. In a food processor blitz the nuts into small pieces not paste.
2. Add the dates, lime juice, zest. Pulse until the dates are finely chopped and the mix starts to clump.
3. Shape the mixture into 2-3cm balls. Roll in coconut. Store in fridge where they will keep for 4-5 days (if they last that long!)
Why these are better for you
These contain protein and unrefined oils. This prevents sugars in the dates from upsetting blood sugar levels (and potentially mood, energy, and concentration). Because they are made of unrefined ingredients they won’t rob valuable nutrients from your body. BUT think of these as treats, not staples, because dried fruit particularly, and even nuts, are best eaten sparingly. Too much dried fruit upsets the balance of bacteria in your gut and too many nuts give you too much omega 6 oil, and our bodies work best on just a little (about 1 tablespoon of raw nuts/seeds a day gives you plenty of omega 6). Cashews are not the best source of omega 6. They have to be steamed to make them edible so you can never buy raw cashew nuts. Raw nut oils are best. Great for a treat though.
Oct 5, 2018 | Anna's Best Recipes, Breakfasts & smoothies
I love this autumnal porridge with apples from the garden (we have a glut right now). Add Ceylon cinnamon, a grated apple and a dessertspoon or two of protein powder and you have a slow-burn meal that takes you through to lunch no problem. I love spices and what they do for your body so if I have time I also put in a pinch of ground cloves – a reminder of my childhood and my mother, who made the best apple tarts, always with a few cloves. Instead of the apple stirred into the porridge you can also top the finished product with a cupful of thawed or fresh mixed berries.
For 1 big eater (if portion size seems too big, reduce oats by 1/3 and protein powder to 1 rounded dsp)
Just under 1/2 mug (about 40g) gluten-free porridge oats or (if you are not gluten-sensitive, normal porridge/jumbo oats/oatmeal)
1 tsp Ceylon (Sri Lankan) cinnamon
1-2 dsp additive-free protein powder (I like a mix of sprouted rice protein and pea protein or Nu Zest brand but for dairy-eaters grass-fed whey protein concentrate like Solgar Vanilla Whey-To-Go is also good and some people prefer it)
1 apple – organic if possible
1 heaped tbs (2 heaped dsp) mixed raw milled seeds (get a blend that includes flax/chia)
Optional: pure stevia drops to sweeten (if you are only just weaning off sugar) or use a little xylitol or erythritol/stevia blend (from health shops)
1.If you think of it the night before, soak your oats in boiling water – cover the oats so you have at least 1.5cm of water on top, they will drink it all up. This reduces the cooking time A LOT and makes them easier to digest. If you forget to soak the oats overnight, just pour on boiling water when you get up.
2.Bring the oats to the boil then simmer until a lot of the grains have broken down.
3. Grate your apple (unless its organic, peel it first) into the porridge, add the cinnamon, protein powder and (if using) your stevia drops/xylitol etc. Give it a good stir. At this point it will probably be too thick so add some boiling water, give it all a good stir and pour into your bowl.
4.Top with the seeds and get stuck in.
Why this is good for you:
Oats and apples are a rich source of prebiotic fibre that feeds your good gut bacteria. These bugs are vital for digestive, skin, hormonal and mental health (in fact every aspect of your health). If the apples are not organic they are usually contaminated with agri-chemicals toxic to humans. You can read about contaminants in apples here: https://www.ewg.org/release/apples-top-ewgs-dirty-dozen . Oats are naturally low in gluten (their only gluten being contamination by wheat or barley). Low/no gluten foods are easier to digest. In all grains, beans,and pulses there are problematic proteins called lectins that are reduced by soaking/sprouting. This is why some people tolerate sourdough wheat bread but not other forms of wheat bread. The sourdough fermentation process reduces or lectins, including gluten, by over 99%. Many plants contain lectins – they are the plants defence against being eaten and digested!!
Protein: Adding protein from (seeds, additive-free protein powder) slows your digestion. This gives you a steady feed of energy rather than a quick burst, followed by feeling exhausted, down or hungry. Buy a raw milled seed mix or grind your own blend (flax, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame) using an electric coffee/spice grinder. Keep in an airtight glass jar in the fridge.
Spices: Ceylon/Sri Lanka Cinnamon (but not products labelled simply “cinnamon”) helps balance your blood sugar and is a powerful antioxidant. So if you want to lower inflammation, be a healthy weight, slow the ageing process, balance hormones and maintain a good, stable mood this sort of breakfast is a winner.
There are of course, some people who do much better on a grain-free diet altogether, but this is a more personalised area of nutrition aimed at resolving specific health issues.
Aug 22, 2018 | Anna's Best Recipes, Main courses, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
I made this for a birthday gathering last week and people LOVED it. It is a baked version of the more oily deep green frittata popular among Persians. There they serve little squares of it with drinks. This quantity makes enough to serve 4 people as part of a mezze meal. Give yourself plenty of time to make it though, it takes a while to process or chop all the herbs. The recipe is from Sabrina Ghayour’s Persiana.
200g flat leaf parsley
200g fresh coriander
40g fresh dill
40g fresh chives
2 bunches spring onions, thinly sliced
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp turmeric powder
8 medium organic eggs
2 tbsp gluten-free flour of your choice (I mix millet, gluten-free oat flour and sorghum or brown rice flour. Or use gluten-free oats blitzed to a flour in your food processor)
2 rounded tbs thick kefir or Greek yoghurt (to thicken your kefir, line a sieve with muslin or a single layer of kitchen paper, strain the kefir, letting the thin whey drain off). If you are very dairy-sensitive you can use natural soya yoghurt instead of Greek yoghurt/kefir (though many dairy-sensitive people can cope with fully fermented home-made kefir because the casein and lactose has been digested by friendly bugs)
3 tsp gluten-free baking powder
½ level tsp Himalayan salt or Atlantic sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
3-4 heaped tbs dried barberries, optional (I buy mine in the Asia Market, Dublin 2)
100g walnut pieces, chopped
Pyrex/ovenproof dish (22x30cm is ideal)
Non-stick baking paper (silicon paper)
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C. On a medium heat warm a large cooking pot.
2. Finely chop all the herbs (if using a food processor, do this in 2 batches). Pour the olive oil into the warm pan and sweat the spring onions and herbs for a few minutes, then add the turmeric and stir to mix. Cook for a further 5 mins, then place the herbs on a flat plate and allow to cool.
3. Grease your ovenproof/pyrex dish and line with non-stick baking paper. This makes it easier to remove after everything is cooked.
4. Beat the eggs with the kefir/yoghurt, baking powder, salt, gluten-free flour and about half a level teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper (or to taste).
5. Once the herb mix has cooled so its no longer piping hot, slowly add a couple of spoonfuls at a time to the egg mixture and stir well until all the herb mix is combined. Add in the barberries and walnut and mix well once again.
6. Pour in the egg and herb mixture and bake for 35-40 mins. To check if the frittata is cooked, insert a knife into the centre. If it comes out clear of raw egg, the dish is done. If not, return to the oven for a few minutes. Once cooked, allow to cool, then cut into squares to serve. Enjoy…
Why this is good for you:
All herbs and many spices (especially turmeric) have antioxidant properties, helping reduce inflammation and keep you looking and feeling younger longer. Most herbs and spices have a selective action on your gut bacteria – fostering the helpful bacteria and helping reduce numbers of pathogens (disease-causing ones). Coriander also helps chelate (bind) the toxic metal mercury. If you have mercury dental fillings you are ingesting a significant dose every single time you eat. when coriander is in your gut at the same time it latches on to the mercury and escorts it safely out via your bowel. Onion family veggies also feed good bacteria which are needed for ALL aspects of your health. Green plant foods are rich in magnesium needed for detoxification of the many toxins our body needs to process every day. Magnesium is essential for keeping us calm and happy.
Jun 1, 2018 | Anna's Best Recipes, Main courses, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
This is a lovely on a summer’s day – especially as we’re getting some decent sun here in Ireland this year. The photo doesn’t do it justice – it’s day-glo green! If you have young children and a spiralizer they will really enjoy helping make the courgetti. Otherwise just buy spiralized courgettes or at a push, take a grater and grate the courgettes lenghtwise to get very long strings. To make this a complete meal just add some protein – maybe some leftover cooked chicken, or some prawns tossed in a hot pan with a little coconut oil and a chopped red chilli until cooked. The recipe is by food blogger Aoife Howard.
To serve 3
1 tsp garlic (1 big clove) crushed
1 large bunch fresh basil, destalked (reserve a few leaves for serving)
Juice 1/2 lemon
1/2 a ripe avocado
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Water
5 stalks of kale, washed, destalked and roughly chopped
Himalayan salt, sea salt and black pepper
1-2 courgettes per person, spiralized
1. Food processor method: combine avocado, lemon juice, basil, olive oil and kale. Pulse the mix, gradually adding the water one tablespoon at a time until smooth
Blender method: liquidize the garlic, basil, lemon juice, avocado and oil with a couple of tablespoons of water til smooth. With the motor running add the kale gradually, dropping in a few bits at a time. Blitz till everything is a vibrant, smooth green sauce. You might need to add a few more tablespoons of water to get the right consistency to coat your courgetti.
2. Add the salt and pepper to taste.
3. The courgetti can be eaten raw but if you prefer, gently warm through on a frying pan (ideally ceramic*) for 1-2 minutes until tender. If you don’t have a ceramic pan, you’ll need to put the merest smear of olive oil on your pan to stop the courgetti sticking.
4. Drizzle the pesto over the courgetti and toss well. serve topped with your choice of protein and garnish with a few torn up basil leaves.
* Why use a ceramic pan? These are pans that have a great non-stick surface but don’t add toxic teflon to your food every time you cook. Teflon is the black coating on non-stick cookware. The next best thing to a ceramic pan would be stainless steel or even cast iron.
Why this is good for you:
Raw food contains enzymes which help digestion. It also retains more vitamins (C and B vitamins) than cooked food. Green foods are rich in magnesium which helps us unwind mentally and physically and is also crucial for our immune systems. Basil, garlic and extra virgin olive oil help reduce numbers of toxic micro organisms in your gut. For optimum vitality long-term we all need to eat at least half our lunch AND dinner as non-starchy veggies like greens and salad vegetables.
