Sep 23, 2016 | Anna's Best Recipes, Breakfasts & smoothies
This is just the thing for when you have a minute in the evening but no time in the morning rush. You can even make it in a glass jar with lid and take it with you to work. I adapted the recipe from one by Derval O’Rourke to have more protein and a lot less starchy carb. So it will keep you going longer and is not a weight-gainer breakfast. If you like this but find it too cool on an autumn morning, you could warm it very gently for a minute or two in a small pan before eating.
For 1:
35g gluten-free oatflakes, about 2/5 of a mug (or normal porridge oats if you eat gluten)
1 heaped tbs (tablespoon) walnuts, roughly broken up, chopped or left whole
1 heaped tbs chia seeds
1 cup frozen raspberries (or use fresh but don’t add until the morning)
10 drops pure stevia (from health stores) – optional
250 ml milk: unsweetened almond milk, thin coconut milk with no additives (or if you prefer goat’s or cow’s milk you can use that but do refrigerate overnight).
1. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix and cover with a plate or cling film.
2. Allow to stand overnight. If you used cow/goat milk store in the fridge.
3. The next morning, add another splash of milk if you fancy and enjoy.
Why this is good for you:
All grains, even oats, contain phytates. Phytates lock onto nutrient minerals like zinc, forming large molecules that can’t be absorbed into your body. Wheat contains some of the highest levels of phytates. Oats contain fewer but soaking any grain overnight dramatically reduces phytate levels. Raw berries are a powerhouse of polyphenols which help keep your body strong, healthy and young-looking. They even help toughen up a sensitive tummy or help clear your skin. Try to get organic berries if you can. Walnuts and chia seeds provide you with protein to keep you full and when they are soaked their nutrients become more available for your body to absorb. They also contain omega 3 fats and minerals to benefit your body. Unfortunately oats are steamed to make them into oatflakes so this doesn’t qualify as a totally raw breakfast but it’s still great for you.
Sep 12, 2016 | Anna's Best Recipes, Main courses, Packed lunches, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
Bleck-eyed beans with sweet potato and coriander
This is real comfort food and a great crossover dish for feeding vegetarians and carnivores at the same dinner table. It’s pretty rich in protein do if you are feeding a vegetarian its a good choice. But you can also serve it as an accompaniment to roast or grilled meat or fish. I love to eat it as a vegetarian dinner with just a simple green salad or some steamed green/runner beans drizzled with olive oil and paprika. The recipe was I think from Cafe Paradiso but I changed the recipe a bit to use non-toxic oils. Hope you enjoy it. It also works great as a salad in a box to take to work or school.
For 6 as an accompaniment or 3 as a main course
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled
1 large bunch coriander, stalks and all, chopped
400g dried black-eyed beans (health stores/most supermarkets) soaked in boiling water for 45 minutes
or
2 cans of tinned black eyed beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbs extra virgin oive oil (1 dsp for cooking and 3 dsp for mixing in at the end)
2 large red onions, peeled and sliced or chopped
1½ heaped tsp cumin seeds (the Asia Market good for inexpensive spices)
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1½ tbs lime juice
¼ tsp Himalayan salt or Atlantic sea salt
1. If using dried beans (and not tinned) , drain the soaked beans and put them into a large pot, adding enough boiling water to cover the beans by a few centimetres, and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that comes to the surface and cook on a gentle boil for at least 45 mins. Top up with more hot water if it reduces too much. Test the beans to see if they’re cooked and continue until they’re done, when they should be drained, reserving the stock. If using tinned beans, rinse and drain well.
2. Dice the sweet potatoes into ½”/1 cm cubes. Then steam until the point of a knife goes in easily but they are not mushy. Drain carefully and keep the liquid.
3. Place 1 dsp olive oil and 1 dsp water in a large heavy bottomed saucepan, add the onion and cumin and sweat (covered) on a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 mins. Add the lime juice, bring to the boil, then remove from the heat. Gently mix in the sweet potato, beans, the rest of the olive oil (1½ tbs), coriander, ¼ teaspoon salt, plenty of freshly ground black pepper and ideally leave sit for an hour before serving. This intensifies the flavours.
Why this is good for you:
Extra virgin olive oil, is good for heart health. It contains anti-inflammatory vitamin E, polyphenols and a whole host of other compounds shown to boost our health and vitality. Coriander helps sooth your digestive system and also helps reduce numbers of “bad” bacteria in your digestive system. Too many unhelpful types of bacteria in your gut can cause acne, digestive disorders and even anxiety states and low mood.
Beans are a rich source of magnesium, deficiency of which is linked to stress, constipation, insomnia, anxiety and difficulties with skin health. Refined foods (sugar/white grains), alcohol, stimulants and smoking rob you of magnesium.
Aug 31, 2016 | Anna's Best Recipes, Main courses, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
This is delicious hot, lukewarm or cold. I also like to mix leftovers with cooked quinoa to take to work. People living on the Greek island of Ikaria have the secret of healthy longevity. This is one of their recipes, which I found in the Irish Times recently. We can’t get giant white beans here but butter beans work really well. I wasn’t sure it would turn out well, but it was delicious – very intense flavours. It contains a lot of liquid. So make sure to use a large dish, otherwise it can boil over in the oven (like it did on me). Slicing the carrots very thinly is a bit of a fiddly chore unless you use a mandolin or a food processor. If you can’t face it or don’t own a decent knife: slice about 1/2 cm thick, steam for a few minutes to soften (keeping the water to make the veg stock with so you don’t lose flavour or nutrients). If you put thick sliced raw carrots into the dish they will still be raw when everything else is starting to burn! Yummy though. This also works well as a side dish with, say, roast lamb.
For 4:
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 x 640g jar of passata (sieved tomatoes)
2 x 400g tins butter beans, drained (or soak 400g or 2 cups dried beans overnight and boil till tender)
3 onions, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
4 carrots, thinly sliced
2 large beef (or 4 regular) tomatoes, sliced
A good handful of fresh oregano (if you can’t get it, use 1 dsp dried)
A few sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
300ml vegetable stock
Sea salt and ground black pepper
- Preheat an oven to 220 degrees (205C fan).
- Add the onions and garlic to a bowl with four tablespoons of olive oil. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Massage the onions until they begin to soften down.
- Arrange the butter beans in the base of a large earthenware or baking dish. Place carrots on top.
- Pour over the passata and spread evenly. Arrange the onion mixture across the top, then the tomato slices and press the herbs on top.
- Pour over the vegetable stock, drizzle on the remaining oil and season. Bake on the middle shelf for 40 minutes or until the point of a knife or cooking skewer goes through the carrots easily.
Serve warm, lukewarm or cool with a green salad on the side. You can use leftovers as an accompaniment to grilled or baked white fish. Or (provided you’re not on SC Diet) stir into cooked quinoa to make a quick lunch (or packed lunch).
Why this is good for you:
Butter beans, onions and garlic give you soluble fibre which feeds good gut bacteria needed to help you get rid of toxins, have happier mood (yes, gut bacteria make the feel-good brain chemical serotonin!) and a healthier immune system. A healthy immune system is one that doesn’t over react causing autoimmunity (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism). Nor does it under react causing lowered resistence to viral, bacterial or fungal infections. Lycopene in tomatoes is fantastic for supporting vision and so are carrots with their various carotenoids. Lycopene and carotenoids are antioxidants – they protect you from damage.
Jun 27, 2016 | Anna's Best Recipes, Main courses, Packed lunches
I got this from a newspaper. No idea who wrote the recipe but it’s delicious and so fast, and comforting. It has become a favorite and we often eat it with quinoa and a steamed green veggie for a filling dinner. I often don’t bother with the avocado and yoghurt and it’s still lovely. Also nice as a bean salad served cold, I find.
Bean mixture:
1 large onion, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
A 400g can of any of these beans: black, black eyed, kidney or borlotti (or mugful/200g dried beans: soak overnight in clean water, drain, cover with boiling water and boil hard till tender – this gives you a larger quantity of beans in the finished dish but it still works)
1 dsp tomato puree
2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
To serve:
Little gem lettuce leaves and the following which are optional:
A dollop of natural or Greek yoghurt (if you avoid dairy, use natural soya yoghurt)
Chopped avocado
Lime juice (or lemon juice)
A little Himalayan salt or Atlantic sea salt
- Steam-fry the onion in a dessertspoon of coconut oil and a spash of water. This means covering the pan with a lid or plate, letting the onions steam until translucent and softened).
Add the beans, tomato puree, garlic, cumin and smoked paprika. Simmer 5 minutes. - Spoon into little gem lettuce leaves along with a dollop of (dairy-free or dairy) yoghurt, some chopped avocado, and plenty of lime juice and a little Himalayan salt.
Alternative dinner idea:
Serve with quinoa and a steamed green e.g. broccoli, runner beans or peas.
Packed lunch idea
Bring the leftover bean filling, little gem lettuce leaves, a lime or lemon, and an avocado to work. Reheat the filling (or not), chop or mash the avocado and mix with lemon or lime juice and a little salt. Spoon the filling onto the lettuce leaves and enjoy the avocado mix on the side.
Why this is good for you
Onions and beans contain soluble fibre. This feeds beneficial bacteria in your gut, which are responsible for 80% of detoxification. And scientists used to think that your liver with it’s 5,000+ chemical reactions every day was the main organ of detox! This detox is really important for your skin, your energy and hormone balance – in fact every aspect of your health. Extra virgin olive oil, garlic and spices are anti-inflammatory and help suppress overgrowth of “bad” bacteria in your gut. This can have a dramatically improving effect on digestion and much more…
May 11, 2016 | Anna's Best Recipes, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
Aubergine mint feta and sundried tomato bites
I concocted these delicious salty, minty, meaty bites recently. Great for providing some soakage with a glass of wine before a nice dinner (helps you avoid the sugar rush from the wine). The combination of mint and grilled aubergine gives a Middle Eastern feel, I think. do try to get true feta (made from goat or sheep milk, not cow). It has a better flavour and is easier to digest.
Makes about 20
1 very large or 2 medium aubergines, sliced lengthways into 1cm thick slices
1 tsp ground coriander
A few sprigs fresh mint
Half a block of goat or sheep feta cheese
5 sun dried (or semi sun dried) tomatoes marinated in oil, each cut in quarters or sixths
Freshly ground black pepper
To secure: cocktail sticks or around 20 long chives
1. Arrange the aubergine slices on a grill and sprinkle with ground coriander. Grill under a medium heat until golden, turn and continue cooking until softened. These will keep for several days in the fridge or until you are ready to assemble the bites.
2. Slice the long aubergine pieces crossways into 4cm wide strips. Onto each piece of aubergine put a piece of sun-dried tomato and a piece of torn mint leaf.
3. Give everything a good grind of black pepper. Roll the aubergine up with the mint and tomato inside. Secure with a cocktail stick or if you are feeling super-fancy, tie with a chive, knotted to hold everything together.
Why these are better for you
Did you know that goat and sheep cheese are easier for many of us to digest than cow cheese? This is because they contain less of the hard-to-digest casein protein than cow milk products do. Any cheese with a tangy taste has also undergone some fermentation, converting the lactose (milk sugar) into lactic acid. This means that they are not a problem for people who can’t digest lactose. If you have taken antibiotics, have an inflammatory bowel condition or have digestive or skin issues you could be low in beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus. This impairs your ability to digest lactose. Mint and peppermint can help reduce levels of bad bacteria (that’s why they are in toothpaste!) but support growth of good bugs. This can be really helpful for making your digestive system more comfortable after a meal. Coriander is anti-inflammatory, anti-ageing as well as being delicious. Caution: don’t cram in tons of sundried tomatoes or feta every day because these are very high in table salt. Table salt is an industrial product with added aluminium to keep it from clumping – this makes it not very good for us. For adding to food, Atlantic sea salt or Himalayan salt is a better choice as it contains other minerals besides sodium. Eating protein with your glass of wine instead of high carb snacks like crisps or bread sticks means you don’t get a sugar rush (very damaging to all your body tissues, including a leading cause of wrinkles!!).
