May 8, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Desserts & drinks, Dressings, rubs, spreads, sauces & more
When I was in Marrakech last year I had a lovely concoction called cafe aux epices – literally coffee with spices. I like to make my coffee as normal, add the spices and then the milk or plant milk. Do remember to buy spices as fresh as possible and store airtight in a dark and ideally cool place. This prevents them losing their potency and flavour. There is a world of difference between stale and fresh spices.
I would suggest the only spice that’s really essential is the Ceylon cinnamon, everything else is mix and match according to your preference.
6 teaspoons ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of one or more of the following:
Ground cloves
Ground aniseed/fennel
Ground black pepper
Ground ginger
Why this is good for you:
Did you know that you have a very individual metabolic response to caffeine? If you (like me) have the genetic variant of the CYP1A2 gene then having more than 1 cup a day increases risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. This is why studies in the past have produced conflicting results on how coffee affects heart health. BUT just a cup a day can be beneficial for most of us. However some people with digestive issues may need to skip coffee and substitute dandelion coffee (try www.intelligenttea.ie mail order ground dandelion coffee – its delicious). Lighter roast coffee contains more beneficial polyphenols than dark. Polyphenols modify your good bacteria in favour of the good guys that help immunity and reduce inflammation.
Spices have an antioxidant effect. They stimulate your body to make more antioxidants. This is a great idea if you prefer not to struggle with inflammation. All common chronic health conditions of are driven by inflammation e.g. heart disease, asthma, eczema, depression, autoimmune conditions (e.g. hypothyroidism, Crohn’s) and cancer. Tens of thousands of high quality research papers published in peer reviewed scientific journals confirm the various health benefits of spices. By the way, Ceylon cinnamon helps you regulate blood sugar levels. So if you have insulin-resistence (pre-diabetets) or type II diabetes a teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon a day is a fantastic thing to add in – whether in coffee/coffee substitutes, mixed in porridge/granola or in curries.
Apr 29, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Main courses, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
I wish I could claim this idea as my own but every supermarket now sells spiralized courgettes for you to use instead of pasta. The oil and salt lift courgetti from being worthy to being delicious. I used to make a lot of wholemeal pasta dinners until I studied nutrition. Then I realised the large proportion of starchy foods in meals was contributing to my fatigue, frequent infections and poor stress tolerance. Rebalancing my plate helped me enormously within days.
For 2 people
2 medium courgettes
2 dsp extra virgin olive oil (more if you want!)
Pinch of Himalayan salt or sea salt
1. Make long strands of courgette: Either grate them lengthways (skin and all) on the big side of your grater or use a spiralizer.
2. Heat a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the olive oil, the courgetti and scatter over a generous pinch of salt.
3. Now heat, stirring every so often, for around 5 minutes. You want them heated, VERY slightly softened, but not so soft they release water and go into a bit of a mush. It took me a few tries to get this right!
4. Serve immediately with your pasta sauce. Enjoy!
Why this is good for you:
When we eat more than 1/4 of our lunch and dinner as high carb foods (e.g. pasta, potatoes, bread) it makes us more likely to struggle with poor detoxification (acne, PMS, headaches or fatigue anyone?). Your body stores excessive sugars as fat and this is why reducing carbohydrates to modest levels helps so quickly in getting you to your ideal weight. Farmers know that one of the fastest ways of fattening their livestock for market is to switch from grass-feeding to grain-feeding. Excessive sugars come not only from “healthy” grains, potatoes and fruit juice but also (even more) from added sugar foods like biscuits, cakes and “fruit juice drinks”.
About wheat pasta: Did you know that gluten breeches the lining of your small intestine within minutes of reaching it? This allows gut bacteria, waste and undigested food to flood into your bloodstream. It’s called increased intestinal permeability and lasts for a minimum of 3 hours. This has been proven by ground-breaking research using capsule video cameras swallowed by HEALTHY STUDY VOLUNTEERS. This is not related to gluten sensitivity or coeliac disease. It happens to everyone though its effects are more serious in those groups. So finding ways to lower gluten in our daily eating is a great way of moving towards better health. Looking after your gut lining makes you less likely to suffer sepsis should you become very ill with an infection. Low gluten grain choices include sourdough bread and oats. If you have an autoimmune condition like hypothyroidism (90% is autoimmune) you will need to switch to naturally (not highly processed!) gluten-free options.
Apr 18, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Desserts & drinks
This is easy to make and a fantastic support for your immune system. I have many packets of kefir grains packaged up in my freezer in 2019 ready to post to you (in Ireland) or to be picked up (by prior arrangement, with social distancing) if you live locally. These will get you started.
I call kefir the king of fermented foods. It’s very like natural yoghurt but more tangy because it is fully fermented so contains no milk sugar (lactose). It also thinner. Sometimes I strain my kefir through muslin to get a texture like greek yoghurt but mostly I use it as a drink, in smoothies or blended with a banana. Milk kefir contains over 30 different types of probiotics (beneficial yeasts and bacteria) compared to one or two species in yoghurt. Kefir includes lactobacillus plantarum and rhamnosus which studies have shown can help alleviate inflammatory bowel conditions. It also contains saccharomyces boulardii which successfully raises secretory IgA (an antibody) in your airways and gut. sIgA defends you against throat, lung and gut infections. Commercial kefir products are of variable quality and often are not fully fermented. This means they taste sweeter but have not broken down the hard-to-digest milk protein (casein) nor the lactose (milk sugar). They do not always contain live bacteria either. Making your own is the way to go and its really simple.
Friendly gut bacteria perform 80% (!) of your detoxification. They are important for energy, good skin, allergy control, preventing obesity and diabetes and healing your digestive system. They reduce the tendency to auto-immune conditions by promoting “immune “tolerance” or balance. Every type of good bacteria has its own special functions so the more you can get into your diet the better. Our grandparents ate a lot of fermented foods before the days of fridges but now our diet is sterile. Because kefir is easy to make and use it’s one of my favourite fermented foods to share with people. Use it any way you like, so long as you don’t expose it to heat. Eating it fresh ensures more beneficial bacteria. Add it to smoothies, knock half a glass back after a meal once or twice a day, or even use it to soak oat or buckwheat based muesli overnight to make super-digestible Birchner muesli (recipe on this blog).
Making kefir
There are two ways to make kefir. You can use live kefir grains that reproduce and will last a lifetime if you treat them right or you can purchase kefir freeze-dried culture packets (single use). In the recipe for Basic Kefir, I teach you how to make kefir using live grains. Kefir “grains” are in fact a cluster of microorganisms (bacteria and beneficial yeasts) held together by a polysaccharide matrix named kefiran.
Where to buy live kefir grains
In Ireland try the Sharing Starter Cultures Ireland FB group. This is a group of people who swap and donate surplus cultures – just put up a post to see who near you has grains to spare and collect for free. You can also email me to see if I have grains to spare that you could collect. Good grains will be creamy-white and look like springy cauliflower florets. Treat them right and they will live indefinitely, and grow. From anywhere in Ireland you can also buy grains online at www.adverts.ie. Or buy the kefir culture packets I mentioned before, but these only make a certain amount of kefir –you have to keep buying them.
Quantities
If you are only making kefir for one person, use1 tbs of grains for a cup (230ml) of milk. In a warm kitchen this will usually be fermented within 24 hours. If you are using from frozen it can take longer for the grains to revive.
How to Make Dairy Kefir
For top-quality kefir, try to buy organic milk. Goat’s milk is great but cow’s milk is fine too.
People who are dairy sensitive CAN usually tolerate well-fermented (i.e. not shop bought) kefir. This is because, when the kefir organisms ferment the milk, the lactose (milk sugar) is broken down and so is the casein (the main milk protein). Lactose intolerance is due to not producing lactase, an enzyme that digests lactose. Dairy sensitivity/allergy is due to difficulties breaking down casein. Casein is the protein that causes a problem for people with dairy allergy or sensitivity. The kefir micro organisms hydrolyse (break down) the casein, in effect pre-digesting it. This means there is no intact casein left in the kefir. Lactose is digested by kefir bacteria to produce beneficial lactic acid.
You can use the method below to make any amount of kefir you like. Just keep in mind that a good rule of thumb is to use 1 tablespoon of kefir grains per 1 cup of milk. So, if you want to make 1 cup of kefir, use 1 tablespoon of kefir grains and 1 cup of milk. For 2 cups of kefir use 2 tbs of grains and 2 cups of milk. Never heat kefir as this kills the good bacteria.
For 2 servings:
2 tbs live kefir Grains*
450ml/2 cups whole milk preferably organic. I use raw organic milk (available from organic markets such as The Green Door www.thegreendoor.ie in Dublin 12).
Plastic strainer
- Place fresh kefir grains in a glass jar and add the milk (It’s best not to fill jar more than ⅔ – ¾ full)
- Place a lid or plastic wrap loosely over the jar (those good bacteria need oxygen to fermwent) and let sit at room temperature for approx. 18 to 24 hours, or until the milk has thickened. (You might want to designate a spot for kefir fermentation in a cupboard or away from direct sunlight).
- It is important to swirl the kefir gently in the jar a few times during fermentation to mix the grains with the milk. This means all the milk is fully fermented, allowing less possibility for food sensitivity reactions (to lactose or milk proteins). If you are not sensitive to dairy products you don’t need to be so careful.
- Pour the contents into a strainer to separate your grains from the liquid kefir.
- Wash the jar, then place the kefir grains from the strainer back into the washed jar. (Do not add kefir grains to a jar that is still hot from washing! The heat can kill your grains) Then add fresh milk.
- The whole process is repeated again. The ready-to-use kefir can now be stored in the fridge until you are ready to use it – it will last for weeks, probably becoming more tangy as it goes as the last of the sugars are consumed by the grains.
If you are going away, remember to put your kefir grains in enough milk to keep it alive and fermenting for the number of days you are away. If you are away for 5 days, you will need 5 cups of milk per tablespoon of kefir, and it will still be alive when you get back. Or strain the grains and store in the freezer. They usually come back to life no problem.
How to Make Almond (or Coconut) Milk Kefir
This is an alternative to dairy kefir if you are vegan or highly sensitive to dairy. Don’t worry that the almond milk is sweetened. The kefir grains eat the sugars from the honey or agave syrup, using them up to support itself, leaving the finished product as low sugar (low glycaemic index) drink that won’t mess with your digestive system. Or buy unsweetened almond milk and add a teaspoon of natural agave syrup or honey to each 230ml of milk. Never heat kefir as this kills the good bacteria. I buy my almond milk for this from Dublin Food Co Op in Newmarket, near St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin 8. http://www.dublinfood.coop/ Most decent health stores sell almond milk. Ecomil original is a good brand (free from harmful additives like polysorbate 80 and sodium carboxymethylcellulose).
For 2 servings
2 tbs live kefir Grains*
450ml/2 cups agave-sweetened or honey-sweetened almond milk
500ml (or larger) glass jar with lid (or use a saucer/muslin and elastic band)
Plastic (not metal) strainer
- Place fresh kefir grains in a glass jar and add the almond milk (It’s best not to fill jar more than ⅔ – ¾ full)
- Place a lid or plastic wrap on the jar and let sit at room temperature for approx. 18 to 24 hours, or until the milk has thickened or has become sour to your liking. (You might want to designate a spot for kefir fermentation in a cupboard or away from direct sunlight)
- Pour the contents into a strainer to separate your grains from the liquid kefir.
- Wash the jar, then place the kefir grains from the strainer back into the washed jar. (Do not add kefir grains to a jar that is still hot from washing! The heat can kill your grains) Then add fresh milk.
- The whole process is repeated again. The ready-to-use kefir can now be stored in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
- If you are going away either:
a.strain off, rinse (in filtered or boiled cooled water) and freeze your grains until you want to use them again
b.put your kefir grains in enough milk to keep it alive and fermenting for the number of days you are away. If you are away for 5 days, you will need 5 cups of milk per tablespoon of kefir, and it will still be alive when you get back (especially if you put it in a coolish place).
c. some people bring the grains with them on holidays so they don’t miss out!
*There are special considerations that you have to take when making almond, coconut or other non-dairy kefir.
Kefir grains do not survive in almond or coconut milk long-term. They grow and thrive by eating the lactose from dairy milk, and since there is no lactose in almond or coconut milk, the grains will need to be refreshed in dairy milk (sheep, goat or cow) once a week or more. Beneficial cultures in dairy-free kefir will be less diverse and possibly lower in number.
Allow 1 cup or 230ml milk for each tablespoon of kefir grains, and make kefir in the usual way by fermenting the kefir with the milk (24 hours per cup of milk works well). The lactose in the milk feeds and grows the kefir. Then you can reuse the grains to make almond or coconut kefir again. You can also rinse them in coconut or almond milk to remove the dairy if you are allergic. The more often you do this, the more your grains will grow and multiply. It’s the lactose that keeps the bacteria alive and thriving.
Did you know?
In hot weather your kefir will be ready sooner. Warm temperatures speed up the process. Cooler temperatures delay it.
Books on fermenting, with lots of recipes:
Schwenk, Donna Cultured Food for Life
Pike, Charlotte Fermented
Apr 13, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Cakes, biscuits & bars, Desserts & drinks
I love these and just baked a load after a lovely walk in our woods close-by. Once my supplies of unusual ingredients like healthier-than-sugar xylitol and erythritol run out I will be going online to shop in www.evergreen.ie , www.nourish.ie or nipping into my local shop Get Fresh in Ballyroan for supplies. This recipe is from Darina Allen. The only change I made was dropping sugar and substituting xylitol.
I like to eat these with some fresh raspberry/strawberry coulis sweetened with xylitol/erythritol/stevia and a big dollop of whipped cream. To make a coulis pour some frozen/fresh berries into a pan, cook until thawed and soft, mash a bit and add your (healthier) sweetener. It is a really good idea to avoid chemical sweeteners like sucralose, saccharin & aspartame because ironically these sabotage good gut bugs and contribute to weight gain!! These scones are not a health-booster but are less health-sabotaging than sugar-laden scones.
Tomorrow back to normality after my binge on high carbohydrate foods like breads, cakes and potatoes since lockdown. But for today, these yummy scones.
To make 6-7 decent size scones
138g white or blend of white and brown rice flour (I like Dove’s Farm mix of white and brown)
25g tapioca flour
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
1 rounded tsp xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt (sea salt/Himalayan salt)
2 rounded tablespoons erythritol/xylitol
55g butter, chilled
55g sultanas (optional)
1 egg, organic if possible
125-175ml natural yoghurt or (better for dairy-sensitive folk) natural, home-made kefir
Egg wash (optional, if you like a shiny top on your scones) – this is just a beaten egg
1. Preheat oven to 250C (235C fan)
2. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.
3. Rub in the butter, then add sultanas and gently mix together.
4. Lightly whisk the yoghurt/kefir and egg together.
5. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the egg yoghurt/kefir and mix to a soft dough. Add a little more yoghurt/kefir if needed.
6. Turn onto a rice-floured board and knead lightly, just enough to shape into a round (knead too much and the result will be tough)
7. Roll to around 2.5cm thick, stamp into scones with a 5.5cm round cutter. Place on a rice-floured baking sheet and if using, brush with the egg wash.
8. Bake for approximately 10 minutes until golden brown on top. Leave to cool for a while on a wire rack.
9. Serve split in half with butter, or my fruit coulis (above), some no-added sugar jam like Follain or St Dalfour and whipped/clotted cream.
Why these are better for you:
OK, so a snack made from grains, cream and sweet stuff is never going to be a net health-promoter but by avoiding added sugar you are really helping reduce inflammation and helping your immune system fight off bad bugs. Did you know that gluten, in “normal” baking, opens up the normally tight barrier in your small intestine. These “tight junctions” are there to prevent toxins, bacterial by-products and undigested food spilling from your gut into your bloodstream. Gluten produces this reaction in normal, healthy volunteers and has been videoed live by researchers using capsule video cameras. Who knew!! This loss of barrier function lasts for 3-5 hours after gluten hits your small intestine. Remember, this is not only in people with gluten sensitivity. Why this is relevant to your health is that a damaged gut barrier opens the door to ALL chronic health conditions and stresses your immune system, leaving you more open to infection. A damaged gut barrier also increases sepsis in hospital patients.
Switching to a home-made fruit coulis (with healthy sweeteners) or a no-added sugar jam like St Dalfour/Follain brands means less of an assault on your immune system. Stay well.
Apr 4, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Desserts & drinks
I have adapted this from the recipe by littlejarofspices. Had it last week and it was GORGEOUS. The original recipe uses an additional 2 tbs of coconut sugar which after the first 10 minutes of baking you sprinkle over the top of the clafoutis to give a caramelised top. I didn’t bother. A dollop of coconut-based yoghurt or whipped cream is lovely on the side. I personally used half gluten free flour (my own blend of sorghum, millet and oat flours) and half finely ground almonds but either works well.
Makes 8 servings
4 stalks (200g) of rhubarb
4 medium eggs
100g almond flour (finely ground almonds give a nice smooth texture, or use your own blend of gluten-free flour flour or glutinacious)
45g coconut sugar (for a lovely caramel flavour)
70g xylitol or erythritol (e.g. Dr Coy’s Stevia Erylite)
250 ml unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (vanilla “essence” contains gluten)
Coconut oil (or if you eat dairy, butter) for greasing
Pinch of pink salt or sea salt
1.Preheat oven to 190°C and grease a ceramic pie dish/pyrex dish with butter or coconut oil.
2.Wash the rhubarb stalks, chop off and discard the ends and cut them into 2.5 cm pieces and place them in the dish.
4. In a bowl, combine almond flour/gluten-free flour, coconut sugar, xylitol/erythritol and salt. Whisk in the eggs, milk and vanilla extract. The batter should be very thin & liquid.
5. Pour the batter over the rhubarb pieces in the pie dish and place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake for 25 minutes. If it still looks very very liquid in the centre, you might need to give it another 10 minutes until just set.
6. Let cool around 20 minutes before serving.
Why this is better for you:
This avoids a lot of the problems of conventional sugar which suppresses immunity and raises inflammation. Coconut sugar has a lower glycaemic index than sugar and still contains some nutrients. But do remember that coconut sugar is still a high carbohydrate (high natural sugar) ingredient. So this dessert isn’t a staple but more of a weekend or special treat.
Apr 3, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Desserts & drinks
Are weaning off eating foods with a ton of added sugar in? This one will satisfy even the sweetest tooth. This is decadent, unctuous and toffee-like. It is by Nigel Slater from Real Fast Food. Though totally free from refined sugar its still a very high carbohydrate dessert. So its best eaten after a protein meal.
As you can see from the photo I used sliced raw pecans instead of the almonds (I had accidentally munched my way through my flaked almond supplies). If you don’t have the nuts, it doesn’t matter. If you wanted to, you could also decorate with peeled slices of fresh orange.
For 2
95g stoneless dried dates/110g dates with stones in
1 tsp (teasp) orange flower water (if you don’t have any, use a dessertspoon of fresh orange juice instead)
150ml single cream
2 large bananas, ideally ripe (a little spotty)
1 heaped tbs flaked almonds
1. Stone and chop the dates, slice the bananas thinly and place in a bowl.
2. Add the cream and orange flower water/juice, mix and leave for an hour or two in the fridge.
3. Lightly toast flaked almonds on a day pan (watch them closely, and stir, so they don’t burn!) and reserve.
3. Just before eating, sprinkle the lovely crunchy toasted almonds on top.
Why this is better for you:
Although this is a very sweet, very high carbohydrate dessert it IS free from added sugar so tends not to deplete nutrients. Bear in mind though that eating desserts high in even natural sugars does cause blood sugar spikes – i f you don’t have a protein-rich meal in your tummy first. Blood sugar spikes cause inflammation, metabolic stress and exacerbate ALL chronic health issues from anxiety to psoriasis to acne.
Mar 27, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Dressings, rubs, spreads, sauces & more
Did you know that shop-bought spice mixes often contain gluten which is not always listed on the packet? Anyway that’s only really relevant for you gluten-sensitive people out there.
Once you taste this beautiful five spice powder in your stir fries, sprinkled on salmon before grilling, or in a home made hotpot you will never want to go back to commercial, tasteless five spice. Do keep your spices in airtight glass jars somewhere dark. Left in the sun, they lose their marvelous antioxidant potency and their taste too. All spices have hundreds (and some thousand) of peer-reviewed clinical research papers showing various health benefits. When you cook food with spices the food generates fewer toxic by-products (e.g. from grilling, sauteeing or roasting) and the spices stimulate your body’s own antioxidant defences.
1 dsp (dessertspoon) ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 dsp ground cloves
1 dsp fennel seed, ground
1 dsp ground star anise
1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, ground
Electric coffee grinder or spice grinder
1.Grind your fennel, star anise and peppercorns.
2.Mix the spices together and store in an airtight jar somewhere dark.
Mar 15, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Cakes, biscuits & bars, Desserts & drinks
St. Patrick’s day home-baked treat, anyone? This is lovely and moist and soaked in rosewater and lemon syrup. Make it at least 2 hours before you want to serve it so the syrup has time to soak in. You can buy unsalted shelled pistachios in Middle Eastern and Asian Stores. The recipe, adapted by me to be healthier, is from Claudia Roden’s Arabesque. I am including 2 sizes of cake so you don’t have to go with enormous all the time, if you don’t have 12 people to serve. I increased the amount of lemon, to give a little more tang, and switched the immuno-suppressing sugar for xylitol/erythritol (from health shops). If you want to make serving this more spectacular, get yourself some rosepetals/rosebuds from a Middle Eastern shop and crumble some of the rose petals around and on top of each slice.
To serve 6
Cake:
3 eggs, seperated
60g xylitol or erythritol
25g coarsely chopped raw unsalted pistachios (optional)
100g pistachio flour (finely ground raw unsalted pistachios)
1 x 10-13cm round loose-bottomed cake tin
Syrup for small cake:
75g xylitol/erythritol
90ml water
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs rosewater
To serve (optional):
125ml Abbot Kinney’s/Coyo non dairy coconut yoghurt or whipped cream (I like to mix in a few drops of rosewater to either)
Large cake (to serve 12)
5 eggs, seperated
120g xylitol/erythritol
50g coarsely chopped raw unsalted pistachios (optional)
200g pistachio flour (finely ground raw unsalted pistachios)
1 x 23-25 cm round loose-bottomed cake tin
Syrup for large cake:
150g xylitol/erythritol
180ml water
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs rosewater
To serve (optional):
250ml Abbot Kinney’s/Coyo non dairy coconut yoghurt or whipped cream (I like to mix in a few drops of rosewater to either)
1. Make the syrup. Bring the xylitol/erythritol, water and lemon juice to the boil, simmer till everything is dissolved. Stir in the rosewater.
2. Let the syrup cool, then chill it.
3. Beat the egg yolks with the xylitol/erythritol to a pale cream, then add the ground pistachios and mix very well. Beat the egg whites until still and fold in gently. Pour into a greased cake tin and sprinkle the coarsely chopped pistachios, if using, on top.
4. Bake in pre-heated oven (180C/fan 165C).
Test for done-ness (where needle or point of knife comes out clean) after 35 minutes for the small cake and 40 minutes for the large, which should take around 45 minutes. If the cake is still sticky, give another 5 minutes, then test again.
5. Turn the cake onto a deep serving dish. Make little holes over the top with a fork and pour over the syrup. The holes will let it soak in quickly.
6. Serve, if you like, with the coconut yoghurt or (if you’re not dairy sensitive) cream.
Why this is better for you:
OK, so raw nuts are much better than baked (because nut/seed oils get damaged by heat) but this cake is high in protein and contains no sugar. This means it won’t disrupt blood sugar levels. Maintaining blood sugar balance is important if you care about your vitality and health. Erratic blood sugar levels contribute to fatigue, mood issues, inflammation, auto-immune conditions and so, so much more. Stay well.
Mar 13, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Main courses, Sides, starters, soups & snacks
I invented this last winter when the bitter Seville (marmalade) oranges came out and it was lovely. You can make it with an ordinary orange though – it will just have more contrast of sweet and bitter which is super-delicious! If you are dairy-sensitive you can increase the walnut halves…Roquefort is a blue sheep’s cheese that contains a variety of beneficial bacteria for your tummy. Sheep’s cheese is also easier to digest than cow.
For 2
1 large head of chicory or a medium head of radicchio
1 orange, peeled and sliced thinly across its equator
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
30g Roquefort cheese
Balsamic vinegar
Small handful walnuts
1.Wash and arrange leaves on two plates and top with the orange slices.
2.Crumble the Roquefort over and sprinkle on the walnut halves.
3.Drizzle a tablespoon of the olive oil and about a dessertspoon of balsamic over each plate and enjoy…
You could also make this salad using watercress or endive.
Why this is good for you:
Bitter foods (like radicchio, rocket, watercress, chicory, Seville oranges) stimulate your gallbladder to contract as the meal reaches your small intestine. The gallbladder pumps out fat-splitting bile salts and fat-digesting enzymes too. This is great news if you want to tune up your gallbladder, enhance the digestion of that meal, and facilitate removal of waste products from your liver. And avoid gallstones!!! Other bitter foods that help tune up your gallbladder include watercress, chicory, endive, organic rocket (much stronger than “conventionally-farmed”). Drinks that help your gallbladder if you drink it after a meal include dandelion coffee which you can buy on the fantastic Dublin-based website www.intelligenttea.ie Make just like for filter/cafetiere coffee and add milk if you want. DO avoid instant dandelion products, they are stuffed with sugar (lactose/dextrose usually) so they really are not helpful to you. 100% chicory drinks also have some benefit but dandelion is more potent.
Feb 21, 2020 | Anna's Best Recipes, Desserts & drinks
I LOVE these. Heard a recipe on the radio using cheese but I swapped it out for full fat thick natural yogurt or strained kefir (you strain the kefir through a muslin in a sieve to thicken it) an it’s DELICIOUS. I quite like my pancake Tuesday pancakes with lemon juice and some honey or Dr Coys Erylite or Xylitol to sweeten. But you could use stewed apple, apple puree and a big dollop of cream or non-dairy coconut yoghurt on top if you feel the urge. If you are a bit dairy sensitive like me, home-made kefir could be the one form of dairy that you can tolerate really really well. That’s because the process completely breaks down the lactose, as well as the casein protein, which is what most people have a problem with. YUM!! Would you like me to do a post on how to make kefir? If so, give me some feedback.
Makes 4 large pancakes (you can use normal oats/oat flour if you are not gluten-sensitive)
50g gluten-free oats, blitzed in the food processor to make a flour (or use Merry Mill gluten-free oat flour from good health stores like the Hopsack in Dublin 6)
4 eggs, organic if possible
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp vanilla powder or extract (avoid “essence” – it contains gluten)
10 drops pure stevia (optional) – I like “sweet drops of stevia” form health stores
150ml (10 tbs) natural full-fat yogurt, Greek yogurt or thickened kefir (strain home-made kefir through a sieve lined with muslin/kitchen paper and use the thick stuff that remains)
Optional: 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder (makes a fluffier, higher pancake, more like a drop scone)
- Bitz all the ingredients together in a blender (or using a large bowl add the dry ingredients and mix well. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, add the eggs, mix with a wooden spoon, add the wet ingredients and beat until everything is smooth.
- Cook on the pan using extra virgin coconut oil, avocado oil or (a bit less healthy) light olive oil.
- Enjoy…
Why this is better for you:
Ceylon cinnamon helps balance your blood sugar and prevent diabetes!! Stevia is a more natural sweetener than most others and contains no calories. Like erythritol and xylitol from health stores, stevia does not raise your blood sugar levels – so this is a friendly recipe for anyone who cares about their health or has blood sugar issues like diabetes.
Oats are a great source of soluble fibre, which feeds some of your good gut bacteria to help all aspect of your health, mental and physical. So much better than wheat because lower in gluten. Published video evidence now proves that gluten damages your small intestine for at least 3 hours. This study was done on non-gluten-sensitive people. Yes, that includes all your normal people out there. Damaging your gut allows undigested food, bacterial cell walls and toxins to spill into your bloodstream. This eventually compromises your health by inflaming either your brain or other parts of you.
Eggs are a high quality source of protein and (if they are organic) omega 3 fatty acids and phospholipids which our brains and cell membranes need for every function of our body. Please don’t be afraid of eggs (unless you are sensitive or allergic). Eggs do not give you heart disease. The 1950’s study showing eggs cause heart disease was carried out on rabbits. Rabbits are vegan! Unlike us, they can’t cope with animal protein. The real culprit with heart disease is a high grain carbohydrate diets, inflammation and lack of beneficial fats, quality protein and vegetables, herbs and spices.
