Mustard-baked mackerel

Mustard-baked mackerel

Mustard-baked mackerel

 

This is is a super simple recipe I concocted today, inspired by a Nigel Slater recipe.  Its ideal for a one-person dinner, or for a family.  The mustard and lime lift the richness of the oily fish and are amazing for you too.

 

 

 

For 2:

2 fresh mackerel fillets
1 dsp coarse grain mustard
1 dsp fresh lemon or lime juice
Generous pinch black pepper
Pinch Himalayan salt/sea salt
1/2 tsp dried tarragon if you have it
A little olive oil to grease your roasting tin
To serve:
2 cupfuls sliced carrots
4 cupfuls broccoli florets

1. Heat your oven to 200C and while it is heating steam your vegetables and keep warm.
2. In a little bowl mix the mustard, pepper, salt, citrus juice and (if using) tarragon.
3. Oil your roasting tin, lay the fish skin side down, slather with the mustard mix and bake for 12-15 minutes.  When the fish is done, it will no longer be translucent and the point of a knife or skewer will go through it easily.
4. Enjoy.

Why this is good for you:
We all know that omega 3 oils from wild mackerel are great for our brains and hearts.  But did you know that having enough omega 3 affects every cell in your body – from helping you avoid diabetes (or get rid of it if you have it), to helping your body react efficiently to all your horrnones.  Eating more oily fish is a no-brainer.  Mackerel is one of the best oily fish as its always wild so its leaner and cleaner.  Mustard is a spice and is powerfully antioxidant.  It even helps prevent eczema breakouts.  If you want a healthy brain and body for many many years to come, get the spices in to your everyday eating.  Spices AND herbs (like tarragon) pack a powerful antioxidant punch to lower inflammation and help you age agelessly.  And they liven up your plate.  What’s not to like! 

Christmas gravdlax or gravadlax (dill cured salmon)

Christmas gravdlax or gravadlax (dill cured salmon)

This is a recipe I love. We eat it Christmas day with a simple salad of watercress and lambs lettuce.   Instead of doing what the recipe says (wrapping everything in foil while it cures) I use a glass box with plastic lid to keep everything compressed during 5-8 days or curing.  Much less fiddly.  Lime zest/beetroot are optional but give an amazing taste and a lovely deep pink colour.  Before you start, freeze the salmon for at least 24 hours to help kill any parasites.  The salt, pepper and dill in the cure and the mustard  in the sauce also help kill any unwanted visitors to your tummy!

For the cure:
1 large side of salmon, organic if possible, cut into 2 roughly equal shape pieces
Zest of 1-2 organic limes
1 large bunch fresh dill
115g sea salt/Himalayan salt – flakes or fine it doesn’t matter
50g coconut sugar (use brown sugar if you don’t have coconut)
75g xylitol or erythritol (from health shops)
15g freshly ground black pepper (coarse is OK)
Optional beetroot – 1 raw, grated (cooked might work too)
Tinfoil

For the sauce (to serve with the fish on the day):
1 tbs chopped fresh dill
1 tbs English mustard powder (if you don’t need gluten-free you can use ready-made English mustard from a jar)
1 tsp coconut sugar, erythritol, xylitol or brown sugar
1 tbs virgin (cold pressed unrefined) sunflower/peanut/rape/sesame oil
2 tbs kefir*, creme fraiche (for dairy-free use unsweetened additive-free soya yoghurt)
1 tbs white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

*home made fully-fermented kefir is usually  tolerated by people with dairy sensitivity

1. For the cure (5-8 days before you want to eat the fish)
Roughly chop the dill and mix thoroughly in a bowl with the zest, salt, sugar, xylitol/sugar, lime zest, optional beetroot and pepper. Lay out a sheet of foil about four times the width of a salmon fillet. Spread a quarter of the pickling mix over a fillet-size area on one side of the foil with a good 15cm/6in margin for folding over.

2. Place one piece of fish, skin side down, on top of the pickle mixture and cover with slightly more than half of what is left. Place the second fillet on top, skin side up, to make a sandwich. Scatter the remaining pickle mixture over the skin.   Wrap up the parcel tightly, tucking the ends and edges in underneath the fish.

3. Put the package on the tray and place a similar size tray, or a plank of wood on the top. Weight it down, with a brick or two or anything else handy (the contents of the fridge?). Turn the package daily for at least five days, and no more than eight. Do not discard the pickling liquid that oozes from the package unless it threatens to spill over the side of the tray.

4. At least one hour before you wish to serve the fish, combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake well together. Leave to stand and shake again to emulsify before serving.

5. To serve, unwrap the gravalax and wipe off any excess pickling liquid. I like to scrape off the bits of dill and beetroot and give everything a quick wipe but you don’t have to.   Slice fairly (but not too) thinly then serve with the sauce and a green side salad (I love watercress and lamb’s lettuce with this).  Unused gravalax can be re-wrapped in clean  foil or airtight glass box and kept in the fridge for up to five days.

Apple immune-balancing dessert (aka stewed apple!)

Apple immune-balancing dessert (aka stewed apple!)

This dessert is a delicious but fantastic way to help regulate your immune system by feeding your good gut bacteria.  Sweeten it if you like with some stevia drops.  The reason for the skin is it provides more polyphenols (immune-supporting plant compounds that lower inflammation in your gut).  If your apples are not organic give the skins a good scrub.  In the Autumn, I like to make up a ton of this and bottle it in sterile jars to keep in the larder.  A dollop on your morning porridge (grain-free if you’re on the SC diet), or eat with some natural coconut or dairy yoghurt.  You decide.  I also use it for apple sauce for duck or pork.  If you’re wanting some every day divide into ramekins and store in the fridge for up to a week.  Ceylon cinnamon preserves it.

For 6 servings:
A tray of Bramley (cooking) apples (about 600g), organic if possible
1/2 cup organic raisins/organic sultanas
A little water
2 tsp Ceylon/Sri Lanka cinnamon (plain “cinnamon” is cassia, which doesn’t have the health benefits and in very large amounts cumulatively over time is toxic).
Inulin, honey or (if you must) 100% pure stevia/xylitol or erythritol to sweeten

1. Wash the apples and grate off some of the skin.  Put skin in a saucepan with a little water.
2. Peel and slice the rest and add to saucepan. Add a splash of water, cover and stew gently until the apples soften and fall apart into a puree.  This usually takes around 15 minutes.  This part is important because it releases the pectin, an important prebiotic fibre which feeds your healthy gut bacteria.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 heaped tsp Ceylon cinnamon.

Why this is good for you
Would you like your immune system to be in perfect balance? Protecting against infections and also avoiding/getting into remission from autoimmunity, inflammatory conditions or allergies? These days, lots of us have health conditions where our immune system is out of control.  Allergies, asthma, eczema, colitis and Crohn’s, autoimmune hypothyroidism are just some examples.  Stewed apple may be one of the most perfect foods for helping your good gut bacteria grow in order to dampen down an out-of-control immune system. In treating inflammatory bowel disease a daily serving of stewed apple is as powerful as prednisone, a steroid medication.  Naturally we need LOTS of different plant foods in our week to foster a wide variety of good bacteria.  But stewed apple is a great start, especially if you are someone who can’t tolerate raw fruit at the moment.

When you stew COOKING apples you liberate pectin. Apple pectin encourages growth of the friendly bacteria akkermansia mucinophilia. The clue is in the name. These critters nibble the mucus (yes, I know, yuck!) in your bowel, keeping it trimmed so there’s the right amount. This is important in helping get rid of GI infections and helping nutrient absorption.

Apples naturally contain sugar so it’s better not to have huge amounts of this – just the equivalent of one medium apple is the amount you want as a dessert, otherwise you are overloading with sugars.  Too many sugars, even natural ones, slow down your liver function and immune system and feed health-sabotaging bacteria in your gut.   

Buckwheat apple cinnamon muffins

Buckwheat apple cinnamon muffins

Buckwheat apple cinnamon muffins

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 generus dollop of unsweetened coconut/almond or dairy yoghurt.  This gives more protein to keep you fuller longer….

 

 

To make 12 x 7cm muffins

1 rounded tbs honey
100g coconut oil (or butter, if you want dairy), melted with the maple syrup/coconut sugar and cooled
3 tbs unsweetened almond milk (or other unsweetened milk).
Level tsp of vanilla powder or extract (not essence, if you want to be gluten-free)
1 heaped tbs coconut sugar (or use 2 scant tbs pure maple syrup)
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 cooking apples
1 tbs buckwheat flour
½ 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, coconut sugar or maple syrup, 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.

Gretta’s lime coconut energy balls

Gretta’s lime coconut energy balls

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.

Autumn porridge with seeds & apple

Autumn porridge with seeds & apple

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.

 

 

 

 

Courgetti with kale, avocado & basil pesto

Courgetti with kale, avocado & basil pesto

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.  

Easy adult chocolate truffles

Easy adult chocolate truffles

These are amazing for people who like really posh chocolate with gorgeous flavours.  I have adapted Anna Jones recipe (from her book The Modern Cook’s Year) by using coconut sugar instead of standard brown sugar.  It gives a gorgeous very slight crunch to the truffles.  Keep them in the fridge until serving though, otherwise they melt.

This mix makes a lot (I got around 40), and will keep you in truffles for a couple of weeks.

For the flavouring, I used ground cardamom (1 teaspoon) and the rind of 1 organic orange which turned out gorgeously.  I found the crushed rose petal topping looked spectacular and everyone wanted to eat those ones.

60g coconut oil, plus extra to grease
30g coconut sugar (gives a lovely crunch)
200g no-added sugar nut butter at room temperature (raw nut butter is healthiest)
200g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids, I used 81% for a less sweet truffle)
Seeds from 1 vanilla pod or ¾ level teaspoon vanilla powder or vanilla extract
2 big pinches of Himalayan salt
20 x 20cm brownie tin (with removable base.  If you have to use a normal tin then I suggest lining it with silicon baking parchment so its easier to remove from the tin)

Additional flavours (optional)
Zest of 1 unwaxed/organic orange, lemon or lime
Smoked sea salt
Seeds of 3 cardamom pods, crushed (or use ¾ teaspoon ground cardamom)
½ teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon

To coat
50g raw cocoa or cocoa powder
Pistachios, almonds, finely chopped
Candied ginger, finely chopped
Grated dark chocolate
Dried rose petals, crushed

1. Grease a 20cmx20cm square brownie tin with coconut oil.
2. Heat the coconut oil and sugar in a saucepan on a low heat until the oil has melted (the coconut sugar won’t really melt, I find).
3. Take the pan off the heat and add chocolate, nut butter, vanilla, salt and stir till melted.  Then add the whatever flavourings you are using.
4. Pour the mix into the tin and chill for around 2 hours until set solid.
5. Turn the truffle slab out onto a cool work surface and cut into squares (mine were nearly 2cm) then gently dip each truffle in its coating to cover.  I found I got half of them done then had to put everything in the fridge to harden up again is it was all starting to melt.

The truffles will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in a sealed container.  If you want to keep them cool when serving, place on a chilled plate in the fridge until just ready to serve.

Why these are better for you
Although these contain cocoa (a stimulant) and a small amount of sugar (coconut and the normal sugar in the chocolate) they also contain some protein (from nut butter).  That means they don’t upset your blood sugar and cause massive inflammation the way normal chocolates do. Coconut sugar also has a lower glycaemic load than normal sugar (doesn’t pump up blood sugar quite as much as traditional sugar AND contains more minerals).  All sweet foods are still high carbohydrate though so these chocs are intended as a treat rather than a staple.  Vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, cocoa and organic citrus zest are antioxidant and anti-inflammatory – good if you want to look better and be more well for longer.  Coconut oil is easier to digest than all other fats as its absorbed in a different way in your gut.  It contains medium chain triglycerides which are used directly for energy by your brain.  

Yellow split pea dhal with tomatoes & apples

Yellow split pea dhal with tomatoes & apples

This is gorgeous.  The tomatoes and apples perfectly balance the earthy flavour of yellow split peas.  Like all beans and pulses this is more digestible and cooks faster if you soak the split peas overnight in clean cold water to about twice their depth in a saucepan or bowl.    This is even better the next day and freezes really well. For 2 people with 1 serving of leftovers 160g/1 mug dried yellow split peas 1/2 level tsp ground turmeric to add to the cooking water 1 tbs ghee or virgin coconut oil 1 heaped tsp cumin seeds 1 medium onion, finely chopped 1 gently rounded tsp garam masala (available in Asian stores) 1/2 level tsp ground red chilli 1/2 level tsp ground turmeric 400g chopped tomatoes, ideally fresh but canned will do 160g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm pieces Garnish: 2 tbs chopped fresh coriander 1. If using dried split peas: Place the peas with 800ml clean water and the 1/2 tsp turmeric in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat.  Skim off any foam.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 25 minutes until tender. If using soaked split peas: discard the soak water, place the peas and the half teaspoon turmeric in a saucepan with enough clean water to cover by about 2cm.  Boil for a few minutes, skimming off any foam before turning down the heat to medium, cover and cook till tender for between 15 and 20 minutes.  SOAKED SPLIT PEAS ARE BETTER IF YOU HAVE A SENSITIVE GUT. 2. Meanwhile heat the ghee or coconut oil in a heavy-based pan on a medium heat, add 1 dsp water along with the onions and cover with a lid.  Sweat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.  If its drying out too much before the onions are done, add a little more water to keep it steam-frying rather than browning or burning. 3. Stir in the rounded tsp of garam masala, 1/2 tsp of chilli and 1/2 tsp turmeric.  Cook for a minutes, stirring and then add the tomatoes and the apple. 4. cook for about 25 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed, the apples are soft and the tomatoes have broken down. 5. Add the cooked split peas and simmer for a few minutes. 6. Garnish with the chopped coriander. Serve with: Steamed greens (e.g. broccoli, green/runner beans, cabbage, sprouts, pak choi)  plus one of the following: Cauliflower rice https://www.annacollins.ie/cauliflower-rice/ Indian spiced squash  https://www.annacollins.ie/?s=indian+spiced+squash Not for SC diet: Brown rice or quinoa Why this is good for you This has a range of  fibres that feed different categories of good gut bacteria, all of which you need to remain well.  Pectin from the cooking apples, inulin from the onions, soluble fibre from the split peas all feed good bacteria.  Cumin and garam masala have a suppressing effect on “bad”, pro-inflammatory bacteria in your gut.  I always recommend a wide variety of plant types and herbs and spices to people who want to optimise their health and get digestive, bowel or autoimmune issues into remission.  And guess what – stewed cooking apple in this recipe helps lower bowel inflammation too.
Coconut banana pancakes

Coconut banana pancakes

Made these a few weeks ago and thought I’d better get them up here in time for Pancake Tuesday.  They are thicker than normal pancakes and really light.  I love to eat them for a weekend breakfast with a dairy-free coconut yoghurt and lots of thawed mixed berries.  Mix a few drops of pure stevia with yoghurt or berries if you like them sweeter.  Being a bit greedy, I made double quantity here but it was too much.  The coconut flour and eggs make these protein rich to give you slow burn energy.

For 4 pancakes to serve 4
(with a generous serving of berries and maybe some coconut yoghurt)

45g coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (if you are gluten-sensitive avoid vanilla essence)
1 medium banana (with spots if you are on SC diet)
6 medium eggs
1/2 level teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon

  1. Blitz everything except the coconut flour in a blender until mixed up and no lumps.
  2. Add the coconut flour, blitz till mixed.
  3. Heat frying pan on medium heat, add a little coconut oil.  Use 1/4 of the batter for each of the pancakes.
  4. Serve with the yoghurt and berries.Variation: This is also lovely with apple stewed with Ceylon cinnamon.