I adapted this from a recipe by Raymond Blanc to include more greens and a little less stodge. It makes a lovely, gently flavoured dinner. Even my husband, who says he doesn’t really like meals that involve broth, likes this one.
In my newsletter last month (to people who subscribe for FREE via my website www.annacollins.ie), I talked about why chicken broth can help prevent wrinkles. To make this even more nutritious you could make the following meal using home-made chicken stock (made by boiling organic chicken bones in water and a dash of apple cider vinegar) instead of the water in the recipe. Or use chicken pieces on the bone instead of fillets. I like to make a four-person amount and reheat thoroughly for another dinner later in the week
For 4
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced into bite-sized chunks (about 2cm thick)
1 small (Swede) turnip, peeled, cut into bite-sized cubes
4 small organic chicken legs, 2 breasts on the bone cut in two, or failing that, 4 fillets (but chicken with bones is better)*
6-8cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 large heads broccoli, cut into florets
Optional extras: (NOT for SC diet): 100g 100% buckwheat noodles/rice noodles (soak in boiling water 5 mins, drain and refresh in cold water until ready to use at the end).
Tamari sauce (this is a gluten-free soya sauce)
1. In a large saucepan cover the turnips and carrots with boiling water and boil for 10 mins.
2. Add the whole chicken fillets, garlic, ginger, making sure all just covered with water and cook (simmer) for 15 minutes.
3. Add the broccoli and cook for a further 5 minutes.
4. Check that the chicken is cooked. When it is done
5. Divide the cold cooked noodles between 4 large bowls. Cut up the chicken fillets into bite-sized slices if you can be bothered.
6. Ladle in the rest of the ingredients on top of the noodles and chicken
7. Provided you are NOT on the SC diet you can add tamari sauce to taste. For SC diet just add more salt and pepper.
Variation (not for SC diet!):
For a mostly vegetarian version, add 100g cubed fermented tofu or tempeh, cut into bite-sized cubes at the same time as the broccoli, and use chicken stock or a chicken stock cube (provided you are not a purist vegetarian!)
Why this is good for you Swede turnips, carrots and all orange fruits and vegetables are a rich source of carotenoids such as beta carotene. Eating a diet rich in beta carotene and other carotenoids found in green, red and purple vegetables will give your skin an attractive golden glow, according to a study of university student who increased their fruit and veg intake for a few weeks. Beta carotene is also important for clear skin, excellent eyesight and helping prevent wrinkles and digestive problems. The list of its activities is endless so I won’t bamboozle you with more details! Broccoli is a great source of folic acid, which helps daily repair and maintenance of your stomach and intestines. It’s also rich in indole-3-carbinol, which helps your liver get rid of the hormone-disrupting chemicals that can cause low thyroid, hair loss and dry skin.
Did you know that organic/free range chicken bones, boiled, yield a powerhouse of immune supporting nutrients like proline and collagen, which help heal your gut? Naturally reared chicken (organic) is better because intensively farmed chickens have high levels of toxins (heavy metals) inside their bones. These toxins are released when you boil the bones for a long time to make soup. Gut healing is important on a day to day basis because every 72 hours you shed your single-cell thick gut lining. Without lots of repair going on constantly, your ability to keep that gut lining working properly declines. Result: poor nutrient absorption, increased tendency to food sensitivities and autoimmune symptoms(e.g. hypothyroidism). You also increase your risk of sepsis (a life threatening condition that can occur with viral and other infections). So really, keeping your gut in tip top shape is one of the most important keys to great health.
This is a delicious way to enjoy cauliflower. I use my Middle Eastern tahini sauce as a dressing but you could also dress with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and some paprika/smoked paprika. If you like, add some chopped fresh oregano or flat leaf parsley when the salad has cooled. The tahini sauce is also lovely used as a sauce over some simple poached/grilled fish, or as a dip with vegetable sticks. Keeps well in an airtight jar for several days. I like to make the dressing a bit in advance, to let the flavours develop. Eat it warm or cold – it’s all good.
For the salad:
1 medium cauliflower, leaves removed
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 dsp sumac
Freshly ground black pepper
Himalayan/sea salt
2 large handfuls (about 250g) green beans (or runner beans)
For the dressing:
1 rounded tbs light tahini
2 tbs lemon juice and about 125ml cold water OR 150ml home made kefir (lemon juice OR kefir gives the sauce acidity and balance)
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1. Preheat oven to 200C/185C fan
2. Placing the whole cauliflower with stalk downwards, cut in half, and cut out the big central stalk. Then slice each half in slices approximately 1.5cm thick. Slicing (rather than breaking into florets) helps the cauliflower to caramelize deliciously.
3. Place in an ovenproof roasting dish, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over the sumac, a good pinch of salt and lots of black pepper and mix gently to coat everything evenly.
4. Roast for 20-25 minutes until you can pierce easily with a fork.
5. While the cauli is roasting, boil the kettle. Steam the green/runner beans until they are slightly softened but retain some crunch. Drain and refresh in cold water. This stops the cooking process. Once cooled, drain.
6. Make the tahini sauce. Whisk or blitz together in a mini food processor all the sauce ingredients. You are aiming for a consistency about the texture of double cream. You may need to add more water as you go to achieve this. The tahini will clump initially. Just keep mixing, and adding more liquid if needed.
7. When cauliflower is cooked so a fork pierces it easily, empty it and the green beans, into a serving dish and drizzle with the sauce.
Why this is good for you; Cauliflower is a sulphurophane vegetable. This means that (like broccoli and cabbage) it is rich in sulphur which is crucial for detoxification. Detoxification affects every aspect of our health so if you want clear skin, good energy, mood and to keep clear of any health conditions, these sulphur rich veg are great to eat at least 3 times a week.
Garlic is also rich in sulphur and helps rebalance your gut bacteria in favour of useful micro organisms which ALSO aid detoxification. In fact over 70% of your detoxification is looked after by good gut bacteria – if you have enough quantity and variety of them!! Spices like sumac, paprika and black pepper, used to coat food, help reduce the toxic substances generated by roasting/heating food to high temperatures.
Spices (and herbs) also stimulate our body’s antioxidant defenses to keep us looking and feeling better for much, much longer. Kefir, especially when home-made, is a hypoallergenic milk product that’s really rich in over 30 species of beneficial micro organisms. Did you know that although many of these micro organisms dont survive the acid in our stomachs they still exert a beneficial effect. Research has shown that even heat-killed friendly bacteria do us good when we take them. Who knew! Of course we really also want to grow our own good bugs, which colonise and cling to the walls of our large intestine. There they ferment plant fibres (if we eat a big variety of plants) to make short chain fatty acids. Short chain fatty acids like butyrate are essential for daily repair of our gut. Get your gut health right and you have at least 90% of your health sorted.
I have to say this is the most delicious mayo recipe I have ever tasted. I so enjoyed it with steamed asparagus and a couple of boiled eggs for lunch today. Personally I like using a half and half mix of extra virgin sunflower/sesame and olive oils. Extra virgin sesame oil has a neutral flavour similar to sunflower, in my opinion. Nothing like the usual sesame oil, which is super heat-treated. Dijon mustard, salt and herbs preserve the mayo longer. When its gone over, you’ll know because it will have separated or gone runny. One yolk will bind up to 1 litre of oil so for a bigger batch you only need to increase the other ingredients.
1 medium/large organic egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tbs Dijon mustard, at room temperature
230ml extra virgin (cold-pressed) oil: olive, rape, sunflower or avocado
1 dsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Himalayan salt
Pepper
Optional: 2 tablespoons herbs to add at the very end: e.g. fresh chopped tarragon,parsley, coriander or chives.
Bring the egg and mustard to room temperature in advance (chilled eggs/Dijon will leave you with a runny, disappointing sauce!).
Mix the egg and mustard with a stick blender or whisk and while whisking add the oil slowly in a thin stream (this is essential). The mayo should start to thicken. Many food processors now have a cap on top that has a small hole for this purpose.
Continue whisking and adding until the oil is used up and the mayo is set.
Add vinegar/lemon juice. Mix some more and season with salt and pepper and whatever herbs you are using.
Let the mayonnaise rest in the fridge before serving – this allows the flavour to develop and the mayonnaise to thicken further.
Why this is better for you: As you’ll know if you’ve been a client of mine, omega 6 oils in the form most people eat them, are toxic. Omega 6 oils like sunflower, rape, safflower, sesame, canola, soya and “vegetable oil” are heat treated to give them a long shelf life. This makes their chemical structure change to one that interferes with metabolic functions as they are incorporated into our cell membranes in EVERY tissue of our body. They are used as cooking oils, and to make bread, cakes, biscuits and confectionary and of course in ready meals, to give them a nice mouth feel.
So if you’d like to avoid or reduce chronic health conditions, swapping out your heat-treated nut and seed oils for healthier options is a winner. For food prep use either extra virgin olive oil or (never cooked) extra virgin nut/seed oils like sesame, sunflower, rape, walnut and hazelnut. Commercial mayonnaise is ALWAYS MADE WITH REFINED OILS (if you find one that’s not, do let me know so I can tell everyone!). Bottom line, we are all deficient in these life-giving untreated, never heated, omega 6 oils. DID YOU KNOW that mustard can be a powerful tool against eczema (dermatitis)? A study a few years ago showed that eating mustard daily prevented eczema in mice. Who knew??
I love to eat a variation of this vitality-boosting salad for lunch most days. For a packed lunch put all the veggies including the garlic in a large lunchbox, store the dressing in a glass jar separately and put the fish or other topping in a glass or non-toxic container until ready to eat. The great thing about this is that because it doesn’t overload you with carbs (bread, grains, potatoes etc) you don’t tend to get that after-lunch sleepiness. For a change from tuna try a couple of boiled eggs, a cup of cooked butterbeans or beans (mixed with pesto and garlic) or a serving (80-100g) of smoked salmon or leftover roast chicken. Keep it interesting by changing around the types of leaves and the topping.
For 1:
Topping:
80-100g (half a large tin) tuna in spring water (or brine if you can’t get in water)
Salad:
1/2 a red/yellow pepper, de-seeded and sliced or cut in chunks
1 large vine tomato (cut in wedged) or 8 cherry tomatoes (halved)
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
1/4 small cucumber or half a small courgette, sliced
A few black or green olives
2 large handfuls leaves (choose from baby spinach, lettuce, rocket, chicory, endive, watercress, landcress, pursalane, baby chard, flat leaved parsley leaves)
2 dessertspoons of home made extra virgin olive oil based dressing (see recipe on this blog)
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
Optional: half a cup of freshly grated raw beetroot or carrot
Optional: half a ripe avocado, cubed
1. In a large bowl mix all the salad ingredients with the dressing until everything is coated and glossy.
2. Pour out onto a plate, top with the tuna and enjoy.
Why this is great for you: Did you know that eating lots of different plant foods every day is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. My guideline to patients is to try for 25 different plant foods (fruit, veg and beans/pulses) in the week. Each plant colour and type contains a different range of nutrients. Purple fruit and veg for example, contain proanthocyanadins, while orange and red plant foods contain carotenoids and green ones contain lots of magnesium. These are just some of the nutrients that help give you flawless (and young-looking) skin and hair, help repair and maintain your digestive system and keep you free of inflammatory conditions like eczema, asthma and digestive disorders like gastritis and colitis. Different plant foods feed different good bacteria to help you stay at your peak fitness and wellbeing. So its not just about eating large quantities of veg (half your plate at lunch and dinner) but large variety too. How many colours of fruit and vegetables can YOU eat today?
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 youThis 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.
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
Blitz everything except the coconut flour in a blender until mixed up and no lumps.
Add the coconut flour, blitz till mixed.
Heat frying pan on medium heat, add a little coconut oil. Use 1/4 of the batter for each of the pancakes.
Serve with the yoghurt and berries.Variation: This is also lovely with apple stewed with Ceylon cinnamon.
