Recipe

Smoothies are the desert of the health queen. And this little gem is a reward to all who strive for refined-sugar free living, even though we may still remember fondly the heady joy of a wild night digging into a party bag 😉

I do find it hard to make smoothies in quantities which are reasonable for only 1 person, but the measurements in this recipe are perfect for a generous glass for one 🙂 This recipe is adapted from the genius of the Isowhey kitchen. They have loads of great ideas, and you can find more of their recipes here.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vanilla protein powder (I'm using Bare Blends Organic Vanilla Bean WPI at the moment, but do let me know if you have a favourite yourself – especially if it come in sustainable packaging!)

1 banana, frozen

1 handful of raspberries, frozen or fresh

1 large dollop of yoghurt (I used Jalna BioDynamic Organic Yoghurt for this one)

1/2 cup coconut water

Method

Put everything in your blender, liquids first, then everything else. Blend until smooth.

Pour into a glass, garnish as desired and enjoy!

 

It did take some time to work up to eating sardines, these healthy little fish, with fabulous health benefits were not immediately appealing. I can understand your hesitation if you have not yet cultivated a taste for them. On my path to eating more of my Omega 3's in food, rather than swallowing them in capsules, I found this particular recipe to be very helpful. Try it out and let me know what you think – for me, this was certainly a gateway recipe.

Recipe for Parsley, Lemon and Garlic Sardine Pasta

I found this recipe here by Melissa Joulwan and added extra parsley and lemon (as below). Thanks, Melissa this recipe has become something of a favourite!

INGREDIENTS:

• a pile of raw zucchini noodles or cooked pasta of your choice (I like making long strips of zucchini in place of pasta from time to time)
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1 generous bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 can sardines packed in olive oil (the King Oscar brand is accessible in Australian supermarkets are preferred ) — Melissa suggests you do not drain the oil!
• lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon
• salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until it’s hot. Add the vegie pasta and toss with two wooden spoons until the pasta is hot, but not mushy. You want them al dente. This takes, maybe, 2-3 minutes.
2. When the pasta is hot, turn the heat to medium-low, push the noodles to the side, and pour about 1 tablespoon of the oil from the sardines into the pan. Drop the crushed garlic right into the oil, and when it’s fragrant, toss the noodles with the wooden spoons again to coat them with the oil. Throw in the parsley, salt, pepper, and the sardines, breaking them up into chunks with the wooden spoon. Toss, toss, toss.
3. Pour onto a plate and sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes. Twirl on a fork and shove into your well-deserving mouth.

Extra health benefits are found in raw garlic so, for bonus points, if you can manage it, omit the garlic from the cooking and add in just before serving. This is amazing for your circulation, and ticks another box in the Microcirculation Diet I have been loving, since seeing Kerry Bone present his research on the results at a Naturopathic seminar series recently. I'll write more about this next time! PS Kerry's diet presentation also included a prescribed 20g of dark chocolate (85% cacao) every day. Things are definitely looking up!

Fresh, organic greens are a real delight, so when I was recently gifted with a bouquet of freshly picked, garden grown kale and chard varieties, I was understandably impressed. I love the deep earthy flavour of these greens and will often eat them with a simple dressing of lemon juice and a little Himalayan salt over finely chopped leaves, or add them to a scramble of eggs with some chilli flakes for a delicious omelette. This time, my generous friend also arrived with a new take on a classic vinaigrette dressing to tantalise my taste buds. Try this one out for yourself!

Full of vitamin C to enhance the absorption of iron from the greens, a sprinkling of anti-inflammatory spices, omega 3 oils from flaxseeds and some apple cider vinegar to spark digestion and lower the glycaemic load of my meal, topping kale with this dressing is certainly adhering to food as medicine standards!

Kale itself is part of the broccoli family, which has a fabulous reputation in terms of health benefits. With relatives including arugula (known more commonly in Australia as roquette), bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, horseradish, radishes, rutabaga, turnips, watercress and wasabi, kale is basically dark green vegetable royalty.

Brassica vegetables possess high levels of antioxidant metabolites associated with beneficial health effects.

Read more here: Identification of Antioxidant Capacity in Brassica oleracea

The superfood mantle seems to be well deserved, although standard farming practices contribute to high pesticide residues, meaning that kale is one of those vegetables that you really can insist on buying organically grown.

Ingredients:

• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp of ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric or paprika
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed oil
• Himalayan salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a glass jar and shake to combine. Pour over your finely sliced fresh kale leaves, and throw in a handful of chopped walnuts and a sprinkling pepitas for a satisfying crunch.

Serve as a side dish or an appetiser and your dinner guests will be sparkling with health and tapping you on the shoulder for another serve.

Is kale easy to eat? Most definitely!