Kiwi fruits: “a treasure of nutritional bounty”

My go-to nutritional guide book is Dr. Michael Sharon’s “Nutrients A-Z”*. This user-friendly manual is excellent as every entry is concise and enlightening, and you don’t need a PhD in organic chemistry.

So when I looked up kiwi fruit (or Chinese gooseberry), I was struck by two phrases: “a treasure of nutritional bounty” and “one of the acidic fruits that combines well with protein.” Ideal, I thought, as I love them. And I love combining them with yoghurts, especially when I have no time to cook.

Today’s lunch was two kiwis, six large strawberries and one mandarin orange, sliced up and mixed with a small tub of protein yoghurt. Quick, tasty, filling – and very healthy, as kiwis provide more vitamin C than oranges and more fibre than apples.

One kiwi fruit supplies up to 70mg of vitamin C, or just 5mg less than the average US recommended daily amount for women (it’s 90mg for men). This vitamin cleanses the body and helps boost resistance to disease. An average kiwi also supplies around 250mg of potassium, making it suitable for people with high blood pressure.

Kiwis’ fibre and mucilage content, and its special enzyme called actinidin, can also help with digestion and constipation. Mucilage is a jelly-like substance found in plants and is a rich source of dietary fibre (and is not to be confused with “fuselage”, which contains carbon fibre ;)).

This fruit provides around 9.2 grammes of fibre – more than a third of my daily need

Dietary fibre acts as a laxative, makes you feel full, combats too much cholesterol and sugar in the blood, and can help reduce obesity. Fibre is essential (and, judging by the above list, desirable) and we need to eat 25-30 grammes of it every day. So, as the average kiwi contains around 2.1, my lunch provided around 9.2 grammes, or more than a third of my daily need.

Kiwis should yield slightly to pressure (not be rock hard), are best peeled just before eating, and are nutritionally best when eaten raw. So my lunch idea was a nutritionally sound one. A fat-free yoghurt would also have worked.

So, if all that appeals, then get peeling a kiwi!

*Nutrients A-Z (A User’s Guide to Foods, Herbs, Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements)
Dr. Michael Sharon, Carlton Books, 2009. ISBN 978 1 84732 263 0

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Help evoke your sense of hygge by making your lovely home your cosy nest as the cold weather sets in

I’m the only person I know that prefers the cold weather. I relish dark nights, winter clothes, and cosy evenings in, or sat in country pubs, toasting my feet next to blazing open fires.

And I love snow. A glittering white, diamond-clear and silent world – a winter wonderland of Christmas cheer, skiing holidays and frosty walks, breathing in crisp, clean air. A living snow globe. What could be more uplifting – and romantic!

Everything, according to my cousin, who finds no joy in de-icing the car, mopping the porch twice daily, and waiting for a reluctant dog to empty its bowels in the dark at minus five. She has always preferred “The Lion King” to “Frozen.”

Unswayed, the advent of autumn has still reinvigorated creative energies that the hot weather had drained out of me like a gas bill. It’s also evoked that quintessentially Danish sense of hygge: “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” Åh, ja!

So, in addition to more writing, cooking, workouts and reading, I’m slowly turning my airy flat into a snug nest, with soft furnishings, candles, and pyjamas so fluffy they’d stifle a Musk ox. While the cold weather also seems to have refreshed my clarity of thought, and dusted off old plans.

All of which IS making me rather content, and reminded me of an article called “The Value of Happiness” that I wrote exactly five years and eight days ago. It must have been the change of seasons that inspired it.

So why not embrace the autumn, get the dog a coat, and give yourself a great big hygge.

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Beetroot: The classic purple vegetable is a superfood that is loaded with fibre, vitamins and minerals

Yet despite that sinister appearance and tart taste, I always loved it. And when I went to Eastern Europe and tried beetroot soup – without any pickling or marinade, just natural and fresh – I was in tastebud love.

Even better, this purple veggie is also a superfood.

Beetroot is an edible healer. It has been cultivated as food for centuries, and long used to treat blood and digestive disorders. Modern nutritionists agree, claiming it can help purify the blood, improve circulation, promote menstruation, stimulate the bowels, and treat liver problems.

Some healers even recommend it for cleansing intestinal parasites, as well as calming the nerves and PMS. So, if you are feeling sluggish, constipated or pre-menstrual, you could do worse than eat a bowl of borscht or our own delicious beetroot risotto.

What makes a beet unbeatable? The average 110-gramme raw beetroot is almost 90% water, 10% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and less than 1% fat. It also provides 47 calories of energy, and three grammes of dietary fibre, or a tenth of our recommended daily intake.

Beetroot makes a nutritious and delicious addition to many dishes such as this game terrine

Fibre is a life saver. A diet rich in fibre is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer – some of the biggest killers in the UK. And most adults only eat 18 of the recommended 30 grammes of fibre every day. Roasted vegetables – including beetroot – are delicious fibre providers.

Raw, leafy beetroot is also loaded with 17 essential vitamins and minerals, the most plentiful being folate and manganese, which are fundamental to life.

Folate (or vitamin B9) helps the body develop, survive and reproduce. It’s also needed to produce healthy red blood cells, and is critical during periods of rapid growth, such as pregnancy and foetal development. This is why pregnant women take extra folic acid to help prevent spina bifida.

Manganese is a vital trace element, and 100 grammes of raw beetroot provides over a quarter of our daily recommended amount. It is necessary for normal brain and nerve function. Manganese also helps form connective tissue, bones, blood clotting factors, and sex hormones. It also plays a role in metabolism, calcium absorption, and regulating blood sugar. A small amount makes a mighty difference to our health.

Manganese also forms part of some antioxidants that help fight free radicals that can damage cells and DNA. So it could play a role in slowing down the affects of ageing and the development of conditions such as heart disease and cancer.

Fibre, vitamins and minerals – all this can be found in this tasty purple vegetable. It looks like beetroot really is hard to beat!

PS – a note from the editor: beetroot “makes you pee red and poop dark but don’t be alarmed.” Wise words!

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Tasty food medicine: garlic chicken is delicious and packed with anti-ageing properties

My earliest memory of “garlic” is a bedchamber scene between Sid James and Joan Sims in the 1971 film Carry on Henry. Henry VIII’s wedding night ardour dies as his French wife Marie reeks of garlic, which she considers an aphrodisiac and refuses to stop eating it. Cue: divorce.

And who can forget comedian Peter Kay describing a conversation with his father about garlic bread. “Garlic…? And bread…?” “It’s the future! I’ve tasted it!”

Perhaps socially it is best shared or eaten with parsley, but garlic is both food and folk medicine. For thousands of years, it was believed to have medicinal properties – and science has now confirmed it.

Garlic is a low-calorie, nutrient-dense plant in the onion family that can help prevent and reduce the severity of colds and ‘flu. It appears to improve blood pressure and bone health, reduce cholesterol and lead toxicity, protect against the effects of ageing, and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. It may even improve physical performance and help you live longer. Those ancient doctors knew their stuff.

Best of all, garlic is delicious and easy to add to your diet, as this recipe proves!

Preparation time: 5-15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: Four

Ingredients:
1 medium chicken (about 1.5kg): jointed into eight pieces; skin on breast and wings, skin off legs and thighs
4 tbsp of olive oil
2 garlic bulbs: separated, skins on
6 bay leaves
200 ml of white wine or Fino sherry
100ml of water
Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Prepare the chicken as above and season with a little salt and pepper
2. Place a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or frying pan (that has a lid) over a medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic cloves and fry gently until slightly golden. Remove the garlic from the oil with a spoon and set aside
3. Add the chicken to the pan in batches and fry on either side until golden brown all over. Return all the chicken and garlic to the pan along with the bay leaves, and pour in the wine, shaking the pan as you do to help emulsify the wine with the oil
4. Simmer for 2 minutes to evaporate some of the alcohol while turning the chicken in the sauce. Stir in the water, cover with the lid and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Add more water, if required
5. Season, then serve

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Big beautiful brassica: low-calorie, nutrient-dense cauliflowers are healthy, tasty, cheap and easy to prepare

Cauliflower is one of those vegetables whose reputations for taste and nutrition has been decimated by years of Britons boiling the life and flavour out of it. I can distinctly remember Sunday dinners with older relatives, bracing myself to eat something that resembled a pale green brain containing more salt than the Dead Sea.

Thankfully, those hypertensive days are over and the cauliflower can be reinstated for what it is – another nutritious and versatile brassica which would benefit us to consume more regularly. Its ingredients may help strengthen bones, boost the cardiovascular system and prevent cancer.

Cauliflower is rich in vitamins C, K, B6 and B9 (folate), and a source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and many other important nutrients. It also contains fibre, which enhances weight loss and digestion, and choline that is essential for learning and memory.

Even better, it can also be extremely tasty! The recipe below uses pine nuts but flaked almonds are a fine alternative. If you do use almonds, add them to the dish at the end, just before serving, so they don’t become soggy.

Preparation time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Serves: Four

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower broken into small florets
3 tbsp of olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, thinly sliced
50 strands of saffron infused in 4 tbsp of boiling water
3 tbsp of lightly toasted pine nuts (or flaked almonds)
75g of raisins soaked in warm water
Salt and pepper

Method:
1. Place the pine nuts (or flaked almonds) on a sheet of baking foil under a medium grill for a few minutes, turning from time to time, until toasted. Care should be taken as nuts can burn easily
2. Break up the cauliflower, thinly slice the onion, infuse the saffron and soak the raisins
3. Blanch the cauliflower for a minute in boiling lightly salted water, drain into a colander and set aside
4. Heat the olive oil in saucepan until hot but not smoking, then add the onion and a pinch of salt. Stir well, reduce the heat to low and cook very slowly for about 15-20 minutes until golden in colour and sweet smelling. Stir the mixture every 5 mins to prevent sticking. Remove from the heat, drain the onions but retain the oil
5. Set the same saucepan back on the heat together with the saved oil. When the oil is hot, add the cauliflower. Fry until the cauliflower begins to colour, then add the onion, saffron-infused water, pine nuts (if used) and the drained raisins. Give everything a good toss and cook for 5 more minutes until the saffron water has more or less evaporated
6. Add the flaked almonds (if used)
7. Season well and serve

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Versatile vegetarian breakfast: Shakshuka combines tomatoes, onions, garlic, spices and poached eggs – but can be adapted to suit any palate

When I asked my friends and family for healthy recipe ideas, someone replied “Shakshuka.” After establishing this was the name of a dish and not a badly disguised sneeze, I looked up the ingredients and was immediately impressed. Healthy, tasty, easy, versatile – and a food combiner’s dream protein meal. I’d hit the recipe jackpot.

Shakshuka is a Middle Eastern and North African vegetarian recipe, combining tomatoes, onions, garlic, spices and poached eggs.

Traditionally, it’s eaten for breakfast but could suffice for any meal. And the use of herbs and extra ingredients – in this instance spinach – can be adapted to suit any palate.

The cooking process can be divided into two parts, starting with the sauce (tomatoes, onions, garlic, red pepper and spices), then adding the spinach, eggs and feta, and cooking with a lid on to poach the eggs before serving with chopped coriander.

If frozen spinach is used, cook it through completely in the tomato sauce before adding the eggs and feta. The sauce can therefore be made in advance and reheated on the stove, adding the final ingredients once hot. If the sauce becomes too thick, a little water may be used to thin it.

Preparation and cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people. Use one egg per person

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 medium sized onions, chopped (red onions can also be used)
2 large red (or yellow) peppers, cut into long slices and halved
2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
Chopped spinach (frozen spinach can also be used)
1 small hot chilli (if you like it spicy!)
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp sweet paprika
2 tsp cumin (optional)
1/2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
200g feta cheese, crumbled
4–6 eggs
Coriander leaves, chopped (optional)
8 tbsp thick natural yoghurt (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:
1. Chop all the ingredients as recommended above
2. Heat the olive oil in a large, lidded frying pan. Add the onions and peppers. Cook on a medium heat until just softened
3. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes
4. Sprinkle in the paprika and (if used) the chilli, cumin, caraway seeds and cayenne pepper. Add the tomatoes with a splash of water. Simmer for 10 minutes uncovered until the contents have reduced a little. The texture shouldn’t be too runny but mustn’t get too dry. Add another splash of water if necessary
5. When the sauce is reduced, add the spinach and cook until it wilts (or cooks through, if frozen)
6. Make some wells in the sauce for the eggs. Break an egg into a cup and drop carefully into a well, and repeat with the remaining eggs, then sprinkle over the crumbled feta. Cook for a few more minutes until the egg whites are just set and the yolks are still runny. Sprinkle over the chopped coriander (if used)
7. Serve, ensuring one egg per person (with the option of some yogurt on the side)

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Nature’s sweet healer: honey is sweeter than sugar, absorbed more quickly, contains vitamins, minerals and enzymes, and has been used therapeutically for centuries

Sweetness became synonymous with treats and immediate energy, and as a sport-mad child I looked forward to them, though the net result of hyperactivity sent anyone in my near vicinity racing for the hills. (I’m still cautious about eating sweet snacks while broadcasting, as my speech pattern can swiftly turn into the cartoon network with an impromptu chocolate bar).

When I was 15, to balance my yo-yoing moods and energy requirements with a healthier alternative, my grandmother suggested eating honey instead. Initially unconvinced by the crystallised jar, sticky texture and slower effect, I reluctantly persisted with it to keep my grandmother happy. But the net result of feeling calmer, focused and healthy again was worth it.

Refined sugar, or sucrose, is the most widely used form of energy-giving carbohydrate. But consuming excess amounts can lead to tooth decay, obesity, stress, fatigue, high cholesterol levels, hypoglycaemia and diabetes. While a high-sugar diet can also reduce the consumption of foods that contain essential vitamins and minerals, a situation known as nutrient displacement.

Some reports claim that, in 1957, American doctor William Coda Martin classified refined sugar as a “poison” because it’s been depleted of its life forces, vitamins and minerals, leaving only “empty calories.”

The argument is that, without the essential vitamins and minerals that were supplied by the plant, our bodies are unable to properly digest these calories. So to metabolise it, our bodies draw upon their own stores of essentials, depleting itself, and creating imbalances and harmful by-products in our system. Thought-provoking stuff.

In contrast, raw untreated honey is sweeter than sugar and absorbed more quickly. It also contains low levels of B vitamins and some minerals and enzymes, and nutritionists claim it doesn’t upset the mineral balance like refined sugar does.

Nature’s sweet protection: scientists believe eating local honey can help prevent allergies in the local population

The colour and flavour vary according to the origin of its flowers and nectar. The sweetness is a combination of simple sugars: glucose, fructose, maltose and sucrose. Paler-coloured set honey is produced in early spring, when the ratio of glucose to fructose is high. While in the summer, the fructose level increases and this makes the honey more runny and golden.

Honey has also been used therapeutically for centuries, traditionally to treat sore throats and coughs, stomach ulcers, canker sores of the mouth and lips, high blood pressure and constipation. It also has a calming effect, and can be applied externally to wounds and burns.

According to scientist and beekeeper Dr. Mark Fife*, eating local honey can also help prevent allergies in the local population.

As honeybees collect pollen for their baby bees, small amounts of it will end up in their honey. As these allergens are then delivered to people in small, manageable doses, the effect over time is similar to having a series of allergy desensitisation injections.

Dr. Fife suggests the most beneficial effects are felt after eating two teaspoons a day of local honey for several months prior to the pollen season.

He’s also concerned at the decreasing number of bees. This is a major issue because, of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of the world’s food, over 70 are pollinated by bees. The earth’s population needs to cherish its little apian life-givers before food supplies, including honey, become scarce and prices rise.

It also takes a lot of bees to make honey. In their lifetime, one bee will make only 0.8 grammes. It also takes one million flowers to make a jar of honey, and the bees will have to travel 55,000 miles to get it. That’s the equivalent of walking around the UK five times. Not for nothing is the sleepless bee called “busy.”

So one solution to widespread health, environmental and economic issues seems simple: cut out sugar, eat local honey, and protect our bees.

*Dr. Mark Fife lives in Wiltshire and has 12 hives producing his own delicious “Henge Honey,” which you don’t have to be local to appreciate! https://www.hengehoney.com

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Cream of mushroom soup: so healthy and delicious even mushroom sceptics might love it!

We all have them: foods that we’re just not sure about. This can range from mild dislike to utter loathing, and can be based on taste, texture, smell, colour or association. It can also be a mix of loving a food cooked one way but hating another. And it can be completely irrational. For me, this is mushrooms.

I only like mushrooms in cream of mushroom soup. By that, I mean tinned cream of mushroom soup and the freshly made version at Russian coffee house chain Shokoladnitsa. Anything else, I either feel like I’m chewing school erasers or it plays to childhood suspicions that I’m being poisoned by the Evil Witch who hates kids.

This can put me in an awkward position as mushrooms are often used in the only dish I can eat at restaurants with limited menus, especially risottos. It almost rendered me a freak of nature living in Russia for six years as mushroom picking is a national pastime. And for good reason, as these fungi are good for you.

Mushrooms come in many shapes, sizes and colours, though the most popular is the white or button variety. They are low-fat, low-calorie and low-sodium. They contain protein and fibre, and are rich in B vitamins and minerals, such as selenium and copper, and other antioxidants that can help protect the body against heart disease and cancer, and the damage caused by ageing, as well as improve digestion and maintain the immune system.

So for this logical reason, and the fact that I have actually walked through three feet of snow to eat it, is why I am including this delicious recipe for cream of mushroom soup. I dare any mycophobics out there not to try it and love it!

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: Two

Ingredients:
500g white button mushrooms
2 tablespoons of chopped dried mushrooms
20g butter
½ medium onion
1 clove of garlic
3 medium potatoes
200g of creme fraiche (for the soup and for serving)
500ml water
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tablespoon of unscented oil

Method:
1. Boil some water in a kettle and add to the dried mushrooms in a cup or small bowl until just covered. Leave for 15 minutes
2. Boil and measure out 500ml of water, add a stock cube and allow it to dissolve
3. Peel and finely chop the onion
4. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the onion
5. Sweat the onion on a low heat for five minutes with the lid on
6. Wash or wipe clean the button mushrooms. Remove the stalks of 8-10 mushrooms and put only the caps to one side
7. Finely chop the remaining mushrooms and all the stalks, peel and chop the garlic, and peel and dice the potatoes (1 cm square)
8. Add the remaining mushroom and garlic to a pan, stir, and sweat for five minutes with the lid on, stirring from time to time to prevent sticking or burning
9. Add the chopped potatoes, stir, and sweat for five minutes with the lid on. Continue stirring from time to time to prevent burning or sticking
10. Add the vegetable stock and stir
11. Add the rehydrated mushrooms and the liquid they are in and stir
12. Cook on a low heat for 20 minutes with the lid on
13. Add all but two dessert spoons of creme fraiche to the soup until thoroughly blended. Continue cooking on a very low heat for 10 minutes and ensure the potatoes are soft. Do not allow the soup boil or the creme fraiche will clot
14. Heat one tablespoon of unscented oil in a frying pan, cut the set-aside mushroom caps in 1/2 cm slices and fry on a moderate to high heat, turning as necessary until cooked through. Do not brown or burn
15. Liquidise the soup using a hand blender and pass through a sieve
16. Reheat the liquidised soup and add the cooked sliced mushrooms for texture.
Season to taste
17. Serve in warm bowls and put a tablespoon of the remaining creme fraiche in the centre of the soup in each bowl and create a decorative swirl
18. Eat with hot buttered rustic walnut bread!

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Buttered walnut bread: if some flour and yeast can be found, enjoy making and baking this delicious nutty loaf

If by a miracle you arrive at the supermarket just as the shelves are being restocked, then head straight to the home baking aisle, pick up some flour and dried yeast, and try this recipe for delicious walnut bread.

If you can’t find any yeast, or would like a quicker loaf, then opt for our recipe to make tasty rosemary and raisin soda bread.

But the mouth-watering taste is worth the wait!

Preparation time: 15 minutes (plus two hours’ rising time)
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Makes: one large loaf

Ingredients:
500 g/17 1/2 oz wholemeal flour, plus extra for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
20 g/3/4 oz dried yeast
40 g/11/2 oz butter, softened
60 ml/2 fl oz walnut or sunflower oil
300 ml/1/2 pint of water
150 g/5 oz walnut pieces

Method:
1. Put all the ingredients, except the walnuts, into a large bowl and then mix well with your hands for four minutes
2. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Using your fingers and the heel of your palm, knead the dough for five minutes
3. Put the dough back in the bowl and leave to rise for an hour
4. Lightly oil a baking tray
5. Break the walnuts into quarters and incorporate into the dough, shape into a ball and dust with flour
6. Place on the baking tray and leave to rise for an hour
7. Preheat the oven to 220 C / 425F / Gas mark 7
8. Using a sharp knife, cut a cross into the top of the dough, then bake the bread for 30 minutes until golden
9. Transfer to a wire rack to cool
10. Slice and serve or freeze

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