This is super-easy and works with turkey or beef mince. It tastes even better the next day and freezes brilliantly too. That’s why I always make enough for 4 and freeze half for one of those “don’t feel much like cooking” nights.
For 4:
2 x 400g tins borlotti or red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or soak 1 cup raw beans overnight, change water, then boil hard till ender)
2 medium onions (about 350g) chopped
500g lean turkey or beef mince
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
1 heaped tsp ground cumin (or more to taste)
1 heaped tsp plain cocoa powder (optional)
1 level tsp ground cinnamon
1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano (herb)
¼ – ½ tsp ground chilli or cayenne (optional)
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes with their juice/400g sieved tomatoes (passata)
1 heaped tbs tomato puree
Good splash (about 60ml) red wine if you have it
1 tsp miso paste OR a beef stock cube, dissolved in 50ml boiling water
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
Generous pinch Himalayan/sea salt
To serve:
Cauliflower “rice” (see recipe on blog) or if you don’t want weight loss you could use rice or millet (instructions on blog)
Steamed broccoli, green beans, peas or a green salad
Plus if you’re feeling fancy some roughly chopped coriander and some lime wedges
1. Heat a large, heavy bottomed saucepan (with lid) on a medium heat.
2. Add the onions, olive oil, small splash (about 1 tbs) water, cover with a lid and “sweat” (cook gently) until the onions are softened, about 10 mins.
3. Add the mince and stir around for a minute to break it up a bit. There is no need to brown it. Then add the garlic, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, oregano chilli/cayenne, tomatoes with their juice and the miso/beef stock.
4. Cover and cook at a simmer for around 20 mins stirring occasionally, till the meat is cooked. If the sauce begins to dry out you can add a little water or vegetable stock. If theres more liquid then you like, simmer uncovered until until it reduces.
5. Add borlotti/kidney beans and tomato puree and cook for a further 10 mins.
6. Season with freshly ground black pepper and salt.
Why this is good for you: Turkey and beef are rich in amino acid tryptophan which is a building block of feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is one of the brain chemicals that makes you feel calm, happy and is essential for sleep (it gets converted to sleep-hormone melatonin). If you have a good balance of healthy gut bacteria AND good levels of certain vitamins and minerals your body will convert tryptophan to serotonin easily. Did you know that low serotonin in your gut can be a trigger for IBS? Not a lot of people know that.
Did you know that ALL herbs and spices have many effects – from helping you see off infections to helping you maintain a healthy weight and age agelessly? These magical taste-bombs also have anti-inflammatory effects, even in your brain (did you know that depression involves brain inflammation?). Herbs and spices selectively encourage growth of good bugs in your gut. AND they make your gut a hostile environment for disease-causing organisms.
When you cook meat WITH spices or herbs, you protect the meat (and whoever eats it) from much of the damage produced by heat. A study of diabetic people monitored blood samples for inflammatory markers before and after eating 2 different types of grilled beef patty. One cooked just with salt and pepper, the other mixed with at least 6 different herbs/spices before cooking. After eating the patties, guess which group had less inflammation in their blood – you guessed it, the herb and spice group. The WAY you cook your food has a massive effects on it’s power to help or derail your health.
This recipe also has onions, which contain the fibre inulin. Inulin feeds beneficial bacteria in your gut. Healthy gut, happy mind, happy life.
I love stir fries especially when I want to use up what’s lurking in the bottom of the fridge. I think there are 6 elements in a good stir fry:
1. Aromatics: ginger, tamari sauce plus Chinese 5 spice powder or Szechuan pepper
2. Onions or spring onions
3. Vegetables: greens plus something else brightly coloured
4. Extra virgin coconut oil and/or chicken stock for the actual stir frying and cooking
5. Protein: e.g. chicken fillets, beef sirloin, tempeh, fermented tofu, prawns
6. Extra liquid: I like a glug of white wine/dry sherry and/or a chicken/veg stock/water
One of the keys is to have all ingredients totally prepped before you start to stir fry, that way the actual cooking can take as little as 10 minutes. Get your accompaniment (rice/cauliflower rice/noodles) ready and waiting in a warm place before you start stir frying.
Once you are used to making stir fries you’ll start adding your own twists, using additional veggies and making this your own.
For 2
1 heaped teaspoon extra virgin coconut oil
1 large onion (about 200g is nice)
2 large red peppers/2 medium carrots (or 1 pepper 1 carrot)
1 thumb of ginger (enough to make a heaped dsp or a bit more)
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 heaped tsp Chinese 5 spice powder – if you make your own it’s amazing https://www.annacollins.ie/chinese-five-spice-powder/
2 large handfuls greens: e.g. green cabbage/kale, pak choi, or 2 cups small broccoli florets
Tamari sauce – about 2 tbs
Optional – about 2 tbs white wine or dry sherry
50-100ml vegetable or chicken stock or boiling water (Kallo stock cubes or Vecon vegetable bouillon powder are good)
Protein: 250g chicken fillet/beef sirloin or 300g tempeh or fermented tofu
Optional: 1 slightly rounded tsp arrowroot powder/cornflour to thicken the sauce
1.Peel and cut onion in half lengthways then cut into wedges (like segments of an orange)
2.Slice red peppers 1cm thick/peel carrots and cut into thin matchsticks or slices.
3. Peel and chop the ginger finely. Set aside the onion, carrot/peppers and ginger – they will be added to the pan together.
4.Measure out 5 spice powder and set aside.
5.Shred greens/slice pak choi into 3cm lengths/break broccoli into small florets, chop garlic finely and set aside.
6. Prep your protein: trim chicken/beef of skin/fat, slice thinly across the grain (less than 1cm thick). If you are using tempeh/fermented tofu cut it in small bite sized cubes.
7. Measure out the tamari sauce with the sherry/wine if using and set aside.
8. Boil the kettle. If you have chicken stock/veg stock cube make up about 50-100ml, otherwise plain hot water will do.
9.Heat your frying pan or wok on a medium heat, add the coconut oil and when it’s melted add the onion, red peppers/carrots and ginger and the 5-spice powder. Stir fry till the onions are starting to get translucent and the carrots/peppers have softened a little. If it starts to “catch” add a splash of stock or water to the pan and stir will it’s all unstuck.
10.Add the garlic, shredded/sliced greens/broccoli florets, meat or tempeh the tamari sauce, sherry/wine, give it a stir to coat and cover the pan with a large place or a lid. You want everything to steam until the greens are softened enough to eat but not so cooked that they lose their fresh colour.
11.After a few minutes, stir and check that the meat is getting in contact with the heat and cooking through.
12. When the meat/tofu/tempeh is cooked through check the liquid levels.
13. If you like your sauce thickened, combine 1 tsp cornflour/arrowroot with a few tablespoons of cooled stock or water, mix to amalgamate. Pour on to the pan, stirring well until it’s all cooked (a couple of minutes), adding a splash or water of stock if you think its too thick. Once its thickened and no longer has a chalky taste, its cooked.
Serve with:
Cauliflower rice or rice
Why this is good for you: Having a big diversity of vegetables, herbs and spices in your weekly eating fosters diversity of friendly bugs in your large intestine. This is important for ALL aspects of your health. Good bugs are critical for mood, getting autoimmune conditions into remission, regulating your weight your blood pressure and even blood sugar. Yes, even diabetes responds to a change in gut bacteria. In short, if want to get well, or continue to enjoy fantastic health, you need plenty of types of good bugs living happily in you.
Garlic and spices selectively reduce numbers of “bad” gut micro organisms and encourage growth of helpful ones. Avoiding polyunsaturated vegetables oils and switching to extra virgin coconut oil (or extra virgin olive oil) for cooking means reducing the toxic trans fats that sabotage the function of every cell in your body.
Quality protein needs to make up 1/4 of your every meal. You need enough protein to be resilient to stress, to power detoxification of normal (and environmental) toxins, and to support your immune system. GMO-free Tempeh or fermented tofu are the highest protein vegan food sources. By soya milk, soya “cheese”, and unfermented tofu are high in substances called lectins, which can cause damage and inflammation in our gut. Damage in your gut fuels ALL chronic health issues from acne and anxiey.
Green veg are a rich source of magnesium, Nature’s Tranquiliser – important for over 400 metabolic processes in YOU. Happy eating!
Today I wanted to make a version of a frittata with lots of thyme. It’s a superfood and amazing for your lungs – helping protect them from damage and alfor breakfast or brunch over a few days. This recipe is one you can adjust as you like. If you don’t have squash, cooked broccoli florets would also work well. If you are NOT on the SC diet, sweet potatoes are another option.
The essentials of a frittata are onions, garlic, eggs and extra virgin olive oil and some sort of additional vegetable.
For 4
8 large eggs, ideally organic
1 large onion (200-250g)
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
Half a large butternut squash, peeled (you want around 450g flesh for the recipe)
Half level tsp Himalayan salt or sea salt
Generous handful of fresh thyme, rinsed and dried
3-4 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Optional extras: 1 dsp finely chopped sage leaves and/or 1 level tsp paprika
Heavy-bottomed frying pan that can be put under your grill
Preheat oven to 200C(or 180C for a fan oven).
Scatter thyme, stalks and all, into a roasting tin, add the squash, 1 tbs olive oil, sprinkle on the salt, some freshly ground black pepper and toss well.
Roast for 45-60 minutes (giving it a toss half way through) until the flesh is soft when pierced.
Meanwhile peel and chop your onions (about 1cm squares is nice). Add to a heavy bottomed frying pan along with 2 tbs olive oil 1 tbs of water and steam fry on a medium heat till translucent and soft. Steam frying is using a mix of oil and water and covering with a lid/plate and gently cooking till soft. This technique avoids the browning that damages food (and causes us inflammation).
When squash is done (softish), remove from oven, let it cool a bit, then poke through, gathering up the thyme sprigs.
Pull the leaves off with your fingers (yes, you will get messy!) and add back into the squash. Throw away the bare twiggy bits.
Beat 8 eggs with a generous pinch of black pepper, a pinch of salt and (if using) some paprika/finely chopped sage or both.
Add the cooked squash and thyme, 2 cloves of crushed garlic to your cooked onions, give a stir and flatten down.
Pour on the eggs and cook on a low heat for at least 25 minutes until the egg is set. I cover with a plate/lid during cooking to speed it up but you don’t have to.
If you feel like it, flash the whole thing (but not any plastic handle!) under a hot grill for a few minutes to brown the top.
Serve hot or at room temperature with:
A big crunchy salad of green leaves dressed with my Mediteranean salad dressing (also on blog).
Why this is good for you: Using extra virgin olive oil instead of low grade cooking oils helps make this healthier. All polyunsaturated nut/seed oils are toxic when heated or refined. Extra virgin olive oil, and virgin coconut oil are not polyunsaturated and so are much more stable when heated. This means they don’t do you harm.
Thyme helps your lungs function better, resist infection more, and helps prevent/treat coughs. There is a tide of high quality peer-reviewed research on medline about the bronchial benefits of thyme. Orange veggies are a rich source of beta carotene which in your diet also protects your lungs.
Onions are rich in inulin, a type of “prebiotic” fibre. Prebiotic fibres feed good gut bacteria which are so critical for your immunity. Over 70% of your immune cells live in your gut. Your immune cells are controlled in large part by the bacteria, fungi and viruses (yes viruses can be useful) that live in you. So eating a big variety of veg, herbs and spices gives a friendly environment for “good” critters to grow and help you. In fact there are more cells belonging to critters in and on you than make up you. Its just that the cells of micro organisms are a lot smaller than human cells!
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.
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.
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.
I love this and invented it one weekend a few years ago when I saw beautiful ricotta on sale. Now I see it seems to be “a thing” on the internet. Quantities are to serve 2, as usual. If you use frozen berries and you forget to thaw them overnight first, just put into a pan and warm with about 1 dessertspoon of xylitol or around 5 drops of steviaor some erythritol/xylitol and warm gently, covered, until thawed. Allow to cool a bit before using.
2 mugs (about 200g) (THAWED OVERNIGHT) frozen or fresh organic raspberries or strawberries (personally I love frozen cos when you thaw them you get lots of juice)
4 small slices 100% wholemeal gluten-free bread (if you eat gluten, 100% wholemeal spelt, wheat or rye sourdough is great with this)
100-150g tub super-fresh ricotta cheese (NOT salted ricotta)
1/4 tsp vanilla powde or vanilla extract (make sure its extract not essence if you want to be gluten-free)
Stevia drops, erytirotol/stevia or xylitol to sweeten
1. Mix the vanilla powder/extract into the ricotta and add stevia/xylitol/erythritol to taste.
2. Toss your berries (with any juice that came out) with stevia/erythritol/xylitol to sweeten to your liking.
3. Toast your bread, divide the ricotta between the 4 slices, piling on top, and spoon over the berries and their juice (if any).
4. Enjoy for a leisurely breakfast.
Why this is better for you Ricotta is rich in protein which keeps you fuller longer than if you just ate toast with fruit or jam for breakfast. The protein stops your blood sugar from soaring too high too quickly, which would cause inflammation and accelerated ageing. Protein slows digestion so this is a slow-burn energy breakfast. Slow burn meals are really important if you want to be well long-term and be the best body shape for you. Strawberries (and raspberries) are really rich in vitamin C and polyphenols which help keep every part of our body young-looking, springy and strong – from your skin to your arteries and intestines. Do go for organic if at all possible. Xylitol, stevia and erythritol have NO effect on blood sugar – this is good news for all of us, not just people with diabetes.
This recipe is super-easy. It’s what I make when I come home late and want dinner on the table in 15-20 minutes.
For 2
2 salmon darnes/fillets/steaks, ideally wild or organic A large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed Tamari Sauce (see “larder & shopping” for where to buy)
1. Brush fish on both sides with the sauce, smear with the garlic. 2. Grill on medium heat for around 5 minutes flesh side up and 1-2 minutes skin side up until very slightly browned (watch it when grilling the skin side, it goes from not done to burnt very quickly).
Serve with:
Steamed green or runner beans drizzled with fresh lemon juice or a large salad of mixed leaves, cherry tomatoes and sliced red onion drizzled with my home-made mediterranean or Asian salad dressing or a little fresh lemon juice and a glug of extra virgin olive oil. These accompaniments are suitable for a paleo (stoneage) or ketogenic eating diet.
If you don’t want to lose any weight you could also add a medium steamed or baked sweet potato (just scrub, slice and steam with the skin on for extra nutrients) or some baby boiled white potatoes. Carbohydrates (grains, potatoes, sweet foods) are weight gainers.
Why this recipe is good for you: Oily fish is a great source of omega 3 essential fats needed for weight management, beautiful skin and good brain function. Eating fresh rather than tinned fish is best because the plastic lining of tins contains bisphenol A (BPA). Fats in the food absorb BPA. BPA is linked by numerous studies to sex hormone imbalance (eg PMS, low libido, endometriosis, fibroids) and life-threatening diseases of the breast and prostate. Greens are a rich source of magnesium, which helps the liver clear natural and man made toxins from the body. common symptoms of magnesium deficiency include stress, wheezing in asthmatics, and sluggish bowels.
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?
Because I am an indolent cook and destalking thyme is a pain I leave the thyme leaves attached to the sprigs. They usually fall off in the cooking and then you only need to fish out the denuded twigs. I don’t do this with rosemary – the leathery leaves go everywhere and the texture isn’t good – so I chop the rosemary finely.
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 mugful of bite size chunks of root veg: choose from Swede or white turnip, Jerusalem artichokes or (for people NOT on SC diet) potato or sweet potato.
1 large carrot, sliced
1 large stick celery, sliced
1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander
½-1 tsp cayenne pepper
400g can butter beans (drained) or soak (overnight) 200g dried butter beans in water and boil til tender.
250 g tomatoes, chopped (fresh or tinned)
Large handful fresh thyme sprigs
6” sprig fresh rosemary, destalked and finely chopped (or you can leave the whole sprig in and then spend ages picking the annoying leathery leaves out when everything’s cooked)
150ml vegetable stock (For SC diet add 1/2 teaspoon additive free Vegetable bouillon powder such as Dr Coy’s to boiling water). If you don’t need SC diet-friendly use Vecon vegetable bouillon powder or Kallo vegetable stock cube.
5 juniper berries, lightly crushed
3 tbs fresh parsley, finely chopped (you can chop and keep in the freezer for easy use)
Add the oil, onion, garlic, potato/Jerusalem artichoke/turnip, carrot, celery and spices to a heavy bottomed saucepan or casserole, give everything a stir to mix with the oil and spices, put on the lid, and sweat for 5-10 mins until the onion is translucent but not brown. You might need to add a splash of water to stop everything browning.
Add the cooked beans, tomatoes, thyme sprigs, rosemary, stock, juniper berries, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and gently simmer till the vegetables are cooked.
Garnish with parsley.
Serve with:
Steamed broccoli or a green salad dressed with a little olive oil and lemon juice
Optional extras (for people NOT on SC Diet) choose one:
Quinoa grains – 11% protein so great with a beany dinner. Its protein keeps added to the bean protein keeps you fuller for longer. Cook in twice its volume of boiling water in a covered saucepan – around 8-10 mins until it looks bobbley.
Brown rice (add a little turmeric to the water before cooking for a lovely golden colour)
Why this is good for you: Beans are a rich source of magnesium which you need for calm, sleep, clear skin, proper muscle and liver function and much much more. Stress, refined foods (sugar/white grains), alcohol, stimulants and smoking rob magnesium from your body. Millet is also rich in magnesium.
Fresh thyme, rosemary and spices are rich sources of phytochemicals (also called polyphenols or bioflavonoids). These are natural antioxidants many times more powerful than vitamins and minerals. Phytochemicals help reduce inflammation. This helps prevent or relieve conditions like heart disease and any condition with an -itis – arthritis, dermatitis, bursitis etc. It doesn’t help with work-itis, which I used to have in my old job!
