Sauteed liver with orange & sage

This is one of the ONLY ways I enjoy eating liver and it IS delicious provided you don’t let it overcook and go tough.  If you have someone in your house who struggles with acne this could be a game changer for them.  Liver is high in vitamin A, which can have miraculous effects on reducing those micro-skin infections known as acne.  Read more about health benefits at the end of this post.  P.S. Don’t be tempted to use dried sage – it just won’t be nice.  Nigel Slater says dried sage belongs in the bin, and I agree.

For 2
300g lambs liver
20g rice flour/gluten-free oat flour
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1 heaped tbs (2 heaped dsp) chopped fresh sage
2 tbs chopped parsley to garnish
200g onions, sliced or roughly chopped
2 organic oranges
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

To serve:
4 cups of broccoli florets, peas, green beans or runner beans
Optional: some diced steamed Swede turnip of some (low carb) konjac/shiritake noodles (these are available in Asian shops and are also sold as “zero noodles” in some health store chains).  Alternatively use rice noodles or 100% buckwheat noodles.

1. Mix 1 tbs chopped sage, the flour, a generous pinch of salt and about 1/4 level tsp black pepper together in a largish bowl.
2. Cut liver into thin strips about 5cm long and toss in the flour
3. Roughly chop the onions.
4. Using a serrated knife, peel, halve and slice one orange.
5. Zest the other orange and squeeze the juice.
6. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and cook, stirring for about 3-4 mins until softened. Remove the onions from the pan and reserve.
7. Add the liver to the pan and toss over a high heat for a further 3-4 mins until slightly browned and still very pink in the middle (it will keep cooking as you add in the rest of the ingredients).
8. Reduce the heat, stir in the rind and juice of the remaining 1 orange and the onions and allow to heat thoroughly for 1 min.
9. Serve immediately garnished with the prepared orange slices and chopped sage/parsley.

Why this is good for you: or your skin health and immune system.
Vitamin A (liver is the richest natural source) helps vitamin D work in your body to enhance your immunity to infections. Whether its flu, covid, the common cold or acne – they are all infections.  Liver, or other rich sources of vitamin A can be a game changer for you if you have acne.  A note of caution: don’t take supplements of retinol (animal source vitamin A) if you are likely to become pregnant or are already pregnant.  It’s perfectly safe for baby if you eat liver once a week though.

Did you know that people with hypothyroidism have altered vitamin A metabolism so they may need to eat liver or a supplement of retinol (active vitamin A) to have skin that heals normally and isn’t dry and flaky.  Liver is a rich in choline, an essential nutrient that has largely fallen out of our eating patterns since we moved away from organ meats.  Choline deficiency causes non alcoholic fatty liver disease and muscle damage too.  Organic eggs contain a little choline and raw nuts/seeds contain some but organ meats like liver and kidneys are by far the richest source.  Liver is rich in iron too  and the vitamin A helps your body use the iron properly – how clever is that!!