2012 July

Fertile Foods

July 31, 2012 By Meg With 4 comments

Just a quick little post today looking at food as medicine for fertilty! There are a plethora of essential nutrients that are required for healthy eggs, sperm, and for creating the perfect environment for them to meet. Key players include zinc, vitamin C, selenium, vitamin E, B vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, magnesium and vitamin A. Eat yourself fertile starting with these top five.

TOP 5 FERTILE FOODS

1. Avocado

Not only are they beautiful, but they take 9 months to develop from blossom to ripe fruit, sound familiar? They are even shaped like a uterus. Nature is practically screaming for us to eat them, and enjoy the benefits of their fabulously good fats, Vitamin E, Folic acid, and Vitamin C.

2. Eggs

Vitamin A, E, and D, B vitamins, selenium, zinc, iron, protein and omega 3s - whoa! Seriously nutrient rich, these little gems have a lot of nutritional bang for their buck. Invest in eggs from pasture-raised chooks to maximise the vitamin intake.

3. Figs

Traditionally used as an aphrodisiac, figs contain vitamin A, C, E, Calcium, Magnesium, Selenium, Zinc and Iron among other deliciousness. They usually grow in pairs on the tree, which gives you a bit of a clue as to what part of the male body they are helpful for!

4. Black Beans (or Turtle Beans)

Used in traditional medicine to benefit reproductive function, and as a remedy for infertility and hot flashes of menopause. If you don’t fancy them as part of your curry or casserole, try black bean “juice” a …

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For the love of tea, and an antioxidant sorbet.

July 24, 2012 By Meg With 5 comments

Green Tea and Raspberry Sorbet

Tea is one of the oldest drinks in the world, and has traditions entrenched many cultures. We are so lucky to have a huge variety to choose from, but today I am just talking about green tea.

GREEN TEA leaves are blessed with catechins, the gatekeepers of wondrous amounts of antioxidants, as well as anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, and antibacterial properties. That’s right, drink some green tea and reduce your risk of colon, skin, lung, prostate and breast cancer; and the likelihood of cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disease. And slow adverse effects of ageing while you’re at it!

But why stop at drinking it as a tea. The Food Matters Project recipe for this week - Raspberry Cabernet Sorbet, inspired me to to make a green tea, raspberry and mint version. Cracker-packed full of antioxidants, this sorbet is a delicious little dairy-free treat. Wrong time of year for sorbet? Not on hot apple pie!

Green Tea and Raspberry Antioxidant Sorbet
Makes about 2 cups
1 tablespoon good quality green tea
10-15 mint leaves, roughly chopped
225g raspberries (frozen)
1/4 cup silken tofu (or coconut milk)
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup

Pour 1/2 cup boiling water onto the green tea and steep for 10 minutes.
Pop the raspberries, tofu and maple syrup into a food processor or blender and process until just combined (you will probably need to scrape down the sides).
Drizzle in 5 tablespoons of the strained, cooled green tea infusion and add the mint leaves and process just enough to combine. Don’t overprocess or it will turn into a raspberry liquid!

Serve straight away. You can freeze and serve later, but be sure to allow time for it to soften before serving (anywhere from 15 – 30 minutes or more depending on the temperature).

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Beet-tastic Beetroot ‘Sandwiches’, and Michael Pollan

July 8, 2012 By Meg With 17 comments

Beetroots, Beta vulgaris, or Beets – whatever you call them, they are bountiful, bossy and beautiful. Bountifully full of nutrients, bossily and unapologetically messy, and beautiful in colour, flavour and appearance.
Beets strengthen the heart, improve circulation, purify the blood, benefit the liver and intestines, and were traditionally used for nervousness and to calm the spirit – lovely.
They are packed with vitamin C, B vitamins-especially folate, vitamin A, potassium, manganese and potassium. They also contain one of the best non-animal forms of iron.
Beetroots are super versatile in that you can eat them raw, roasted, steamed, pickled, as a soup, a dip, in salads, in stews and as chips. They are also an awesome flavour match for apples, balsamic vinegar, bitter greens, carrots, ginger, lemon, orange, cheese, walnuts and garlic, just to name a few.
Beets are a great example of using the whole food, with the beet and the leaves being edible – the early Romans actually only ate the leaves (apparently).

So as this week is my week to host the Food Matters Project, I couldn’t resist the sexiness of these little Beet “Sandwiches”. Not only do you get the goodness of the beetroot, but some extra green goods, nutty nutrition and goaty greatness – super!

The original recipe from Mark Bittman’s ‘The Food Matters Cookbook’ goes like this.
Ingredients:
2 large beets, peeled if you like
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if needed
Sea Salt
4 ounces (110g) fresh goat cheese
1 1/2 cups shelled pistachios (or walnuts would also be fabulous here!)
1 bunch watercress, baby spinach, arugula/roquet (about 2 cups of leaves)
Black pepper

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees farenheight (200 degrees Celsius). Slice the beets about 1/8 inch thick, using a mandoline, food processor, or sharp knife. Grease a

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Sea Vegetable Love Part Three: Nori, plus fast pickled ginger.

July 4, 2012 By Meg With 6 comments

Nori is probably the most recognisable form of sea vegetables to many of us, used in sushi hand rolls and the like. Weighing in the heaviest in protein of the sea veg family (almost 30% – whoa!), the accolades for nori don’t end there. How about a hefty helping of calcium, iron, zinc, B vitamins, and vitamins A, C and E? Yes please!

Today I thought it would be cute to make little nori squares, as opposed to the traditional rolls. You can of course use this same method to make rolls if you prefer, but the Food Matters Project‘s recipe for this week - Updated Tea Sandwiches, inspired me to make my nori into mini sandwiches. Check out what the other FMP members came up with here.
This makes about 6-8 rolls worth.

You will need:
Nori sheets
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (I used quinoa instead of rice to pack an extra protein and nutritional punch, but you can use rice again if you prefer).
Seasonal vegetables of your choice to fill your sandwich or roll.
2 tbs brown rice vinegar
1 tbs water
1 tsp honey
1 tsp sea salt

1. Whisk together the last 4 ingredients and stir through the slightly cooled quinoa (keep a very small amount to dress your kale cabbage combo if using).

2. Cut up your nori into the size and shape you require. HOT TIP: keep the size small enough to fit into your mouth in one bite, or big enough to be able to pick up and handle easily.

3. Spread the quinoa onto one side of your nori.

4. Top with all sorts of wonderful fresh produce. I love to use a mix of kale and cabbage. I will not apologise for how much I