Browsing Tag

recipe

Lunch + Dinner Recipes

Gut Friendly Mexican Chilli

17th February 2020

This is another great dish to add lots more veggies to your life – it that translates to a healthier and more diverse gut microbiome.

Ingredients:

  • 1 yellow/ brown onion, finely diced
  • 1 cup of frozen corn
  • 1 red pepper, finely diced
  • medium bunch kale, de-stalked and shredded
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
  • 1 teaspoon of dried origanum
  • 1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin & nutmeg each
  • 1 & 1/2 cup of pasata or chopped tomatoes
  • sea salt to taste
  • a pinch of sugar to regulate the acidity of the tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
  • a handful of kidney beans and chickpeas each – or just choose 1 and double your qty.

Sauté the onion & red pepper in coconut oil until soft, then add the garlic and sauté for a further 1 minute. Then add absolutely everything else and allow it to simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Then serve with quinoa or brown basmati rice.

Serve with some avocado or just on its own 🙂

Happy cooking

Marlien x

Lunch + Dinner Recipes

New Year’s Lentil & Potato Bake Plant-Based Gut Healthy Meals

1st January 2019

This recipe was inspired by my friend Monica after she described this yummy lentil & potato bake she makes….I still intend to get her recipe (and hopefully share it with you guys) but for now here is my version:

Ingredients:

  • organic waxy potatoes, scrubbed, pealed and then sliced thinly
  • overnight soaked brown lentils (rinse them well of the soaking water, and then par-cook them in a salted water)
  • 1 x tin of tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoon of ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon of allspice
  • 2 cloves of fresh garlic, grated or crush
  • 1/4 cup of sun-dried onion flakes
  • 1 kallo vegetable stock cube
  • 1 cup of water

Method:

  • once the lentils are par cooked (half cooked), add them to a large cast iron saucepan, or pot, then sauté them along with a drizzle of macadamia oil along with the garlic and spices, for about 5 minutes.
  • Next add the chopped tomatoes, crumbled stock cube, water, salt to taste and sun-dried onions and allow this mixture to simmer for 30 min (without the lid) on low heat.
  • Then add the sliced potatoes on top of this lentil ‘stew’ in a more or less single, but overlapping layer, add a bit of salt and pepper to taste and pop it in a pre-heated oven for another 30 min.
  • Serve with a salad and some greens of your choice.

Happy cooking and wishing you radiant health ahead in 2019

Wellness + Nutrition

How Omega 3 helps heal your Gut! Gut Health & Omega 3

18th November 2018

Featured meal idea: Poached wild caught Norwegian salmon, served with avocado, and mixed baby leaves, dressed simply with lemon juice, cold pressed olive oil and lots of sea salt & black pepper, so delicious and nutritious:

Time savers tip; poach a large fillet of salmon and then store it in the fridge to supply 2-3 of these filling salads for your lunchbox or summery suppers for the week.

In addition to this simple salad idea, some really interesting information in the below article about the role of Omega 3 in your gut health from Medical News Today:

Omega 3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids, which means that although we need them to stay healthy, the human body cannot produce them on its own – so we have to get them from food.

The benefits of a diet rich in omega-3s are well known. The fatty acids seem to lower the “bad” kind of cholesterol, lower high blood pressure, and improve overall cardiovascular health.

Some studies have also suggested that omega-3 can reduce symptoms of rheumatoid arthritisand improve bone strength, as well as protect against age-related cognitive decline and dementia.

And now, researchers from the University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine, in collaboration with scientists from King’s College London – both in the United Kingdom – add to the long list of omega-3’s benefits.

The new study – led by Dr. Ana Valdes, an associate professor and reader at the University of Nottingham – suggests that the compound can improve the biodiversity of the gut.

How omega-3 may improve gut health

The researchers analyzed levels of DHA, which is a type of omega-3 fatty acid, as well as total omega-3 serum levels and microbiome data from 876 twins.

“This cohort of 876 volunteer women had previously been used to investigate the human genetic contribution to the gut microbiome in relation to weight gain and disease,” says Dr. Valdes.

Dr. Valdes summarizes the findings, saying, “We […] found [that omega-3 intake], together with […] serum levels of omega-3, were strongly associated with the diversity and number of species of healthy bacteria in the gut.”

The association was independent of whether or not the participants also had a diet rich in fiber.

First study author Dr. Cristina Menni, of King’s College London, adds, “We also found that specific bacteria that have been linked to lower inflammation and lower risk of obesity are increased in people who have a higher intake of omega-3 fatty acids.”

In an attempt to understand the mechanism behind this association, the researchers performed further tests and found that “high levels of omega-3 in blood […] correlated with high levels of a compound called N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) in the gut.”

“[NCG] has been shown in animals to reduce oxidative stress in the gut. We believe that some of the good effects of omega-3 in the gut may be due to the fact that omega-3 induces bacteria to produce this substance.”

Dr. Cristina Menni

“Our study is the largest to date to examine the relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and the composition of the gut microbiome,” says Dr. Valdes.

For the full article, navigate to the link below:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319375.php

Lunch + Dinner Recipes, Salad

Roasted Cauliflower & Sweet Potato Salad Roasted vegetable salad

21st February 2017

The last couple of Summer months remain and there is still time to indulge in salads packed with nutrients, fiber and enzymes.

Two of my favourite vegetables to roast are Jewel (orange fleshed) sweet potatoes and cauliflower. In fact since I discovered roasted cauliflower I am convinced it is the only way to cook them.

Serves 2

Ingredients 

  • 2 medium Jewel sweet potatoes
  • 1 small head of cauliflower
  • 1 small head of butter lettuce, or a small bag of mixed baby leaves
  • 1 disc of feta cheese
  • 1/4 cup of sundried onions
  • Pink salt
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
  • Dusting of ground cinnamon
  • Cold pressed olive oil
  • Fresh lemon juice/ or balsamic reduction

Simply scrub the sweet potatoes well and leaving the skin on slice them lenghtways, approximately 1cm thick.

Then slice the cauliflower in 1 cm thick pieces and roast tgem at 180 degrees celcius in some coconut oil for 40 minutes.

I seasoned my veg with pink salt, ground cumin and a smidgen of ground cinnamon, but you can add turmeric and ground coriander too.

Then simply arrange them prettily over some mixed leaves, sprinkle over some sun-dried onions (available ready-made from most supermarkets) and a bit of crumbled feta cheese.

Dress with olive oil and balsamic reduction.

Seriously delicious and easy.

With love and in dedication to your best health,

Marlien

Recipe Videos, Salad

Nachos Chip Salad (Video) Video recipe tutorial

14th November 2016

Hi Guys, now you can follow me on youtube for video recipe tutorials. Here is my first one featuring the yummy and super easy Nachos Chip Salad from my recipe book The Yoga Kitchen – 100 Easy Superfood Recipes