Author avisha Categories Blog, Food & Nutrition, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

Swiss Chard and Daikon Salad

The essence of a great salad is not just the layering of flavours but the layering of textures as well.

This salad started out with daikon as the recipe centre piece.  Daikon is a white root vegetable, similar in flavour and texture to a radish and is common in Asian cuisine.  To be honest it’s not something that I buy frequently but every once and a while I like to mix things up to add variety to our diet.

Daikon is a cruciferous vegetable and as such has several cancer fighting properties.  Daikon is high in antioxidants, especially vitamin C.  Antioxidants are essential for fighting free radicals. Research has also shown that daikon juice helps prevent the formation of carcinogens in our body and helps our liver to process toxins.

The green component in this salad is Swiss Chard.  Swiss Chard is loaded in phytonutrients and is one of a handful of foods containing betalain.

Add to these ingredients a cup of cannellini beans and you’ve got a yummy salad that is nutrient dense and fibre rich.

This easy to prepare salad is a combination of cooked and raw elements that is suitable as a stand alone for lunches or as a hearty side dish at dinner time.

Swiss Chard and Daikon Salad

Ingredients

2 bunches of Swiss Chard, chopped

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/2 TBSP butter

1 cup of cooked Cannellini beans

1 daikon, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

  1. Melt butter in medium sized fry pan
  2. Add onion & garlic.  Salt and pepper lightly and saute for 5 minutes
  3. Add Swiss Chard and cook until tender.  Let this mixture cool for about 10 minutes and transfer to your serving bowl
  4. Add beans, daikon and red pepper to the Swiss Chard mixture and sprinkle lemon juice over top
  5. Mix together and salt & pepper to taste

Enjoy!

 

 

daikon

 

Author avisha Categories Blog, Food & Nutrition, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

Fermented Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

I love this recipe!  It is a whole-food power pack and is so versatile it may soon become a breakfast staple in your home.

Quinoa, a seed not a grain as is often thought,  is high in protein, gluten-free and just 1/4 cup of it contains approximately 3 grams of fiber.

But the real star in this recipe is the fermented cashew milk.  Cashew milk on its own is a tasty non-dairy milk but by fermenting the nuts beforehand you boost the nutrient availability and add a gut friendly component to the dish.

The notion of fermenting food may seem daunting but the process is really a piece of cake as you will see from the recipe below.  You do need to plan ahead a bit as the fermenting process does take about a day. But the planning ahead is truly the hardest part of the whole deal.

Give it a try and if you get a second I would love to hear what you think of the recipe.

Fermented Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa

1-2 cups fermented cashew milk* (recipe below)

1 grapefruit peeled and chopped

¾ cup cherries, blueberries or fruit of your choice

¼ cup chopped fresh mint

1 TBSP Maple syrup (or to taste)

 

Combine all ingredients pressing the grapefruit to release juices and let stand 15 minutes before serving

 

*Fermented cashew milk

In a mason jar cover 1 cup of raw cashews with fresh water leaving at least one inch of room from top.

Add 1 TBSP sea salt.

Seal tightly with lid and shake the jar to combine. Leave this on counter at least 24 hours.

After 24 hours drain and rinse the nuts. Put nuts into blender and add 1-2 cups of water depending upon your desired milk thickness.

Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Blend mixture to liquid.

Drain the milk through a nut back.

Refrigerate.

 

Brussels Sprouts
Author avisha Categories Blog, Food & Nutrition, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

Brussels Sprouts Salad

I clearly remember as a child holding my nose while I struggled through my serving of Brussels Sprouts. Boiled and served I used to cover them with vinegar and salt just to make them bearable.

I have come a long way in my appreciation of this mighty veggie.  And I have been successful in finding preparation and flavour matchings that truly make these little gems a pleasure to eat.

Health Benefits of Brussels Sprouts

I have persevered because their health benefits are many.  Brussels Sprouts belong to the cruciferous family, and along with fellow members such as broccoli, kale, cabbage and spinach, this group of vegetables contain glucosinolates, indole-3-carbinol and isothiocyanates, nutrients that have been shown to among other things, decrease cancer risks.

A snapshot of the Brussels Sprouts’ nutrient profile looks like this:

  • One cup contains almost 3 grams of protein
  • One cup contains approximately 4 grams of fiber
  • One cup contains almost 2.5 times of the daily recommended intake of vitamin K and 1.5 times that of vitamin C

I particularly like this salad.  The flavour of the dressing holds up very well against the hearty flavour of the brussels sprouts.  And it is a raw preparation which preserves the important nutrients that the sprouts contain.  Over cooking brussels sprouts can deplete them of their nutrients.

So give this salad a try and let me know your thoughts.  I am curious to know if it can convert the sprout haters!

Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts Salad

6 Cups of Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Dressing

4 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 TBSP Lemon Juice

1 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar

1 TBSP Grainy Dijon Mustard

2 tsp Maple Syrup

½ tsp each salt & pepper

Directions

  • Place shredded sprouts in to your serving bowl.
  • Place all of the salad dressing ingredients in to a small bowl and mix together well.
  • 1/2 hour before serving spread dressing over sprouts and toss well

 

brusselsproutssalad

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11139137

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4354933/

Home made trail mix
Author avisha Categories Blog, Food & Nutrition, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

Homemade Trail Mix

Snacks are by far the number one “food group” that I get asked for help with.  As it goes we are ready to put in the time for the three main meal preps but when it comes to snacking we are still in the grab and go mindset.

So with that in mind I offer up to you the Homemade Trail Mix.  No fixed recipe to follow and virtually no preparation time.  Mix and match your favourite nuts, seeds and berries.  You can make a large batch and dip in to it as needed.

Have this on hand all of the time.  The good fats, protein and fiber in your trail mix will satisfy you when hunger pangs begin and will help to stabilize your blood sugar as it begins to dip between meals.  In doing so you will avoid the need for a mid afternoon nap or the urge to tear a strip off of a bad driver on your way home.

Just to give you a glimpse of the healthy benefits of the trail mix that I made, here is today’s creation (I use raw, unsalted nuts and seeds):

Brazil Nuts

Most notably brazil nuts are a good source of selenium.  As with most nuts they contain healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber.

Cashews

Cashews are a source of monounsaturated fats, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein.

Almonds

Almonds are a source of vitamins, notably vitamin E, minerals, monounstaturated fats, fiber and protein.

Goji Berries

Goji berries are a power packed little berry.  They contain fiber, vitamins, notably A & C, minerals and are great antioxidants.

Manuka Raisins

I LOVE Manuka raisins.  My favourite trail mix sweetener.  They are good source of fiber, contain calcium, antioxidants and they contain oleanolic acid.

Dried Aronia Berries

A nice counterbalance to Manuka raisins,  these berries are a little bit on the bitter side.  Their benefits include being high in antioxidants, high in anthocyanin concentration and high in proanthocyanidins.

Dried Pomegranate berries

These are a treat.  Really tasty and high in antioxidants and fiber.

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds are a good source of vitamin E, selenium and magnesium.

So be creative.  You can used pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate chips, puffed quinoa.  The sky is the limit and changing things up means you won’t get tired of it.

 

Rogers Daytime York Region
Author avisha Categories Cancer Coaching, Media Posted on 0 Comments

Rogers Daytime York Region

Today I had the opportunity to speak about Nutrition and Cancer Coaching close to home as a guest on Rogers Daytime York Region, hosted by Jaqueline Betterton (@HostJacqueline).  Jacqueline is a great host and guided our conversation through areas of my cancer coaching and nutrition practice.

The importance of addressing nutrition and lifestyle during cancer care is an approach that is truly a coming of age.  As guests of the show we all wait in the “Green Room” before we go on to the set.  Today there were five of us and as we discussed our reasons for appearing on the show we found out that 3 of us had gone through a cancer diagnosis and one had a spouse who had gone through cancer.  So to recount, 3 of 5 had experienced a cancer diagnosis on the patient front and one on the support front.  To me that is a staggering number.

Looking at the 2015 publication of Canadian Cancer Statistics it is estimated that 1 in 2.2 men and 1 in 2.4 females will develop cancer in their lifetime and while the survival rate has improved over the last 20 years we still have such a very long way to go.

In January 2015 the World Cancer Congress in Melbourne identified “cancer as an environmental disease caused mainly by avoidable lifestyle factors”.  Such lifestyle factors include smoking, lack of exercise and poor diet which may lead to obesity.

Obesity as a risk factor on its own is associated with increased risks of:

  • Esophagus
  • Pancreas
  • Colon and rectum
  • Breast (after menopause)
  • Endometrium (lining of the uterus)
  • Kidney
  • Thyroid
  • Gallbladder

Causation is not a straight line but the path to cancer care is becoming clearer.  Successful cancer protocols must not only incorporate allopathic care but also a very strong nutritional and lifestyle component.  It will take an integrative approach to truly start making a positive change to cancer statistics.

 

1 … 65 66 67 68 69 … 78