supporting casts
Author avisha Categories Blog, Cancer Coaching, Lifestyle, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

Supporting Casts in Meal Preparation

Eating for cancer prevention does not have to be an onerous task.  It may sound off coming from a nutritionist but I really do my best to avoid recipes that have a laundry list of ingredients.  Whole foods prepared simply is my mantra. And often I feel we miss the boat with our focus.  We concern ourselves with the main dish and leave the fixings as an after thought.  But here is the thing.  The supporting casts in meal preparation can offer some of the greatest health benefits.  Case in point.   Take a look at this lunch.

fermented foods

Now I love my avocado toast.  Avocados offer a host of health benefits such as healthy fats, fiber and potassium.  But what I want you to focus on in this exercise are the add ons to the dish and how including such things on your plate really ups the anti cancer properties of a meal.

 

Fermented carrots and celery

Fermented vegetables are stars for gut health and nutrient absorption, both essential for cancer prevention.  These fermented carrots and celery serve as both pre and probiotic foods.  By adding fermented foods to your meal you are not only adding gut friendly foods you also are adding foods that actually help with the digestion of the rest of your meal.

 

sideeffects-free-ebook

Click Here to Download

 

Onions

Onions are another gut friendly food falling in to the prebiotic category.  They are also amazing for liver support.  Rich in allicin they aid your liver in its detoxification process.

Ground Flax Seeds

Flax seeds are rich in lignans which are fiber-related polyphenols.   They contain Omega 3 fatty acids and they are a great source of antioxidants.  Although we do naturally produce some antioxidants,  our bodies rely a great deal upon dietary sources and antioxidants are a vital component of cancer prevention.

Himalayan Salt

Himalayan salt offers trace minerals, helps in detoxification and may lower blood pressure.  If you are a salt person definitely switching from table salt to this lovely pink gem is important.

So there you have it!  In life we try not to sweat the small stuff.  But in plating it could make the world of difference.

sausage and pepper bake
Author avisha Categories Blog, Recipes Posted on 0 Comments

Sausage and Pepper Bake

The combination of sausage and pepper is a classic.  Sometimes it is the simplest ingredients, melded together, that are just the tastiest.  This is one of them.  And I love dinners that are served in one big baking dish.  For some reason I just feel very accomplished bringing it out of the oven and placing it in the middle of the table.

Although it contains meat, chicken sausage to be exact, this recipe is chalked full of vegetables which is very handy for larger families like mine.  Some of us will eat the meat and some will stick to the veggies.

This makes a pretty healthy sized dish.  Add a green salad (you have to eat your greens!) and you are good to go!

And let me tell you the leftovers the next day are even better!

Sausage and pepper bake

Sausage and Pepper Bake

(serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs chicken sausage cut in to bite sized pieces

4 large potatoes, sliced in to medium sized pieces

3 large red peppers, chopped

2 red onions, cut in to chunks

¼ olive oil

½ cup white wine

1 cup chicken stock

5 hot pickled pepperoncini, chopped + 1 TBSP of the vinegar

2 bay leaves

1 TBSP dried parsley

1 TBSP dried oregano

1 TBSP dried basil

Salt and pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 400 F/ 200 C

  1. Add 1 TBSP oil to gently heated pan.  Add sausage and let them brown.  Move from pan to large baking dish.
  2. Add more oil to pan and add potato slices.  Salt and pepper them.  Let them brown.  Move to baking dish with sausage.
  3. Add more oil to pan and sauté  red peppers and onions until tender.  Remove from pan and add to baking dish with sausage and potatoes.
  4. Turn heat for pan to low.  Add white wine and gently scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add the resulting mix to the baking dish with the other ingredients.
  5. Add remaining ingredients and mix all together.
  6. Bake in oven approximately 20-30 minutes or until done.

Enjoy!

signature

 

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

Grainy Greek Salad

Recipes certainly have a place in the kitchen  both as a source of inspiration and as a guideline for preparation. But if there is one thing that I would truly love to get across to you is to have the confidence to go off the grid and experiment with new ingredients either in a whole new creation or by incorporating them in to family favourites.  There will be successes and there will be failures.  But it’s all a process.

Variety is not only the spice of life but it is also key to getting the wide array of important nutrients in to your diet that your body needs to function at its best and fight off disease.

So take an old favourite and enhance it by adding a superfood like hemp hearts.  Or replace some of the usual ingredients with something new and see how it flies.

This easy recipe is a twist on the conventional Greek Salad.  The addition of the black rice to the quinoa makes the salad a bit chewy adding a nice texture to it.  I added hemp hearts to pump it up.

This recipe does not have any greens in it.   But here is your chance to be creative.  If the mood hits you try adding some spinach or arugula.

Grainy Greek Salad

Ingredients

2/3 cup quinoa

1/3 cup Black rice

2 cups water, salted

1/2 english cucumber, chopped

1 small red onion, diced

1/2 avocado, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

1 Tbsp. Hemp Hearts

1/2 cup Greek Feta Cheese

Dressing

2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar

1/8 tsp. Honey

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tsp. dried oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredient together well.

Directions

  1. Bring water to boil and add salt
  2. Add quinoa and rice.  Cook until tender and let cool
  3. Place rest of ingredients in bowl.  Add cooled quinoa and rice
  4. Add prepared dressing to ingredients and toss
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy!

signature

 

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

Sourdough Toast with Avocado Mash

Embracing healthy fats is a new concept for many of us.  But as our understanding of the importance of good fats grows,  it is clear that we need to find ways to incorporate them in to our daily diet.

Our brains are made of 60% fat.  Fats are important for the integrity of our cell membranes.   They are essential for the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K.  Fats help to modulate body temperature.  They are a source of energy for us.  Fats are components of our hormones.  And fats form a protective cushion for our organs.

This simple recipe is full of good fats:

  • Avocados are an excellent source of healthy monounsaturated fat, vitamins and antioxidants. They are rich in carotenoids and provide essential health-boosting nutrients, including potassium, magnesium, vitamin E, B vitamins, and folic acid.  And avocados are high in fibre, with about 10 grams in each.
  • Flax seeds are a great source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which is an omega-3 essential fatty acid.  As our body does not make omega-3’s from scratch it is vital that we include them in our diet.   Flax seeds are also a good source of fibre.
  • Hemp seeds are a good source of omega-3 & omega-6 fatty acids as well as being a complete protein source and a good source of fibre.
  • Extra virgin olive oil is a wonderful source of monounsaturated fat and well documented for its many health benefits.

Toast with Avocado Mash

Ingredients:

1 avocado cut, scooped and mashed

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/8 tsp. hot oil (optional)

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/2 tomato, sliced

1 slice of sourdough bread, toasted

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 tsp. Ground Flax seed

1 tsp. Hemp Seed

Directions:

  1. Mix mashed avocado, lemon juice, hot oil (if using) and salt & pepper
  2. Toast one slice of sourdough
  3. Place tomato on top of toasted bread
  4. Place mashed avocado mixture on top of tomatoes
  5. Drizzle EVOO on top and sprinkle with ground flax seed and hemp seed

Enjoy!

signature

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

 

1 … 11 12 13 14 15 … 18