If you need some vibrancy added to your salad, this is the dressing for you! Super easy to make and packed full of amazingly healthful nutrients, this dressing is a winner every time!
Tag: anti-inflammatory
Watercress pesto
Pesto can be powerful! Traditionally made with pine nuts, crushed garlic, basil and hard Italian cheese, it has that wonderful salt plus fat combo that hits the spot along with delightful pungent flavours the tastebuds so enjoy. But it’s not plant-based. And it can contain a lot of oil. So what to do? Continue reading “Watercress pesto”
Chocolate sauce
Chocolate sauce! Could be bold enough to suggest that’s all I need to write here? Because who doesn’t need a little bit of chocolate sauce in their life, especially when ‘normal’ chocolate is off the menu. Continue reading “Chocolate sauce”
Vegan salted caramel sauce
Hands up if you love a bit of salted caramel. I certainly do. But most salted caramel contains butter – dairy or vegan – which is not part of a whole-food plant-based diet. Continue reading “Vegan salted caramel sauce”
Christmas red cabbage
When it comes to Christmas dinner in our house – or any roast dinner – it’s the veggies that are the star of the show. We have loads! Sometimes there’s too many dishes to fit on the table, but it’s worth the chaos – and the washing up 😉 Continue reading “Christmas red cabbage”
Asparagus and pea pasta sauce
It’s almost that time of year again – asparagus season. Probably my favourite season of the year! Officially running from 23rd April to 23rd June, the UK crop of these super tasty stems can be found in shops and markets around the country. Continue reading “Asparagus and pea pasta sauce”
Spicy squash rice
This is the time of year when we could all do with a bit of sunshine – certainly for those of us in 
Northern Europe! Grey cloudy days mixed with showers and the odd downpour mean we don’t get to see much blue sky and sun. We know it’s there, that sunny days are on the horizon (hopefully!), and it’s a joyous treat on those occasions when the clouds clear and golden beams shine through. Continue reading “Spicy squash rice”
Parsnip and cauliflower soup
I love parsnip soup. And I love cauliflower soup. So it only seemed like a natural progression to try the two together. And it was definitely worth doing! Continue reading “Parsnip and cauliflower soup”
Vegetable and butter bean stew
This winter seems to have been very long! The wet, grey days are beginning to take their toll, although any time the sun does manage to make an appearance is a wonderful moment to behold! March is the beginning of spring; the crocuses and daffodils have bravely popped their colourful heads up, but I definitely don’t feel it’s time to move from comforting soups and stews to lighter, more spring-like meals. Continue reading “Vegetable and butter bean stew”
Summer skin smoothie
The weather over the last few days has been beautifully sunny and warm, the perfect temperature for enjoying summer food offerings like this gorgeous pink watermelon that I ordered with my veg box last week.
I always associate watermelon with hot weather; maybe it’s just because I ate so much when we were in India! 92% water, it’s really rehydrating on a steamy hot day. The fantastic nutrients found in its gorgeously crisp flesh help to minimise the damage caused by too much sun, as getting the right amount for us Brits is a tricky thing!
The majority of vitamin D that circulates in the body is created through the skin being exposed to sunshine. Vitamin D is not only essential for strong bones and teeth, but also supports the immune system and low levels can lead to a whole array of health problems ranging from asthma to multiple sclerosis. So we really need to get outside and catch some rays. Too much sunshine though can lead to skin damage and potentially skin cancer.
Our weather in the UK is so unpredictable getting regular sun exposure can be difficult. So when the sun does come out, it’s tempting  to expose lily white skin a bit too long and burn – that’s where the damage occurs. Fortunately, food like watermelon can help.
As well as rehydrating the skin, watermelon is packed with vitamin C and betacarotene that act as anti-oxidants, mopping up damaging free radicals created by the damaging rays. It also has large amounts of lycopene that also helps reduce inflammation and can help protect the skin from lasting damage – marvellous!
Apart from just eating it as a chunk, watermelon is delicious in salad (see this old blog post http://thesensitivefoodiekitchen.com/wonderful-watermelon/) and also works as a fantastic base to green smoothies, making it completely dairy free and plant based.
To add in some extra anti-inflammatory power (as well as awesome flavour) I’ve blended ginger and turmeric into this spinach and watermelon smoothie, and added a good squeeze of lime to help absorption of the vitamin C.
Both ginger and turmeric have amazing medicinal properties. Ginger is thought to help with digestive issues, reduce pain from muscle soreness to arthritis to migraine and also help stabilise blood sugars. Turmeric is being hailed as a wonder spice, a surprise to the western world but not to anyone hailing from India where it’s amazing properties have been used for thousands of years. It’s not only anti-septic but also helps reduce all sorts of inflammation in the body. There is so much to say about turmeric it needs it’s own blog post (and more!) but for now it’s a good idea to include some in your diet every day.
So as we bask in possibly the last of the summer sun, why not try this super healthy smoothie and give your skin a super summer treat.
Summer skin soother smoothie
A couple of handfuls of spinach leaves, washed and roughly chopped
1 quarter chunk watermelon (from a small one) chopped
2 cm chunk fresh ginger chopped
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric or 1 cm chunk of fresh turmeric chopped
juice of 1 lime
Place all the ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Drink straight away.