Phoso

I’ve been messing about in my kitchen with bits that I had spare and a happy concoction has been made- a Phoso!

It’s pretty low calorie and filllled with nutrients with all the leafy, herby goodness of a pho, but with all the probiotic benefits of a miso soup, gut soothing nutrients from the chicken broth and packed with fibre from some beautiful black bean pasta!

It’s a good one for a Monday, so you can boil up the bones from your chicken roast from the Sunday for the broth. For that, I use my pressure cooker, which slices the necessary boiling time from 8hrs to 1hr, saving not just time, but electricity/gas too. If you prefer to go vegetarian, you can always sub for a veggie stock.

As I’m kind, I’m giving away this recipe for absolutely freeeee, so please like and share to yer pals!

(serves 2 large bowls)

4 cups chicken broth/vegetable stock

4tbsp miso paste

100g black bean spaghetti

3 spring onions, sliced

small handful of mint, torn

small handful of thai basil, torn

1.5tsp chilli flakes

1/2 lime, squeezed

Siracha sauce to serve

Heat the broth/stock and mix in the miso paste. Add the black bean noodles and simmer for 7-8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the rest of the ingredients.

Voila! Serve!

(For some reason I don’t own a decent sized bowl at the moment, so this is what I gobbled mine from- the taste speaks for itself- snazzy crockery not needed! I do need to get some bowls though…)

Recipe: Nasi Goreng- Well Bean style!

Nasi goreng is the Indonesian equivalent of a fry up brekkie- it’s comforting, filling, flavoursome and generally perrrrrfect for a lazy and indulgent day.

I first came across nasi goreng on a holiday to Bali years and years ago with me old pal, where I devoured this happily every day. Indonesia has the most incredible food and, with such a rich variety of herbs and spices is one of my favourite places to go for sun, surf, sea and foooood!

After several trips back since, I have tweaked and adapted the original recipe to a slightly simpler version, with ingredients which are a bit easier to get our mitts on over here. This version is gluten free, contains anti-inflammatory omega-3s, is fibre rich, packs in juicy cruciferous veg, counting towards your 10 a day, and lots of fresh herbs for an extra antioxidant punch.

Enjoyyyyy:

(serves 2)

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped

• 160g cavolo nero, sliced

• 2 tsp tomato purée

• lemongrass, grated

• 5 anchovies, chopped very small

• 2tbsp soy sauce

• 1tbsp honey

• 1 red chilli, sliced

• 500g of brown rice, cooked and cooled

  For garnish:

• lime wedges

• spring onions

• cucumber

• coriander

• egg (rolled omlette or fried)

Fry the garlic and cavolo nero on a lowish heat for about 5 minutes until just cooked through. Turn the heat up. Add the rice and lemongrass and cook, breaking up the rice with a spatula, for a further 5 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except the garnishes and cook through for another 3 mins.

Finish with the garnishes and eat hot!

NB. You can really add any leftover bits that you have lying around. On this particular breakfast, I had some carrots that wanted eating, so I finely, finely sliced these in too and shredded chicken (at the rice stage).

COVID-19: Mushrooms & Immunity.

At a time when health and immunity is at the forefront of current conversation, what can WE be doing to support OUR OWN immune systems?

By bringing down the load of the virus, we are able to better fight it with our own immune system.

PROTECTING AGAINST VIRUSES?

Let’s take COVID-19 as an example…

96% of COVID-19 show lymphocytopenia (<1500/mm3) (New England Journal of Medicine, 16.03.2020), meaning an unusually low amount of white blood cells, integral to our immune systems.

Medicinal mushrooms have been shown to modulate/balance the immune system, increasing our lymphocytes as well as the activity of INF-y interferon- are mushrooms, then, our mini knights in shining armor?

…INF-y interferon

- Inhibits the replication of viruses

- Induces antibodies against viruses

- Inhibits the absorption of viruses into cells

- Blocks viral proteins

Cordycep mushrooms improve our oxygen uptake, minimize the “cytokine storm” reaction in the lungs, and, using a molecule, “adenosine”, can actually stop the replication of a virus (Linnakoski, et al. 2018). These are available in many online shops—> check that they’re non-GMO/organic if poss.

VIT D & GENERAL IMMUNITY?

There are 2 main dietary forms of vitamin D that are able to benefit our immune systems: vitamin D2 & D3.

Few foods in the Western diet are a good source of vitamin D, with the best naturally occurring dietary source being oily fish, fungi and yeast (Calvo, et al. 2005).

There are many variables in a mushroom, which alter the amount of vitamin D that’s able to be absorbed by us humanoids, however I suggest:

• Buying vitamin D enriched mushrooms (ie. ones that have been exposed to UV/natural sunlight- I know Tesco were doing these for a while, but look for “egosterol” mentioned on the packets (or keep them on your windowsill! (Conrad & Perera, 2004))

• Sprinkle them with a bit of lemon juice (Ložnjak & Jakobsen, 2018).

• & pan fry them on a LOW heat for 5 minutes (Ložnjak & Jakobsen, 2018).

Anyway, here’s my delicious “immune boosting” mushroom risotto recipe for you to enjoy at home!

• 2 tsp sunflower oil

• 1/2 onion, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1/2 lemon, juiced

• 75g mixed wild mushrooms (a mix or any: shitaake/chestnut/oyster/ceps/girolles/cordyceps etc)- Try and get these organic (have a look online if you can’t get them in a shop).

• 2 cups brown rice

• 250ml dry white wine

• 1tbsp nutritional yeast

• 1.5L vegetable stock

• 40g Gruyere, grated

• 30g Parmesan, shaved

• 3 spring onions, sliced

• black pepper to taste

Rinse the rice well.

On a low heat, fry the onion, garlic, mushrooms and lemon juice for 3 minutes, add the white wine and reduce to half.

Add the rice and let it absorb all the liquid before slowly adding the stock and nutritional yeast, stirring in between, until its all absorbed and the rice is just “al dente”.

Remove from the heat and stir through the Gruyere.

Top with the spring onions, Parmesan shavings and black pepper… and serve!

Now, I’m not saying that eating mushrooms is going to mean that you will not get COVID-19, but it certainly won’t do any harm to increase your intake!!

If you’re interested in booking a consultation, give me a call on 020 3886 0029 or email me at info@freshinlondon.co.uk for a FREE introductory session!

For more information on mycotheraphy, mushrooms & immunity, check out #Paul Stamets, #Hifas de Terras & #IHCAN magazine!

Beautiful beetroot

This is a really nice recipe for a quick, nutritious and delicious lunch. I particularly like it because I’m a little piggy and it fills me up nicely, stopping me from jumping on all the snacks.

I’ve just started growing beetroot (on my windowsill I might add- you can keep up with my progress on my Instagram).

Why I love beetroot?

Beetroot is a source of dietary nitrate, which has been discovered as having potential benefits in cardiovascular health; numerous studies show that its’ consumption can significantly reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure. (Webb et al, 2008; Lundberg et al, 2008; Jajja et al, 2014; Hobbs et al, 2013)

Clearing out toxins/ illnesses? Beetroot also contains important phytochemical compounds such as ascorbic acid, carotenoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids as well as betalains which have high anti-inflammatory capabilities and is classified as one of the ten plants with the highest antioxidant activity (Zielińska-Przyjemska et al, 2009; Vulić et al, 2014; Pavlov & Georgiev, 2005; Baião et al, 2017).

Basically, if it isn’t already a super-food, it should be. This isn’t to say that if you eat beetroot, you will turn invincible, but it does contain many supportive nutrients for health and well-being.

Breadcrumbs (make a batch of these and keep them in the freezer)

200g white bread- or gf (about 6 slices)

3/4 cup fresh herbs (1 or a mix of parsley/ thyme/ lemon rind/ oregano/wild garlic/ fennel seeds)

2tbsp grated Parmesan

3tbsp olive oil

pinch of salt

Blend all of above together (I use the chopper attachment of my hand-blender) and store in freezer.

Roasted Crispy Beetroot with Lentils and Gorgonzola- serves 2

4 beetroots- steamed for 30mins and peeled

30g Gorgonzola/ other blue cheese.

Herbs: Corriander, mint, spring onions (sliced) and wedge of lemon for garnish.

To serve: 2 cups of lentils, cooked according to packet instructions

Preheat oven to 200C.

Cut the beetroot into quarters and arrange on a baking tray. Crumble the Gorgonzola on top and sprinkle the herbed breadcrumbs all over. Drizzle 2tsp of light and mild olive oil over and put into the oven for 15-20mins, until the breadcrumbs are golden and the cheese is melted.

Serve with lentils, lemon and herbs and a mixed leaf salad.

I’d love to hear your own beetroot recipes! Beetroot bread anyone??

Save this for a Sunday...

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I love bulk cooking to prepare myself for the week ahead.

I tend to roast lots of veg and cook some kind of ‘carb’; this week it was butternut squash, beetroot, cauliflower and a batch of quinoa.

 This week, it came to Wednesday and finishing late, I just didn’t want to think about dinner, or spend any time cooking. But look what happened… I had all the ingredients for this delicious, warming, satisfying and wholesome plate of food!

 Once prepped, the rest of the veg can be piled into lunch boxes, added to stock for a soup, added to a salad, turned into a frittata or muffins for breakfast.

**Shopping list: 2 Squash, 5 beetroot, 1 cauliflower, 1pk quinoa, 1 green pepper, 1 pk mint, 1pk feta

Note: I try and include a variety of colours in my roasting trays, as this gives me a greater variety of antioxidants to munch on.

Whatever your work schedule, eating healthily really is just about knowing what works for you. If you’d like advise on working this out, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

What’s your best way of staying food-prepared for the week ahead??

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