Salad crazy

Broad beans, bobby beans, french beans, runner beans… all are in season at the moment; looking fantastic and tasting delicious.

Full of cholesterol-busting fibre, energy providing B vits, potassium and a whole host of other phytochemcials; they are a really beneficial addition to the diet.

When I was younger, my mum continuously tried to feed my sister and I broad beans, she couldn’t understand why we always turned our noses up at them – pretty much, the only vegetable that we refused (she trained us from an early age to eat what we were given or there was nothing for pudding), however many times she tried to sneak them on our plates!

We would happily shell peas (eating half of them as we went); top and tail bobby beans and slice runners, but broad beans – absoutely not. They were sharp & bitter and looked grey, shrivelled and horrible on the plate when cooked – unlike their bright green companions.

It was only recently that I found out why they tasted so damn nasty, she’d neglected to remove the skins after cooking. Now it all made sense… I was able to include them into my meals and make Mum happy at the same time.

I bought a mixture of different type of beans from my fave veggie stall (opposite Monmouth Coffee shop on Stoney st) planning some sort of market-fresh salad. And special it certainly was.

I boiled some water and when bubbling away I chucked in the broad beans, letting them cook for about 30 secs, drained them and splashed some water over them to cool them down. Then I could remove their skins revealing the gorgeous green bean inside. I mixed them with raw peas, ripped up lettuce leaves, finely chopped raw carrots & golden beets, spring onions and radish. Added some ripped up nori seaweed plus a sprinkle of sunflower and pumpkin seeds and dressed with the juice of a lemon and lime plus a few glugs of flax oil and some braggs aminos (tastes similar to soy sauce).

It seems a lot I hear you cry… well, its wasn’t just for me! I had a couple of friends popping over for lunch so I added a little feta for my veggie guest and some Serrano ham direct from Portugal for the non-veggie.

“Crunchy, fresh, with a great flavour” was the response.  Just as well I had enough to make more tonight!

Go crazy with your salads – you can add anything you want – you don’t have to stick to just lettuce, cucumber and tomato – the salad police are not going to bash down your door because you’ve tried something different. The more variety you have the more array of nutrients you will digest and absorb. the only vegetable you can’t eat raw is (white) potato, and I wouldn’t do aubergine either, both members of the nightshade family and well, more trouble than its worth!

Summer is only here for a short while, before we know it, its going to be back to hot food – grabs it while it lasts.

Whilst I was away…

I know I’ve been away for ages… sorry! However, I’ve been running pop-up nutrition clinics across the UK for a very important client.
My recent travels have coincided with a huge number of people asking me about how they can avoid high cholesterol… on Twitter (my favourite social networking tool) even popstar @CalvinHarris has been talking about it. It’s the health topic of choice for many – it has received more column inches that most health issues over the past few years, so I wanted to cover this important topic but avoid boring readers into submission; so here are some key facts and top tips to help you on your way…

**So, first up, cholesterol is absolutely necessary – your liver will always make more than you can you eat, so avoiding foods reportedly high in cholesterol will not benefit your levels in the long run. It is part of the molecule that transports fats through the bloodstream, so levels are directly related to the amount of fat in your diet.

**LDL cholesterol is only called ‘bad’ cholesterol as it is easily damaged in the body. Reducing saturated (animal) fats has a direct correlation to a reduction in LDL manufacture. Increasing monounsaturated fats (e.g. Olive oil) will help to fight against possible damage as olive oil contains vitamin E – a protective antioxidant.

**If you have high cholesterol, eliminating fat totally will not benefit your body as it is essential for many areas of the body. What is important is the type of fats you eat – HDL (“good”) cholesterol indicates how much essential fat you have in your diet. The body needs us to consumer essential fats from nuts, seeds and fish as it can’t make them.

**Foods such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cakes, biscuits etc (basically all the naughty, but nice foods) release sugar into the blood stream giving us lots of energy. Sugar (or glucose to give it its proper name) tells the liver to make more LDL cholesterol. As lots of these foods have fat in them, it’s a cholesterol manufacturing double whammy.

**Foods containing soluble fibre e.g. oats, apples, pears, veggies and brown rice, contain soluble fibre that binds to used cholesterol and helps your body to eliminate it. Muesli or porridge are probably the easiest ways to incorporate them into your diet.

**While we are on the topic of elimination – it is super important to keep your body hydrated – yes, that means drinking water… and not as part of coffee, tea, squash or fizzy drinks.

**Without enough water, our guts can become dry and, amongst other things, we can get constipated (going to the loo less than once per day). If this is the case then the cholesterol can be reabsorbed, re-circulating in the blood stream, increasing levels. If you hate the taste of water, try squeezing some fresh lemon, lime or orange in it. Not only does it freshen it up, the vitamin C also helps your body to absorb it. Aim for 8 glasses a day, but if you’re not used to it start with a couple and build up over a few weeks.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some recipes for you to try out, but in the meantime, here’s some tips to increase those essential fats and keep your energy going for longer:

• Nuts: Brazil nuts, pecan nuts, walnuts and almonds (avoid peanuts and where possible cashews as they have a high level of saturated fat in them). Don’t go mad, have a small handful with an apple for a snack.

• Seeds: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds, sesame and poppy seeds: sprinkle over your breakfast cereal, add to fruit & yoghurt or salads.

• Fish: white fish also contains essential fats; so if you aren’t a lover of salmon, mackerel or tuna; try sole, plaice, pollack or coley 3-4 times a week. You can always have tinned fish (except tuna because the oils are removed in the canning process and contains high levels of toxic metal Mercury) instead for a quick fish fix. Try out my fish pie recipe for a healthy alternative to an old favourite.