Tuesday's Change Week 27 - Spice it up!

People often complain that healthy food is boring and tasteless. Cardboard or grass are often terms used!

But it doesn't have to be that way. Not only are herbs and spices full of flavour they are so good for you too. Spices don't have to make things taste hot and uncomfortable they just add flavour and interest while making you healthy at the same time.

My favourite herbs and spices are listed here along with some recipes I include them in. I've also listed their amazing benefits with some tips on how to add them seamlessly into your diet.

Ginger
Benefits - Ginger is good for digestion issues, nausea, it is a natural anti-inflammatory and boosts the immune system. 
Recipes: - Healing Soup, Carrot Cake Muffins, Burgers
Tips: Fresh ginger root is best but if you can't get this dried ginger is better than none. Grated fresh ginger in some sparking water is delicious on a hot day with a slice of lemon. Or add it to sauces, curries, stir-frys etc.


Garlic 
Benefits - Garlic is antibacterial and antiviral. It is good for colds/flus and infections.
Recipes - Guacamole, Chicken Kiev, Healing Soup, Spicy Sausage Stew, Burgers, Pesto
Tips - Garlic is smelly but can really spice up a meal. The benefits far out weigh having smelly breath for a few hours!


Cinnamon
Benefits - Cinnamon helps to lower your blood sugar and burn fat more effectively.
Recipes - French Toast, Carrot Cake Muffins, Granola, Pancakes
Tips - Cinnamon is a great replacement for sugar in foods as it almost tastes sweet. People add it to their coffee or in baking.

Turmeric
Benefits - See my blog post here on the amazing benefits of Turmeric
Recipes - See the post above and Spicy Sausage Stew, Healing Soup
Tips - This spice is best used fresh, it looks similar to a small root of garlic. It has an intense yellow colour so be careful of getting it on your skin or counter tops!


Paprika
Benefits - Paprika is high in Vitamin A, E and Iron. It also has anti ageing properties, prevents hair loss and promotes sound sleep.
Recipes - Sweet Potato Wedges, Chicken Kiev, Spicy Sausage Stew, Burgers
Tips - Paprika doesn't have too strong a flavour and so can be added easily to most savoury foods.

Cumin
Benefits - Cumin aids digestion, lowers blood sugar and prevents hypoglycaemia (excellent for people with diabetes), fights viral infections, is rich in Iron and has many other benefits 
Recipes - Burgers, Spicy Sausage Stew, Healing Soup
Tips - Cumin is best paired with red meat or tomato based dishes. A small amount is enough to enhance any dish.

Rosemary
Benefits - Rosemary boosts immunity, increases circulation, aids digestion, is an excellent anti-inflammatory - great for asthmatics, and increases concentration. 
Recipes - Sweet Potato Wedges
Tips - Rosemary tastes delicious with meats and vegetables. Fresh is best, I have a small herb plat that I take sprigs from while cooking.

So this week's Tuesday's Change is to add some spices or herbs to at least one meal a day, if not all of them. Get experimenting and trying out different combinations. You don't have to limit yourself to the ones listed above. Every spice or herb has a benefit.

Any questions about this change or any of the other previous ones just ask!

Carrot and Ginger Soup - Healing Super-food soup!

Carrot and Ginger Soup

This is a fantastic soup for those cold, winter days but it also lovely and refreshing in the summer. It’s cheap to make, can be kept in the fridge for over a week or frozen in portions.

It has lots of healing ingredients and so is perfect if you are feeling under the weather or run down.

All that and it tastes great too! What’s not to like?

Check out the Dietary Information section below to see all the healing properties of this wonder soup.

Ingredients:

Makes about 6 portions

4 large Organic Carrots

3 Organic Spring Onions

2 cloves of Organic Garlic

2 roots of peeled Organic Ginger (about 2 inches each)

1 teaspoon of Cumin Powder

1 teaspoon of Turmeric Powder

2 heaped tablespoons of Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil

Veg Stock cube (Organic and Gluten Free preferable or make your own!)

Water/Yogurt/Coconut Milk or Cream as desired

Method

Melt the coconut oil in a large pot until liquid. Add in roughly chopped onions, garlic and ginger and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add in roughly chopped carrots and stock cube and cover with water.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until the carrots are slightly soft.

Transfer the mixture (including water) to your blender and blitz thoroughly. You can also use a hand blender directly in the pot.

Add in cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste.

This makes a robust, thick soup. If you don’t mind the added fat/calories and want to make it creamier then add in yogurt or coconut milk/cream as desired.

Prep + Cook Time

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Equipment needed

Large Pot, Blender

Dietary Information

Gluten Free

Wheat Free

Paleo

Vegetarian and Vegan

Sugar Free

Contains good fats

Two of your 5 a day

Garlic is antibacterial and antiviral – good for colds/flus and infections

Ginger is good for digestion issues, nausea, natural anti-inflammatory and boosts the immune system. 

Coconut Oil has many healing properties. It contains good fats and helps you burn fat better. It also helps your brain function more effectively.

Turmeric is a wonder spice it lowers cholesterol, it is cancer fighting and has anti-inflammatory properties among many others. It has recently been proven more effective than 14 Pharmaceutical drugs! More info here

Carrots are full of Vitamin A and beta-carotene (anti-oxidant that repairs cell damage), they improve your eyesight, cleanses the skin and slows down ageing! 

Cumin boosts your immunity, great for asthma or respiratory issues and is good for skin issues.

Storage Instructions:

Keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for over a week. I usually make a large batch, portion it up and freeze. It can be defrosted, heated and ready to eat in less than 10 minutes!

Serving suggestions

Best served fresh with a few curls of freshly grated ginger on a dollop of organic yogurt or coconut cream.