Restorative Recipes For The Gut
Hi everyone!
Happy last day of the year to you! What a year it’s been & I hope you have some time to reflect on how amazing you are and how much you’ve achieved.
The New Year, for me, always presents an opportunity to press the re-start button, to refresh and to make determinations for the weeks & months ahead. This is true, certainly after a Christmas of indulging, of the foods I nourish my body with.
You can’t beat a homemade soup and a freshly-whizzed smoothie so here are 3 of my favourite recipes to nourish your body from within ~
Roast Squash, Turmeric & Cumin Soup with Spicy Sweet Potato Croutons:
This soup is absolutely jam-packed full of beautiful, healing ingredients. Turmeric is an amazing anti-inflammatory and cumin is a natural immune-booster; so essential for the winter months.
Keeping our gut flora balanced is paramount for achieving overall good health and well-being. The restorative power of nourishing our bodies with an abundance of fresh foods, herbs and spices is far-reaching and can have an amazing and lasting impact on our health.
This recipe will soothe, calm and restore the gut and it just so happens to taste rather divine, too!
You will need:
1 x small onion, 1 x carrot, 2 x sticks of celery, 1 x squash (chopped and cubed), 1 x sweet potato, 1 x tsp turmeric, 1 x tsp ground cumin, 1 x tsp paprika, cumin seeds, dairy-free yogurt, salt & pepper to taste.
Method:
• Cube squash, season & roast for 35 minutes.
• Finely chop onion, carrot & celery and fry in a little coconut oil (until onion is translucent).
• Add squash plus turmeric and cumin to the pan and cover with gluten-free stock. Simmer for 20 minutes.
• Cube sweet potato, cover with paprika and roast until crispy.
• Blend contents of pan and season.
• Top soup with dairy-free yogurt, croutons and a sprinkle of cumin seeds.
Hey presto! A delicious bowl of restorative, healing and energy-boosting soup to warm your cockles on a cold, blustery day.
Totally Tropical Teaser & Blueberry Belter Smoothies:
I love a delicious smoothie to start the day and this fantastic duo contain potent and nutrilicious blend of anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and health-boosting ingredients.
Being quite high in natural sugars, it's always best to balance smoothies with an element of protein. In the case of all of my delicious blends, I add a handful of almonds, cashews or walnuts. The addition of nuts will lower the GI and decrease the rate at which the sugars from the fruit enter the bloodstream thus avoiding the dreaded sugar spike.
Both of these beauties have the same base - frozen banana, nuts, freeze-dried raspberries and coconut nectar. Simply add to this base: chopped mango, chopped pineapple and the juice of 1 lime to create the 'Tropical' version and frozen blueberries and raspberries to create the 'Belter'. A handful of each fruit is a good amount.
Blend until smooth and creamy and serve over ice. Adorn with a few fresh berries and some freeze-dried raspberries; pastel, paper straws are optional!
Gluten, Dairy & Refined Sugar-free Chocolate Mousse:
I am delighted to say that each time I've made this dreamy dessert for family and friends, it's gone down an absolute treat! Being free from all the ingredients that typically make-up a sumptuous, luscious chocolate pud, it's hard to believe that it's even possible!
Well, go grab yourselves the following ingredients and give it a whirl!
You will need:
2 x ripe avocados, 1 x banana, 4 x tbsp raw cacao powder, 4 x tbsp coconut nectar, 3 x medjooled dates and some water to loosen mixture of necessary.
Method:
• In a food processor, process together avocados, banana & dates until smooth.
• Add all other ingredients until creamy, light and dreamy!
• Decant into receptacles of choice and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Top with berries, nuts and/or desiccated coconut.
This is one of my all-time favourite 'sweet treat' recipes. It's 100% healthy, bursting with anti-oxidants and it tastes delicious!
All my love and encouragement,
Holly xxx