Nutrient Rich Foods - Goji Berry Sparkler

Previously I told you that after undertaking a little research I decided to include some of the most nutrient rich foods into my diet. My last post showed you how easy it was to include Spirulina into your diet by adding it to fruit shakes, much to the amusement of my colleagues at work! 

This weekend I've been experimenting with Goji Berries. I already include them in my diet as they are an ingredient in my home made muesli, but I wanted to see what else I could make so that it wasn't just breakfast that I ate them.

I gave up drinking back in September after one mother of a hangover suffering with a nasty headache and nausea. I didn't use to drink a lot, but I had found that the units per week had started to creep up. After a bad day at work I would pour myself a glass of wine instead of having my usual green tea with jasmine. So after the mother of all hangovers, I decided enough was enough and stopped! And do you know what I haven't missed it in the slightest even over the Christmas break! I've been enjoying my tea a lot more and trying different blends and drinking lots more water. Some people have even said too much water! 

I wondered if I could make a drink using the Goji Berry and started experimenting.

The Goji Berry is a powerhouse berry! My research has found out that they have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for over 5,000 years. These little berries are regarded as a strength building food, can you imagine how strong Pop-Eye would have been if he ate them! They are also associated with longevity and they contain 18 kinds of amino acids, of which 8 are considered as essential amino acids. Other nutrients they contain, to name a few, are: 

• over 20 different trace minerals, 
• significant amounts of antioxidants, 
• iron and 
• B & E vitamins. 

See what a mean a powerhouse berry for sure!

We can only get dried berries over here, but they can be purchased from supermarkets or health shops so they are easy to find. As I was making them into a drink I soaked them over night so they would be easier to blend.

The Goji Berry has quite a powerful taste when dry and to some it may taste a little bitter, personally I like them and could snack on them on their own but as a drink I figured it needed sweetening up. I also wanted to include another health improver ingredient, which I had read has anti-inflammatory effects; ginger. As you know this has a very strong taste so I was careful with the amount I used as I didn't want it to overbear the other flavours. Here's what I did:

Ingredients

50g Goji berries, dried
100ml Cold water
1 Orange, zest only
Small knob of ginger, finely grated
(I used about 3g after peeling)
1 Tsp Agave nectar
Sparkling water

Method
Soak the Goji berries overnight in the water. They plump up nicely!

Transfer the Goji berries and the soaking water to a powerful blender, I used my faithful vitamix but any powerful blender should do the trick.

Add the zest of the orange, the grated ginger and finally the agave nectar.

Blend until you have a smooth liquid, you may still have a few flecks of berry, but don't worry. 

Add at least a teaspoon of the mixture to a tall glass and top with sparkling water and serve with a sprig of mint.

If the flecks of berry bother you then filter the drink through a fine mesh sieve, but remember if you do you'll be throwing out goodness.

Play around with the ingredients, the above will give you a hint of orange to take away the bitterness of the Goji and the ginger just gives it a very subtle hum of warmth.

I'll definitely be trying more drink creations with this little berry, I think mint would work too instead of the orange, but you could also try lemon or lime.

Specials Board: Carrot and Ginger Soup

Carrot & Ginger Soup and Vegan Mofo Day 20

I woke up to a dank morning, it was cold, misty and drizzling, and do you know what my first thought was? Perfect day for soup!

Earlier in the week I'd managed to pull up some carrots, there weren't very many and they weren't anything to shout home about, but I had carrots, something I'd not eaten for a few weeks. So whatever I did with them had to be good, I'd missed you humble carrot!

My very first year of growing carrots was a huge success I couldn't believe how easy it had been and the taste was out of this world, even my hubby said they were the best tasting carrots he'd ever had! Since the first year, I've not had a huge success with carrots, I've had some, but never a crop like I did in that first year. Maybe I was just spoilt!

These are what I pulled up the other day.

Nothing out of the ordinary, but they were orange, healthy and smelt good, so I'm calling it a win! I could have cut them up and served as a side vegetable but they wouldn't have gone far. So I decided to make them the star of the show and turn them into soup. Because of the weather I teamed them up with ginger for a little warmth.

Ingredients 

1 Tbsp Olive oil
230g Carrots chopped (peeled weight)
1 onion, diced
Small knob of ginger 
(I weighed mine and it was 5g)
650ml Vegetable stock

Method

Saute the carrot and onion in the olive oil for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent.

Add the ginger and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for another 5 minutes until the carrot is cooked.

Transfer to a blender and blend until you have a silky smooth soup. Perfect for a dank day.

Earlier today I attended a local food festival where the community were celebrating their growing talents by entering into a grow and show competition. As I wasn't part of the local community I didn't enter anything into the competition, but after speaking to the judges I was told that it was open to anyone, darn it I could have entered one of my mammoth pattypan squashes! 

Once the competition has been judged they auction off all the food entered into the competition. I was outbid on numerous occasions but once again my friend came to the rescue, as she did last year! She was the highest bidder for a beetroot and gave it to me as a present! It beats chocolate any day she said as she handed it over. Now this was no ordinary beetroot, just look at the size of it!

The beetroot was the size of my head! This could feed us for a month, easy. As soon as it was in my hands ideas were flooding through my brain with what I could do with it, cake, risotto, pickled, juice, chutney, jelly, ice-cream (?) the list went on. Another friend put in an order for cake, so I can see me being very busy tomorrow with this beast!

My gratitude didn't finish there, after leaving the local food show Marco and I went off exploring into the woods and guess what we found? I couldn't believe my eyes it was a miracle! I just happened to come across a sloe bush and it was full of sloe berries, I couldn't believe my luck! Thank goodness for doggy poop bags, LOL! I picked about a third of a bag, there were lots left on the bush so I could always go back for more if I can remember where it was. When I got home I weighed my bounty and it was just over 400g, sloe gin here I come!

My day of good fortune didn't end there either! On the way back I found a wild damson tree which was laden with fruits, thankfully I always have lots of doggy poop bags in my pocket! I managed to fill half a bag, which weighed just over 550g, so damson jam here I come!

I was chuffed to bits with my little bounty so on the off chance I tried the community orchard which had been raided a few weeks ago. I was rewarded, as I approached a tree which looked like its branch had been broken off and it was just dangling there, my eyes lit up. The branch wasn't damaged it was just heavy with pears! I think someone was looking down on me today! So, not only do I have a HUGE beetroot, I have sloes, damsons and 6 pears! There were lots more pairs on the branch but I took just what I needed and no more. Hopefully someone else will be rewarded too, before the ninjas of the night come and strip it bare.

So all in all a great day, see you all tomorrow!

Specials Board: Apple and Ginger Revitiliser

Apple & Ginger Revitiliser & Vegan Mofo Day 10

I was still feeling rather sluggish this morning when I woke and I needed a pick me up, a tonic to help me feel more myself. I was feeling nauseous and I couldn't face my normal breakfast of homemade muesli or toast. 

I was craving something fruity and zingy, obscure I know but I'm a great believer in your body will tell you what it is missing. As long as you don't confuse this with comfort eating or sugar craving, your body will thank you for listening.

I knew ginger would help with the nausea, but I couldn't face its overpowering taste, not this morning, a little goes a long way. Then I remembered I still had two Ribston Pippin Apples from the Millennium Garden where my parents live. What if I combined the two, surely that would help? An intake of Vitamin C first thing in the morning and help reducing my nausea. 

There's a lot in the news about coconut water at the moment too, even the supermarkets are getting in on it and you can find it in most places. If your Supermarket doesn't sell it try Holland and Barrett. It is said to be the ultimate hangover remedy, if only I had remembered that on Sunday morning! It quenches your thirst and boosts hydration, facilitates digestion and is full of nutrients. So with that knowledge I set to and made what I thought was the perfect solution; a smoothie.

Ingredients
2 Ribston Pippin apples, peeled and cored
3g Ginger, peeled
200ml Coconut water

Method
Add all three ingredients to a blender and whiz up into a smoothie. If you haven't got a powerful blender you may want to sieve the smoothie a couple of times to remove the apple bits that haven't blended fully.

I must admit it was the perfect pick me up and I actually felt a lot better after drinking it.

Pumpkin & Ginger Soup

While the weather is still wet and windy, all I seem to want for lunch is soup. So for the past couple of weeks the blender has been living on my kitchen worktop! Soup is a great packed lunch to take to work, either in a thermos flask, eek remember them, or heat the soup up in a microwave if your work has one of course. A hot bowl of soup and a hunk of home made bread to either dip in or use to wipe the bowl clean makes a great lunch for a work day.

I still have a couple of pumpkins in store, they really do make marvelous soups, but are also great roasted, mashed or used as an ingredient to make a delicious meal. See below for more recipe ideas with pumpkins.

Ingredients - Serves 5-6
1 Onion, diced
2 Cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 Pumpkin, diced
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
500ml water
2 Tsp Vegetable bouillon powder
Salt & Pepper
500ml Almond milk


Method
Saute the onion in a little oil of your choice for 5 minutes then add the garlic and ginger and saute for a further 2 minutes.

Add the chopped pumpkin and continue to cook for another couple of minutes, adding a little water if it starts to stick. Add the cumin and soy sauce and stir to combine.

Mix the vegetable bouillon powder with the water and add to the pumpkin mixture. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes or until the pumpkin is cooked.

Transfer to a blender and process until smooth. Pour into a clean saucepan and add the almond milk. If the soup is a little too thick add more vegetable stock or a little more almond milk depending on how big your pumpkin was.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Why not try one of my other vegan pumpkin/squash recipes?

• Butternut squash and lentil curry
• Butternut Squash, leek and vegan blue cheese filo pie
• Parsnip and butternut squash ovenbake
• Stuffed squash