Side Dish, Health Nut Recipes

Simply delicious!

A simple salad with big health credentials: avocados are an excellent source of good fats, and more recently have been shown to also inhibit inflammation when eaten in combination with foods that typically trigger it. They are also a rich source of potassium (which balances sodium to keep blood pressure levels stable) and vitamin E, an important antioxidant.

This Authentic Vegan Bulgur Pilaf recipe is hearty, healthy. An easy recipe for bulgur wheat. Full of fiber and easily customizable.

A favourite served at Din Tai Fung gets a healthy make-over. Water spinach, commonly known as kangkong, is rich in fibre, magnesium, vitamins A and C and is very low in calories. Word of caution: do not eat it raw as it may carry parasitic cysts from the waterways that are its natural habitat.

As we age our bodies' ability to produce digestive enzymes diminishes. Similarly, cooking foods destroys the majority of digestive enzymes found naturally in foods, compromising our ability to absorb nutrients from the foods we consume. This salad contains papaya and pineapple, which are both loaded with powerful digestive enzymes. Kiwi fruit is a very rich source of vitamin C to boost immunity. Adding organic yoghurt (or coconut yoghurt) to the salad is a great way to take in probiotics and further boost the digestion-enhancing properties of this salad.

Another Chinese restaurant staple, this time made with whole-wheat flour (you could also use spelt flour). It’s important to cook these in a flat-bottomed frying pan and not a wok. You can make the dough ahead of time and freeze for future use.

Dry your beans well before cooking. To get the traditional ‘blistered’ look of the beans you will need to shallow-fry them for 5-6 minutes and stir constantly to avoid burning.

Tomatoes are packed with lycopene, an antioxidant that helps prevent heart disease and cancer. They are a good source of vitamin C as well as vitamin E to help protect the body from oxidative damage. Cucumbers provide anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits. Capsicum is a great source of beta-carotene which is an antioxidant and precursor to vitamin A, helping to promote vision and support reproduction, growth as well as a healthy immune system. Olives are antioxidant powerhouses and contain anti-inflammatory compounds, known for their role in preventing coronary artery disease.

The health benefits of green papaya exceed those of the ripe variety. Raw green papaya is packed with vitamins, enzymes and phytonutrients. It contains vital nutrients including potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, E and B. However, perhaps the most important health property of green papaya is its ability to improve digestion and the uptake of nutrients, raising enzyme levels and improving assimilation, and thus also strengthening the immune system. Green papaya contains two of the most powerful plant proteolytic enzymes: papain and chymopapain. These enzymes excel at breaking down proteins, fats and carbohydrates, as well as aiding healthy digestion. Papain can only be found in the papaya fruit and is more effective than pepsin produced by our own stomachs.