An A to Z of Healthy Eating - A
There's an abundance of healthy food items beginning with the letter 'A'. There's the trusty apple, a great source of vitamin C to help you fight off colds this winter, and fibre, an important factor in a healthy digestive system. One of my favourite things to do with apple is to stir-fry it with red cabbage and serve as a side dish.
Then there's the apricot, a good source of beta-carotene that gets converted into vitamin A - an antioxidant nutrient that's good for the eyes and helps reduce cellular damage and, therefore, the risk of developing cancer. Have you tried chopping apricot onto your breakfast cereal? It makes for a really healthy start to your day.
Finally, asparagus, which may have featured under 'S' a long time ago because this healthy food used to be called 'Sparrow Grass' try saying this quickly 5 times and you might find yourself saying 'asparagus'! This vegetable is high in a number of important nutrients, including phosphorus, potassium, vitamin K and folic acid. It's also a great tonic for the liver and helps to reduce inflammation. And how can you serve it? One novel way is to dip it into a hard-boiled egg, instead of the traditional toasted 'soldiers'!
Now for a recipe here's a Nutrichef recipe for Asparagus Risotto containing a few other 'A-list' ingredients!
Ingredients:
115g asparagus spears
1.2 litres yeast-free vegetable stock
1 fennel bulb
1 tbsp olive oil
2 leeks (shredded)
350g Arborio rice
pepper to taste
50g almonds (crushed to sprinkle for topping)
Optional side garnish : slices of avocado and artichokes
Directions:
- Blanch the asparagus and set to one side
- Bring stock to the boil
- In a separate pan, fry the fennel in olive oil for 3-4 minutes; add rice and fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Add a ladle-ful of stock to the pan and gently cook. Stir until absorbed and continue adding stock one ladle-ful at a time until the rice is tender (takes about 25 minutes)
- Top with pepper, asparagus and chopped almonds.
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