Think of three foods beginning with ‘S’ then look away. I guess many of you will have come up with three out of strawberries, sardines, salmon, spinach, sweet corn and sausages, but how many of you thought of spelt, seaweed, sweet-potato and sesame seeds? I don’t have room to write about all of these ‘S’ foods today but I can tell you about these lesser known four, plus salmon.
Spelt is a grain that’s been around for the best part of 10,000 years. It’s a distant relative of wheat, but is more easily absorbed and provides more protein. Spelt is a great source of fibre and B vitamins. Try making your own pizza with a spelt base or, for a really healthy snack, use spelt crackers with a variety of healthy toppings.
Seaweed is the most nutrient-packed food on the planet. If you think of it as an amorphous mound of slimy green tentacles washed up onto the beach, I can understand you wouldn’t be inclined to try it! However, buy a packet of seaweed flakes, sprinkle them onto your soup, stew or omelette, and you’ll soon be a very healthy seaweed fan!
Sweet Potatoes are easily digestible and great for reducing inflammation in the digestive tract. They’re a great source of nutrients including calcium (needed for healthy muscles, nerves, bones and teeth), magnesium (for nerves and muscles) vitamin C (for warding off illness) and Beta-carotene (makes Vitamin A – needed for healthy eyes). Sweet Potatoes can be used in place of regular potatoes, and, like their better known cousins, can be boiled, roasted or mashed.
Sesame Seeds are little nuggets of nutrients that provide us with an array of different minerals and vitamins, as well as the essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6. Sesame seeds can be added to cereals or sprinkled onto salads.
Salmon is another great source of omega-3, but also provides calcium and vitamins D and E. Salmon can be grilled or steamed, or mixed with potato to make really delicious fishcakes.
Here’s my delicious recipe for Sweet Potato Minestrone Soup
1 medium sized sweet potato, diced
700ml water (for the stock)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
1 litre yeast-free stock
1 onion, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 large leek, quartered lengthways and sliced
2 large carrots, finely diced
1 parsnip, finely diced
125g Swede, diced
2tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
Fry the garlic, stock, onion and bay leaf in a pan. Reduce the heat, partially cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the leek, carrots, parsnip, swede and sweet potato and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 1 hour or until the vegetables are tender.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, stir in the parsley and serve.
A delicious side order to have with this would be Salmon and Mayonnaise served with spelt crackers. (1 salmon fillet poached and mixed with dairy-free mayonnaise)
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