I regularly use bulgur wheat in a lot of my recipes and it's a fantastic storecupboard ingredient to have. It bulks up salads, goes great with barbequed meat, it's a perfect lunch box filler, all that and it's so cheap! From a 500g pack you could serve 10 portions all for about 1 euro, bargain or what! There is another advantage to it which is just how easy it is to prepare, you can make it ahead of time pop in the fridge and it will last 3-4 days in there covered. Follow the easy steps below to make up a little batch!
Preparing Bulgar Wheat In 5 Easy Steps!
1. Boil the kettle. 2. Add 1/2 a cup of bulgur wheat to a small bowl. 3. Add 1/2 cup of boiling water to the bowl. 4. Season with salt and pepper and stir through. 5. Cover with cling film and allow to cook until all the water has been soaked up.
Well with the new year well in swing, and the days becoming brighter, I am already starting to get excited about the whole new season of ingredients to play with in the kitchen. I love really light and bright salads and getting back into the garden means being flooded with lots of fresh and tasty veg to make my way through!
There are so many options when it comes to salads, and you can make them as healthy or different as you want. For me it just depends what sort of mood I'm in, but when I'm in a really healthy buzz, I absolutely love using as many fantastic healthy ingredients I can get my hands on.
I don't know if you have come across a brilliant little food company called Good4U foods in the supermarket, but they produce a load of really healthy ingredients that are so easy to incorporate into salads. I originally thought the company was UK based because of their web address, but last year I got an email from the lovely Laura Butler who started the company with her mum Bernie in Limerick. I was thrilled to hear they were Irish based which gives me even more reason to rave about them. Their full range of products include, alfalfa shoots, brocco shoots, sunflower shoots, and a whole host of seeds which are all perfect for sprinkling over salads! Stay tuned to the blog this week as I have a fab competition coming up from the Good4U folks!
Rocket Power Chicken Superfood Salad As the winter months are thankfully coming to end, I am already starting to look towards more fresh and healthy dishes. Thankfully the days are becoming longer and brighter, now don't get me wrong, I'm all about comfort food, but as we start to look towards the spring nothing beats a really fresh and zingy salad. This Rocket Power Chicken Superfood Salad ticks all the boxes for me, it's perfect for a healthy lunch box, just save the dressing until the last minute. I absolutely love Brocco shoots and Lentil and Bean Shoots from Irish owned health food company Good4U, and they can be found in most supermarkets, perfect for boosting healthy salads! The Good4U range has a whole host of healthy ingredients which include, alfalfa shoots,
Serves 2 100g bulgar wheat 170ml boiling water A drizzle of olive oil 2 chicken breasts A little black pepper 25g brocco shoots 60g lentil and bean shoots 150g soy beans 30g spinach leaves 30g rocket leaves
For the dressing: 2 tablespoons of lemon juice 1 tablespoon of natural yoghurt 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon of English dried mustard A good pinch of sea salt and black pepper
Place the bulgar wheat in a bowl with the boiling water and cover with cling film. The bulgar wheat will cook in the water while you can get on with the rest of the salad. Season the chicken breasts with a little black pepper, brush a griddle pan with a little olive oil and cook over a medium high heat for 4-5 minutes either side or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken and slice thinly. While the chicken is cooking, cook the soy beans according to the packet, drain and rinse in cold water, set aside. Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing together in a small bowl. In a large bowl toss the spinach, rocket, brocco shoots, lentil and bean shoots and soy beans with the dressing. Assemble the salad with a layer of bulgar wheat on each plate, top with the salad leaves and shoots and finally place the chicken slices on top and serve!
On Wednesday, I was out in Blanchardstown IT to launch a new campaign to get students eating healthy, the lovely girls in the pic were students at the college and we had lots of fun, though one of them got an oily courgette dropped on her lovely new UGG boots.... I think she might hate me! The launch went great and in a few week colleges and schools around the country will be serving up some Good Mood Food! You can have a read of the press release below...
NEW CAMPAIGN TO PUT IRISH STUDENTS IN A GOOD MOOD WITH FOOD Exciting new culinary campaign to boost mood, memory and concentration of students
Well-known food blogger and ‘Ireland’s answer to Jamie Oliver’, 23-year old Donal Skehan, has joined forces with the world’s biggest foodservice business, Unilever Food Solutions, to bring what he describes as “the power of good mood food” to students in secondary schools and IT colleges across Ireland.
Renowned for his love of good, simple, healthy, homecooked foods, Donal and Unilever Food Solutions are on a mission to show students and school chefs just how easy it is to make food that will lift spirits, naturally boost performance and generally put students in an all-round ‘good mood’, even in times of stress – perfect timing as Irish students face into their mid-term exams this month.
Donal has worked with Unilever Food Solutions’ culinary team to create five delicious and nutritious recipes that use a mix of readily-available ingredients that will appeal to even the fussiest of student palettes! The recipes range from fiery salsa chicken to vegetarian frittatas, which are packed with flavour and mood-enhancing goodness.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign in IT Blanchardstown, Aoife McGuigan, Channel Marketing Manager of Unilever Food Solutions said, “Good Mood Foods are foods and meals that have a positive impact on those eating them. They can be dishes that help you concentrate, an energy boost before a game, stimulation for the brain or just a dish made to share and lift the mood of all. We’re excited to have Donal on board – he’s a big believer in the power of food and how it effects our lives and is the perfect advocate for the campaign, appealing to all audiences in this exciting schools activation.”
The Good Mood Food campaign is open to all secondary schools and IT colleges in Ireland. To participate, teachers and school chefs can simply request an information pack and recipes when they place their order with their local Unilever sales representative. The information pack contains all the recipes along with colourful materials to promote the campaign in the school’s canteen including posters and Good Mood Food recipe cards that students can take home to try out for themselves.
All schools and IT colleges that participate will be entered into a competition to win a Good Mood Food masterclass with Donal where students and chefs can cook with the talented young chef and learn more about the foods that can help boost mood, memory and concentration powers.
The Unilever Food Solutions Good Mood Food campaign will commence in February, with the Good Mood Food masterclass held in April 2010.
If you haven't heard of Sally Bee before, and I hadn't up until recently, Sally is a mother of three who at the age of 36, despite a healthy lifestyle, suffered 3 major heart attacks in the space of one week. I'm not even going to go into the amazing story of her recovery, you really just have to read it. "The Secret Ingredient" is a collection of super healthy recipes which don't go over the top and features meals which are perfect for family home cooking.
I recently got the opportunity to meet the lovely Sally Bee, and despite our extremely brief encounter she comes across as an extremely vibrant and fun individual and when I remarked on her incredible story, joked and feigned heart pains! This is one of the fantastic recipes from her book, "The Secret Ingredient" which is out on Thursday 21st of January and can be ordered online via Amazon.
Prawn, Avocado and Pecan Herb Salad
You know, salads don't have to be boring. This dish is full of flavour! You can serve it as a main meal or smaller portions for a healthy starter. If you don't like prawns, you can substitute with chicken; anything goes, really. Be adventurous with your salads and make this a regular, everyday dish. Prawns give great texture and flavour to this recipe, but they do contain cholesterol,so I have allowed only four prawns per serving. If you want to make it more substantial, you can add extra protein: such as tuna, chicken or turkey.
Serves 2 Drizzle of olive oil 2 salad onions or spring onions (scallions),peeled and finely chopped 1 garlic clove,peeled and crushed 1 tbsp soy sauce Freshly ground black pepper 8 uncooked king prawns (jumbo shrimp) Mixed salad leaves Watercress 1 ripe avocado 2 tomatoes, sliced Juice of 1 lemon Handful of fresh basil, torn Handful of shelled pecan nuts
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped salad onions, crushed garlic, soy sauce, black pepper and raw prawns. Sauté until the prawns have turned pink all the way through. Arrange the salad leaves, watercress, avocado and tomatoes in a big dish, then pour over the prawns and other cooked ingredients. Squeeze over the lemon juice, sprinkle with torn basil and pecan nuts and serve.
The mystical Vegetable that is THE AUBERGINE! Apart from this beautiful and glossy vegetable being so nice to look at, it also has some interesting health benefits, you'll be interested to know! Aubergine's are from the nightshade family which includes vegetables like peppers, tomato's and potato's, in my opinion they have a very distinct taste and texture, but then that's something you should really discover yourself!
AND HERE ARE THE REASONS YOU SHOULD EAT AN AUBERGINE:
Right now they are in season and will be until the end of October.
Aubergine's contain phytonutrients which apparently have antioxident properties and protect cell membranes. That can only be good right?
Aubergine's have been found to have, wait for it, anti cancer and anti cholesterol properties.
Aubergine's are extremely low fat, but also extremely absorbant so make sure to roast or grill instead of frying! (I've learned my lesson!)
I started this blog because I have had this idea for a while now and felt that I needed some sort of outlet for it.
I originally started thinking about it when I was sick and, instead of taking all the usual commercial medicine, like those 4 flu tablets, I treated it with lemon juice and honey in boiling water. It was just a normal common cold. I also made sure I ate healthily every 2-3 hours. I went for a walk to get a little exercise, got lots of rest and went to bed early.
The next day I felt just fine and it got me thinking that, and I know this is stating the obvious, but most common sickness are caused by a lack of care for yourself. Of course you can pick up things from various bacteria but at the end of the day if your immune system is strong enough it should be able to handle things.
I would like to think I have a fairly strong knowledge of nutrition but this train of thought meant I began researching further, the healing properties of different ingredients, how they can affect mood, and particularly foods affecting the immune system. There is quite a lot of information written about it but very few recipe's available with this in mind. So I decided to start creating my own.
The posts so far, I feel haven't really hit the nail on the head when it comes to talking specifically about mood food, so I hope to include more information about just that in future posts. If there is anything you think I should include, exclude feel free to comment!
Broccoli Is a food I have only recently taken to eating, as I had only tried the steam variety! The sulphur the veg emits during the cooking process is generally what puts most people off. But now I use broccoli all the time raw in salads and cooked in stir frys, it's the type of veg that can fit well in lots of dishes. Apart from it being tasty, it also has huge health benefits. Broccoli is a member of the cabbage family and as you can imagine shares all the highly nutritious values of it's large green cousin! Here's just three reason's to eat BROCCOLI!
Broccoli like cabbage contains cancer fighting properties.
One cup of cooked broccoli contains 74 mg of calcium, plus 123 mg of vitamin C, which significantly improves calcium's absorption.
It's perfect for building your immune system as its packed with Vitamin C plus small but helpful amount's of zinc and selenium.
Asparagus Is another veg which I have only just started a love affair with! This are just so tasty especialy drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar and thrown on a griddle pan. But wait, you guessed it THEY'RE HEALTHY TOO! I recently saw asparagus growing in a field and it was the strangest sight! Reason's to eat asparagus? Why let me give you a few!
Asparagus are extremely high in folate which is essential for a healthy cardiovascular system. 1 serving supplies almost 66% of RDA of folate!
Asparagus is a natural diuretic thanks to its mineral profile and active amino acids!
THE SENSUAL VEGETABLE THAT IS THE CARROT! Carrots have always been and will probably always be my favourite vegetable! Something I read recently pointed to the fact that carrots Beta-carotene levels were not reduced during the cooking process which is great news as roast carrot is one of my favourite dishes! Here's just 4 reasons to EAT CARROTS!
They contain lung-healing, immune boosting, beta carotene.
One carrot a day will increase the beta-carotene levels in the body.
Carrots can regulate blood sugar.
And if in fact YOU are a LADY Carrot's can help increase menstrual flow.
CABBAGE! CABBAGE! CABBAGE!
Now cabbage would have been a completely no go area when I was a kid and I would avoid it like the plague, partly due to I think the memories of the horrible smell coming from the boiled version! However now that I'm just that little bit older, wiser, and slightly more well read, I can say that Cabbage truly is one of the greatest super foods and here's why:
Cabbage has a nitrogenous compound known as indoles, and indoles can according to recent research lower the risk of cancer.
Cabbage has an extremely high level of Vitamin C, chlorophyll, and Vitamins A, E and B.
It speeds ulcer healing and improves digestive health.
It is rich in antibacterial sulphur compounds which fight infection.
And on top of all that It's soooo low in calories! So dig in!
Oregano The Super Herb! Ever since I visited Turkey on a family holiday a few years ago I have been in love with this herb! It's seems to be a staple part of the Turkish diet and most dishes came covered in it. Not that I'm complaining! The rich aromatic Mediterranean flavour can really enhance a tomato sauce or a meat marinade. Not only does it taste great it is one of the best herbs to use in terms of antioxidant properties. HERE ARE 3 REASONS TO ADD IT TO YOUR NEXT DISH!
In a recent study Oregano had 3 to 20 times higher antioxidant activity than the other herbs studied.
Oregano is a great source of fibre.
A balanced diet with herbs such as Oregano can have huge beneficial health effects.
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