The Review - FOOD & DRINK- Cooking with CLARE Published: 7 February 2008
Goji berries – wolfberries – that grow on vines in China and Tibet where their juice is drunk are now available dried in health food shops
A berry delicious way to keep those winter colds at bay
Clare Latimer serves up some dishes to keep the fitness regime on courseIbelieve that if you eat well and look after yourself, you suffer less from colds and flu.
I used to feel under the weather all the time in the winter but in those days I ate badly, worked too hard and burned the candle at both ends, as they say. Now, even if I play hard, I make sure that I eat well and that seems to keep me in good stead.
Below is a start to staying fit and well.
My mum was rushed into hospital the other day and in the bed opposite her was a girl of about 20 who had the most dreadful migraine.
She was kept in for 24 hours and just before she left her brothers, both trainee medical students, brought her a well-known cheap hamburger with a huge bag of chips. If only they had realised that that type of food may make you feel better for a few hours but talk about migraine-induced ingredients! Oh dear.
Grated carrot, fennel and courgette coleslaw
I often have a combination like this, sometimes adding home-cooked beetroot, sultanas and, if it’s my main course, some grated cheese such as gruyere or crumbled stilton. With a chunk of warm granary bread you have a perfect quick and healthy meal.
Ingredients
Serves 4
2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and grated
1 courgette, trimmed and cut into fine strips or grated
1 fennel bulb, finely sliced
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely diced
1 chicory, finely sliced
1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.
Method
Mix the carrots, courgettes, fennel, spring onions and chicory in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Peel the orange with a sharp knife taking all the pith off and cut out each segment. Squeeze the juice from the inner skin into a bowl using your hand and then discard. Mix the lemon juice with the mayonnaise and then mix in with the coleslaw ingredients. Cover and chill until required. Serve garnished with the pumpkin seeds.
Steamed apple chicken and roast vegetables
If free-range chicken breasts are too costly then buy the thighs or drumsticks; the flavour’s as good if not better.
Ingredients
Serves 4
4 free-range chicken breasts
1 desp olive oil
3cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 small onions, peeled and finely diced
2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and finely diced
250ml apple juice
100g raw bean sprouts.
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C/ 400F/gas 6.
Take a large piece of foil and place the chicken breasts in the centre. Drizzle over the oil and add the ginger, garlic and vegetables. Draw up the sides of the foil and pour in the apple juice.
Scrunch up the foil to seal everything in and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Transfer the foil parcels to four serving plates, open the parcels slightly and serve immediately.
Goji berry dried fruit salad
Goji berries, sometimes called wolfberries, are perhaps the most nutritionally rich fruit on the planet. They contain up to 21 trace minerals, including zinc, iron, copper, calcium, germanium, selenium, and phosphorus; also vitamins B1, B2, B6, and vitamin E. You can buy them in most health food shops. A bowl of this fruit salad is a perfect start to a day.100g dried goji berries
175g dried prunes
175g dried apricots
175g dried figs
Sprinkling of cinnamon.
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and just cover with water.
Leave to soak for a few hours or overnight.
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