Although turnips are not a vegetable in vogue, turnips, in my humble opinion are simply tops. 😉 You know when you look around the table and see people making faces it’s usually because they are disappointed that they aren’t consuming potatoes but unassuming turnips, although not everyone’s favourite are just as delicious in this savoury dish.

If you are watching your insulin levels and are wary of starchy vegetables, turnips make a great potato replacement with the added bonus of being a member of the famous cruciferous vegetable family…think Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale.

As a result turnips are brimming with disease fighting phytochemicals, allowing the body to defend itself from cancer causing substances. Got a cold? nix the glass of sugary OJ and opt for some turnip casserole…with the juice content of turnips having twice as much vitamin c as its sweet counterpart this dish will have you feeling on top of the world.

If you’re wondering what turnips to use, generally older turnips have a more identifiable and stronger flavor than young turnips. Smaller and younger turnips are sweeter in taste so for a more savoury dish try larger turnips.

Nutritional Yeast, which I use often and sprinkle it into as many dishes as I can, is the perfect substitute in creating that cheesy twist to meals sans the dairy which many people can find troublesome and hard to digest. For people who are on a restricted anti-candida diet it’s ok to consume nutritional yeast as it will not affect candida.

As nutritional yeast is a type of deactivated yeast, it won’t ferment in your stomach and affect healthy gut flora that you are trying to cultivate. What it will do however, is provide you with an amazing spectrum of B-vitamins. Think a few of DAYS worth of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6 and B12.

Baked Turnip casserole is an enjoyable way to incorporate turnips into your meals and turn you from a turnip hater into a turnip lover.

Baked Turnip Casserole

SERVINGS
4-6

INGREDIENTS
5 round turnips cut into quarters
4 TBS extra-virgin olive oil,
4 TBS almond milk

3 TBS nutritional yeast flakes
1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves sliced finely
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, finely chopped

1 tsp thyme
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
paprika to garnish

PREPARATION
Cook turnips in boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 230 Celsius
Meanwhile In a frying pan heat half (2 TBS) of EV olive oil over medium heat

Sauté onions, celery and red pepper until tender, remove from heat and set aside

Drain turnips then replace in saucepan and add milk and mash with a masher or fork and season. You can also do this step in a blender.

Now add onion mixture, mix gently and add thyme
In a casserole dish place remaining olive oil and spoon mixture into the dish

Sprinkle with nutritional yeast flakes and bake for 15 minutes

Enjoy 🙂

A new take on a golden oldie, this is a firm favourite in our family. You can bake individual pies for lunch — a distinct bonus if you’re eating alone — and serve with a leafy salad.

Don’t be afraid to pep up the pie with your favourite seasoning or mixed herbs. The delicious cauliflower mash can be used instead of potato mash in so many dishes that you’ll never feel you’re missing out on mash again. As a side dish, the mash makes enough for 3–4 servings.

*Health benefits

Loaded with folate, cauliflower helps improve cell growth and reproduction and acts as a blood and liver detoxer.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) lean minced (ground) lamb, organic if possible
• 2 anchovies, chopped
• 1/2 x 400 g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes (sugar and additive free)
• 125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) tomato passata (puréed tomato)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia (optional)

Cauliflower mash

• 1 cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, or organic butter (if tolerated)
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes

Method:

• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, garlic and celery and sauté over medium–low heat for 8–10 minutes, or until the onion is golden brown.
• Add the lamb and anchovies and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring often to break up any lumps in the meat.
• Stir in the chopped tomatoes, passata, salt and pepper, then cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. If there is excess liquid in the pan, turn the heat up and simmer, uncovered, for a few minutes more. Stir in the stevia, if using.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220ºC (425ºF/Gas 7) and make the cauliflower mash. Put the florets in a steamer over a saucepan of simmering water and cook, covered, until tender — the florets can be verging on soft, but shouldn’t be falling apart.
• Transfer the cauliflower to a blender or food processor and add the olive oil, yeast flakes, a pinch of sea salt and a few grinds of black pepper.
• Blend until smooth.
• Transfer the cooked lamb mixture to an 18 cm (7 inch) square baking dish and level the surface.
• Gently spoon the cauliflower mash over the top, scraping a fork across the surface to create little trenches in the mash.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until the mash has a crispy top.
• Remove the pie from the oven and serve in warmed wide bowls. Fresh minted peas are an excellent accompaniment.
• Serves 4

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Perfect for Sunday Night "Soup Night"

This hearty vegetarian soup will warm up cold winter nights and tastes especially good served with crusty gluten free bread. Perfect for Sunday night "Soup Night!"

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 140 g (5 oz) sugar-free tomato paste (concentrated purée)
• 400 g (14 oz) tin chopped tomatoes (sugar and additive free)
• 150 g (51/2 oz) green beans, topped,
• tailed and cut into 3–4 cm (11/4–11/2 inch) lengths
• 1/4 cabbage, coarsely shredded
• 1/2 cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 2 zucchini (courgettes), diced
• 1 red capsicum (pepper), diced
• 1 green capsicum (pepper), diced
• 1 bunch kale or 1/2 bunch silverbeet
• (Swiss chard), stalks trimmed and leaves coarsely shredded
• 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) additive-free vegetable stock or filtered water
• 1 handful herbs, such as parsley, thyme, rosemary and basil, chopped

Method

• Heat the coconut oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and lightly brown the onion, garlic and celery over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes and cook for a minute or two.
• Add the beans, cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, capsicums and kale, and cook for 1–2 minutes more. Add the stock or water and, if necessary pour, in enough extra filtered water to cover the vegetables.
• Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
• If you prefer a smoother soup, transfer to a blender or use a hand-held blender and whiz until the desired texture is reached.
• Serve hot, sprinkled with the herbs.
• Serves 6–8

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Golden Quinoa

If you sweet on Superfoods then this recipe is a powerhouse of nutrition.

First things first, Quinoa (which is pronounced keenwah), it isn’t a grain. In fact is a relative of my other favourite supercharged ingredient, spinach. When cooked, Quinoa resembles couscous with a slightly al dente texture to it. As it cooks and tastes just like a grain it is wonderful for tired tummies that find grains difficult to digest.

While this humble dish is perfect for the occasional vegetarian in you, the addition of Quinoa is a wonderful source of protein to boot, containing all nine essential amino acids that the body requires for hormone and muscle production. Interestingly, Quinoa also contains magnesium, a wonderful mineral that allows muscles to relax…the perfect ingredient for dinner after a long and tiring day.

Pesto Zoodles

My favourite culinary herb is basil, by the way, you should really try this delicious pesto zoodle pasta dish whilst I'm on the subject… Pesto is a bonus for me as it is a highly antiseptic and antibacterial herb. Basil has traditionally been used as a digestive aid for upset tummies. Most herbs, given their pungency and intensity, often impart great healing properties; most if not all are wonderful internal cleansers.

For this reason, I make it a ritual to use my home grown herbs or buy fresh organic herbs every time I do a fruit and vegetable shop. It’s so easy to tear a few leaves here or there to garnish over your breakfast, lunch or dinner. And given our need to eat more raw green veggies, the simple act of garnishing with herbs takes you one step closer towards your journey in health, whole foods and healing.

To intensify the creaminess of this dish I’ve added the wonderful, deep orange hue of butternut pumpkin. The tangerine tone indicates another stellar property of this supercharged dish, carotenoids. Carotenoids are shown to protect against heart disease and can assist in preventing macular degeneration, amongst other wonderful things! To sweeten the deal, just a cup serving of butternut is almost half your daily need for vitamin C!

I like to dose my dish with generous servings of heart healthy fats. Taking a lead role in this incredible heart-warming dish are walnuts. With a handful of walnuts containing twice as many antioxidants as an equivalent amount of other common nut varieties, walnut will up-the-anti when it comes to nutrients and provide you with long lasting energy.

It’s such a simple dish to make too, just whip out your casserole dish, make a pot of tea and meditate on the swirling of quinoa, the browning of onions and the act of eating wholesome and good-for-you foods.

Quinoa with Winter Squash & Yellow Pepper

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• ½ cup basil leaves torn
• 1 butternut squash peeled and chopped into 5 cm chunks
• ½ cup coconut milk
• 2/3 cup yellow pepper, sliced
• 1/3 cup brown onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup raw walnuts
• ½ tsp sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• Shredded coconut to garnish

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat
• Add garlic, yellow peppers and onion and sauté until browned
• Add squash and cook for about 10 minutes
• Meanwhile rinse quinoa thoroughly
• Stir stock, rinsed quinoa, walnut, coconut milk and salt and pepper into the pan
• Cover with a lid and reduce heat, simmering for 15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed
• Spoon into wide bowls and garnish with shredded coconut and torn basil

No Bean Hummus

I adore hummus… seriously adore it.  My preferred vessel is a scoopable cracker or crudité to ensure maximum consumption per bite.  But you know what?…it just doesn’t love me back.

Even if I practice the art of moderation I still appear to find the whole process gut wrenching so to speak. And yes, I am a foodie…I know how to properly prepare beans.

The bean thing isn’t a new phenomenon…nor is it unique to me. Beans, often hailed as a vegetarians wonder food because they combine starch and protein is held back by the very fact it contains both nutrients.

Generally, if you combine starch and protein you get a boatload of gas, bloating and other digestive issues.

Here’s why:

When you eat protein your stomach produces hydrochloric acid and an enzyme called pepsin to create an acidic environment to break them down.

When you eat a starchy vegetable, grains or beans, an enzyme called ptyalin is secreted, which develops an alkaline condition ready for starchy foods to be digested.

What happens then when you eat the two together? Well…the acid and alkaline enzymes can’t do their jobs as they neutralize each other. Digestion falters and the food we consume begins to ferment.

I won’t elaborate…but needless to say I stay away from beans as I personally feel they do me wrong in the nicest possible way.

This is where my no bean hummus comes into play. Hand on heart…it tastes identical…. I’ve just snuck in a raw zucchini and almonds for creaminess…tempted?

Do try.

No Bean Hummus

Ingredients

•  3/4 cup sunflower seeds or soaked almonds
• 3/4 cup tahini
• 2 zucchini peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic peeled
• ½ tsp. Celtic sea salt
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp. fresh basil
• ½ TBS ground cumin

• In a blender combine all ingredients
• Blend until smooth and add a little filtered water if necessary
• Serve with green veggies, as a dip or topping with your favourite gluten free cracker

Good nutrition and what you put into your body is the foundation for good health. “Food is Medicine” is a term which was originally coined by Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine; it was his belief that eating wholesome food is the basis for good health.

Hippocrates said almost 2500 years ago “Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food."

Centuries ago the earliest known doctors and health practitioners across the world imparted the benefits of using food as medicine to heal the body and now based on research it is clearly evident that food plays a major role in health and how you feel on a day to day basis.

Hippocrates believed that illness stemmed from inadequate nutrition and bad eating habits and that if people were to learn good eating habits then optimum health would be restored.  Long before doctors and medicine was commonly used, wise tribal elders would seek out healing herbs and plants for their community and food would be applied prescriptively to bring about healing.

Slowly through the years man has moved away from the healing power of nature and towards prescribing packaged synthetic drugs and artificial remedies to deal with illness.

The reality is that because we have shifted away from natural remedies and many of us rely on a diet of processed, fatty and sugar-laden food the consequences are that rates of obesity and disease have increased significantly.

If food has the power to prevent much of the chronic illness we experience today then it makes sense to alter our diets to use it to our own advantage to not only heal and restore the body but also to prevent illness.  Although taking pharmaceutical drugs for ailments may be useful, they often come with short and long term side effects and contribute to the toxic build up in our bodies.

While drugs are important in life threatening situations, if long term conditions can be managed with diet and lifestyle changes then using food as medicine must be considered as an initial way of tackling the issue and preventing future health problems.

Health practitioners and scientists are now uncovering the benefits of Nutrigenomics and the whole notion that food is information that speaks to our genes and triggers messages that create health or disease.

There are many factors that culminate to bring about disease such as stress, nutrition, hormone balance, the health of our gut, and the importance of detoxification and food.

Thinking about what is at the end of your fork can help you to avoid specific illnesses that arise due to years of unhealthy eating. The good news is that these can be reversed with the help of a good diet. Even if you live on takeaway you can make healthier choices.

More and more food services, restaurants, and other institutions are recognizing the healing power of food and are including healing foods as part of their menus so nutritious food is not as hard to find as it once was.

Being healthy means putting the right fuel into your body and having your internal engine run smoothly. Every meal that you consume influences the way that you feel one way or another so the more nutritious foods you choose, the healthier you will be.

Whole foods act as medicine to heal and protect your body and give the immune system a break from dealing with toxins, preservatives, additives and chemicals that are included in so many of today's processed foods.

If you are eating junk food everyday with little or no nutrition, your body will not be receiving all of the nutrients it needs to function properly and health issues can arise.

All that your body can operate on are the foods that you choose to put into it. Healthy nutrient-rich and alive foods help to heal the body at cellular level and build strong defenses enabling you to combat illness and environmental toxins.

The first thing to think about if you’re planning on giving your diet an overhaul is to ensure that you have a healthy digestive system. This is a vital ingredient and essential to guarantee that you’re efficiently burning your food and effectively extracting the nutrients from it.

Diseases are often associated with vitamin and mineral deficiencies or food senstivities so having healthy digestion and knowing what foods work for you is really important.

You may want to consider a food elimination diet to find out which foods you may have a sensitivity or allergy too.  For some people raw food although perceived as healthy, is way too hard on their inflamed and delicate digestive systems and they may need to begin by incorporating a liquid diet such as juicing and eating soups and easily digestible foods until their gut heals. Fish oil is a great way to naturally combat inflammation too.

Numerous foods have specific healing properties such as garlic and onions which include antibiotic and antifungal properties.  Particular chronic conditions such as arthritis and celiac disease benefit from a specialized diet and avoiding particular foods.

There are foods which reduce inflammation and ones that help lower cholesterol such as fish and omega 3 fatty acids. Doctors recommend eating at least two servings of fish a week. It’s always good to try and get the nutritional benefits from your food and not rely on synthetic supplements.

Fuelling up on super foods is a great way to provide the body with nutrients and not over eat. Individual foods have their own unique set of nutrients to meet the needs of your body so eating a wide variety of foods ensures that you are getting a diverse range if nutrients vitamins and minerals that you need.

Incorporating the seasons into your menu planning will benefit you so that you can enjoy fresh and in the moment foods that are abundantly available.  There is also a cost saving when you buy in season.  Shop at local growers markets or co-ops and talk to the sellers about what’s in season.

When it comes to buying healthily the best way to shop is to think about where the food you are buying actually came from, is it traceable, fresh and at its best? Or is it housed beneath layers of packaging? Even though it takes a little longer when shopping get used to reading labels and finding out exactly what is in the food.  If it has more than six ingredients it’s probably not going to be that good for you.

Shop in season and choose foods which are as close to their natural state as possible. Remember that your body will love you for it!

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