Heart Healthy Muhammara Dip

This recipe comes often to my mind whenever I hear the complaint that eating healthy is tasteless, rabbit food or cardboard.
You seriously will not find a recipe with much more flavour than this!

Walnuts form the base of this delicious dip so the dish is packed with vitamin E, healthy fats and fibre which are all supportive of our heart health.
It also contains two large cloves of garlic. The allicin compound found in garlic, that is responsible for the smell of garlic breathe, has been shown in clinical trails to lower blood cholesterol levels. Certainly when you are eating this dip, you are going to want your Boo to be eating with you and both of your hearts will be stronger when you do!

The walnuts are simply blended with roasted red peppers, I used jarred peppers to make this recipe in 15 minutes flat, garlic honey, spices, olive oil 9more healthy fat right here) and the secret ingredient pomegranate molasses.

You can buy pomegranate molasses at Middle Eastern Stores and large supermarkets in the ethnic aisle.

I would serve this rich and tangy dip with oat cakes for another heart healthy fibre.

This is how we should be eating in mid-life ladies! Easy and delicious, nutrient dense dishes that excite our taste buds and support our bodies deeply through the peri-menopausal experience.

P.S. If you are looking for another great dip/spread that makes a nutrient dense and filling lunch option, click here for my recipe for Sardine Paté. Packed with protein and omega 3 fatty acids, it is a fabulous choice to support midlife brain and heart health.

Ingredients

11/2 cups raw walnuts

I jar roasted red peppers drained

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp chilli or chilli flakes

1 tsp raw local honey

2 tbsp Pomegranate Molasses

1 pinch of salt to season

Enough olive oil to make a dip consistency

Instructions

1. Add all of the ingredients apart from the olive oil into a high speed blender.

2. Blend the ingredients and pour enough olive oil through the hole in the lid to make a dip consistency. It will be about 3 -5 tablespoons

3. Serve with oat cakes and savour.
   
   
   
   
   
   

Heart Healthy Buckwheat Berry Bowl

For women over 40, heart health is important.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in North America, but there is a misconception that this is a male problem.

As we pass through peri-menopause we experience a down grade in the amount of estrogen in the body. This is important because for all of our lives the hormone estrogen has been protective to our heart. We have an opportunity here to take heart protective foods seriously and upgrade the love we show our heart through the food we eat.

To keep your cardiovascular system healthy you need a diet rich in fibre, healthy fats and antioxidants and this breakfast bowl deliciously provides us with everything we need. If you want to read more about why breakfast is the most important meal of the day for the peri-menopausal midlife woman, click here to download my FREE Breakfast Essentials booklet.

Fibres can support us in lowering our cholesterol level, healthy fats help us to maintain a healthy lipid profile with high levels of healthy High density lipoproteins and low levels of the dangerous low density lipoproteins. Anti-oxidants scour our bloodstream for free radicals and help to prevent and repair damage to our cell walls that result in plaques being formed as the body pairs itself.

You can make this bowl with oats or buckwheat, but buckwheat is rich in the plant lignan, rutin, which supports the strength and elasticity in the walls of our veins and arteries. If you have varicose veins, then this food should be in your rotation.

I added the queen of fibres for the midlife women, ground flax, another fibre that is rich in lignan’s.
The lignans, which are a type of phytoestrogen in flaxseed, can change estrogen metabolism. In postmenopausal women, lignans can cause the body to produce less active forms of estrogen to balance hormones and protect against breast cancer. Ground flax is also rich in omega 3 fatty acids and should be stored in the refrigerator.

By adding raw cacao for a chocolaty rich flavour we are adding more antioxidants to our breakfast bowl coupled with a dose of Magnesium, our relaxation mineral that helps to reduce blood pressure. Magnesium is important in heart health as when we are deficient in this mineral in relation to calcium we are more at risk of calcium precipitating out of our bloodstream to form calcified plaques when there is damage to the cell wall of our veins and arteries. In this way a daily green smoothie is heart healthy also! I love a pinch of sea salt and a tablespoon of maple syrup every time to bring out the chocolate flavour.

I tablespoon of coconut oil gives a richness to this dish supports balanced blood sugar levels and helps to fire up our metabolism in the morning. Lady, coconut oil is going to give you the energy you need to get through your morning and supports your very best brain health.

Once we have the basics of our bowl, we can just play!

I added pumpkins seeds and walnuts as they are rich in vitamin E. Vitamin E impacts the cell wall of our red blood cells causing them to stay smooth and slippy so that blood slides more easily around our tubes. I also love Brazil nuts in this bowl as they are selenium rich, so supportive of my thyroid gland and again support my metabolism in the morning; the antidote to midlife weight gain!

Lastly, top your bowl with antioxidant rich berries and cherries. Packed with fibre, natural sugar and that beautiful dark red and purple colour that indicates that they are heart supportive and rich in antioxidants2
Berries are also loading the bowl with vitamin C

If you need a head start in the morning you can soak your grains overnight or better yet get all of the ingredients assembled and ready to go with your berries defrosted if they are out of season and everything to hand. Lady, food prep, even if it is just assembling what you will need the night before, is some of the best love you can show your heart!

Enjoy this chocolaty goodness!

1.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24013641

2.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26501271

Ingredients

1/4 cup Buckwheat porridge or grits

1 cup water brought to the boil in a small pan

1 tbsp ground flax

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp raw cacao

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 pinch sea salt

1/2 cup of mixed raw nuts and seeds of your choice. Walnuts, Brazil Nuts Pumpkins Seeds, Almonds, Hazelnuts, Pistachios

1 cup fresh or frozen berries and cherries.

Instructions

1. Add the buckwheat to the boiling water in a small pan and cook for 5-6 minutes

2. Remove from the heat and put into a bowl

3. Stir in the coconut oil, cacao, maple syrup and sea salt

4. Add the ground flax, nuts and seeds and berries

5. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Paprika Shrimp with Red Pepper and Kale

When we are feeling depleted and everyday tired. When our hair feels brittle and dry and our nails split. When we begin to gain weight in midlife and we don’t even understand why. When we feel sluggish and a little bit blue; wanting to hide under the covers all day, we can support our very best midlife health by eating foods that support our thyroid gland.

Our thyroid gland is responsible for some of the heavy lifting in our bodies as it is the ‘control’ gland for our metabolism, circadian rhythm and menstrual cycle. When our thyroid gland is under nourished and under performing, then we can feel really ‘off’ and uncomfortable in our skin.

This dish deeply nurtures our thyroid gland with iodine rich shrimp and sea salt, metabolism boosting coconut oil to sauté all the colourful ingredients and cooked greens that will not run amok by introducing ‘raw green’ goitrogens into the body.

(Goitrogens are cruciferous vegetable based substances that block the thyroid glands use of the mineral iodine.)

I often make this dish with collard greens, as they are the leafy green most dense in easily absorbed plant based calcium, but kale is a great substitute.

Warming paprika will stimulate the thyroid gland and parsley and Vitamin C rich red pepper provide anti-oxidants to scour free radical and promote health. To find the recipe for another delicious seafood dish that supports the optimal health of your thyroid gland click here for my Moules Marinére recipe.

What I love most about this beautiful pan full of colour is that it is family friendly, quick to make and downright delicious!

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 cloves garlic roughly chopped

1 red pepper sliced

1 bunch kale or collard greens finely chopped

1 lb sustainably raised shrimp rinsed (I like Selva brand which supports mangrove planting projects)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

Welcome additions: 1 sweet potato finely diced, 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

Instructions

1. Melt the coconut oil in a skillet and add the garlic and red pepper and sauté for 3-5 minutes until they are soft

2. Add the paprika and salt and sauté for 1 minute to ‘wake up’ the smoky paprika flavours

3. Add the shrimp and kale or collards and put a lid on the skillet. If you are adding sweet potato or tomatoes add at this point.

4. Sauté for 2 minutes and stir to ensure that the shrimp are cooked and go pink evenly. Return the lid.

5. Sauté for another 3-5 minutes until the shrimp are fully cooked. Garnish with finely chopped parsley.

6. Serve over cooked rice or barley or toss through pasta.