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🍱 Food and Nutrition Recommendations 😃✨
Our recommendations for food and nutrition are updated here
Liver, Greens and Herbs to Increase Iron Levels✨
Low in Iron? Many of us are and don’t know it. If you feel weak and extra tired even after a good night's sleep, if you get dizzy when you stand up, if you have irregular heartbeats and shortness of breath, chest pain, head aches, even cold hands and feet can be a sign of low iron levels.
One of the quickest and finest ways to replenish iron levels is to eat liver.
My favourite way to serve it:
A creamy concoction with herbs and the warming flavour of cayenne & smoked paprika, on a soft bed of mashed potatoes (sorry, for the simple bento-box-look - despite being ceramic it just doesn’t give the French Cuisine ambience this recipe deserves, but Russell, who actually used to despise liver, assures me it was delishshsh 😋 )
Before i cook the liver i always rub it with salt and leave it in the fridge over night (or a minimum of 6 hours. Some people prefer soaking it in water with lemon or vinegar. Try them both to see which one you prefer.)
I use olive oil, melt a slice of butter, then add black or white pepper fresh from the mill, and a variety of herbs:
finely chopped rosemary, thyme, basil, nira, lemonbalm (whatever is in season, or dried, available in the markets or in my garden).
Now i let the herbs slowly infuse the oil on a very low flame.
In the meantime i wash the salt off the liver and slice it into generous strips.
Then i prepare the other ingredients: cooking wine, cream, cayenne, smoked paprika, and capers. While finishing up the prep the scent of the slowly heating herbs suddenly tickles my nose and i am reminded to place the liver on that bed of aromatic greenery, raise the flame to medium and quickly cook the liver, adding the cayenne, smoked paprika, capers and cooking wine, stirring even more quickly BECAUSE - and this is super important to achieve the perfect texture - i only cook it to where there is still a pink hue visible on the liver. This is when i turn the heat down, add the cream and once the cream is mixed in and hot, you're done! (Most people make the mistake of overcooking liver, please don't as that will ruin this dish.)
It's a dish that goes really well with mashed potatoes!
I form a little dent in the mountain of potato mash and pour the liver with its sauce right into that.
Fresh basil and a couple of cherry tomatoes as a garnish, served with a side dish of steamed greens and you're ready to surprise yourself or anyone who thought they didn't like liver 😉
Side Notes:
- Garlic is another great addition to this dish! You can add it at the beginning, whole or chopped, together with the herbs. That way it will get to that delicious golden brown.
- Did you know that, besides great flavour and being high in antioxidants, herbs & dark leafy greens also provide a surprisingly high amount of iron? I recommend you go for it and add a generous bunch for double goodness.
Let me know how you liked it and how many people you were able to convert to liver-lovers after a lifetime of wrinkling their nose at it 😉
Bon appétit!
Aug 24th 2020 - Can't travel now ✈️ ?! So let's bring the 🌎 World on the Table 😃✨
Ela's Noodle Doodle 🍜
I came up with this the other day when i felt like i wanted to go on a trip. We cannot travel right now so why not bring these wonderful foreign treats into your own kitchen.
Add a side dish of salad or eggs
July 8th 2020 - 🌈 Colours increase joy: Let's keep eating Rainbows 😋✨
Colours definitely inspire me to eat with joy so i like 'eating a rainbow' whenever possible.
I like preparing a whole bunch of cabbage salad and then add it to each of my bento boxes. It makes the prep time for bentos shorter and especially with cabbage the flavour deepens and sometimes it's like having pickles, yum!
Do you have a sweet tooth?
The sweetness that results from slicing raw cabbage and carrots really fine is astounding. Together with the natural sweetness of the
Japanese pumpkin i don't feel like i need a dessert after my lunch or dinner. If you have a sweet tooth try it out!
Simple Grilled Salmon, cooling purple Cabbage Salad with thinly sliced Carrot & Cucumber and Goji berries (Kuko no mi helps to cool the body during the summer heat), half peeled rice (gobutsuki with mochi kibi) and umeboshi flakes, steamed broccoli, ladies fingers and zucchini with sesame seeds and fried pumpkin.
April 4th 2020 - 🌈 Let's eat a Rainbow 😃✨
🌈 Eat a rainbow! Colours signal the presence of diversity in nutrients:
A range of naturally occurring colour in your food helps ensure you're getting enough fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients (beneficial substances produced by plants).
👩🏼🎨 A work of art or an act of creativity 🧑🏼🍳 - increase your joy 😋
Eating a 🌈 rainbow of colours helps to protect against illness, strengthens the immune system, supports bone density and digestion, and as a result makes weight management easy.
Colours increase joy in daily life as well: It’s easier to know what to choose when you’re out shopping, try it!
Cooking then becomes a creative act which you can follow up by eating your artwork - 😃
Curried Sasami Chicken, Gobutsuki (50% peeled rice) with Mochi Kibi and Mochi Awa, a sprinkle of sesame and ume flakes;
purple, red & orange carrots; pumpkin sauted in coconut oil, lightly steamed broccoli & nanohana. Red cabbage salad with Yuzu peel.
March 24th 2020: Antioxidants & Anti-inflammatory Agents
Lunchbox for three 🍱 😃✨
Simple coconut chicken curry, hatahata for extra calcium, spring style vegetable medley, and lotsa greeeeens since we believe live & fresh food keeps us alive & fresh, too 😉.
Antioxidants ✨
By the way, did you know that coconut oil & flakes, turmeric, pepper, curry powder and ginger are super tasty ingredients for a simple & quick curry, besides being fantastic antioxidants & anti-inflammatory agents 🎶.
March 20th 2020 - Protein & Vitamin/Mineral balance:
Ela’s dinner bento: Moroccan lamb stew, kale 🥬 greens from her garden plot and ‘gobutsuki’ (50% polished rice) with sesame seed for extra calcium.
The perfect protein/vitamin and mineral balance to support the immune system 💪😊
At CrossFit Kyoto, we offer "Wakaba" classes.
Ideal for people who don't feel confident about exercise,
are recovering from an injury, or for those who are 60+.
Come join us, you are welcome to accompany your parents for a class!
Trial Our Crossfit Class
Eat well, move more, feel better, and live & give your best!
良質な食事と、質の高い運動で、心も身体ももっと元気に！
Crossfit Kyoto, training gym, is located in Kitaoji and a mere 13 min subway ride from Kyoto station.
(semi-personal training)
