A healthy gut is essential for overall wellbeing. What you eat plays a huge role in the nourishment of your gut. Get your gut health on track with the following recipes.
Chocolate curls
GF WF DF VEG (If not using honey)
Serves 4
This gut-friendly sweet treat offers so much flavour and chocolatey fun! It’s a great one to make and enjoy with kids.
240 g (812 oz/1 cup) cacao butter
30 g (1 oz/14 cup) raw cacao powder, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 heaped teaspoon maca powder
2 tablespoons rice malt syrup or raw honey,
or 1 teaspoon liquid stevia
25 g (1 oz/14 cup) desiccated coconut
Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Melt the cacao butter in a heatproof bowl, over a saucepan of boiling water, stirring constantly.
Stir in the cacao powder, vanilla powder, maca powder and rice malt syrup or raw honey (or the stevia) until combined. Set aside until thick enough to pipe.
Pour the mixture into a piping (icing) bag and pipe it onto the baking paper, in a squiggly pattern, forming fingers about 15 cm (6 inches) long, and leaving space in between. (Alternatively, use a skewer to drag the mixture across the paper to create a pattern.)
Top with the coconut and place in the fridge for about 1 hour to harden. It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 2–3 weeks.
Prebiotic tray bake with tahini drizzle
GF WF DF SF VEG
Serves 4
This prebiotic bake is pimped up with a tangy garlic tahini drizzle. Roasting is a great way to cheer up any vegetable that may have been left in the fridge too long. The vegetables all cook at different speeds, so some are crunchier than others, which adds to the beauty of this dish.
200 g (7 oz) Jerusalem artichokes
12 lemon
200 g (7 oz) parsnips, peeled and quartered lengthways
300 g (1012 oz) heirloom or baby carrots, trimmed
2 leeks, white part only, washed well, cut into 2 cm (34 inch) rounds
2 red onions, cut in half, or into thick wedges
1 jicama (Mexican yam bean), peeled and thinly sliced
12 asparagus spears, trimmed
60 ml (2 fl oz/14 cup) extra virgin olive oil
aleppo pepper or red chilli flakes, for sprinkling
garlic tahini drizzle
1 garlic clove, crushed
pinch of Celtic sea salt
3–4 tablespoons tahini (see Note)
3–4 tablespoons lemon juice,
or more to taste
2–3 tablespoons filtered water
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a large roasting pan with baking paper.
To prepare the artichokes, scrub them well, but don’t peel them unless the skin seems too rough. Cut in half lengthways and immediately rub the cut surface with the cut surface of the lemon, to stop it browning.
Place all the vegetables, except the jicama and asparagus, in a single layer in the roasting pan. You don’t want to crowd the vegetables, or they won’t roast and crisp up, so use another lined roasting pan if necessary. Drizzle with the olive oil and rub to coat well.
Bake for 25 minutes, turning the vegetables once.
Add the jicama and asparagus and roast for a further 10 minutes, or until the asparagus is just cooked and all the vegetables are golden around the edges.
Meanwhile, to make the garlic tahini drizzle, mash the garlic and salt to a purée, using a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a bowl and whisk in the tahini. Add the lemon juice and a little bit of the water, whisking continuously, adding a little more water each time until the sauce reaches the consistency of thick cream or runny yoghurt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve the roasted vegetables with the garlic tahini drizzle.
Note: Tahini is a paste made from lightly toasted sesame seeds. It tends to separate on sitting, especially if kept in fridge. You can bring the tahini back together by leaving the jar upside down for 15 minutes, then giving it a quick stir with a clean spoon.
Mocha & banana smoothie bowl
GF WF DF VEG
People will be wondering what has you so chirpy early in the day! Made with coffee, raw cacao, chia seeds and hazelnuts, with fruity hums of banana, this delectably thick, chocolatey smoothie bowl will give you a natural hit of dopamine — the ‘happy’ hormone. Think about all the good fats and complex carbohydrates found in banana and nuts, then times them by two, and you’ll find yourself powering through your day like a Russian gymnast, performing effortless backflips, half turns and triple twists.
30 ml (1 fl oz) shot of espresso coffee or dandelion tea
1 tablespoon chia seeds
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon food-grade diatomaceous earth, such as my Love Your Gut Powder (optional)
1 frozen banana, sliced
40 g (112 oz/14 cup) hazelnuts (or any nuts of your choice), soaked and roasted
125 ml (4 fl oz/12 cup) Coconut Milk (page 137)
125 ml (4 fl oz/12 cup) Almond Milk (see Note, page 153), or other non-dairy milk of your choice
toppings of your choice, to serve
Pour the coffee or dandelion tea into a small bowl, add the chia seeds and
let them sit for a few minutes. Transfer to a high-speed blender.
Add the cacao powder, diatomaceous earth (if using), banana and hazelnuts. Pour in the coconut milk and almond milk and whiz until there are no lumps; the mixture can be quite thick. If your blender is struggling, add extra almond milk or water in small amounts to help it along.
Pour the smoothie into a bowl or serving vessel; we’ve used half a coconut shell. Garnish with your choice of toppings — fresh banana slices, a sprinkling
of mixed nuts and seeds, shaved fresh coconut, micro herbs — and dig in!
Supercharged tip: The great thing about a smoothie bowl is that you can add any type of sneaky green, and never taste the difference. Try a handful of baby English spinach, kale, avocado or even frozen peas, to get a headstart on your vegie intake for the day. PS: You don’t need to add the coffee if you don’t want
to — or you can use a decaffeinated version instead.
Images and recipes from Supercharge Your Gut by Lee Holmes, Murdoch Books, RRP $35.00. Photography by Steve Brown.
