Trying to maintain a good balance of essential nutrition whilst at the same time keeping things interesting can be a real headache. So, using imagination as much as using a variety of ingredients is the key, in my opinion, and not allowing your mind to restrict itself to conventional ways of preparing ingredients. For example, many ingredients we generally use in cooked dishes can in fact be consumed raw, such as turmeric.
When using turmeric in powder form we combine with something like black pepper in order to absorb the curcumin - the key active ingredient. However, one of the advantages of eating fresh raw turmeric is that - due to curcumin being fat soluble - the turmeric oil contained in the fresh turmeric means we can absorb the curcumin without needing to use any combo ingredient. Great!
Curcumin is the chemical produced in turmeric which gives its bright-yellow colour. It has powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, helping reduce pain and protect our cells from ageing and disease. Many people suffering chronic pain conditions such as arthritis or fibromayalgia report benefits from taking curcumin supplements or turmeric as a regular part of their diets.
Ingredients (organic recommended):
carrots
fresh turmeric
mango
ripe bananas
clementines
water
Directions:
Slice up the carrots, skin and all...
Finely slice/chop/grate the turmeric...
Pop into a blender and cover with cold water. Blitz to smooth...
Peel and dice the mango...
Peel bananas...
Peel clementines...
Add to the blender, cover with plenty of water, and blitz again to smooth and golden!
Pour into suitable containers for freezing (glass jars are perfect, but if using plastic try to get BPA free). You could also get ice-lolly moulds and make them easy for children to eat.
You can also drink this as a smoothie, so just pour into a jar/bottle and pop into the fridge.
See, there really is gold at the end of these Irish rainbows...
Many thanks to @lenasveganliving for continuing to host this wonderful weekly contest! For inspiration and details how to join in, please see Lena's post here.
To find out what the "Make It Healthy Project" is all about, and how you can be involved in growing this project, please click here.