Seasonal Additions!

This festive season I’m going to encourage you to eat more! As part of the traditional festive feasting try to fit in more of the following:

• Nuts – try buying unsalted whole nuts; walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds are readily available at this time of year and taste so much better straight out of the shell. Try adding a handful to your cheeseboard for a lovely accompaniment that adds crunch as well as nutrients.
• Vegetables – sprouts, cabbage, leeks, parsnips, kale, and carrots are all in season at the moment in the UK. Steamed, pickled, mashed are all great ways of enjoying.
• Fruit – Cranberries, apples and rhubarb are all in season, eaten alone or as an accompaniment to savoury dishes, for example cranberry with turkey, apple with pork and rhubarb with venison.
• Dark chocolate – try to include a 70+% chocolate within your sweet treat selection this year, it’s high in antioxidants and minerals and contains less sugar than milk chocolate.
• Alternatives to potato – instead of or in addition to usual potatoes try incorporating celeriac, swede, butternut squash, cauliflower to add a variety of nutrients and stabilise your blood sugar; these all have a lower glycaemic index than potatoes.  
• Seeds – a quick and easy way to boost the nutrient content of your food, most supermarket’s sell bags of seed mix, a tablespoon of this added to cereal, yogurt, salad or vegetables can add texture and interest.
• Beans – try to incorporate beans into your seasonal menu; hummus, cannellini bean dip and roasted chickpeas all make perfect snacks.
• Water – Try not to forget to drink the recommended 2-3 litres of water a day especially if consuming alcohol. Try to include non-alcoholic drinks and jugs of water at the dinner table, adding fruit and mint can make these more attractive.

Below is a great recipe for a non-alcoholic festive cocktail:

1 measure of orange juice

1 measure of cranberry juice

1 measure of sugar syrup

Juice of one lime

Non-alcoholic fizz/soda water

Clementine peel & salt to garnish

1. In a cocktail shaker add a handful of ice, the fruit juices, syrup and lime juice and shake well
2. Rub the rim of a cocktail glass with lime and dip into salt to coat
3. Add a curl of clementine peel to the glass followed by the contents of the shaker
4. Top with fizz or soda water

Enjoy and have a very Merry Christmas without a sore head!