Radish
50g quinoa
1 tsp chopped mint
1 tsp chopped parsley
4 radishes, finely sliced, then quartered
10 thin slices of cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1/2 lemon (juiced)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp agave syrup, maple syrup or honey
1 tsp shoyu or soy sauce
Cook the quinoa in water for 14 mins until tender, then drain. Mix with remaining ingredients. For an impressive lunch, serve in half a melon, where the seeds used to be.
1 courgette
1 aubergine
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 carrots, peeled, halved and quartered
10 baby tomatoes
3 sprigs thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tin lentils (rinsed and drained)
Dressing
1 tsp tahini
2 tsp vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
juice of half a lemon
Heat the oven to 200c. Chop all the vegetables into inch sized cubes, mince the garlic and mix it all with the oil and thyme in an oven proof dish. Bake for 40 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked. Check and stir a couple of times during the cooking.
Mix the dressing together well and stir into the warm vegetables. Serve warm or cold with some cous cous that has been prepared with vegetable stock and seasoned with the juice of a lemon.
The season of colds is upon us, so I decided to go and do a bit of research about why the lemon is so good for fighting colds.
It is a natural remedy for a number of reasons. The juice of 1 lemon apparently contains 80% of the RDA of Vitamin C. Vitamin C boosts the immune system, creating more white blood cells to fight infection and cutting short the life span of the virus. Lemon juice also decreases the toxicity of the virus in the body, which in turn reduces the symptoms and shortens the duration of the cold. You can use a fork to get more juice out of your lemon if you don’t have a squeezer at work.
The honey doesn’t only sweeten…it soothes the throat and can also reduce the length of your cold, though researchers are still not completely sure why…
If you have your honey and lemon with an iron rich snack like dried apricots, oats, or cashews, you will further boost your chances of fighting colds as you’ll increase the iron absorbtion and therefore boost your immunity further. So don’t break out the lemsip, visit your local shop!
Do try not to drink it followed by a tea or coffee which reduces vitamin C uptake…