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Summary: Jackfruit is cropping up as a plant based alternative everywhere, especially as 'pulled' jackfruit. Jackfruit is a tropical fruit native to South India. Fully ripe, it tastes sweet, floral and a little pungent. Young or unripe, it is used in savoury dishes like curries and stir-fries. It is the largest tree fruit in the world, one fruit can weigh up to 40 kg ! Jackfruit is low in fat, high in nutrients, and a good source of dietary fibre. Not unlike tofu, young jackfruit flesh has a neutral taste and will carry robust curry or barbecue flavours very well. Here we present to you our quick and easy week night Thai style jackfruit curry using a good quality ready-made red thai curry paste. The recipe calls for Bay, Kaffir Lime and Curry leaves ; just leave any or all of them out if you don't have them. Delicious served with some rice and wilted spinach or chard.
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Summary: Seitan is a very popular meat substitute, that is for people who tolerate gluten well.
It is made by mixing wheat gluten (extracted from wheat flour) with water into a dough, shaping the dough and then boiling or baking it. Once cooked and cooled, the Seitan can be sliced or cubed, and then prepared as you would prepare tofu or texturised vegetable protein.
Seitan is super versatile in that it absorbs the flavour of any seasonings you add to it, or any sauce you cook it in or serve it with.
I like this basic recipe where I simply flavour the Seitan with freshly chopped onion (or onion powder if kneading the dough by hand because it can be difficult for the dough to hold the onion pieces if kneaded by hand) and garlic powder, nutritional yeast, chilli and black pepper ; I then boil it in a broth made with vegetable bouillon, onion, garlic and bay leaves.
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Summary: There is more and more research giving us evidence of how crucial a healthy microbiome is, not just to digestive health, but how it also strenghtens our immune system, improves nutrient absorption, benefits our mental health and even determines our food cravings !
Probiotics capsules are helpful, provided they contain a wide range of bacteria strands, and enough colony forming units. But even then, some research suggests that they only really make a difference while we take them, and good quality probiotics can be very costly. On the other hand, fermented whole foods contain exceptionally high numbers of bacteria : an ounce of homemade, raw, unpasteurised sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) contains more bacteria than a whole bottle of good quality probiotic capsules. And they are very cheap to make at home : the only cost is the price of the produce, and a little salt.
Include these naturally lactofermented cucumbers for a cheap and easy way to boost your family's friendly gut flora.
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