January Flat Tummy Food - Clementines

When I first lost my extra pounds, clementines were one of my saviours, along with dark chocolate and green tea. They are so easy to pop into your bag and take to work or keep in a bowl at home for whenever you need a little snack to keep you going. And on a dark, rainy January day they are a burst of colour and sweetness helping to boost your immune system and brighten up your day!

 
 

December Flat Tummy Food - Nuts

We often think nuts are a bit high in calories, but the good news is that nuts contain the type of fat - monounsaturated - that is good for us and we also absorb lots of nutrients for every calorie so a handful of nuts is the perfect winter snack. Many nuts also contain high levels of the good mood amino acid tryptophan, which is helpful to boost through our diet in the darker months when we can be prone to SAD syndrome. You can pop a few nuts in your morning porridge, add to stir fries, stews and I've recently tried a couple of nut milks (hazelnut and almond) and these are a great dairy-free alternative.

 

November Flat Tummy Food - Mushrooms

Mushrooms, or fungi, are a food category all of their own, and all the varieties that you can’t pronounce are particularly healthy. From a weight loss point of view mushrooms are very low in calories and high in water content, so they are perfect for adding flavour and nutrients. Mushrooms are an anticancer food as they stimulate the immune system. In Chinese medicine they’ve also been used for thousands of years to help beat off colds and flu for the same reason. There are an unbelievable 14,000 types of mushroom, 3,000 of which are edible, but you’ll still never catch me foraging for mushrooms in the woods without a top mushroom hunting professional.

You can even grow your own shiitake or oyster mushrooms on a log in your garden or on your windowsill, which when you see the price of these more exotic mushrooms in the supermarkets is a fantastic way to save a bit of money and have a living edible sculpture on your windowsill at the same time. 

If you find the more common cultivated mushrooms like button, Portobello and crimini difficult to digest you might was to try shiitake, enoki, oyster, maitake and the like as these seem to be easier on the digestion. My favourite way to eat mushrooms is the simplest; sauted in a little butter on a slice of seeded or nutty toast (walnut please). They are also delicious with white fish, popped into any kind of stew and in quick and easy omelettes.


 

October Flat Tummy Food - Squash

Nature really does provide us with the perfect foods for the time of year. Just as the nights begin gently to draw in a little earlier and it gets a bit chilly the pumpkin and squash are ready for harvesting. Squash are a wonderful variety of autumnal colours and taste sweet and comforting. They are in the 'good' carbohydrate camp, giving us a slow release of energy and are a great course of beta-carotene, an antioxidant. 

 

September Flat Tummy Food - Apples

Right now fruit trees are groaning with ripening apples, pears, plums and damsons. I discovered a couple of damson trees along the path behind the garden and we've made a simple and delicious compote of blackberries and compote to enjoy with porridge or yoghurt and granola in the mornings. Apples are September's ingredient of the month and so I asked my Dad for a few tips as he is passionate about apples! 


'Before and during the war there was a huge push for people to plant fruit trees and orchards. So now we have a great heritage of fruit trees and you come across them everywhere, not just in people's gardens but along paths and on little patches of common. There's masses of fruit not being used so get out and combine a bit of scrumping with a good walk for double the health.
When you've picked your apples store them in a cool dark place and they will last for months (plus you can feed to the birds in December and January and they will love you for it). Simple baked apples are fantastic, just core them, pour in a little honey, some raisins, sprinkle with cinammon and bake until soft.'


Here are some apple recipe ideas to try:
Pork Medallions with Celeriac and Apple Mash
Beetroot and Apple Soup
Eating Well Healthy Apple Recipes
Butternut Squash, Apple and Cranberry Bake (Simply Recipes)
 
 

August Flat Tummy Food - Tomatoes

I have a friend who, like me, is a real fusspot about tomatoes. We were in hysterics the other day describing how we'd always have to pull the tomato out of sandwiches as kids and still do, and have to buy the most expensive tinned sandwiches as kids and still do, and have to buy the most expensive tinned tomatoes as there is always less skin to pick out! So why is it my August start ingredient?! Well this year I have eaten some of the most delicious tomatoes I can remember, and I haven't even been to Italy, just an organic farm in Dorset. I've enjoyed them with brunch, gazpacho, trying out a few bowl food recipes and in fresh, summer salads.
   Tomatoes are super healthy too. The deeper the colour the more lycopene they contain, which has been shown to have antioxidant, cancer-preventing and heart disease-preventing properties. Originally tomatoes came from South America but of course now they make us think of sunny days in the Mediterranean. I always have a spicy tomato juice on the place, it's funny how so many people do and yet I don't think to make it at home, it would be the perfect flat tummy snack! 

 

July Flat Tummy Food - Beetroot 

I visited an organic farm in early July and was mesmerized by the rows of beetroot beginning to appear above ground. I realise not everyone is a fan of beetroot - I didn't like it at all while I was growing up but have become a convert, particularly to roasted beetroot and beetroot soup.

Health-wise, beetroot is a true super root, known for helping to lower blood pressure. Herbalists call beetroot the 'vitality plant' - it contains antioxidants, magnesium and iron, hardly any fat, very few calories and lots of fibre. 

A few beetroot recipe ideas...

Beetroot and Feta Cous Cous Salad 
Beetroot and Apple Soup
Pickled Beetroot (external link)
Beetroot Hummus (external link)... yum

June Flat Tummy Food - Broad Beans

Broad beans are an excellent source of protein, a great reminder that we don't always needs to include meat of fish in our meals. They also contain fibre, vitamins A and C, potassium and iron. Broad beans are a very typical Mediterranean vegetable - a Portuguese friend adds pesto to them to make a delicious side dish or even as a main with cous cous or quinoa. Another really simple idea is to serve broad beans with natural yoghurt, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and ground black pepper. Health on a plate!

The top tip is to boil them for a minute first in salted water, drain and pop into cool water. When they are cool enough to handle remove the tough outer skin. They will then need another 2-5 minutes boiling or steaming to cook. 

 

May Flat Tummy Food - Asparagus

British asparagus are hitting our shops this month. Delicious and versatile, asparagus pack quite a nutritious punch. According to 'British Asparagus' they are one of the richest sources of rutin, which together with vitamin C can help to energise and protect the body from infections. They are a source of iron and low in calories with less than 4 kcals per average spear. They are low in cholesterol, fat free and are a mild diuretic, believed to help detoxify the body and help get rid of excess water. Asparagus also contains prebiotics, good for the tummy and digestion. I have simple tastes and love steamed asparagus with a poached egg on top. Here are a few more ideas from the web and from my flat tummy friend and foodie Camilla:

"I like eating asparagus with balsamic vinegar, a little olive oil, shaves of parmesan (a little strong cheese goes a long way as we know) and lots of salt and pepper. I also like a poached egg on top of a steamed bundle or to use them as soldiers dipped into a soft boiled egg. I like chopped asparagus added to a big green salad with crisp fried parma ham broken into shards and any other brightly coloured, crunchy salad things I might have in my fridge. Sometimes I steam some asparagus and when cold, roll each one in a piece of parma ham. These then go in my trusty tupperware for my packed lunch. So nothing very original but all pleasurable, especially if you use your fingers which I always think makes food taste better."

 

April Flat Tummy Food - Watercress

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, would grow beds of watercress thousands of years ago for his patients' wellbeing. In my own home country of Dorset there are watercress farms that still use the simple, traditional techniques of using flatbeds and natural springs to grow the cress. Anf thankfully it grows like the clappers because watercress is enjoying a bit of a revival. You only have to look at it to know it must be good for you, deep green and packed with nourishing flavour. It contains masses of nutrients, from iron to calcium to zinc. There is even a whole website devoted to watercress. I love to eat a simple salad of watercress with poached salmon, lots of lemon juice and a little mayonnaise or extra virgin olive oil. Another delicious salad combo is watercress, walnuts and a crumbling of goat's cheese. And to pack in a good proportion of your 5-a-day I make this adaption of Emma Cannon's Watercress and Spinach Soup from her brilliant book The Baby-Making Bible. 

Serves 4
1tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium potato, diced
850ml chicken stock
200g fresh spinach, rinsed
200g fresh watercress, rinsed
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
Seasoning 

1. Saute the onion in the olive oil in a very big saucepan (you'll understand why when you add all the greens!) until soft and translucent. Add the potato and after a few minutes add the stock. Bring to the boil and then lower to a gentle simmer for around 20minutes until the potato is cooked. 
2. Add the spinach leaves and watercress and simmer for about 5 minutes until wilted.
3. Blitz in a food processor, adding water if needed for desired consistency. Add the nutmeg and season to taste (but for a flat tummy keep salt to a minimum). Serve as is or with a dollop of natural yoghurt. 

 

 

March Flat Tummy Food - Purple Sprouting Broccoli

I never fail to be inspired by the vibrancy of extra fresh purple sprouting broccoli; I find the colour just spectacular and fortunately I love the taste too. My mum is not a broccoli fan, but steamed and with just a touch of butter and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and I'll demolish a plateful.

Broccoli is one of the healthiest foods you can eat, a good source of calcium, magnesium and iron and it's a cruciferous vegetable, which are shown to be an important part of the anticancer diet.

Steamed purple sprouting broccoli is delicious simply with some parma ham and a poached egg, or stir fry in a little sesame oil with with some ginger, chilli, garlic and chopped spring onions with a splash of oyster sauce and soya sauce. 

 

February Flat Tummy Food - Celeriac

I remember first tasting celeriac mash in a riverside restaurant in Bristol as a child. It was one of those dishes, which also featured melt in the mouth pork, that has stuck firm in my memory. Most of my vivid memories do seem to feature food in some way! I remember being surprised initially that it wasn't regular potato mash, but had a delicate, more interesting flavour. I was hooked.

Celeriac is a weird looking, knobbly root vegetable and as the name suggests has a flavour similar to celery but more subtle. While losing weight it's a good idea to replace white potatoes with other vegetables because potatoes don't count as one of our five a day and are more starchy. Like squash, celeriac is a versatile veggie that you can use in soups, stews, mash and more.

Hugo's Celeriac and Wild Mushroom Soup
Pork Medallions with Celeriac and Apple Mash