By now you may be feeling sated with rich food, and hopefully looking forward to something nutritious yet tasty. Here’s a recipe that fits the bill:

Recipe: Falafel in Pitta Pockets

Garnished with watercress

Serves 4
Prep: 10 mins
Cooking: 22 mins

225g/8oz dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in water
1 tbsp tahini *
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g bag watercress,  roughly chopped
juice half a lemon
2 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying

To finish:
100g bag watercress
150g Greek style yogurt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
4 wholemeal pitta bread

* Tahini is a sesame seed paste used widely in Middle Eastern cookery. It adds a savoury, nutty flavour to these falafel and is available from health food stores and large supermarkets.

1. Drain the chickpeas and place in a food processor with the tahini, salt, baking powder, cumin, coriander, cayenne, garlic, watercress and lemon juice. Whizz until very finely chopped but not puréed. (If you have time, set the mixture aside for a couple of hours, so the flavours can mingle, but it’s not imperative).

2. Preheat the oven to 220C/Fan 200C/Gas Mark 6. Place a large roasting tin in the oven to heat up. Using a wet hand shape the mixture into 16 balls, then flatten slightly into patties.

3. Add the oil to the roasting tin, return to the oven for 2 mins, then carefully add the falafel, tossing to coat in hot oil. Bake for 20 mins, turning once until crisp and golden.

4. Whilst they cook, roughly chop half the remaining watercress and stir it into the yogurt with the garlic and seasoning to taste. Lightly toast the pittas on each side, cut each in half and open up each half to make a pocket. Fill the pitta pockets with falafel, remaining watercress and the yogurt sauce. Serve whilst warm.

The recipe comes courtesy of http://www.watercress.co.uk and is just one of many ways to use watercress as a garnish. For a reminder of the health benefits of watercress, check out my posting on the nutritional value of watercress.

Mushrooms Could Reduce Breast Cancer Risk by 64%

A study conducted jointly by the University of Western Australia and the Zhejiang University in China has found that eating mushrooms and drinking green tea could help protect against breast cancer.

The research team examined the mushroom and tea consumption of more than 2,000 women aged from 20 to 87 in relatively affluent south-east China. Half the women had confirmed breast cancer, and the others were healthy women recruited from outpatient clinics.

It was found that the the combination of dietary intake of mushrooms and green tea-drinking decreased breast cancer risk with an additional reduced effect on the malignance of cancer. The data were adjusted for other factors, such as physical activity, weight, menopause, alcohol consumption and smoking, including passive smoking.

If this research is confirmed in other studies there are implications for an inexpensive dietary chance to protect against breast cancer.

More information at www.mushroom-uk.com, where you’ll also find more great mushroom recipes like the one below.

Mushroom Recipe

Spicy Mushroom and Bean Chilli

Preparation: 10 mins
Cooking: 25-30 mins
Serves 4

Mushroom Recipe Ingredients
15ml/1tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 green pepper, roughly chopped
200g pack button mushrooms, halved
15ml/1tbsp ground paprika
10ml/2tsp ground cumin
5ml/1tsp chilli powder (more if liked)
1 (400g) can chopped tomatoes
15ml/1tbsp tomato puree
1 (400g) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
a pinch of sugar
salt and ground black pepper
brown rice to serve

Method
1. Heat the oil and sauté the onion for 3 mins until soft. Add the garlic, pepper and mushrooms and sauté for a further 3 mins until the mushrooms are tinged brown. Add the spices and cook, stirring for 30 secs.

2. Add the tomatoes, puree, beans and sugar, then bring to the boil. Season to taste, turn down to simmer and cook gently for 20 mins or until thickened and reduced. Serve hot with a 45-60ml/3-4tbs

Three of your “Five a Day”

Energy (kcal) : 165
Protein (g) 9.0
Fat (g) : 5.0  -  Of which saturates (g) : 0.6
Carbohydrate (g): 23.0   – Of which sugars (g): 9.0
Fibre (g) : 7.0
Salt (g) : 0.92

Study Reference:

Min Zhang, Jian Huang et al. Dietary Intakes of Mushrooms and Green Tea Combine to Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer in Chinese Women. Int J Cancer: 124, 1404-1408 (2009)

Healthy Desserts

* Gourmet “chocolate mousse” – you’ll find this as a comment by Rafael, in response to Katie’s breakfast smoothie recipe on the linked website

* Fruit salad, an old classic, but don’t forget how enjoyable it can be

* Fruit smoothie – blend 135g frozen fruit with 12ml plain yoghurt

* Baked apple with yogurt

* Piece of fresh fruit

By the way – remember that “Stressed” spelled backwards is “Desserts”. Don’t fall into the stress-trap of comfort eating! More ideas welcome – please add a comment with your favorite healthy dessert idea!

Does anyone else agree that restaurant portions have increased to mammoth proportions? If so you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s better for you to eat at home.

Well, to some extent, you’re right – but when you’re doing your own cooking, it turns out that – despite the availability of “healthy cooking books” you might be better served by reaching for an old one.

A study directed by Cornell University marketing professor Brian Wansink,  investigated changes in classic recipes over the past 70 years, and found almost a 40 percent increase in calories per serving for nearly every recipe reviewed. That’s about an extra 77 calories.

This is only one example. Lisa Young, a  New York University professor of nutrition , had similar findings in a 2002 study that compared a brownie recipe from the ’60s and ’70s editions to the 1997 edition recipe.“Same recipe. Same pan. But in the ’60s and ’70s it yielded 30 brownies,” she says. “In the 1997 edition it yielded 15.”

You can read the whole story in FoxNews.

Click the book cover below for more information on healthy eating :