Tag Archives: planet organic

Raw salt and lemon kale crisps for a super-healthy snack

29 Aug

raw salt and vinegar crisps with lots of vitamins and minerals

I love salt and vinegar flavoured crisps with a passion but haven’t indulged for years and to be honest – I miss them – a lot. I did try Inspiral Café’s dehydrated kale from Planet Organic but at £3.65 for a small tub it wasn’t ever going to make for an everyday snack nor feed my rabid addiction.  So imagine my delight when my clever friend Laura sent me this recipe for lemon kale crisps on elana’s pantry website.  Elana cooks her kale for about 10-15mins in a super hot oven.  I’ve adapted her recipe for my dehydrator and I can tell you that either way – they’re addictive and very, very, very healthy.

THE RECIPE

1 bag chopped kale

Big bowl + fresh chopped kale

Generous dollop of olive oil
Juice of 2/3 juicy lemons
Healthy pinch of salt

Into a nice big bowl, throw in the kale leaves, oil and juice and sprinkle the salt before mixing together ensuring all leaves are coated.

Place the kale in the dehydrator for 24 hours at 40 deg C to ensure all the lovely and many nutrients and enzymes remain intact.  Remember that heating above 40C denatures the enzymes and is deemed ‘cooking’.   If you are not blessed with an excalibur deluxe 9 tray as I am – just pop them on a baking tray in the oven and leave overnight on low heat…

And serve.

Checking my favourite website nutritional facts – it’s easy to see why Kale is considered one of nature’s superfoods.  It is a rich source of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron,  Phosphorus, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, and Copper.

Also according to nutritional supplements health guide, Manganese is a largely ignored trace mineral found in tiny amounts in the body. It is however vital to just all the important functions – involved in bone formation, thyroid function, formation of connective tissues, sex hormone function, calcium absorption, blood sugar regulation, immune function and in fat and carbohydrate metabolism. So – pretty important and there’s lots of it in kale!

Salt and lemon kale crisps are absolutely my new addiction…and they’re an impressive healthy addition in school lunch boxes and fancy ladies’ lunches…

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Try raw key lime pie for a natural high

18 Dec

This pic doesn't do it justice but Inspiral Cafe's raw key lime pie is an inspiration

The other day I popped into Planet Organic for some supplies and being peckish as usual, I couldn’t help but grab a ‘healthy treat’; a ‘visionary raw key lime pie’ from the range created by Inspiral Cafe, a vegan restaurant in the thick of Camden, London.

Well!!  This was more than a treat it was a decadent, lustful, slobbering one way ticket to happiness and best of all – it was 100% raw, full of nutrients and therefore packed with only natural highs.

The ingredients list is simple; avocado, lime zest and juice, cold pressed coconut butter, raw agave nectar, dessicated coconut, raw cashew nuts, vanilla extract, and fresh ginger.

It’s raw, dairy free, gluten free, soya free, low gi, vegan, organic, eco packaged and could quite possibly increase your spiritual awareness.

I’m so excited to see more raw food brands popping up that do such a great job at turning the perception that raw food has to taste like sawdust.  Try it – you wont believe your luck!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

It’s better to eat Nakd

25 May
My first Nakd all raw fruit bar

My first Nakd all raw fruit bar

Raw food is taking off beyond my kitchen and the proof is in the ever increasing range of raw products in my local Planet Organic. Last week I discovered Nakd bars, a raw fruit and nut bar company made right here in the UK, in Wales.

As you will have noticed, I love to travel but struggle to stay raw when I do it, so a raw food snack bar is absolutely brilliant for me. Especially if it also tastes great. These yummy nakd bars are packed with dates, oats, apples, peanuts, apple juice, walnuts and almonds and have no added artificial ingredients whatsoever. They also come in four flavours; Apple Pie, Cocoa Loco, Banana Bread, and Berry Cheeky. And there’s no wheat, sugar, soya, chemical syrups, or salt in any of them.

Nakd tells us there are these benefits to eating nakd:

1. Rich in phytonutrients from raw plant foods to promote  a healthy immune system and body function;
2. Natural source of essential vitamins and minerals like B-vitamins, vitamin C, potassium, calcium, magnesium and iron to help provide energy, support a strong immune system, strengthen bones, and combat stress and ageing;
3. High fibre to help balance blood sugar levels, control  appetite and aid digestion; and
4. Plant-source protein to help maintain muscle, support metabolism, balance blood sugar, and control appetite.

My apple pie flavoured bar was totally satisfying and a handy snack on the six hour drive to the Welsh Brecons on Bank holiday and a much need brain booster to absorb Pulitzer prize winning Doris Kearns Goodwin’s discussion on The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln at The Hay Festival when we finally arrived.

You can order them direct from here.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Raw Chocolate Bar that Beats Lindt chocolate balls

2 Apr

I love chocolate, not as much as my Dad, sister, sister in law and friend Linda, but enough to make it a problem. I love it in any form but I particularly hanker for Lindt chocolate balls, which I wish with all my heart and soul, were raw.

Raw chocolate that leaves Lindt balls for dust

Raw chocolate leaves Lindt balls for dust

In my search for raw chocolate nirvana, I tried various ideas, some that worked and some that really truely didn’t.  I tried carob in its many forms, mixed raw cacao nibs with goji berries and avocado and I’ve added black strap molasses to coconut oil and dates. Most of my attempts were catagorical disasters that may have, when looking from a certain angle, in certain light, with a squint, only ever reached ‘same-colour-as-chocolate’ status. 

But now I can cease my search, give my kitchen bench a break and move on because I’ve found Twilight at my local Planet Organic.  It is a 44g chocolate bar described on the packaging as ‘creamy, sweet and lush with a touch of a rush’. It’s true.  In this particular bar, the ingredients are listed as virgin cacao butter, mulberries, cacao nibs, algarroba (American carob), and sea salt.  Every ingredient is raw, no sugar is added and all are super-good for you because they’re packed with nutrients and anti-oxidants.  And even better, the chocolate bars are made in Sussex (although the cacao is from Sth America). Lindt balls are officially out and Twilight bars are in.

Even though this sounds like a big boring ad – I should reiterate that it isn’t and I have no idea who these people are.  It’s just really astoundingly yummy and I do urge you to go to The Raw Chocolate Company’s website to order your truckload.

Tags: , , , , , , ,