What are superfoods and how can you add them to your diet?
Superfoods are rich in compounds such as antioxidants, fiber, or fatty acids that are considered beneficial to a person’s health.
I like to try new recipes from different cookbooks but just like everything else I make my recipes end up having a “healthy, me spin” on them.
So I choose Ottolenghi’s Beet & Goat Cheese Bread recipe from his infamous book “simple” to show you how easy it is to replace some of the not so healthy ingredients.
The key ingredient in this recipe is beets or “beetroot”, that where you get the vibrant red colour from.
However beets are not only used for their colour but they are highly nutrient.
Beetroot benefits:
Digestion and regularity
One cup of beetroot provides 3.81 grams (g) of fiber. Consuming enough fiber is essential for smooth digestion and gut health.
Exercise and athletic performance
Some studies have found that beetroot juice supplementation can improve the amount of oxygen that muscles absorb during exercise. One 2019 study found that high doses of beetroot juice improved the time trial results of experienced cyclists. If you need a little boot of energy before your aerobic class, drink some beetroot juice
After trying this delicious recipe for the first time, I fell in love with it and started experimenting with superfood ingredients.
My aim was to create easy, healthy high protein bread that can be used as a pre-workout, energising snack without overloading on carbs.
Here is “me spin” version with superfood ingredients:
- 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1/2 cup (50g) oat flour
- 1/3 cup thyme leaves, fresh or dried
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1 Tbsp flaxseed
- 2 teaspoons sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seed protein powder from sprout living
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch Himalayan salt
- 2 medium organic beetroots, peeled and finely grated
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup sunflower oil, and a little extra for greasing the pan
- 1/3 cup low fat yogurt
- 1/3 cup low fat organic cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 100g of protein come from organic eggs, pumpkin seeds protein powder, low fat organic cottage cheese and low fat yogurt.
- Healthy fat from flaxseeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.
I replaced the amount of white flour used in the original recipe.
All-purpose flour can spike up your insulin levels, and high consumption of it lead to developing diabetic and excess fat around the waist.
List of key ingredients:
- Wholewheat flour, mix of flaxeeds and Pumpkin seed protein powder by Sprout living
Pumpkin seed Protein powder is a clean, vegan protein and a superfood that tastes great and blends well.
Key benefits:
- It has a nice minty green colour and tastes nutty.
- Packed with essential fatty acids,
- Rich source of Omega fatty acids 3, 6, 9
- Great source of Zinc.
My version of this delicious bread has around 100g of protein instead of 20g in the original recipe. Low in fat and sugar.
- High fiber gluten free oats
Oats are high in fiber and have lower glycemic that could help with regulating blood sugar.
They contain several components such as beta-glucan, which has been researched to help slow digestion, make you feel full longer and suppress appetite.
- Flax seeds.
Flax seeds are considered superfood, they are high in Omega 3 fatty acid.
They are a great source of protein, rich in the amino acids arginine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour 20 minutes
How to prepare:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease an 8 x 4-inch/20 x 10cm loaf pan.
- Mix the oats, thyme, raisins, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl mix flour, protein powder, ground flaxseed with the baking powder, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Whisk to combine and aerate, then add all the dry mix of seeds and oats but keep 1 tablespoon for decoration later.Separate egg yolk from egg white, whisk egg yolks until it’s nice and smooth. Add oil, yogurt and grated beet to egg yolk.
- Beat egg white in a separate bowl with high speed mixer such as Nutri bullet and leave on the side.
- Pour over the flour mix slowly to the egg yolk and beet mixture, then, using a spatula, mix to combine. Add cottage cheese and finally add egg white to the rest and mix it. Don’t mix too long as you want the bread to rise.
- Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of the oat and seed mix.
Baking Time:
Bake for 40 minutes, then take it out flip it and cover tightly with foil and bake for another 40 minutes. A skewer inserted into the middle will not come out completely clean, but it should not be too wet. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes.
This superfood beet bread is great snack to have when craving carbs.
Serve it with almond butter or cottage cheese.
Lastly I like to serve my beetroot bread with In Bloom Drops, Persia drops with its sweet and spicy flavor thanks to Cinnamon and Cardamom.
This is my Superfood, high protein bread, low in carbs with zero sugar added.
Persia drops are perfect for an afternoon pick me up as it’s naturally sweet with Cinnamon & Cardamom distillate.
Cinnamon may help to improve sensitivity to insulin, minimising the insulin spikes from an unbalanced meal by controlling blood glucose levels.
Cardamom may help to invigorate energy while Cinnamon simultaneously stimulates brain function.
