The Festive season has passed and many of us have paid the price for eating and drinking far too much. Many New Year's resolutions will include a move to healthier eating after such over indulgence. I, for one, eat everything during Xmas and New Years and love the special foods, coffee blends and other drinks that come out for such a short selective period.
Most magazines and articles have an abundance of articles/recipes showing the public how to make festive things to suit the festive palate. I have, therefore, decided to write about fruit with a view to becoming healthier in the upcoming weeks and months.
'F' is for Fruit Fruit comes in all shapes, colours and sizes. However, one thing that they all have in common is that they are good for YOU!! There are various types of fruit all carrying different levels of nutrition and vitamins, thus providing the fruit activists the reason for eating between 5 and 9 pieces of fresh fruit a day. Fruit, after all, like human beings, consists of almost 80% water. No other food on the planet contains as much water as fruit. It also contains natural healthy fibre which is very important for the general well being of a person. Fruit can be grouped together in the following categories as illustrated in the table below.
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Acid Fruits |
Oranges, lemons, limes, sour peaches, sour plums, grapefruits, sour grapes, pineapples, tangerines and tomatoes. These fruits are high in acid content like ascorbic acid (vitamin C), and have excellent detoxifying properties. They can cause allergic reactions to people who are susceptible to allergies against cow's milk. |
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Low Acid Fruits |
Persimmons, plums, peaches, cherries, apples, fresh figs, olives, mangoes, gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and apricots. These fruits have a little less acid content than the 'Acid Fruits' and can be eaten quite freely |
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Sweet Fruits |
Dried figs, raisins, pears, prunes, sweet grapes and dates |
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Melons |
Watermelons, galia, honey dew, cantaloupes. Melons are one of the healthier fruits in terms of nutrition. Watermelons especially are known for the fact that they contain as much iron as spinach. |
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Starchy Fruits |
Bananas, peanuts, winter squashes, pumpkins |
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Non-Starchy Fruits |
Cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, sweet pepper, yellow squash |
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Protein containing Fruits |
Olive and avocados. Hard to believe, but olives and avocados are considered fruits and not vegetables!! |
In a table I saw in the following website: www.thefruitpages.com individual individual fruit has been scored by providing various values against nutrients it contains and unusual fruit like mangoes, papaya, kiwifruit and guavas appear to be just as healthy as our traditional apples and pears. Fruit salads are no longer just boring bits of fruit lumped together. A tropical fruit salad can contain some really interesting flavours and be just as healthy and nutritious.
Interesting Facts Did you know that some fruits are called fruit-vegetables? We see hem as vegetables and know them as vegetables but they are actually classified as fruit. The definition of the term fruit is that which is, fleshy, and the seed bearing part of a plant is used as food. The definition of the term Vegetable on the other hand is 'a part of various types of plants eaten as food'.
So which products do we consider to be vegetables that are in reality fruit vegetables? The Tomato is one of them, as is egg-fruit, green pepper, hot pepper, avocado, red pepper, cucumber, tomato and zucchini. All of the fruit vegetables consist of 80% water just like the other fruits. Hence they are just as healthy as the others. From a personal perspective, whether you eat fruit vegetables, fruit or vegetables, they are all healthy and good for you if eaten in oderation!!
This month's recipe is Orange Cake.
Orange and Cherry Almond Cake
Ingredients: 3 Oranges
4 oz Glace Cherries (chopped) 200g ground almonds (an ideal substitute to almonds is walnuts).
6 eggs separated
6-8 cardamom pods
Method:
- Allow oranges to simmer for an hour or put into a pressure cooker and cook them so that they are soft.
- Once soft, take the oranges out of the pan and cut in half.
- Take out the pips and mash/liquidise to a pulp.
- Allow to cool and then add the ground almonds and mix well.
- Add in the chopped glace cherries
- Add the egg yolks to the mixture and beat well.
7. Sprinkle some ground cardamom into the mixture 8. In a separate bowl, whisk the six egg whites until they are stiff. 9. Fold into the orange mixture bake on a moderate oven (160 C) for 45 minutes.
Back next month with more from the A-Z of Nosh, by Naz! If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me on noshbynaz@yahoo.co.uk. Feedback is always encouraged.
Bye for now.
Nazia
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