This recipe is gluten-, sugar-, dairy- and meat-free.
The Christmas spice
During the fall I’ve been testing out different recipes every Saturday. When you don’t consume that much gluten, sugar, dairy and meat, it can be a little bit tricky sometimes, to say the least. BUT… the more you practice and experiment, the better you get and the more you learn. We can all agree on that, right? It’s actually not that hard to be healthy, take care of your body, but at the same time eat delicious food.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (can you hear it), so in this blog post I wanted to share a recipe that includes some classic Christmas flavors, at least here in Sweden. It has a red color to it. It makes the food look golden yellow. It’s expensive. Usually you only need around 0,5-1 gram per dish. Can you guess what it is? Ah, who am I trying to fool? You’ve already seen the header by now. The answer is saffron. The magical saffron.
Risotto + Saffron = perfect marriage
Risotto is also one of my favorites, so combining these two is a great idea! In this recipe I’ve been using vegan parmesan. During the years I’ve tested most of the vegan cheeses. Some are ok, some are great, and some are not that great, with a “plastic” feeling to them. This parmesan is one of my favorites, though. And I would use it on everything if I didn’t control myself. A good quality pasta, with homemade pesto, topped with this parmesan… oh my, you have to try it! Super duper superb!
This saffron risotto is easily made with a lot of taste from the wine and cheese. However, I must say that if you want to, you can use more broth with a splash of vinegar instead of wine, and another cheese with a little bit of character. Go with what you like and have on hand. The saffron itself is the one that’s going to make the whole dish! Have a lovely day, Bon appétit!
From an ethical and moral side of the story, I would wish everyone to become vegan or vegetarian. I was a strict vegan for several years only because I was thinking about the animals and was willing to do everything in my power to consume less. The thought of killing an animal was unbearable. “If you can’t kill the animal, don’t eat it” was my philosophy. I can’t hurt a fly, so it’s not hard to see where this story will end…
However, as time went by, my health didn’t become any better. I was doing everything right in all the areas around eating, sleeping, exercising, and so forth. Then my focus leaned towards gut health. I came across Candida and started to look into that more. What it was, how you get it, why you get it, how you feel if you have it etc. There’s so much information, so many stories out there. You can read for days about the same stuff, so sooner or later your brain will become overloaded or exhausted.
Too much sugar promotes Candida.
There’s only one of you
All bodies are unique. We have different prerequisites, are born in different places (under different conditions), our mineral and vitamin foundation varies and our hormones shift during different days. So, to compare ourselves to others is like copying a haystack. My heart tells me that everyone should be vegan. But my brain says otherwise, at least until you’ve been checking or correcting imbalances in the body.
Some areas you need to look into, before I would recommend a diet are;
Are you female or male?
How old are you?
How much body fat do you have?
How much training experience?
Are you deficit in any of the essential minerals or vitamins?
Do you have regular periods?
How is your gut health?
And then a full-body exam with liver tests and so forth.
From there, I could get a better picture of what’s going on in your body and recommend what I think would be suitable for you right now. So, my message to you is: don’t go on a diet that doesn’t feel right for you. Don’t do something only because your closest friend succeeded with that specific diet. If you try something and it doesn’t feel right or make you feel worse, switch to another.
One of my favorite breakfasts is porridge with walnuts, banana, oat milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Different food affects us differently
To give an example. If you start the ketogenic diet it may feel great initially, but then worse or like it did before you started the journey. Hormones and the shift between them often cause that, and research has shown that the Ketogenic diet can raise estrogen and cortisol levels in women (link to article), so it all comes down to your starting point in those areas. Maybe the diet doesn’t fit for you as well as it does for your boyfriend’s hormones.
Another example is a vegan or vegetarian diet. If you have a sensitive gut like leaky gut or not enough good bacteria, there’s a chance your body can’t absorb all the nutrients. It may raise some of the minerals while others get suppressed. For example, the body has a really hard time absorbing zink so things like cereals and a lot of fiber may not be for you (phytate in some fiber inhibits zinc uptake).
A tasty swap, replace pasta and rice for beans.
I would suggest you do some research before you start something long term. Make sure you have checked with your doctor before. And if you can, your hormones, minerals and you’re your overall health. Due to the fact, that there’s no “one solution fits all”, is the reason why I give different tips and talk about what’s been working/is working for me. But in the end, it’s your body, so you know what’s work best for you.
I also want to point out that a “diet” doesn’t have to be something that makes you lose weight. It’s not what it’s all about! When I say diet, I mean a long term eating style that makes you feel as good as you can and deserve — a way of living for optimal health.
