Courgette, Carrot and Hazelnut Bake
by Liz Nolan, Nutritional Therapist & Weight Loss Management
This makes a great supper dish or lunch served with a green salad.
For a more substantial meal the mixture can be poured into a pre baked wholemeal pastry case and sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese.
- 2 leeks washed, trimmed and finely sliced
- 1 medium red onion peeled and finely chopped
- 2 good size courgettes grated
- 2 medium carrots scrubbed and grated
- 4 eggs beaten
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp mixed herbs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 heaped tsp vegetable bouillon
- 100g chopped hazelnuts
- 100g ground hazelnuts
- Black pepper
- Heat the oven gas mark 6 or electric 200°C.
- Gently fry the leeks and onions in some olive oil with the herbs until soft and add the garlic just at the end so it doesn’t burn.
- Mix the courgette, carrot, eggs and nuts together and add the leek and onion mixture.
- Add the salt and bouillon and some black pepper and mix well.
- Oil an ovenproof glass dish and pour in the mixture pressing down to level.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 minutes or until set and lightly browned.
- Serve with roast baby potatoes drizzled in some eat your greens pesto.
Liz Nolan’s Vegetarian Cookery Class
Liz Nolan will be holding a cookery class on Saturday morning 5th May from 10am–1pm in Moycullen cost €40. For recipes that she’ll be cooking on the day please see her WholeFoodMatters facebook page or ring Liz for more details or to book your place on 086 8099604.
Liz’s new cookery book My Goodness is available from Health and Herbs and all good book shops. Price €16.99.
For more information or to make an appointment call Liz on 086-8099604 or at www.wholefoodmatters.com
Herb of the Month
by Vivian Craig, Medical Herbalist
Stinging nettle—treasure or tribulation?
As the days to the garden, the park or a country walk. Almost inevitably we will meet with an an old friend from early childhood—the stinging nettle. Before you angrily try to dig up its roots, hack it back to ground level or obliterate it with the lawn mower, stop to think of the many virtues of this, one of our most common native plants.
At this time of year, our body’s resources are at their lowest after months of poor sun, cold winds, constant damp and fighting off the usual round of colds and flu. We have depleted our stores of vitamins and minerals, and this is exactly what the fresh young shoots of the nettle (Urtica dioica) have to offer:
- minerals: iron, calcium, silica—vital for energy, good digestion and bone development.
- Vitamins, including vitamin C
- histamine, which helps against allergic reaction
- tannins, enzymes and more…
In modern Herbal Medicine this plant is of enormous value as an ingredient in treatments for skin rashes, arthritis, gout, urinary infections, kidney support, anaemia, asthma and seasonal allergic reactions. It is a natural diuretic and is part of a Spring Tea in German tradition, to cleanse and stimulate the body after the stodgy winter food.
Try it as a tea. Take 2–3 cups a day for one week as a “Spring Cure”. Drink a cup a day to help against kidney stones. Or use it in cooking. Gather (carefully!) the freshest young top leaves—these usually don’t sting—and wash them before adding a handful to soups or stews, or a pie mix. You can also wash and cook them just like spinach and serve with scrambled eggs or in an omelette “fines herbes”, for example.
For a powerful iron tonic, make a nettle stock:
- pick a large bag of fresh young nettle tops and rinse to remove surface dirt
- add 2–3 pints of water and simmer down to about 1 cupful
- use in soups, stews, casseroles… a rich, flavoursome herbal ‘Bovril’.
Nettle has traditionally been added to soup and beer to improve their nutritional value and has even been fed to poultry to encourage egg-laying, or to horses to improve their coats.
Even the root has medicinal value, particularly in managing prostate problems.
So, don’t despise the humble, ubiquitous nettle, it is a gift from nature to give us a lift in early spring. If you don’t have a patch of nettles near you, call in to Health & Herbs and pick up a pack of dry herb for tea-making.
Vivian Craig, Medical Herbalist
Health and Herbs, 9 Sea Road, Galway
Consultations: Tuesday 6.30–9pm, Wednesday 2–6pm, Thursday 9.30am–1.30pm, Saturday 9.30am–1.30pm.
Phone 091 58 32 60 for appointments.
Herbal Walks
by Medical Herbalist, Vivian Craig
Did you know—Daisy, Dandelion, Dock & Co. all have medicinal value?
As the season advances and gardens and parks become more colourful, join one of Galway’s qualified Medical Herbalists on a stroll near some of Galway City’s old & beautiful areas—along the canal, past the cathedral and through the university grounds.
Explore the variety of wild plants which thrive in our city environment with emphasis on medicinally valuable plants.
Learn about their traditional and modern uses.
And round off with a visit to the Herbal Dispensary.
- Date: Monday 21st May at 3pm, Tuesday 22nd May at 11am.
- Place: In front of the Tamarind restaurant at the Spanish Arch.
- Duration: Around an hour and a half.
- Cost: €9 adults. Under 15 years free.
- Bring: Your favourite wild plant recognition book; a magnifying glass; a bottle of water if the day is warm.
- Register your interest with me at [email protected].
- Questions? Contact me by email or on 091 45 05 75.
Tara’s Healthy Eating Cookery Class
Join award winning chef and nutritionist, Tara Canning in her Craughwell kitchen.
Learn how to make and sample tasty, nutritious and healthy recipies!
Starts May 8th 6.30–8.30pm for four weeks.
Weight management, lowering cholesterol, hormone balancing, healthy mind, liver detoxing, raw food and many other topics discussed.
Lots of tastings and great recipes to take home.
Cost €120. Call 087 9074701 to book your space.
Tara Canning
NT Dip, Masterchef
087 9074701 Mobile
091 846646 Home
091 568260 Work
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/taramcanning
Patrick Holford: The Secrets of Anti Aging
Patrick Holford is at the Galway Bay Hotel nexy Sunday 29th April for his seminars on the Secrets of Anti Ageing. He will present five seminars throughout the day starting at 12.30pm and ending at 9pm.
Please see www.patrickholford.com for details or pick up a leaflet in Health & Herbs.
Tickets will be available on the day at the door.
Treating Tired Eyes
by Bernie Fahy, The Skin Specialist
Tired eyes are a very common problem for office workers who work on computers or for any one who does a lot of close reading or detail work.
We can focus on computer screens for hours on end—but this constant-distance is completely unnatural for our eyes, which are built to refocus according to the changing distances in our eyeline as we scan our landscapes—whether they be outdoors or indoors. Worse again, we can be concentrating so hard, we forget to blink enough and replenish the film of moisture over the surface of our eyes, which naturally clears the eyes of dust, debris and environmental pollutants.
The result? Eyes can feel dry, heavy and irriated. Our eyes become red, dry and itchy. The skin around the eyes is very sensitive and much finer and delicate than anywhere else on the face. But just like the rest of your face, that skin needs moisture and protection. It is also important to remove makeup every night with a pH-balanced eye-makeup remover.
Our eyes are so important to our appearance and to our sense wellbeing—it makes sense to look after them.
Take action
- Rinse the eye area with warm water to relieve the eyes and encourage the eye ducts to be stimulated and release some natural tears.
- Place a warm flannel on the eye area.
- Place a bowl of water in your bedroom at night to help maintain moisture levels in your sleeping environment.
- Eye drops will help soothe and nourish the eye.
- Place a cold camomile tea bag on the eyes—camomile has a number of anti-irritant, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties. Camomile tea is also good for people who have trouble sleeping—a cup before bedtime can help ensure a good night’s rest, which is also vital for tired eyes.
Bernie Fahy
Ballinrobe, Westport &Galway.
She can be contacted at 086 2220125 or [email protected].
For more information visit www.bernietheskinspecialist.com.
