Soak Your Nuts

I’ve often come across advice to soak nuts and seeds before eating them. I soaked almonds for a short while (and noticed how much nicer they tasted after soaking!) but then got lazy and stopped soaking them again. I guess I never really took the advice to soak nuts and seeds so seriously as it was never given with any convincing enough facts about the benefits of soaking. If any reason was given, it was the greater ease of digesting soaked nuts. Great! But kind of vague...

Today, I finally came across something that was convincing enough for me. Apparently, raw nuts and seeds contain phytic acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytic_acid), which actually makes iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium unabsorbable. That’s no good for vegetarians, who might already be struggling to get enough iron from their diet! I personally do not use milk products, either, and had sort of assumed that I would be getting a fair bit of magnesium and calsium from all the almonds I eat but I guess that all that magnesium and calsium is not absorbing as well as it could...

Anyway, I’ve decided to start soaking nuts again. This is how I do it at the moment. Please say tuned for updates as I’m looking into methods of drying the soaked nuts, as well.

SOAK YOUR NUTS

Daily portion of nuts of your choice

Water

1. Rinse your nuts well.

2. Put your nuts in a glass, bowl or the like, cover them with water, and let them soak overnight.

3. Rinse your soaked nuts well.

4. Enjoy.

Annika

Bed of Lettuce – Egg and Mushroom Salad

In just a few of weeks, the temperatures here in the North of Italy have risen from winter coat to T-shirt temperatures. The chance of seasons can be seen at the farmers’ market, as well; the range of vegetables is widening every week! The past couple of weeks, for instance, more and more different types of lettuce have become available again. Today, I got some Romaine lettuce, and made this quick salad with eggs and mushrooms.

BED OF LETTUCE

2 eggs

3-5 mushrooms

2-3 tablespoons of fresh parsley

3 cloves of garlic

0.5-1 tablespoon of tumeric

freshly ground pepper

sea salt

sunflower seed or peanut oil

4 large leaves of Romaine lettuce

1. Beat the eggs together with the spices.
2. Peel the garlic, and chop it finely.
3. Wash the parsley and chop it finely.
4. Wash and slice the mushrooms.
5. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
6. Add the egg mixture, and let it solidify for a few seconds.
7. Add the mushrooms, parsley and garlic, and use a spatula to break the egg mixture and mix it with the rest of the ingredients. Stir for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat off and leave the mixture under a lid.
8. Wash the lettuce leaves, and tear them into small pieces.
9. Make a bed of lettuce on a plate, and add the egg/vegetable mixture on top.
10. Enjoy.

Annika