Terikyaki is a Japanese soy-based marinade and sauce that tastes great with a variety of different foods. Most of the Terikyaki sauces available to buy in shops or via your local take away are full of additives and sugar (the one we checked was 38% sugar!).

It’s simple and inexpensive to rustle up your own Terikyaki sauce at home. Ideally you need an hour’s marinating time, but if you can’t manage this you can just use it as a stirfry sauce. The results will still be great.

 

Ingredients for sauce:

½ cup soy sauce e.g. Kikkoman (or use Tamari for a gluten free version)

¼ cup mirin (Japanase rice wine vinegar, now available in most supermarkets)

½ tbsp. maple syrup or local honey (optional)

Small knob of fresh ginger, grated

2 cloves garlic, grated or crushed

If you like a thicker sauce add ½ tsp arrowroot too

 

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on a low heat for up to 10 minutes. See, we told you it was easy!

 

To use the sauce, place your protein (salmon pieces, prawns, cubed tofu, sliced chicken breast….) into a glass container. Add some of the Teriyaki marinade, cover and leave in the fridge for an hour. Heat a wok or frying pan, coat with a little coconut oil, add some quartered some Bok Choy and cook for 2 minutes, remove from the pan and keep warn. Add the marinated protein to the pan and cook until just done, stiring from time to time. This should take about 4 minutes. Serve with wholegrain rice or noodles and top with a little extra teriyaki and some toasted sesame seeds if you have them. Enjoy!

As an alternative you can bake or grill the marinated protein in the oven and stirfry whatever vegetables you have in the veg basket or freezer.

A new study has determined that phytoestrogens are effective at reducing the incidence of hot flushes in menopause. This comes from a ‘meta-analysis’ where researchers group lots of studies and determine the overall effect. The summary or ‘abstract’ of this publication can be found below.

Phytoestrogens are found in foods such as fermented soy (some tofu, tempeh, miso), flaxseeds, legumes (lentils, chickpeas etc.), fennel, garlic and parsley. Contrary to popular opinion, phytoestrogens do not increase the risk of breast cancer or disrupt hormones. They only stimulate certain oestrogen receptors in the body and are perfectly safe to include regularly in your diet.

 

Tips on how to include phytoestrogens in your diet:

• Try hummus with oatcakes as a healthy snack
• Make lentil and vegetable soup (recipe to be posted next week, keep an eye out….)
• Add ground linseeds (also called flaxseeds) to your breakfast cereal or to smoothies
• Grate or thinly slice fennel bulb and add to salads. Or roughly chop it and roast it
• Add chickpeas, lentils or beans to salads
• Make your own vinaigrette with 3 tbsp. flaxseed oil, 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp. lemon juice, 1 clove garlic and a small handful of fresh parsley. Just blend with a handblender and store in fridge for 3 – 4 days. Add mustard if you like

 

 

Efficacy of phytoestrogens for menopausal symptoms: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

Chen et al Climacteric. 2015 Apr;18(2):260-269. Epub 2014 Dec 1.

 

Abstract

Objective

To perform a meta-analysis examining the efficacy of phytoestrogens for the relief of menopausal symptoms.

Methods

Medline, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases were searched until September 30, 2013 using the following key words: vasomotor symptoms, menopausal symptoms, phytoestrogens, isoflavones, coumestrol, soy, red clover. Inclusion criteria were (1) randomized controlled trial (RCT), (2) perimenopausal or postmenopausal women experiencing menopausal symptoms, (3) intervention with an oral phytoestrogen.

Outcome measures included Kupperman index (KI) changes, daily hot flush frequency, and the likelihood of side-effects.

Results

Of 543 potentially relevant studies identified, 15 RCTs meeting the inclusion criteria were included. The mean age of the subjects ranged from 49 to 58.3 and 48 to 60.1 years, respectively, in the placebo and phytoestrogen groups. The number of participants ranged from 30 to 252, and the intervention periods ranged from 3 to 12 months. Meta-analysis of the seven studies that reported KI data indicated no significant treatment effect of phytoestrogen as compared to placebo (pooled mean difference = 6.44, p = 0.110). Meta-analysis of the ten studies that reported hot flush data indicated that phytoestrogens result in a significantly greater reduction in hot flush frequency compared to placebo (pooled mean difference = 0.89, p < 0.005). Meta-analysis of the five studies that reported side-effect data showed no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.175).

Conclusion

Phytoestrogens appear to reduce the frequency of hot flushes in menopausal women, without serious side-effects.

This is a mild delicious creamy curry popular from an Indian take-out but easy for you to make at home. This recipe gives a quick simple way to make your own curry paste meaning you don’t have to rely on store-bought varieties. The same principle can apply to lots of other curry pastes, just vary up the spices! Making sure that you cook the spices, first dry and then in the paste, ensures that their full flavour comes out.

Making a vegetable curry with sweet potato, spinach and chick peas significantly boosts the nutrient content of this dish also. Feel free to add extra coconut cream or coconut milk if you would prefer extra coconut-y creaminess and additional chilli to give it a bit of a kick. The chick peas can be tinned and the spinach frozen so the only thing you are really cooking is the sweet potato.

 

Preparation time: 40 minutes, serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric

½ tbsp fenugreek

Seeds from 8-10 cardamom pods

½ tsp cinnamon

Fresh ginger – thumb sized piece, finely grated

Fresh red chilli – depending on heat required, finely chopped

200ml boiling water with a pinch of vegetable bouillon powder

50g coconut cream

50g natural yoghurt

75g ground almonds

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into bite-size chunks

350g chick peas (e.g. tinned)

2 handfuls of fresh spinach or several cubes of frozen spinach

½ tsp coconut oil

Fresh coriander

 

Directions

• Melt coconut oil on a low heat and add cumin seeds and cardamom seeds until they ‘pop’
• Add remaining ground spices for 2 mins until fragrant
• Add ginger and chilli for a further 2 mins
• Add approximately 15mls of water and bring the spices together to form a paste and cook for a further 1 min
• Add remaining water, pinch of stock, coconut cream and sweet potato and simmer for 20 mins or until sweet potato is softened.
• Add remaining ingredients, stirring in the yoghurt last, and bring back up to temperature but do not boil.
• Add fresh coriander to serve

 

Don’t forget to let us know what you think of our take on the take out!

Here in Ireland we have a wonderful selection of artisan food producers with inspiring new products and delicious new ideas. Pick up something new and Irish this week, whether it be at your local farmer’s market or your local greengrocers. Support the Irish economy and enjoy amazing quality food.

For this St. Patrick’s Day we thought we give you one of our favourite pure Irish recipes:

 

Smoked Trout Salad

Slices of Goatsbridge smoked trout

Thinly sliced apple 

Local salad leaves

 

Dressing

1 tbsp Llewellyn’s Balsamic Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbsp Newgrange gold rapeseed oil

1/2 tsp Lakeshore mustard

Add a dot of local floral honey and a pinch of Achill Island Sea Salt

Drizzle over the salad and enjoy!

 

 

Mmmm peanut-y satay sauce.. A popular favourite from either a Chinese or a Thai take away. This recipe couldn’t be easier and you can’t beat that homemade taste. Combining this with stir-fry vegetables also means you can easily get to that 5-a-day whilst still feeling like a treat! Add extra fresh chilli to your veg if you want additional kick but the sauce itself is mild and tangy which should be a winner for all the family.

In the photo above (and for my diner last night!) I used fresh red chilli, ribbons of carrot and courgette, sugar snap peas, mixed peppers and spring onions and combined it with a mixture of brown basmati rice and some leftover red quinoa for a little extra protein. That’s just what happened to be in stock! But when it comes to stir fry vegetables the more the merrier. Try tenderstem broccoli, cauliflower florets, baby corn, green beans, mange tout, red or white cabbage, red or brown onions, mushrooms and even pre-steamed cubes of butternut squash or sweet potato and omit the rice altogether.

Mix it all up together with the delicious sauce and enjoy!

 

Preparation time: 12 minutes, serves 4

Ingredients:

250ml coconut milk

125g crunchy peanut butter (made from 100% nuts e.g. Meridian)

1/2 tbsp. lime juice

1/2 tbsp. tamari soy sauce

1 tbsp. pomegranate molasses

Pinch of powdered vegetable bouillon (e.g. Marigold)

 

Directions: 

• Mix ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil stirring continuously. Add extra lime juice to taste if desired.
• Simmer for approximately 10 minutes to thicken. Ensure that the sauce does not burn or stick to the base.
• Mix through stir-fried vegetables of choice, sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves and enjoy!

 

Don’t forget to let us know what you think of our take on the take out!