Immune-Boosting Recipes to try at Home

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We are entering our 4th week of staying home – I prefer to call it hibernation rather than isolation but whatever you’re calling it, most of us are confined to our homes, trying to stay as healthy as we can as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread.

When I think of blog post subjects on what we can do to improve the world, keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy is what I think about most at this moment. There are certain foods that are widely known as immune-strengthening super-foods, and as we’re all probably cooking at home more now than ever, I thought a post with recipes using foods known to boost our immune systems, so that we’re in a stronger position to protect ourselves from viruses, would be helpful.

So, Lets Get Cooking:

Mushrooms, Sweet Potatoes, Spinach, Broccoli, Garlic and Ginger have immune-boosting properties that can help us maintain health.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms contain the mineral selenium and B vitamins riboflavin and niacin. If you’re low on selenium, you may be more likely to get a more severe flu. Riboflavin and niacin play a role in a healthy immune system. Riboflavin deficiency causes a shortage of red blood cells (anemia).

Easy Mushroom Pie

Melt butter in a large skillet and cook onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and cook for another minute. Add finely chopped mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until mushrooms start to brown around the edges, turn off heat. Roll out all-butter pastry dough on a floured counter to 1/4 inch thick. Place dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Transfer mushrooms to the center of the pastry, leaving 3 inches pastry on each side of the mushrooms so you can fold over. Sprinkle chopped parsley over mushrooms. Seal mushrooms by folding one side over the the mushrooms and the other side over that, to create an sealed pie. Puncture the top of the pie with a knife, careful not to go through to the bottom of the pie.. Whisk egg yolk until it is frothy and light in color, and brush across top of pie. Bake for 20 -25 minutes, until golden.

Restorative (Mushroom) Coconut Broth

You’ll need: 2 cans of coconut milk; 4 stalks of lemon-grass; 1 cup vegetable broth; 1 shallot, sliced; 2 cloves garlic, peeled and halved; 1 red chili or 1/4 t chili flakes; 2 T unrefined sugar (coconut sugar is recommended); 1 bunch of fresh cilantro; 3 cups bok choy (or other leafy green); 2 cups sliced mushrooms (shiitake is my fave for this); 2 T soy sauce and 2 limes, juiced. This recipe also calls for 4 kaffir lime leaves, which I’ve never used because I haven’t seen them for sale.

Smash lemon-grass stalks with a rolling pin so that they split. Add coconut milk, broth, lemon-grass, shallot, garlic chili , sugar and the stems of your cilantro (save the tops!) to a large pot. Bring to a gentle boil, lower heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and return broth to your pot. Add mushrooms, bok choy and bring back to a simmer for 3 minutes. Turn off heat and add soy sauce and lime juice. Ladle into bowls and top with chopped cilantro tops. I serve this with white rice to make it a more substantial dinnertime meal.

Sweet Potatoes and Ginger

Sweet potatoes are a great source for beta-carotene, which turns to vitamin A when metabolized. Vitamin A removes damaging free radicals from your body which helps bolster the immune system. Vitamin A deficiencies can lead to decreased resistance to infections.

Ginger Root is a good source of antioxidants. Add it when cooking or steep it in hot water to make tea because antioxidants work best in your body when you get them straight from fruits and vegetables (results aren’t as good with supplements).

Seared Sea-Scallops, Bok-Choy, Sweet Potato and Ginger Lime Butter

Spinach (Kale and Collard Greens too)

Spinach and similar leafy greens are considered “super food” because of their high folate content which helps your body make new cells and repair DNA. These greens also boast fiber and antioxidants such as vitamin C.

Spinach (or Kale or Collard Greens) and Swiss Cheese Quiche

For pie-crust: in large bowl add flour. With a sharp knife ( a paring knife works well) cut cold butter into flour in small shavings. With your fingers kneed the butter into the flour until it’s completely incorporated, you should have a nice grainy consistency with no visible lumps of butter. Add 4 T of ice water and take your sharp knife and quickly stir the mixture to spread the water throughout the flour – add 3 more tablespoons of ice water and repeat with your knife. The water should be evenly distributed and the dough moist enough for you to form into a ball with your hands. Wrap dough with a clean dish-towel and refrigerate.

Melt butter in frying pan and cook onions for 3 minutes, until soft but not brown. Add chopped greens and cook for 3 more minutes, until greens are soft. Transfer to a plate and put in refrigerator to cool. Grate cheese and set aside. On a floured surface roll out cool dough to 1/4 inch and lay into a pie dish. Pinch edges along the rim and pierce dough with your knife in several places. Place crust into oven to brown – about 12 minutes. Meanwhile whip your eggs together, add 1/2 & 1/2 and salt & pepper to taste (be prudent with the salt, you really don’t need much because there’s salt in the cheese and the butter you’re using).

Remove piecrust from the oven and spread cooled greens evenly around crust. Top the greens with shredded cheese. Pour egg mixture evenly over everything, be sure that all greens are covered. Return to oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is golden.

Broccoli and Garlic

Broccoli (as well as Broccolini, which I prefer) is an immune-boosting staple – full of antioxidants to protect your body from damage, including vitamins A and C, and the antioxidant glutathione.

Garlic should be a requirement in all kitchens I think. Raw garlic can help fight bacteria, viruses, and fungi. I use it in almost everything, but this recipe has even more than normal!

Baby Kale & Pumpkin Seed Pesto on Linguini, topped with Roasted Broccolini.

Bring a large pot of water, with a pinch of sea-salt, to boil. Trim broccoli, toss with 1 T olive oil and a pinch of salt, and spread out evenly on a parchment paper lined cookie-sheet, set aside. In a food processor add garlic, pumpkin seeds and olive oil. Once water is boiling toss in the baby kale leaves and count to 20. Then spoon out the kale and add it to the food processor, puree until your pesto is smooth. Add salt to taste and then stir in the lime juice, set aside. Add pasta to boiling water and put tray with broccolini in the oven – set your timer for 12 minutes – each should be ready by then. When your timer goes off strain pasta and return to pot, add pesto and mix so pasta is evenly coated, turn out onto a serving plate. Remove Broccolini from oven and place on top of pasta, garnish with grated Parmesan.

Cooking Organic Matters

It’s absolutely worth the extra time and effort to eat organic because it’s the easiest, don’t-have-to-worry-about-it way to insure that we’re not eating pesticides or high doses of synthetic hormones and antibiotics. Commonly used pesticides like Glyphosate, Chlorpyrifos and Atrazine are used in conventional agriculture in the United States and scientific studies (and law suits) have shown that eating pesticides carries serious health risks (see above pesticides which are hyperlinked for more information on risks). Organic food is produced without using conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bio-engineering; or ionizing radiation. It also means your food won’t have artificial flavorings or coloring and that your baking flour won’t be laced with chlorine, bromates or peroxides (who wants that?!). In addition Organic meat, poultry, eggs and dairy come from animals that are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. If you can find it organic, choose organic!

If you enjoy the recipes above check out my other recipe posts using fresh organic ingredients in the Clean Eating Clean Cooking tab!

Take Care of Ourselves, Take Care of Our Neighbors, Take Care of Our World

Every day it seems like we’re learning that the covid-19 pandemic is worse, more dangerous and devastating, than we understood it to be yesterday – when I try to imagine what our world will look like in just a few weeks, it’s difficult to wrap my head around it, I just can’t imagine how bad it can get. Every day we need to think seriously about how we can maintain our health, stay healthy and strong, for ourselves and our family but ultimately for our community and society at large. Our front-line heroes – the doctors, nurses, health practitioners, police, firemen and other first responders, our grocery store clerks and pharmacists and gas station workers and truckers – the more we stay healthy and safe the more we’re helping them stay healthy and safe. If you have suggestions, inspiration or ideas to share that you think would be helpful to others, please write in with them. And most importantly, stay safe (and sane) – we have a while to go before we can say we’ve gotten through this challenge, a challenge like our world hasn’t seen in a century.

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