Festive Feasting Made Gut-Friendly

Festive Feasting Made Gut-Friendly

 This Christmas, Love Your Gut is inviting everyone to indulge a little differently, with festive recipes designed to make both your taste buds and your gut happy.

These brand-new recipes combine colour, creativity and celebration to create dishes that make the most of seasonal and traditional ingredients – all while supporting good gut health at the same time.

A happy gut does so much more than support digestion – it plays a key role in our immunity, energy levels and even mood, which is why it’s so important we look after it.

The festive season can be a great opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of foods that help your gut thrive. Aim for diversity on your plate and plenty of fibre-rich ingredients (such as Brussel sprouts, red cabbage, buckwheat, dried fruits, nuts and seeds), and you’re guaranteed to give your gut a real gift this Christmas.

Delicious New Recipes from Love Your Gut

From a vibrant Sichuan Turkey Noodle Salad that puts a zingy twist on festive leftovers, to a beautifully fragrant St Clements Pistachio Cake bursting with citrus and nutty goodness, these dishes show that caring for your gut doesn’t mean compromising on flavour.

Each recipe includes key components of a gut-healthy diet – a variety of plant food, plenty of fibre, healthy fats etc – helping to keep your digestive system happy throughout the whole season of celebration.

A healthy digestive system can offer so many benefits; from supporting our immune system, to improving our sleep quality and stress levels, which is why it’s important we look after it.

So, whether you’re gathering family around the table or simply looking for a lighter option between feasts, Love Your Gut’s festive recipes are here to help you eat well, feel good and embrace the joy of December.

Plus, for those who need a little extra support during Christmas, Love Your Gut’s resources are a handy tool for looking after your gut – including a ‘#Gut Talk Guide’ that can help you tackle any awkward conversations with friends and family, during the festive celebrations.

For those looking to get ahead for the new year, Love Your Gut’s new ‘A Month to a Healthier Microbiome’ infographic is the perfect tool to do just that –  sharing 30 ways you can support your gut health, in just 30 days.

Sichuan turkey noodle salad

Christmas can be an unforgiving time for your gut. Instead of making your leftover turkey into sandwiches or pies, try transforming it into this vibrant salad. Despite having wheat in the title, ‘buckwheat’ is a seed rather than a grain, making it naturally gluten-free. Buckwheat noodles are higher in protein and fibre than noodles made from wheat or rice. Buckwheat contains both soluble and insoluble fibre. Insoluble fibre helps food move through the gut and soluble fibre is a prebiotic to feed beneficial bacteria. It gets fermented by gut microbes to produce beneficial compounds like butyrate, which can reduce inflammation^[i]. If you’re gluten-intolerant, check the packet to ensure your noodles are 100% buckwheat and not blended with wheat.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Hero ingredient: Buckwheat

Plant points: 5.5

Ingredients

1 cucumber

250 g radishes

150 g podded edamame beans, defrosted if frozen

200 g buckwheat (soba) noodles

325 g leftover cold roast turkey, shredded

3 spring onions, thinly sliced

3 tbsp roasted peanuts, chopped

For the dressing:

2 ½ tbsp Chinese sesame paste or tahini paste

2 ½ tbsp rice vinegar

2 ½ tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp chilli oil

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 ½ tsp caster sugar

1. Place the cucumber on a chopping board and bash it a few times with a rolling pin. Split it open lengthways, scoop out most of the seeds with a teaspoon, then cut it diagonally into 1 cm slices.
2. Lightly smack each radish with the rolling pin until they split open. Put the cucumber and radishes into a sieve or colander, sprinkle with salt and leave it to draw out the moisture from the vegetables while you make the dressing.
3. Mix all the dressing ingredients together until smooth. Taste and adjust the ratio of vinegar, soy sauce or chilli oil if needed.
4. Cook the edamame beans and noodles in boiling water according to the packet instructions, ensuring the noodles retain a little bite. Drain and plunge into cold water. Drain well through a colander, then toss with the dressing in a large mixing bowl.
5. Pat-dry the vegetables with a clean tea towel or kitchen paper. Add them to the noodles with the turkey and spring onions.
6. Give everything a final toss, then arrange on a platter and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

Cook’s tip

This salad works equally well with thin slices of leftover rare roast beef, or go meat-free by adding an extra handful of edamame beans. If you’re coeliac, use tamari in place of the soy sauce, as some varieties contain wheat.

St Clement’s pistachio cake

This moist, zesty cake makes a great alternative to fruit cake, Christmas pudding and mince pies. It’s naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and relatively high in fibre and protein, thanks to the pistachios and eggs. In this recipe the whole of the citrus fruit is used, not just the juice and zest, which not only reduces waste, but adds extra fibre and flavonoids. Recent studies show that pistachios may increase the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut more than other nuts. They also contribute polyphenols and other gut-friendly compounds, including lutein and tocopherols.

Serves: 20 small 1-ridge slices

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour, plus cooling

Hero ingredient: Pistachios

Plant points: 4

Ingredients

1 small thin-skinned unwaxed lemon

2 small thin-skinned juicing oranges

150 g shelled pistachio nuts

150 g ground almonds

250 g caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

50 g honey

6 large eggs

To decorate:

100 g icing sugar

½ lemon, juiced

25 g mixed candied peel

1. Cut the knobbly bits off the top and bottom of the lemon, then prick the oranges and lemon a few times with a skewer. Place them in a microwaveable dish, add enough water to come halfway up the sides and cover with pricked cling film or a vented lid.
2. Microwave on high for 10 minutes, or until a skewer will easily slide into the centre. Drain well, carefully cut the fruit in half and leave to cool slightly.
3. Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan) / gas mark 3. Grease a 23 cm round bundt tin with flavourless oil.
4. Put the pistachios in a food processor or blender and pulse until roughly chopped. Set aside 15 g to decorate the cake, then add the ground almonds, sugar and baking powder to the blender and whiz until the rest of the nuts are finely ground.
5. Carefully discard any pips and stalks from the lemon and oranges and drain off any juice. Transfer them – peel, pith, flesh and all – to the food processor along with the honey and eggs. Blend until smooth.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. Test by inserting a skewer into the centre. It is ready if it comes out clean; if not, return to the oven for another 10 minutes and try again.
7. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate and allow to cool completely.
8. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl, then gradually stir in just enough lemon juice to make a thick glacé icing. Drizzle the icing over the cake, then decorate with candied peel and the reserved chopped pistachios.

Cook’s tip

You can make 10 individual cakes in mini pudding basins if you prefer – just reduce the cooking time to 30 minutes.

References