ANGEL MUNRO

What do we really no about the nutrient value of food Once a student of a topic, no matter how many official titles you receive after studying that topic you still always remain a student. Well, at least one should. When I first finished my degree in nutrition, whenever I would write a recipe I would start off by identifying all the vitamin & minerals and other various compounds of said ingredients, and highlighting their said benefits, looking at it from a completely reducti

I’m bringing Kale back (when it’s organic, seasonal & local of course) with this salad. The ribboned sweet potato adds a bit of fun & its one of those salads that’s still yum the next day. Serves 5-6 We also look at oxalates in food & if we really need to worry about them if we eat organic, local food.

I had the very best Eggplant Parmigiana pie from Bread Club in Albert Park a few weeks ago. I was inspired to make something similar. This larger pie to feed a crowd with the addition of ricotta is a little bit more akin to a Pasta Alla Norma, a Sicilian pasta dish made with eggplant & ricotta salata or fresh ricotta, hence the name Tart Alla Norma. I used flaky store bought puff pastry to make this tart. I recommend Careme Spelt Wholemeal Butter Puff Pastry, not sponsored,

On a recent trip to visit my mum in Byron Bay we went to a café where my mum ordered toast with this wholefood version of vegemite & I knew I had to recreate it. Vegemite is a staple in many Australian homes as a breakfast spread. While there several undesirable ingredients in Kraft Vegemite & similar brand alternatives one of the biggest reasons to avoid it is folic acid. The methylation cycle is a vital cycle happening in the cells & tissue throughout the body &is a vital

I absolutely love these chips. They are easy to make & are a healthy option being oven baked. You can make the polenta the day before if needed. Use a good quality aged parmesan cheese like Reggiano or Grana Padano. These aged varieties provide bacterial diversity good for the gut & every other system of the body. As human beings, we are basically made up of water, bacteria & proteins, bacteria are our friends. Additionally, parmesan is a good source of preformed vitamin A &

I had something similar to this cauliflower & green olive salad out and about & I had to recreate it is so delicious. Full of flavour and vitality as well as many beneficial herbs, spices & good fats. The star of the salad, cauliflower, is part of the cruciferous family and like all the cruciferous vegetables, has anti-cancer properties most likely due the detoxifying properties of compounds found in brassicas such as sulphorophane & indole-3-carbinole. This salad is a real k

Commercial gluten free bread is often some of the most processed food you can get. They often contain combinations of highly refined flours such white rice flour, soy flour, modified tapioca starch, maize starch, maize flour & potato flour that can cause a higher spike in blood pressure than white flour. When eaten frequently this constant high spike in blood glucose can lead to weight gain & contribute to metabolic diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes & obesity. Ot

These roasted cashews are as easy to make as they are delicious. They have a warm punch with the addition of gochugaru, otherwise known as Korean red pepper powder, which has a smoky, fruity-sweet aroma with a spicy kick. These are great to have on hand as a snack or as nibble for guest before a meal. Nuts can be expensive especially organic nuts. In Australia, cashews tend to be the cheapest organic nut you can purchase making them accessible. Flavouring & roasting them your

With my long stint of both of my children (they are 11 years apart in age) going through Steiner Education, my most treasured memory is of the seasonal festivals & my favourite of those has always been the Winter Solstice celebrations, a beautiful tradition that embraces the magic and beauty of the shortest day & longest night of the year. Some of the activities from those celebration we have continued as a tradition at home. We always celebrate the winter solstice with a fir

I wrote this recipe a couple of years ago when I was teaching a kitchen garden program & we were having to do classes remotely. I loved including recipes where children could still manage to harvest something for the recipe themselves & herbs are accessible to grow regardless of whether you are in an apartment or a house. Herbs are a good way to add a vital element to cooking. They are easy to grow & can be easily picked and eaten straight away, giving you the light codes, ea

These fritters inspired by Alice Zaslavsky'z Zucchini & onion fritters linked here are easy & quick to make & taste very similar to falafel. They can be used to make many different meals & freeze well so they are good meal prepping. They are high in protein, gluten free & vegan. Serve with a simple yogurt sauce as a snack, with eggs as a toast replacement for breakfast, as part of a nourishing bowl with veggies, salad & hummus, as burger patties or a wrap filling, or my perso

Matchuba is a Moroccan dish than can used as part of a dip, part of a mezze or as a base for other dishes. It makes a great base for a quick shakshuka. I love it on top of hummus served with bread, pita crisps or corn chips for a yummy twist on an old favourite. You can find my hummus recipe here. You can eat matchuba hot or cold & it can be stored in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a week. Capsicums are an incredibly nutrient dense food, that are at their peak late summ

This hummus is particularly creamy. It’s such an easy nutrient dense food, that I’ll happily eat it for breakfast lunch and dinner. For this hummus whether you use cooked chickpeas or canned chickpeas, you still cook them again for 10-20 minutes with bicarb soda to make them really soft & mushy. This will give you a really creamy hummus. More on cooking & storing big batches of chickpeas here. For a loaded hummus, pile Matchuba on top. Recipe for that can be found here. Chick

This dish is an easy & fresh, throw together mid-week meal. Eggplants generally fruit late summer, early autumn & are in peak season right now. Eggplants are a good source of fibre, vitamin B1, B3, B6, folate, potassium, magnesium & copper. Eggplants contain a flavonoid called nasunin. Nasunin is a potent antioxidant that protects cell membranes from damage & aids cells in transporting nutrients in as well as transporting waste out of the cell. Chickpeas contain good amounts

Zucchini, classified a summer vegetable, will continue to fruit well into autumn. I have some growing in the garden & currently, the plants are producing prolifically. To purchase, they are cheap & abundant right now. In Australia we can virtually buy whatever fruit & vegetables we like regardless of the season. The problem with this apart from the obvious environmental issues is a degradation of the nutrients due to long refrigeration & travel times. In addition, nature alwa

This recipe is adapted from a Green Kitchen Stories recipe for Spinach & Quinoa Patties that I have been making for years (original recipe here). Recently when making the patties, I didn’t have quinoa, so I swapped it out for beluga lentils, and I was pleasantly surprised. Lentils are one of my most loved staple foods. They’re satisfying, comforting, versatile & nutritionally rich. Lentils are part of the legume family, they are high in protein, vitamins, minerals & fibre. St

This roast potato salad is so delicious & fresh with the addition of Middle Eastern flavours. Originally, I made this recipe vegan with coconut yogurt. I have also made it with full cream organic yogurt & both options taste equally good. Potatoes absorb that which is in the soil that they grow in, which is why choosing organic potatoes is essential. People often worry about the carbohydrate content of potatoes but it’s far more prudent to avoid pesticides that act as endocrin

The broad beans in my garden are starting to pod up, so I thought I’d re-share this recipe I wrote for my students when I was teaching last year & they were in remote learning. Both broad beans & avocado are in season right now & are incredibly delicious. This dip uses both & is very quick to make. Serve it with the equally easy to make pita crisps & some fresh seasonal raw vegetables for a delicious snack. Broad beans are an excellent source of fiber, are high in protein & c

Leafy Greens & Cheese Rolls Makes 16 rolls This is a great recipe to use up leafy greens that are in your garden at the end of winter/early spring. I used a combination of broccoli leaves, rainbow chard & kale however any dark leafy green will do. These are great to have on hand in the freezer. Just don’t cook them as long initially, cool & freeze for up to 3 months. Dark leafy greens should be a daily staple in any diet. In addition to containing, iron, calcium, potassium, m

Serves 4-6 This tart with buttery puff pastry is definitely something that I would eat as a weekend treat or for a special occasion. Oyster mushrooms are high in protein, fibre, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. Oyster mushroom contain good amounts of β-glucans which have antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antihypercholestrolemic and immunomodulatory properties. Ingredients 375g Carême frozen butter puff pastry ready rolled sheet: 27c

Daikon radish is in season right now, daikon is high in vitamin C, folate, potassium & molybdenum. Radish are part of the cruciferous family & share the same anticancer activity as broccoli, cabbage, kale & brussels sprouts. In addition, daikon contain sulphur based compounds that facilitate liver & gall bladder function & aid digestion. This is a really easy & delicious way to prepare daikon. Use the pickled carrot & radish to make your own banh mi as pictured above or serve

If you area fan of Mary's Gone Crackers or Carman's Nut & Seed Crackers then this recipe is for you! These are gluten free, incredibly delicious, nutrient dense, much cheaper than the store bought variety & I love the drama of the shard shape as apposed to tiny circular crackers. These crackers are really easy to make & store in an airtight container for up to three weeks so they are a great addition to your meal prep routine. Regular nut & seeds consumption is attributed wit

Ghee, What is it? Ghee is a cooking fat is made from butter, when both the water and milk solids have been removed through heating. Because of this process ghee is heat stable, so it can cook at really high temperatures (unlike butter & plant oils) & it will keep out of the fridge, even in hot temperatures. The removal of the milk solids means that ghee is both lactose- and casein-free. Because of this, ghee can often (but not in every case) be consumed by those who cannot e

This bread is a bit of a game changer. When my clients need to restrict or eliminate wheat from their diet, finding replacements can be a challenge. Lots of gluten free breads on the market contain refined starches that can spike blood sugar levels higher that refined wheat can. In addition, many contain lots of unwanted preservatives and additives. This bread has little ingredients, is wholefood, high fibre & incredibly easy to make. It makes a great sandwich loaf (hard to a

Soup is generally thought of as a winter dish but sometimes I find when it’s really hot, I want things that are easy to eat. This dish is best to make when tomatoes are in season & they are extra ripe & sweet. Tomatoes are high in lycopene, which is protective against breast, colon, lung, prostate & skin cancer. Lycopene is a fat-soluble nutrient, so it is always best absorbed when consumed with a fat, i.e. olive oil. Interestingly unlike most vitamins & phytochemicals that d

I always marvel at how intrinsically human health is connected to the earth & how the earth always provides exactly what we need. Zucchinis are high in water providing extra hydration in the hotter months & are high in beta carotenes, which are protective against cellular damage from the sun. Beta carotene are a fat soluble nutrient, so it is always best absorbed when consumed with a fat, i.e. olive oil. In addition, zucchinis provide good amounts of vitamin C & potassium. T

By Angel Munro Serves 5 Stinging nettle is an edible weed that grows in winter. Nettle can be grown at home, foraged or purchased at some farmers markets. The herb has been used in many cultures for centuries to treat various inflammatory conditions. Nettle contains good amounts of iron, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin K & chlorophyll, making it an excellent blood tonic. To disarm the stingers, nettle can be blanched in boiling water for one minute, then it is safe to touch. Alte

By Angel Munro Makes 12 These delicious gluten free savoury muffins have a lovely golden cornmeal crunch to them. They are the perfect addition to a lunch box, a great accompaniment to a bowl of soup, a hearty black bean or pinto bean stew, or enjoy them straight from the oven with good quality, butter. Corn is a gluten free wholegrain that contains vitamin C, vitamin E, folate, magnesium & the photochemical lutein, a carotenoid that protects against heart disease & macular d

This Kale Caesar Salad is vegetarian, but you could easily add some free range crispy fried bacon & replace the capers for some anchovies to make it more traditional. Kale has a slight bitterness to it, however in this dish, its completely balanced with the saltiness from the capers & the richness from the mayonnaise, parmesan & eggs. Bitter greens such as kale, rocket & dandelion are nutritional powerhouses & should be included into most meals. They are packed with beta caro

By Angel Munro This is a super fast, nutrition packed meal that I like to enjoy anytime of the day, especially breakfast, a great recipe if you have leftover brown rice. It's so easy that it hardly needs a recipe. Keeping all the ingredients organic for this meal will ensure that its super charged. Kale has high levels of vitamin C, that aids healthy immune function, high levels of vitamin K that aids healthy calcium metabolism and high levels of sulphur containing compounds

By Angel Munro This salad was born from what was in the fridge one day & has ended up being on high rotation. Lentils provide a good balance of complex carbohydrates and protein, providing slow releasing energy. Lentils are high in fibre, essential for a healthy microbiome & therefore a healthy immune system. The variety of brightly coloured vegetables provide phytochemicals & nutrients that are aid liver detoxification, are cellular protective & immune regulating. I

Angel Munro Serves 6 Lentils are one of my most loved staple foods. They’re satisfying, comforting, versatile & nutritionally rich. Lentils are part of the legume family, they are high in protein, vitamins, minerals & fibre. Studies have found that a diet that regularly includes the intake of lentils is associated with lower body weight, lower cholesterol, increased diversity in beneficial bacteria in the gut & decreased pathogens in the gut. A diverse microbiome has a positi

This salad is an interpretation of one of my favourite salads from one of my favourite cafes, Alimentari. The recipe calls for soaking the brown rice overnight, it’s not essential, however, it makes the nutrients more available and easier to absorb & it will cut down cooking time. Brown rice provides slow releasing complex carbohydrates to give you long lasting energy as well as mood boosting nutrients such as magnesium & B vitamins. The parsley & rocket provide good a

Broad beans are in season in Victoria in spring to early summer, they are one of my favourite vegetables, so I’m so excited that they are back. They have a good balance of carbohydrates & protein as well as being high in folate, zinc, magnesium, copper & manganese. Broad beans belong to the legume family. Regular legume intake is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. In particular, legumes are associated with lower risk of most cancers & diabetes. I’ve added th

This deliciously silky soup is packed full of broccoli. It a great way to get non broccoli lovers to eat the vegetable. Broccoli is part of the cruciferous family & is packed full of nutrients such as vitamin K, vitamin C, Lutien, Folate, Magnesium, Calcium & Iron as well as well as phytochemicals sulfuophane & indole-3-carbanole, both of which aid phase II liver detoxification and demonstrate anticancer effects. Not only is this recipe packed full of nutrients, the recipe us