Anti-inflammatory Recipes

General
1

Hi Everyone

I thought I'd share some recipes that are high in anti-inflammatory stuff. It's hard knowing what to eat sometimes. I've cut out all starchy stuff, that seems to help (me anyway). If anyone else has any anti inflam recipes please share :-)

I modified this one somewhat because I knew I'd mess up with the peppers (Miss those out if you're trying to cut out nightshades).

Salmon with Roasted Pepper and Onion Compote

4 Bell peppers, mixed colours

2 cups of very thin sliced red onion

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbs chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)

4 salmon fillets (5 ounce each)

half cup of dry white wine

3 tbs fresh lemon juice

half tsp black pepper

1. Place whole peppers on foil-lined baking sheet and roast under broiler, 2 - 3 inches from heat. Turn frequently and continue roasting until the skins of peppers are blackened. Close foil around peppers and to seal in steam. Alow peppers to cool 20 minutes or more. Peel, core and seed the peppers with a sharp knife and slice into strips. (Got to admit I didn't do this bit, I just prepped them and cut them into strips)

2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine onion, roasted peppers, garlic and thyme in a 13" x 9" baking dish. Arrange salmon filets on top of vegetables, then add the wine, lemon juice and black pepper. Cover with foil.

3. Bake until fish is just cooked through (about 18 to 20 minutes). Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving.

This has an imflammatory rating of 875, fat content 8 g, carbs 11 g

For inflammatory ratings see http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2626/2 although I took this recipe and rating from the book "The Inflammation free diet plan" by Monica Reinagel. Inflammation ratings or factors, as it's called on the site, are rated by the higher the positive number the less inflammatory a meal is, negative numbers are foods that cause inflammation.

With the salmon we had Sauteed Broccoli with garlic

4 cups of Broccoli Florets

1 tbs olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, slivered

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Steam broccoli until just tender-crisp but still bright green. Run briefly under cold water to stop cooking process and drain.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add broccoli and continue cooking til garlic is golden. sprinkle with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes if desired.

Inflam rating 206, fat 4 g, carbs 8 g

That made a satisfying meal with no inflammatory foods. I added some finely chopped chilli peppers to the broccoli (because they happened to be handy) and it was really nice.

Paula

2

Braised Cabbage with Ginger

1 large head of green cabbage

1 tbs olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

3 tbs grated fresh ginger root

1.5 cups of chicken stock (12 fluid ounces)

1. Remove outer leaves from cabbage and cut head into 8 wedges. Leave the core in place to hold wedges together.

2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and ginger and cook, stirring, for one minute. Stir in chicken stock.

3. Arrange cabbage wedges in saucepan, standing them upright on the core end. Cover the pan and cook over low to medium heat until cabbage is tender, about 20 minutes. Arrange cabbage on serving plate(s), spooning onion and ginger on top.

Inflam rating 357, Fat 3g, Carbs 17g

I haven't tried this one yet but I love cabbage and I love ginger - just never thought to combine them.

3

Don't forget smoothies! I have strawberries, blueberries (which are actually mildly inflammatory but they're off-set by the rest and as long as the total is positive (re inflam rating) then it's OK, and blueberries are high in anti-oxidents). Where was I?

Strawberries, blueberries, spinach, a couple of broccoli florets and some pomegranate juice or juice of your choosing (though make sure they're not laden with added sugars and pressed not concentrate) to blend it all with and it's great! I get that roughly to around 268 on the inflam rating - most of the things that are "made up" are guesstimates but so long as I know whether what I'm putting in is anti or pro-inflammatory I can make sure that the net result is positive.

I did kind of let go a lot at Christmas, started forgetting to take my supplements and ate all the wrong stuff - and the pain started coming back. I'm back onto it now and it's easing off .... I remain optimistic - and I still aren't taking pain killers, just the odd Arcoxia on the bad days. Be OPTIMISTIC, it doesn't hurt to try new things :-)

4

That cabbage recipe looks fantastic! When my mom suggested that site to me a couple of years ago, I was shocked to see how inflammatory some of my "good" foods were. I might need to check out the book you are using. Thanks for posting this. I think it is very interesting that in the last year, my inflammatory test results have gone crazy (high SED rate, C+ reactive protein), and I have had an almost insatiable craving for spinach and zucchini. Seriously, I drool over the thought of it in any form. Haha.

Thanks for the recipes.

5

Here's one you might like then:

Spinach and Arugula Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

4 cups of (packed) spinach and aragula

2 strips of bacon, chopped

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

4 tsps extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup of fresh raspberries

1/2 cup of thinly sliced red onion

1. Remove tough stems from greens and wash and dry

2. Cook bacon until crisp, 8 to 10 mins, drain on paper towels

3. Whisk together vinegar, pepper and salt, add oil in thin stream, whisking briskly. Add raspberries crushing gently with a fork

4. divide greens onto serving plates, drizzle with dressing and top with onion and bacon.

Inflam rating per serving 241, Fat 7g, Carbs 9g

I'm getting a bit more adventurous with these - I'd put some ginger in that one too.

6

Oh, wonderful! How many servings is this supposed to be? My sister made something very similar to this, but it didn't use the fresh raspberries! I will be using this one. Yes, ginger would be awesome in it.

7

Four servings in that one. I use a lot of spinach in smoothies. Funny I would never have thought to mix fruits with vegetables before but since I started doing this I've had some really weird looking dishes and they tasted great.

8

I really like the look of this one. I calculated that the overall anti-inflam rating is around 1000 (anchovies and olive oil are really good anti-inflammatories) though I left out the bread because I'm trying to stay away from bread, and only calculated for 3 eggs because they're inflammatory and I think 6 is too many.

Could add spinach to the salad too. I love anchovies though the salt content is high I'll drink plenty of water which is also good (and necessary).

Lettuce, anchovy and egg salad with a creamy vinaigrette

Lettuce, anchovy and egg salad with a creamy vinaigrette

Use the best quality anchovies you can find for this simple salad recipe.

Ingredients

  • 3 slices white crusty bread

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 6 medium free-range eggs

  • 3 Little Gem lettuce

  • 50g/2oz (about 12) large anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained and cut on the diagonal into 2.5cm/1in pieces

For the dressing

Preparation method

  1. For the croutons, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

  2. Cut the crusts off the bread and tear the remainder into small pieces. Toss them in a bowl with the olive oil. Spread onto a baking tray and bake for 5-7 minutes or until crisp and golden-brown. Remove and leave to cool, then season lightly with salt.

  3. Meanwhile, put the eggs into a pan of boiling water and boil for eight minutes. Drain and cover with cold water.

  4. For the dressing, put the garlic, egg yolk, mustard, lemon juice, sugar and some seasoning into a small bowl. Mix together briefly with a hand-held electric whisk, then slowly whisk in the oil to make a smooth dressing.

  5. Discard the outside leaves of the lettuce if necessary and tear the rest into small pieces. Wash and dry well, then spread over the base of six medium serving plates. Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut them into quarters. Arrange four pieces over each plate of lettuce leaves with the four strips of anchovy fillet and a few croutons. Drizzle one tablespoon of dressing over each plate and serve straight away.

9

Just finished the above salad and its really nice. I added strawberries (because I had to pass them to get to the spinach in the fridge). I also added ginger to the dressing (that just happened to be sitting next to the garlic in the cupboard :-)). I had no lettuce in so just used spinach. I wasn't particularly wowed by the dressing but its ok but the salad is really nice with the anchovies. Three eggs are too many. Anchovies and strawberries :-) - really nice together.