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Want to stay healthy, beautiful and balanced? Eat up! Food has long been known for its multi-tasking ability. Sure, it tastes good and gives you energy; but more than that, certain foods have specific healing and beautifying ability. So instead of turning to a pill, a doctor, or a chemically-crafted concoction, go green by eating foods that help foster a healthy, gorgeous and happy body and mind! Yes, health and beauty do come from within?
Elizabeth TenHouten, is a Beauty/Skin Care Expert, Author of "Cooking Well: Beautiful Skin," and a huge believer in nature?s ability to keep you young?both inside and out. Elizabeth suggests that women eat these 4 essential green foods to bestow beauty and keep the doctor at bay:
Throat Coat/Dewy Complexion
1. Honey & Lemon?Honey is brimming with antioxidants and is amazingly medicinal when paired with naturally antibacterial lemons. Drinking a healing mixture of a ¼ cup of honey and lemon counteracts sinus-infection causing bacteria while serving as an anti-inflammatory for potential throat ailments. The very same honey (nature?s best moisturizer) and lemon mixture can be used as a beautifying facial, improving dry-skin and giving you a dewy complexion. Yes, lemons and honey are a great team to keep your health in check, your voice pitch perfect, and your skin glowing and dewy.
Hormone Regulating/Skin Balancing
2. Cabbage, Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts-- These beautiful "sprouts and flowers" naturally nourish the female endocrine system, which helps regulate and balance hormone levels, promoting health on a cellular level. Imbalanced hormone levels can cause acne and other skin issues, so eating these foods has beauty benefits for your skin too. **See ?Sprouts and Flowers" recipe below**
Strength/Anti-Aging
3. Spinach-- Spinach leaves (the darkest you can find) contain high iron levels which naturally give you an energy boost?perfect to power your workouts. Rich in antioxidants, spinach also helps fight the signs of aging, maintaining skin's youthful appearance naturally.
Reduce Inflammation/Radiant Skin
4. Salmon—Salmon is synonymous with health and beauty. The high levels of Omega 3 Fatty Acids nourish the skin, reduce inflammation. Always look for sustainable seafood.
In lieu of tarter sauce, TenHouten suggests drizzling her "Antioxidant Berry Glaze" over your salmon for a burst of vitamin B, which improves memory and boosts the antioxidant benefits for glowing skin. **See TenHouten?s "Pretty Poached Salmon" recipe below as well as her "Sprouts and Flowers" recipe, courtesy of Cooking Well: Beautiful Skin**"
*"Sprouts and Flowers"
Garnish this beautiful dish with an edible flower from your garden!
Ingredients:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
½ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley
Dash cayenne pepper
10 Brussels sprouts, cut in half and steamed
2 Roma tomatoes, quartered
1 cup cauliflower florets
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 cup prepared pumpkin, butternut squash, or sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, rice vinegar, parsley, and cayenne pepper. Add all ingredients to a medium bowl and toss with dressing. Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Makes 2 servings
**"Pretty Poached Salmon"
This is a delicious sight to behold, and has a sensationally flavorful taste. Chop one or two boysenberries and raspberries and stir into the pureed berry mixture to add texture and create a tart, melt-in-your-mouth sensation that will make your lips pucker up. Enjoy this antioxidant-rich recipe with someone special! This is definitely a romantic recipe for two.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup water
2 (5 ounce) filets of salmon
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
20 blackberries, reserve 2 for garnish
20 raspberries
¼ cup honey
6 leaves radicchio
Place water in a small sauté pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Place salmon in pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cover tightly with a lid or with foil. Reduce heat to low and let cook for 10-12 minutes, until salmon is cooked through.
Meanwhile make the berry glaze by pureeing the blackberries, raspberries and honey in a blender or small food processor until nearly smooth. Set aside.
Place radicchio on plates. Remove salmon from pan and place on top of radicchio. Pour berry glaze over salmon and garnish with whole or chopped remaining berries.
Makes 2 servings
