Immune boosting winter recipes are a must have if you are looking to give yourself the best chance of health success in the upcoming months. It is super important that we always look to boost our immune system because we need to be in the best position possible should we need to fight any form of illness. With the current COVID-19 pandemic engraining itself in our lives, there has never been a more important time to ensure that we are doing all we can to stay as healthy as possible.
Nutrition will always be one of the biggest impactors on our health, and as such we should always ensure that we are putting the best ingredients and healthiest foods into our system on a daily basis.
Read on for 3 immune boosting winter recipes that will help you get through the colder months as best possible.
Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 500g Ox-tail (chopped)
- 2 tbs apple cider vinegar
- 10L water
- 1 tbs coconut water
- 2 carrots (chopped)
- 1 medium brown onion (quartered)
- 1 stick celery (chopped)
- 2 star anise
- 1 chilli (chopped)
- 1 cm ginger (peeled & sliced)
- 2 garlic cloves (whole)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees and place ox-tail in a baking tray
- Cook for 40 minutes or until deeply browned
- In a pan on medium heat, add and toast star anise until fragrant
- Place all ingredients, spices and roasted ox-trail into a large stockpot on a medium heat.
- Pour in enough water to fill 10 litre pot and bring to the boil
- Turn heat down and cook for 5-6 hours until ox-tails are falling off the bone, skimming fat off the top every 40 minutes
- Gently remove ox-tail, then strain broth.
- Store in containers in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for 3 months.
Hint: This recipe can also be done in a slow cooker on low for 12+ hours
Why is this immune boosting?
Bone broth has been proven to have a wide range of health improvements. It is highly nutritious as bones themselves are full of vitamins and minerals including calcium, magnesium and phosphorous. Bone marrow which is also cooked in this process are rich in nutrients such as; Iron, Vitamins A & K, Fatty Acids, Selenium and Zinc. All of which will greatly help you when the immune system needs it.
Ultimate Green Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup parsley
- 1/4 cup spinach
- 1/2 green apple
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 banana (frozen in chunks)
- 1/2 cup protein powder
- 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
Method
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until desired consistency is achieved.
Why is this immune boosting?
Loaded with fresh and natural ingredients this recipe is a vitamin delight! Sometimes it can be hard getting a well rounded amount of fruit and vegetables into a daily intake, but with a smoothing it makes it much easier. With an equal balance between carbs, proteins and fats, this is one of those immune boosting winter recipes that can actually be had all year round.
Healthy Green Curry
Ingredients
- 150g lean chicken breast (sliced)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp green curry paste
- 1 x cup coconut cream
- 1 x cup water (or bone broth)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce (salt reduced)
- 50g green beans
- 3 x kale leaves (sliced)
- 50g sweet potato (sliced)
- 50g squash (sliced)
- 1 tbsp basil (chopped)
- 1 tbsp coriander (chopped)
- 1 tbsp mint (chopped)
- 1 x lime
Method
- In a wok or pan on medium/high heat, add coconut oil and curry paste and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add coconut cream and cook for 5 mins (or until it almost looks split), add water and turn heat to low.
- Add fish sauce and chicken breast slices and cook on low heat until tender.
- Add veggies and cook for no longer than 5 minutes keeping them crunchy and not over cooked.
- Once cooked, transfer to a bowl and add cauliflower rice if you need a bit more substance.
Why is this immune boosting?
Curries are great winter immune boosting recipes because not only do they have a lot of vegetables and good proteins in them, but they are also full of anti-viral and anti-microbial ingredients. Combine this with the fact that they also warm you up and you are giving yourself a good chance of maintaining a good immune system over the next few months.
Whilst these above recipes will not (are are not meant to) guarantee a healthy immune system this winter, they will certainly help.
It is still incredibly important to make sure that you are:
Doing the above AND eating well will give you an incredibly strong chance of keeping your immune system as boosted as possible.
Since COVID-19 entered our lives, we have aimed to deliver some great weekly information as to how you can remain healthy, productive and in good spirits. This blog post is the latest addition to a growing library of information. Click to read more on our dedicated COVID support blogs.
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