If you ask yourself why is broccoli good for you, look no further. I’ll tell you why: broccoli is very rich in phytonutrients, vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, calcium, magnesium, folate and fiber. Each of those nutrients is important for the good functioning of our digestive system and for our general well-being. Like all vegetables belonging to the crucifers group, broccoli has been proven to reduce the risk of cancer and of cardiovascular diseases. A study by Jed Fahey of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore showed that three-day-old broccoli sprouts help preventing stomach cancer and ulcers by suppressing Helicobacter Pylori, the bacteria which seems to play a major role in the appearance and evolution of the above mentioned conditions (http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/news/20090406/broccoli-sprouts-good-for-the-gut). However, healthy eating is above all a personal matter, therefore one should always be careful and avoid those foods his body responds negatively to. This is the spirit of the following broccoli casserole recipe, in which most ingredients can be replaced with something else in case your idea of healthy recipes is not overlapping mine.

Ingredients:

• 1 broccoli head, fresh, cut into florets (you know the broccoli is fresh when the florets have a dark green color with a possible tint of brown; if it’s yellowish, it’s not so fresh and you shouldn’t buy it)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil (if you use a non-sticky baking dish, you can give up the oil)
• 3 potatoes, sliced 1/2 can peeled and chopped tomatoes in tomato sauce
• 1 cup sweet corn (frozen or canned)
• 1 cup shredded cheese (for a vegan recipe variation, use tofu cheese instead)
• 1 cup bell peppers, chopped (can be a mix of red, green and yellow peppers, for a nicer color mix)
• 3 eggs (vegans can replace eggs with egg substitute)
• 1/2 cup sour cream or low fat yogurt (vegans can use a tofu-based sour cream replacement either homemade or bought)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Serves 4

Cooking method:

Put the potato slices in boiling water with salt and boil them for about 10 minutes. In another pan, boil the broccoli, the corn and the bell peppers for 2-3 minutes. Drain the vegetables after boiling and let them cool for about 5 minutes. Don’t relax yet, though, because you have other things to do while vegetables cool. In a bowl, mix two eggs with the chopped tomatoes and the tomato sauce, then add the shredded cheese to the mixture. If the cheese is salty, don’t add anymore salt. Add ground black pepper according to your taste. Take a casserole dish and sprinkle it with olive oil, then place a layer of potato slices inside. You don’t want perfection, just try to cover as much as you can of the dish bottom. Add the broccoli florets and the rest of the vegetables on top of the potatoes layer, trying to distribute them evenly across the surface. Pour the egg, cheese and tomatoes mix over the dish. Beat the last egg with 1/2 cup of sour cream or low-fat yogurt, add some water (if you prefer, you can use milk or tomato juice instead of water), salt and pepper to taste, then pour it over the vegetables. Cover the dish and put it in the oven. Bake it for 40-45 minutes at 350F. Serve the food hot with sour cream or salsa on top. Leftovers can be served either cold or reheated at the next day’s breakfast.

Baked salmon is simply delicious, no matter what ingredients you decide to accompany your fish with. If you’re already asking yourself how is salmon healthy and why does it get featured on a healthy eating recipes website, then it’s my pleasure to tell you that salmon is not only highly nutritious, but also rich in protein and good fats such as the Omega 3 oil that helps preventing coronary heart disease. Salmon is also an important source of vitamin D, which is an essential nutrient that contributes to our health and well-being. Latest alternative medicine trends favor discovering and treating causes of conditions rather than their symptoms, and this is how we got to the concept of functional medicine which is based on the theory that most chronic conditions occur as a follow of internal inflammation in our body, therefore healing that inflammation would automatically lead to the disappearance of the chronic ailment that gives us those symptoms. Specialists in functional medicine conduct research that proved vitamin D to play a major role in reducing the internal inflammation. As salmon provides a high vitamin D intake, it’s included on the healthy foods list of many medical doctors and nutritionists who follow this approach of functional medicine.

Back to our healthy salmon recipe, this is how I cook it:

Ingredients:

• 1 salmon fillet, approx. 1 1/2 inch thick, 1 pound weight, fresh, with skin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5-6 black olives, whole
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 5-6 allspice berries (or some fine herbs which you like most)
• Salt, pepper
• Lemon

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 3-4 people

Method:

Preheat the oven at 400 F. Put the olive oil in a baking dish, then add the fish fillet over it. Turn the fish on all sides, so it gets covered with a thin oil layer all over, then leave it with the skin up. Spread the minced garlic, the olives and the allspice berries in the baking dish, then add some salt and about one cup of water. Put the dish in the oven and bake the salmon at 400 F for about 10 minutes. You can cover it, but it’s OK even if you don’t. After the 10 minutes passed (you’ll know it even if you forget to check on the time, because your whole house it’s going to start smelling like baked garlic), take the dish out of the oven and turn the salmon fillet with the other side up. Let the fish bake for 10-15 minutes more at lower temperature.

Serve it sprinkled with freshly ground black pepper and with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Decorate the plates with 3-4 lemon slices. Wild rice, sauted vegetables or baked potatoes with parsley make excellent side dishes for baked salmon.