If you’re goal is clean eating, then ginger, coconut oil and apple cider vinegar have probably found their way into your kitchen. The question is, do you know what to do with them?
We caught up with Jennifer Wright, RN, Certified Baptiste Yoga Instructor, Certified Nutrition Counselor, owner of Urban Body Yoga and co-owner of Pure Body, to see if she could shed some light on these trending ingredients (and we also tapped into her wealth of healthful recipes). Here are a few highlights from that conversation.
Using ginger can be intimidating. What do you do with it?
I use ginger in my cold pressed beet juice. Ginger soothes the gastrointestinal tract and is a great immune booster. It also adds a nice zing of flavor to the juice. Ginger goes with a lot of things. I add it to chocolate, cinnamon toast, curry dishes, fish, pears, root vegetables and seafood! It’s much more versatile than people realize. Interesting anecdote about ginger, while I was traveling in Mexico I was offered complimentary ginger tea at the resort where I stayed. I asked the chef about it and he told me the relief it offers to a stomach ache is priceless. Try ginger the next time you feel nauseated.
Check out the recipe for Jennifer’s Carrot Ginger Soup!
What do you do with coconut oil?
I cook almost everything in coconut oil. The oil is a medium-chain fatty acid and is therefore easily absorbed, digested and put to use nourishing the body. Keep in mind, however, that it is a solid, so it can’t always act as a replacement when a recipe calls for vegetable or canola oil. But, if a recipe calls for shortening, you can use a ratio of warm butter and warm coconut oil as a replacement.
What’s so special about apple cider vinegar?
Think of raw, organic apple cider vinegar as the mother of all vinegars. It has living nutrients and bacteria and it is full of ash, which gives it the alkaline property. By using raw organic apple cider vinegar in my salad dressings, I’m helping my body maintain its proper pH levels for a healthy alkaline state. Keep this in mind if you drink coffee, wine or eat a lot of meat.
Check out the recipe for Jennifer’s Fast and Frugal Quinoa Bowl
recipe, which calls for apple cider vinegar!