Christmas

We would like to wish all our readers, customers and Seagreens fans a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We hope you have a lovely, peaceful and restful time.

Remember, if you are running low on products you can stock up at your local health food shop or online. For details of local shops enter your postcode on the page http://seagreens.co.uk/Products/StockistSearch.aspx or from http://www.oceansofgoodness.co.uk/

Best wishes for 2013.

The Seagreens team

Healthy hummus recipe

Another recipe by food blogger Rachel Gillon

Hummus

 Many of my recipes seem to be about eating healthy meals, but what about healthy snacks or appetisers before a meal? A quick to make snack and a more healthy option than many of the cheesy and high fat dips in the supermarket is Hummus.

Made from chickpeas and tahini, a sesame seed paste it can be whizzed up in a few minutes and served with warm pitta bread, breadsticks and crudités. It is a great way to get kids experimenting with raw vegetables and my favourites are celery sticks, carrots, peppers and broccoli.

It is also one of those recipes that once you have a basic dish you can make different varieties by adding other ingredients. Coriander works well as does caramelised red onion, chilli and roasted red peppers. One of my favourites is to add approximately 2.5ml of Rosé Harissa and serve with some added chickpeas on top.

This is my basic recipe but you can adapt to suit your own taste by increasing or reducing the amount of lemon juice and yoghurt. For seasoning I use Seagreens Mineral Salt which    is a mixture of Hebridean seaweed and 50% Cornish sea salt.

1 400g can of chickpeas

3 desert spoons of Tahini

2 large garlic cloves

2 - 3 desert spoons of natural yoghurt

3 - 4 tbsp of rapeseed or olive oil.

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 tsp of Seagreens Mineral Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Place all the chickpeas, tahini, garlic, yoghurt, oil and half of the lemon juice and seasoning in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Taste and adjust the seasoning and if needed add the remaining lemon juice.

This is a good healthy snack and would be ideal in lunch boxes or simply as nice light lunch.

Hummus also makes a nice vegetarian starter with vegetables and pitta bread or on one big platter with the accompaniments for everyone to share. Add some extra small dishes such as olives, sundries tomatoes and its a perfect starter to a meal rather than a snack.

Simple salmon supper

Including fish in the family's weekly diet, particularly oily fish such as salmon, mackerel,tuna and sardines is something that some people struggle with. My own boys, given the choice would chose beer battered fish and chips before a salmon or mackerel fillet.

Over the years I have learned to vary the flavours and ways of cooking to ensure that they did get their recommended portions of fish every week

This salmon recipe is one that I cook regularly and if you're looking for a quick salmon dinner then this is one for you. I've also started using 'Seagreens' with many of my recipes and I find it works really well with this dish.

4 Salmon fillets

3 Tbsp Olive or cold pressed rapeseed oil

Zest of 1 lemon

2tsp Seagreens mineral salt.

Couscous

200g Couscous

350 ml water

100g pitted olives sliced

10-12 Semi dried tomatoes roughly chopped

1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Seagreens Mineral salt to season.

To serve

Handful of torn basil leaves

Place the couscous in a heatproof bowl and pour over 350ml of boiling water.Cover with cling firm and leave for 10 minutes.

Place the salmon fillets in an ovenproof dish.  Mix the lemon zest and the olive or rapeseed oil together and pour over the salmon. Sprinkle the Seagreens salt over the fish and roast for 8 -10 minutes or until,cooked.

Divide the couscous between 4 plates and top with a salmon fillet. Scatter with torn basil and serve.

Written for Seagreens by Rachel Gillon, a food blogger from Renfrewshire. You can read Rachel's blog here http://aweepinchofsugar.wordpress.com/

Herb and Seagreens Mineral Salt Bread

This recipe is from Hannah Bailey who runs Wise Choice Nutrition. It was made in a breadmaker and ingredients are listed in the order for the specific machine. All machines vary so check before you start.

Herb and Seagreens Mineral Sat Bread (large loaf)

1 1/8 cups of water
2tbsp butter
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp Seagreens Mineral Salt
2 cups white flour, 1 cup wholemeal flour
1 1/4 tsp dried yeast
1 tbsp mixed dried herbs

You can visit Hannah's website at www.wisechoicenutrition.co.uk or Seagreens website to find out more about Seagreens and the products at www.seagreens.co.uk 

Latest media article

Did you see a mention of seaweed in the press last week? It's becoming increasingly popular with chefs and can retail for up to £200 per kilogram!!

Rory MacPhee has become the first person with a license to sell seaweed. In the UK, it is not currently legal to forage for food and then sell it on without a license. He is a founding member of the Seaweed health Foundation which is an independent foundation promoting the benefits of seaweed.

You can read more about the work he is doing here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/food/9675415/Seaweed-harvested-in-England-as-trendy-chefs-boost-prices.html

Seagreens bread

This recipe was sent in By Jan Booth who also makes soaps using Seagreens. Check out www.ostrich-oil.co.uk to find out more about her soaps.

To make the bread :


1 tsp yeast
475g honey & sunflower seed flour ( or any good quality flour of your choice)
11/2 tsb sugar
25g butter
11/4 tsp Seagreens Culinary Ingredient (200g jar - www.seagreens.co.uk/culinary)
320ml water (tepid to activate yeast)

Follow bread maker instructions and add to the bowl in the given order. This is a medium basic recipe and I set to dark crust.

If you don't have a bread maker, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl until the dough has slightly sticky texture. Tip out and knead to stretch the gluten. The dough is ready when it bounces back after being stretched which normally takes around 5 minutes of kneading. Put the dough back in the bowl and cover with oiled cling film in a warm place (airing cupboards are idea) for about 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size. 
Preheat the oven to 180 C or Gas Mark 6. Lightly grease a loaf tin and place the dough in the tin then into the preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped.

To find out more about Seagreens visit www.seagreens.co.uk. To purchase the products, check the website for your nearest stockist or visit www.oceansofgoodness.co.uk 

The Natural Products Show Sweden

This week Simon, MD of Seagreens is in Sweden at the Natural Products Show. The show has a variety of exhibitors with products for health and nutritional supplementation and for food ingredients and cooking.

Seagreens has developed a range of products to enable the easy and convenient addition of their organic, dried and milled seaweed into the diet. Seagreens Culinary Ingredient adds flavour as well as being an effecive salt replacement.  A diet high in salt is known to increase the risk of cardiovasulcar diseases (high blood pressure, strokes, heart disease). As such, Seagreens provides a salty flavour without the high sodium levels and increases the nutritional value of meals. Seagreens also contains a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals to support health.

Recently, Eat Balanced has launched their range of nutritionally balanced pizzas which are available in Asda stores and contain Seagreens in the pizza base. The pizzas are a balanced meal containing the right proportions of fat, carbohydrate and protein. To find out more visit www.eatbalanced.co.uk

Seagreens  is also available in capsule form which can be taken as a supplement and may benefit a variety of conditions including:

• weight management
• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol
• digestive conditions such as IBS

Research has demonstrated that Seagreens species could be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of many other diseases and conditions. The product is allergen free, organic and kosher certified and suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Visit the Seagreens Healthcare Summary for more information http://www.seagreens.co.uk/University/SeagreensHealthcareSummary.aspx

Due to the intensive farming procedures which are followed in this country, the nutritional quality of our food has decreased significantly over the past 50 years. A teaspoon of Seagreens Culinary Ingredient contains more iron than a plate of broccoli. 

If you would like to know more about Seagreens, visit the website www.seagreens.co.uk or email post@seagreens.co.uk To find out more about the Natural Products show visit http://www.naturalproductsscandinavia.com/