In dry, cold weather, we love to indulge in saucy, warming meals … and we’ve found a host of immune-boosting treats that are sure to tantilise your taste buds!
Wholesome meals without the fuss
If you’re anything like us, you’ve spent way too much time in the kitchen during lockdown – cooking, baking and washing the endless pile of dishes. Yet, your stomach still groans for warming, wholesome meals. Enter The Forum Company’s new online food delivery service… The Forum Kitchen. Think healthy, traditional family favourites that are rich in immune boosters and promote gut health. The best part? You can plate up these meals for your family with very little time spent in the kitchen. Order online and have these dinner for two or four people delivered to your door on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When it’s supper time, use your phone to scan the QR code on each meal pack to follow the heating instructions, and volia … your lunch or dinner is ready. The portions are really generous and the meals are so tasty you may just find yourself licking the plate!
The lamb and apricot tagine (pictured) is super-succulent and, paired with the cauliflower and lentil cottage pie – a nutritious take on a winter classic – and rustic tomatoes with green beans and broccoli, it’s a real winter warmer. We also tried the creamy Tuscan-style chicken which was deliciously wholesome alongside the herb couscous with chickpeas (also pictured). We loved the glazed corns and minted baby marrows, and they really aren’t joking when they list ‘All the roots’ on the menu … you’ll get a good helping of carrots, beets and many other health-giving veggies from the ground. Leave space for pudding because ‘The Revenge’ bread-and-butter pudding is sensational – especially with a blob of mascarpone on the top. (We’re salivating just thinking of it!) We’re really glad the Bryanston-based events and conferencing company has started this food-delivery service … and your winter’s not complete without an order. Deliveries to Joburg north only. Meat dishes around R240, veggies from R40 and dessert around R140. Details: theforumkitchen.co.za
Calling all rooibos fans
If you just can’t get enough of the sweetness of rooibos tea, then you’re in for a treat as you learn how to add this superfood to your dishes too. Rooibos is packed with antioxidants, so it has a host of health benefits.
According to the SA Rooibos Council, during lockdown, celeb foodies Kamini Pather and Sabastian ‘Bas’ Newman have been experimenting with rooibos, and we’re particularly taken by Sabastian’s simple rooibos syrup to add to desserts.
Sabastian tells us, ‘When making a rooibos syrup, add one cup of sugar to one cup of water, squeeze in juice from half a lemon and add eight rooibos tea bags to a saucepan. Simmer on low heat until a syrup starts to form. Don’t boil, as you want the flavour of the rooibos to have time to infuse into your syrup. Once cooled, remove the tea bags and store in a jar or glass bottle in the fridge and use as desired.’ You could add this rooibos syrup to creams or brush it over a vanilla sponge cake. Pictured here is Sabastian’s rooibos, white chocolate and fig pavlova drizzled with rooibos syrup. Mmm!
One juice, two juice … more
We find there’s no better time to detox and boost our immune system than during the colder months. Luckily, One-Juice is making it so easy for us to do just this – and more! We recently tried the One-Juice regular cleanse … you can opt to do it for three, five or seven days. No sooner had we ordered, it arrived – really nicely packaged – on our doorstep (the service is phenomenal). Every day, we sipped eight delicious juices, each with such interesting flavours … we started our day with black lemonade … think activated charcoal, water, apple cider vinegar, lemon and cayenne. Then we worked our way through the rest. We’re always a sucker for the red and green juices, and we particularly liked the balance juice with pineapple, apple, lemon and mint, and the ginger probiotic was tasty too. All of the juices are packed with vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients – and they’re really yummy too! We cut out all the bad stuff… No alcohol or caffeine – we didn’t even touch solid food. It was tough (the headaches were intense) but, with benefits like weight loss, healthier skin (yes please) and more energy, we’d do it again! In fact, we’re itching to do some of the others like the performance, weight-loss and immunity cleanses, but top of our list during this stressful lockdown is the stress-reliever pack of juices. Also check out the smoothie boxes and we see there are some health soups which look delicious too. Prices differ – our five-day regular cleanse was R1 349. Details: one-juice.com
