artichoke and lemon dip
Keeping the gut microbiome happy and healthy is key to reducing inflammation, weight management, and reducing our risk for chronic disease. Current research shows that eating a diverse plant diet (ideally eating 30 different plants in a week) will help to keep the microbiome healthy. Additionally, increasing your intake of prebiotic and probiotic foods will help feed and maintain the gut bacteria. So what are prebiotics? Prebiotics are essential to ensure that our gut bacteria are getting the food they need to maintain their population. Foods that are high in prebiotics include garlic, leeks, onions, jicama, artichokes, cruciferous vegetables, apples, bananas and oats. Probiotics are live micro-organisms that enhance good bacteria. The main source of probiotics comes from fermented food (e.g. sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha), raw milk and fermented dairy (kefir).
Looking to increase your intake of prebiotics? Add some artichokes to your diet. This recipe uses either fresh or canned artichokes and is quick and easy to make. I love eating this dip with home-made crackers or using it as a source for pasta. Artichokes hearts can be bought canned or in jars or if you have time you can buy fresh artichokes and chargrill the hearts yourself. This recipe comes from Healthy Gut Handbook by Justine Pattison.
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
390 g can artichoke hearts drained (or 175g chargrilled fresh artichokes hearts)
1 garlic clove, peeled
Finely grated zest of ½ small lemon
1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
25g flaked almonds or mixed nuts, roughly chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
Creating the Magic!
Place the artichokes hearts, lemon zest and juice, olive oil and mixed nuts in a food processor. Add a good pinch of salt and lots of ground pepper. Blitz until well combined with a thick, dropping consistency. Adjust the seasoning as needed, adding more lemon, salt and pepper as needed. Serve with chopped vegetables or warmed sourdough or whole grain bread.
Enjoy!