January – the month of New Year’s resolutions and good intentions

Today’s guest blog is by Chava Eichner, the driving force behind Flavourphotos Food Photography. As a meat-free food photographer and cookery writer she has been able to combine her passion and her job for over 11 years. Last year, Chava started the Flavourphotos recipe blog to share her experience and knowledge to make this world a happier, more compassionate and kinder place. Click here for more recipe inspiration and mouthwatering food photography.

After the weeks of rich, festive food and over-indulgence with a glass of wine or three, most of us find that our bodies make themselves heard loudly and clearly in the New Year. This January came with a strong reminder for me that I needed some healthy sustenance to keep me fighting fit and able to run around with my two little boys. Aged four and six, they are like puppies, full of seemingly endless energy and I’m not keen to lose every race just yet. I’m sure, like me, you have come across countless articles on detoxing, healthy eating and weight loss plans in the last few days. Special dates can be a great motivator to make changes to our habits, whether it’s reducing meat and dairy in our diet or letting go of clutter in our homes. But how often do we put the goal posts so high that, even from before we start out, the finishing line becomes almost unreachable? Many of my friends, who go on a sudden mission to get fitter/healthier/slimmer, quickly feel disappointed and demoralised that they can’t stick to their (astronomical) goals and give up completely. My wish for January is that we remember to be kind to ourselves, too. Let’s re-assess our New Year’s resolutions. Are they achievable? Are they realistic? If you feel a bit disheartened already, how about making a gradual change if ‘the full hog’ (pardon the pun) is too daunting? The recipe I want to share today is part of my aim for 2014 – to include more raw food in my diet to get the maximum benefit of goodness and nutrition from my meals. My friend Andrea, who is a wonderful gardener and cook, made a beautiful raw beetroot, chilli and lime salad. It’s the perfect antidote to sluggish tummies and, with its stunning colours, it will brighten up any grey winter day. Back in December, Andrea was still able to pop into her garden and harvest her own beetroots, carrots and parsley for this recipe – that’s pretty hard to beat in terms of food miles. After our session of food photography for her blog, Andrea and I shared it over a lunch of home-made hummus, a winter greens salad (including tender, young cavalo nero leaves) and freshly made flatbreads from her woodburner. What a great way to combine nutritious ingredients into a vibrant meal that’s bursting with flavour. Beetroot is wonderfully versatile and has always held a special place in my heart because my grandmother was a keen fan of this bulbous root vegetable. She used to tell me about its blood cleansing, detoxing powers, and loved to drink freshly pressed beetroot juice. It inevitably left her with a cute little magenta moustache. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat it without thinking of her. Andrea’s Zesty Beetroot and Red Cabbage Salad

Ingredients 1 medium sized beetroot 1 kohlrabi 1/4 red cabbage 2 carrots 1 red chiili 1 handful of flat-leaf parsley 2 limes 1 tablespoon olive oil or rapeseed oil Maldon sea salt and lots of black pepper Instructions 1. Peel and shred (or chop as fine as you have time and patience for!) the beetroot, red cabbage, carrots and kohlrabi. 2. Deseed and chop the chilli and roughly chop the parsley. 3. Mix everything together, adding the juice of the limes, oil and seasoning to taste. You may even want to add more lime juice if you feel like a real citrus kick.