March 2009 Newsletter: The Power of Asparagus

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the March newsletter from www.OrganicFood.com.au , the organic home delivery specialists.

If you want fresh, seasonal organic produce delivered to your door, you have come to the right place! Our organic mixed boxes, are a fun and convenient way to receive a wonderful variety of fresh organic goodies to your door each week!

In this month's newsletter we feature ASPARAGUS as our prestigious "Veg of the Month" (we would love to talk about summer fruits forever but have to stop somewhere!).  There is also a great recipe from a cooking class partner, an interesting article from a naturopath and news on our ever expanding organic grocery products. Thanks for your interest in the organic market.

The Team at www.OrganicFood.com.au

All About Asparagus

Don't under estimate the nutritional value, taste and versatility of asparagus based on it’s size!  Asparagus is one of the most nutritionally well-balanced vegetables in existence. It leads nearly all vegetables in the wide array of nutrients it supplies in significant amounts for a healthy diet.  

Asparagus is:

• Low in calories.
• Contains no fat or cholesterol.
• Very low in sodium.
• A good source of potassium (potassium is an important mineral found within the cell membrane.  It is essential for nerve impulse transmission, muscle contraction, and heart function).
• A source of fibre. 
• One of the leading vegetables in terms of providing folacin or folic acid.
• A significant source of thiamin (thiamin or vitamin B1 is essential for our energy – it helps convert carbohydrates into energy). One of the richest sources of rutin (a compound which strengthens capillary walls).
• Contains glutathione (GSH)) – a major antioxidant

Sources include www.asparagus.com.  

Cooking green asparagus

(it also comes in lesser known white and purple!). Asparagus is not just for the gourmet cooks! You can steam, stir-fry, bake, blend, toss in a salad or even chuck it on the barbecue. Easy, delicious and healthy...

Check out if asparagus is one of the fresh seasonal organic veges currently available in our online shopping aisles.

Organic Grocery Products

We continue to add more products to our organic grocery section, including gluten free products, and some delicious organic chips. We have also just added some great (all natural) suntan lotion and insect repellant.

Our "Grocery Product of the Month" is delicious raw honey from Eco Organics. Great on toast or in smoothies! Coming in either 500g or 1kg sizes, this wonderful honey is collected from native Australian bushland, away from built up urban areas. It retains its rich, natural flavour and goodness because it is never chemically treated or over heated. Enjoy the extra flavour and goodness of this delicious, wholesome honey.

No artificial flavours, colours or preservatives. No synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers.  Certified organic by ACO.  

Recipe of the Month: Avocado, Almond & Orange Cous Cous 

This months great recipe comes from Georgina, a customer in the northern beaches. Not only does Georgina have good taste in the foods she buys, she is also a wonderful cook, who offers individual or group cooking classes via her great business Simply Sumptuous Foods. If you mention www.OrganicFood.com.au when booking a cooking class, she has kindly agreed to give you 10% off as well. Thanks for the offer, and the great recipe Georgina!

Ingredients Serves 4

• 200gm Couscous
• 200ml vegetable stock
• 1 Avocado, roughly diced
• ½ red capsicum, finely diced
• 1 tbsp almond slices, toasted
• 1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 2 oranges, segmented
• Juice of 1 orange
• ½ punnet cherry toms
• 30ml white wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp Walnut or Hazelnut oil
• ¼ bunch mint, finely chopped
• Salt Pepper

Place couscous in a bowl and pour over stock, cover and stand for 5 minutes. Make vinaigrette by mixing the vinegar and oil together. Pour dressing over the diced avocado and gently mix. Stir couscous with a fork to break up the particles add the seeds, nuts, orange segments, tomatoes, capsicum, mint and season. Mix through the vinaigrette and avocado and serve.

About Naturopathy

We often get asked about naturopathy and how organic food and nutrition interact with this alternative medicine. Claudette Wadsworth is a naturopath who enjoys our organic food, and has kindly provided some high level, summary info on this topic.

Although someone may be eating fairly well, everyone has different nutrient requirements depending on their lifestyle, level of stress, amount of exercise they do, medications they take or other health conditions they have. A Naturopath and Nutritionist can guide you with healthy eating principles, make sure you are not deficient in any of your nutrients and teach you how to manage your stress better as well as custom-make a diet and health programme to best suit your specific health problems or needs with realistic and practical solutions.

Herbal medicines stimulate the body’s own innate healing properties as opposed to orthodox medicines which replace the body’s function so that organ often shuts down in response (e.g. like the Contraceptive Pill on the ovaries). Even with a healthy organic diet, herbal medicines speed up the healing process especially if imbalances or disease states already exist - they give the body the extra boost. Herbs stimulate the body’s immune system, regulate the body’s own production of hormones, improve digestive function and can be used for treatment of chronic diseases e.g.. arthritis or preventative care e.g.. preconception.

In recent years a tremendous amount of research has been done with alternative therapies to prove their uses.

For more information on alternative therapies and naturopathy, Claudette would be happy to answer any of your queries. Click here for more info.

Any questions About Our Home Delivery Organic Shopping Service?

If you have any queries at all about our service, please don't hesitate to call us on 9967-9967 (Syd) or 03-9818-8606 (Mel), or email info@organicfood.com.au.

Thanks for supporting the environment and organic farmers... Happy Shopping!  

The Team at OrganicFood.com.au