Recipes, Cooking and Great Healthy Food

About 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat, most of which is monounsaturated fat, and that is good fat. Avocados also have 60% more potassium than bananas, this mineral is necessary to maintain the right balance of water in your body. Half an avocado a day will provide you with an eighth of your daily need. They are rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and vitamin K.

Avocados have the highest fiber content than any commonly eaten fruit - including 75% insoluble and 25% soluble fiber. High fiber intake in important because it lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease, some types of cancer, high blood pressure diabetes and very importantly obesity!

High avocado intake has been shown to lower cholesterol levels. Specifically, after a seven day diet rich in avocados, hypercholesterolemia patients showed a 17% decrease in total serum cholesterol levels. They also showed a 22% decrease in bad cholesterol levels as well as an 11% increase in good cholesterol levels.
The avocado fruit contains no cholesterol, only healthy oils such as mono-unsaturated oil, which is an essential element for lowering LDL cholesterol levels, in other words it lowers the levels of the bad cholesterol.
Mono and poly-unsaturated oils make up more than 70% of the oil content in this fruit. These "good" fats / oils have been shown to protect the arterial walls and therefor protect against arterial heart disease, which claims thousands of lives every year.
The Avocado carries the South African Heart Foundation's Heart Mark since 1997 due to its capacity to reduce chances of coronary heart disease.

Avocados are rich in disease fighting anti-oxidants such as vitamin A (in the safe beta carotene form), vitamin C and vitamin E. These help to prevent heart disease, cataracts in your eyes and premature ageing and also many types of cancer. Vitamins A and C are important antioxidants, which protects your body from free radicals that cause gradual deterioration and ageing. To boost your energy levels and strengthen your immune system you need to eat an avocado a day.
The vitamin C content of an avocado has numerous benefits, ranging from a common cold prevention to protection your body from stressful situations. The dual combination of the two vitamins C and E is a major advantage because one strengthens the fortifying action of the other.
Aside from folic acid, avocados are also very rich in vitamin B6, which helps keep your nervous system in good working order, this is especially beneficial to woman suffering from PMS.

An important mineral for your bone health, phosphorus, is also found in avocados.

Probably the most important of all is the fact that avocados are not fattening. Half an avocado contains about 160 calories - 20 calories less than a small bag of peanuts and slightly lower than a small slice of cheddar cheese. Eating avocados can be part of a successful weight management program because it's mono-unsaturated oil speeds up the metabolic rate, and it's oil content may help reduce overeating because you get full faster. The same oil content reduces the urge to binge on foods higher in sugar and saturated fats.

A tomato is a delicious, nutritious fruit, more widely known as a vegetable to most of us, but botanically, a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum,) is the ovary of a flowering plant, therefore it is actually a fruit, or, more specifically, a berry. However, it's not as sweet as other fruits and therefore is most often served in salads or as a main dish - and most people refer to it as a vegetable. A tomato is a luscious fruit that is both tasty and promotes good health.

Tomatoes are high in Vitamin A and C and are naturally low in calories. They are also an excellent source of lycopene, which is the pigment that makes tomatoes red and has been linked to the prevention of many types of cancer. Lycopene is the most powerful natural antioxidant which fights free radicals that can interfere with normal cell growth and activity. These free radicals are what can potentially lead to cancer, heart disease and premature aging. Lycopene is a substance that helps protect against many cancers, including prostate, breast, lung, stomach, bladder, colon, neck, cervix and pancreas cancer, and might be strongly protective against neurodegenerative diseases. Lycopene has also been shown to improve the skin's ability to protect against harmful UV rays The best sources of lycopene are found in processed tomato products, such as ketchup and tomato products. And even better, you body absorbs lycopene better from processed tomatoes, so start simmering that red sauce all you like.

This is a fresh crab meat mixed with milky ricotta cheese, crunchy sweet pepper, chillies and onions served with a spicy dressing to make a lunch dish that is decorative, satisfying and healthy.
Preparation time is about 20 minutes, and it serves 4.

Ingredients needed:
1 green chilli
1 small green pepper
1 small red onion
3 spring onions
4 dressed crabs in their shells, or 2 cans crab meat
85 gram ricotta cheese
Salt and black pepper
300ml mayonnaise
5 ml dried chilli flakes
4 slices of whole wheat bread

1. Rinse, dry, deseed and finely slice the green chilli and the pepper. Halve, peal and thinly sliced the red onion.
Rinse, dry, trim and slice the spring onions, including some of the green parts, and put them all into a mixing bowl.
2. Take the crab meat out of the shells, or drain the cans and add it to the mixing bowl with the ricotta cheese, stirring
until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Stir the chilli flakes in to the mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Place in a serving bowl
and set aside.
4. Toast the bread, cut it into quarters in triangles and arrange them on a serving platter. Pile the crab mixture in the
centre and place the bowl of chilli mayonnaise on one side.
5. Let each person help themselves to the crab mixture, spreading it on the toast and topping it with the chilli-flavored
mayonnaise.