Pomegranates have made a real come back in the juice stakes recently, with different varieties released under the brand Pomegreat – one of my favourites was the pomegranate and blueberry one. This in primarily down to their high antioxidant properties, which is being lauded around as one of the supernutrients that we all need to keep us in tip top health.  Beyond antioxidants, pomegranates also contain lots of vitamin C, niacin and fibre.

The pomegranate is native to Iran where it still grows wild today and from where it spread to India, China and Europe at least two thousand years ago. When choosing one, look for heavier  fruits with glossy, taut, unbroken skin. To get at the tasty pulpy seeds, simply cut the pomegranate in half and use the trick I mentioned earlier – pick them out with a pin (obviously be careful not to prick your fingers or tongue). For the juice, roll the fruit on a hard surface with your hand before cutting in half and squeezing into a sieve.

Now try this super-healthy salad recipe:

Arugula, Fennel, Apple, Mandarin Orange and Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 shallot, minced
1/2tsp (packed) grated lemon peel
1 large fresh fennel bulb, trimmed, halved, very thinly sliced
1 8-ounce Fuji apple, halved, cored, cut into matchstick-size strips
6 cups trimmed arugula leaves (from two 4-ounce packages)
2 mandarin oranges or tangerines, peeled, each cut crosswise into 3 slices
Pomegranate seeds

Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Combine fennel and apple in medium bowl; mix in 3tbsp dressing.

Place arugula in large bowl. Add fennel-apple mixture. Toss, adding more dressing to taste. Divide salad among 6 plates. Garnish each with 1 mandarin orange slice and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Click here for the eattheseasons website, where you find more about what’s in season.

Turnips have sustained us for centuries, and are thought to have originated in Northern Europe around 2,000 BC. In fact rumour has it that they were one of the first vegetables to be cultivated. They become a key source of nutrition for the Romans and a staple across Europe before the potato came on the scene.

Nutritonally, turnips are full of vitamin C, which makes them a perfect winter food. They are also a good source of phosphorus and fibre. What’s more, with vitamin B6, calcium, manganese and potassium, you can see just how good they are for you. The even contain indoles, which helps the body generate a number of beneficial enzymes.

When buying turnips, look for a smooth undamaged texture, and go for the smaller varieties as they tend to be sweeter and more tender.

Turnip Curry

5tbsp Oil
1 portion Fennel seeds
2 lb Turnip, sliced into 1″ strip
2tsp Salt
1/2tsp Turmeric
1 1/4tsp Cumin, ground
1 cup of water
1/4tsp Red chilli, crushed
2 1/2tbsp Cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Add fennel seeds and turnip strips. Fry, stirring, for 2 to 4mins over medium heat. Add salt, turmeric and cumin and mix well. Cover and cook gently over low heat for 10mins, the turnip should be soft. Uncover and drain off any excess oil. Add water, stirring and cook over medium heat for 3mins. Remove from heat and sprinkle in the crushed chillis and cilantro. Serve with rice & bread.

Click here for the eattheseasons website, where you find more about what’s in season.

To be honest, we can’t see anything wrong with this. If you can’t let yourself go on this one day a year, when can you? To us the problem seems to be the Christmas Season, not the big day itself.

With decorations now adorning every high street, trees up in almost every shop and festive food on every super market shelf, it is perhaps not surprising that we start scoffing festive food like mince pies from the first of the month and keep going until Boxing Day.

Do this, and not surprisingly, you could end up half a stone heavier, giving a whole new meaning to ‘The Big Day’ on the 25th.

So if you’ve been making an effort during November to make sure you can fit into your little black dress for the upcoming parties (perhaps you’ve been following our own LBD Diet Plan), how can you enjoy yourself, but not put on weight?

Well, apart from our own Party Season Diet that you’ll find on our website later this week, I’ve come across another couple of blogs that offer some great tips too.

Carina Norris picks out some great healthy eating choices when eating out at http://tinyurl.com/y8drgyq

She says: “Whether it’s an office party or a celebration with friends, you don’t have to ditch your healthy eating plan every time you eat out. Instead, become a menu master and learn to pick out the healthiest choices.”

Carina looks at six favourite cuisines and advises on courses and drinks to show you how you can enjoy a good meal without breaking the calorie bank.

Meanwhile, Paula Gilbert, nutritionist at the Grayshott Spa in Amersham near London, also offers some great tips on “enjoying festive fare without piling on the pounds”. You’ll find her blog at http://tinyurl.com/yh6u84q

So you see, you can stay in shape over the party season and have fun! And it’ll really be worth it when you can still fit into your special outfit on Christmas morning.

Here at Ador, you know that we love food that looks good and tastes good, but also happens to have added benefits, like our chocolate, which contains pine nut extracts that help to keep you feeling full.

This week we heard about another chocolate available in Spain that contains an algae called spirulina, which its makers also say helps to keep you slim. It sounds great and is said to taste nice.

The slightly green tinge coming from the algae may not appeal to everyone, but naturally, it is horses for courses and we are pleased that other companies are helping to champion the concept that foods normally perceived as being at best ‘naughty’ and at worst ‘bad’ can actually be enjoyed in moderation and without guilt.

The fact is, losing pounds doesn’t mean that you should eat stuff that looks, or tastes weird.

Let’s be honest, probably the only really, truly healthy snack is fresh fruit. But what else is there if you just don’t feel that an apple is going to hit the spot?

You’d probably turn to something that sounds healthy. Perhaps you’d choose a cereal or granola bar, which has pictures of fruit, nuts or swaying ears of wheat on its pack, or maybe to packet of yoghurt-coated raisins or rice cakes?

But just how good for you are these seemingly acceptable alternatives, and how do they make you feel after you have had them? Do they satisfy a craving or just distract you from what you really fancied, and leave you still feeling hungry?

Nasty shocks
If, like us, you think these offerings are wolves in sheep’s clothing, then maybe you can see why we have launched our range of Ador snacks. Perhaps you have been shocked to find just how many calories are actually packed into a tiny cereal bar (127 in a titchy 26g bar), and that the ‘yoghurt’ on the raisins is just a confection of sugar and fat (404 calories per 100g bar). Or you may have discovered that rice cakes are digested so rapidly that they raise your blood sugar only to see it crashing again soon after as if you had eaten biscuits instead.

OK, hands up, Ador chocolate bars are made from the finest Swiss chocolate. But, it’s carefully portion controlled and has the benefit of an added extract of pine nut oil, which has been found to help keep you feeling full. In other words, one 35g bar with 178 calories is enough (rather than wolfing down over 265 calories in a typical 50g bar of milk chocolate).

In fact, people tell us that it is more than enough – even those on Harper’s Bazaar magazine (link). And because it’s so rich and filling, they say that one bar can last all day.

Cereal killers
We also do oat bars. Not tiny little things that won’t touch the sides, but substantial 50g fillers with only 175 calories each – you’d get 254 calories in the same weight of a typical cereal bar. They also come in flavours that actually get your taste buds going (really raspberryish raspberry, delicious prune and ginger and a gorgeous mocha, which is made to have with a skinny cappuccino).

Like our chocolate bars, these tasty oaty treats also have a clever added ingredient. This time it’s an oat and palm oil extract called Fabuless, which again, helps to keep you feeling full.

Guilt-free snacking
So what does all this mean?

Well first, now if all you really fancy is chocolate, you can have it – without feeling guilty. Or if you’re looking for an oat bar that will make you feel full, rather than leaving you craving the rest of the multipack, you can have that too. What’s more, we promise you a wonderful taste experience.

Oh… and we also do sugar-free green tea mints in orange and mint flavours (with no artificial sweeteners) to keep your mouth healthy and feeling great in between meals.

So if you fancy a real snack, grab one of ours. They are delicious, good for you and, above all, honest.