Food for thoughts #4
Stuffed Turkey with stewed cabbage in orange juice.
Serotonin controls our emotions and motor skills. It’s the mood-stabilizing chemical that helps with sleep, eating, digesting. Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan. An essential compound (amino acids, fatty acids, etc…) is something that must enter your body through the diet.
Being the precursor of serotonin and melatonin makes tryptophan extremely important to our mood and sleep cycle.
Eating a healthy diet which contains this amino acid may help support our mental health, so it is something we should all consider during these delicate times.
Tryptophan is found in red meat, dairy, nuts, seeds, bananas and turkey — and turkey is our special ingredient for this week’s recipe! We picked this type of meat instead of other animal proteins as we though not many people know the health-promoting benefits of turkey. This poultry has a higher protein content than beef, for example (34g instead of 26g per 100g) and half its saturated fat, plus it is packed with B vitamins and minerals.
In these roasted turkey rolls we also added spinach, pistachios and cabbage as we wanted to use more of those ingredients that can optimise the gut-brain health. Folate, B6 and magnesium found in the foods above are fundamental for both the digestive and nervous system.
To cook this recipe you will need a oven tray, baking paper, cling film, a rolling pin and some cook’s string.
https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003198/full
https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/68692
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: about 2 hours
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
1 turkey breast (about 250g)
FILLING
100g spinach
a bunch of thyme
30g onions (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
5ml oil
15g crushed pistachios
salt
COATING
20g ground pistachios
20g chopped pistachios
1 egg
3g salt
CABBAGE
olive oil
170g cabbage
50ml orange juice
a pinch of salt
INSTRUCTIONS
For the filling. In a small pan heat up 5ml of oil and cook the onions and garlic with the thyme for about 5 minutes or until translucent. When it is ready, set aside to cool down and discard the thyme sticks.
Cut the Turkey breast cutting with a sharp knife in the middle to open it into two layers. Then place it in between two cling film sheets. Flatten it out with a rolling pin.
Now place the spinach leaves in a double layer on top of the turkey. Spoon the filling on the top. Roll it into itself to form a cylinder shape. With the help of the cling film. Discard the cling film and hold the roll in place by using the cook's string.
Place it in the fridge to rest for about 1 hour.
Brush some egg yolk on the top. Coat with the pistachio mix.
Preheat the oven to 150 ºC
Place a bit of parchment paper on a baking tray and cook the turkey roll for about 2hours. I advise using a thermometer to check the internal temperature, you are looking for 70 ºC.
While it is cooking you can prepare the cabbage. Cut it into thin stripes and discard the hardest parts.
Cook in a pan with a tiny bit of boiling water for about 10-15minutes. Drain the water, season to taste and squeeze half an orange on the top before serving.