Last night, after a long day at the computer, I walked over to the gym for a swim. And as I always do, I stop in to Trader Joe's to see what food and drink they were sampling. I have been so busy working I completely forgot St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner.and TJ's was sampling corned beef and beer for a themed promotion.
As I swam, I thought about some less fatty options you cysters could try this year. Which, beer fresh on my palate, led to my looking up recipes for beer soaked salmon (see below)…and then to a Google search for the health benefits of (moderate!) beer consumption to justify posting the recipe…and I found quite a bit!
•Hops contains flavonoids which may help to prevent certain kinds of cancer.
•Beer contains vitamin B6, which protects against heart diseases by preventing the build-up of a compound called homocysteine.
•Beer contains folate! And you know how much inCYST loves folate!
•Magnesium, another mineral you see us write about in this blog, is also found in beer.
•You'll find vitamin B12 in your lager as well, which is needed for maintaining normal growth, good memory and concentration.
Since many of the readers of this blog are trying to conceive, I must caution you that consumption of any kind of alcohol is not recommended if you are or are trying to be pregnant. In this beer salmon recipe from the Food Network, there is opportunity for the alcohol to evaporate with cooking, leaving the nutrients behind. You can use garlic powder instead of garlic salt, and cut the brown sugar in half, if you wish. Since it's maple syrup season, you might even substitute a little bit of that instead if you have some on hand.
I found a nice quinoa stuffing with leeks, walnuts, and cherries at http://www.myrecipes.com/ that you might like to try along with the salmon.
Of course, you can enjoy the meal with a nice hearty beer if you wish, there will surely be some left from your six pack at dinner time! In my house, it's going to be the Guinness seasonal that inspired this blogging journey.
May the face of every good news and the back of every bad news be toward you…
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
