Ikarian Longevity Stew Recipe: Spermidine-Rich Edition

Who doesn't love to cook once and eat multiple times, while getting more spermidine into our diets? We thought so! 

This is a recipe featuring multiple spermidine-rich foods and it is both nourishing and delicious, perfect for all seasons. It reflects the diet of the Blue Zone, Ikaria where they are big on stews with lots of beans, pulses and veg.

Ingredients (3-5 people):

• 100 g of broccoli
• 100 g mushrooms
• 300 g of dried beans (soybeans, small white beans, quail beans)
• 100 g peas (fresh or frozen)
• 150 g of potatoes
• 1 bar of celery
• 2 big carrots
• ½ leek
• ½ fennel
• 50 g coarse spelt flour
• 100 g spelt grains
• ½ onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt + pepper + spices + lemon zest + a dash of vinegar
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 small piece of butter (1 tbsp), 1 tbsp flour (roux)

Method

The evening before (or in the morning, if you're making this in the evening) soak the beans and spelt grains. Peel carrots and potatoes and cut into pieces about ½ cm thick. Wash fennel and leek and cut into pieces about ½ cm thick. Wash broccoli and cut into mouth-friendly pieces. Clean mushrooms and cut into mouth-friendly pieces. Finely chop the onion and celery. Chop garlic.

In a large pot of oil saute onion, celery and mushrooms. Add garlic and fry for a short time. Deglaze with 1 liter of bone broth. Add potatoes, broccoli, carrots, fennel, leeks, peas, beans, spelt grains and coarse spelt flour. Season with 1 bay leaf, salt, pepper and spices (for example a little marjoram, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lovage, etc.) and simmer for 1 hour. Season with lemon peel and a dash of vinegar.

For roux, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a saucepan, add flour and stir well until lightly colored. Then (while stirring!) douse with broth so that no lumps arise. If this happens, swipe through a sieve before adding to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil again with good stirring. Finished.

Feel free to add pair with a slice of wholemeal bread with mature cheddar cheese or goat's cheese for an hearty, spermidine hit. And, of course, the addition of sausages in the stew would be delicious.

Originally posted on: https://ringshealthkitchen.com/2019/03/15/spermidine-rich-stew/