But why keep this delicious secret to ourselves? It’s time for the world to discover how versatile and tasty chutneys can be!

Here are three simple chutney recipes that pair perfectly with not only Indian food but also Western dishes. Let’s dive in!

1. Classic Green Chutney (Cilantro-Mint Delight)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh cilantro (coriander leaves)
• ½ cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 green chili (optional, for a little kick)
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1-inch piece of ginger
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons yogurt (for creaminess)
• A pinch of sugar (to balance the tang)

Instructions:

1. Toss the cilantro, mint, green chili, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, salt, yogurt, and sugar into a blender.
2. Blend until smooth. If it’s too thick, add a splash of water.
3. Taste and adjust the salt or lemon juice if needed.

What to Eat with This Chutney:

• Indian: Perfect with samosas, pakoras, or as a spread for naan.
• Western: Great in sandwiches, wraps, or as a dip for chips and veggie sticks.

This chutney recipe is a classic favorite that’s sure to add a zesty twist to any meal.

2. Sweet and Tangy Tamarind Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1 cup tamarind pulp (soaked in warm water for 10 minutes)
• ½ cup jaggery or brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon black salt (or regular salt)
• ½ teaspoon red chili powder (optional)
• 1 cup water

Instructions:

1. Strain the soaked tamarind to remove seeds and fibers, leaving you with just the smooth pulp.
2. In a saucepan, mix the tamarind pulp, jaggery/brown sugar, cumin powder, salt, and chili powder.
3. Add water and simmer on medium heat until the mixture thickens (about 10 minutes).
4. Let it cool before serving.

What to Eat with This Chutney:

• Indian: Drizzle over bhel puri, dahi puri, or samosas.
• Western: Use it as a dip for chicken nuggets, pretzels, or as a glaze for roasted veggies.

This chutney recipe is a delightful mix of sweet and tangy, making it a versatile addition to both Indian and Western snacks.

3. Coconut Chutney (Creamy Coconut Dream)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh grated coconut (you can use unsweetened shredded coconut too)
• 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts or cashews
• 1 small green chili (optional, for a mild spice)
• 1-inch piece of ginger
• Salt to taste
• ¼ cup water (or as needed for blending)
• 1 tablespoon yogurt (for extra creaminess)

Instructions:

1. Blend the grated coconut, roasted peanuts/cashews, green chili, ginger, salt, and water until smooth.
2. Stir in the yogurt for a creamy texture.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

What to Eat with This Chutney:

• Indian: Enjoy it with idli, dosa, or as a side with rice dishes.
• Western: Spread it on crackers, pita bread, or use it in sandwiches.

This chutney recipe brings a taste of tropical goodness to your table, making it a must-try for coconut lovers.

By trying out these easy chutney recipes, you’ll have a new way to elevate your meals, whether you’re enjoying traditional Indian fare or experimenting with Western dishes.

Recommended – 5 Easy Indian Snacks You Need to Try Right Now

The post Chutney Recipes: 3 Easy Dips to Spice Up Your Meals appeared first on Always Eat Good.

Video Summary:

Health and Physical Benefits of Fasting:

This is currently one of the biggest trends in weight loss. However, to achieve weight loss with this method you have to utilize a schedule for abstaining from food that is often rigorous and requires a high amount of self-control.

Additionally, fasting is said to help control cancer by starving cancer cells for a period of time allows the chemotherapy to work in a more effective way to target and kill cancer cells.

Heart health can be improved as well with intentional eating. The American Heart Association positions,

“Intentional eating with mindful attention to the timing and frequency of eating occasions could lead to healthier lifestyle and CARDIO METABOLIC risk factor management.”

Research also points out that fasting assists with diabetes and may substitute for insulin. It has also proven lead to a longer life. Additionally, studies suggest that severely restricting food and water for 24 hour period of time for a few days a week can substantially decrease your risk of heart disease.

Mental Benefits of Fasting:

Physical health is not the only thing that can benefit greatly from fasting for periods of time. Mental health also improves with periods of fasting. Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive cognitive dysfunction and behavioral impairment, is just one of the diseases intermittent fasting assists with.

Cognitive functions have improved as well as memory in patients who participate in intermittent fasting rituals regularly.

Interestingly, the idea of going without food for a period of time, even though it seems difficult, improves mood, reduces depression and feelings of tension. Ironically, this may be, at least in some cases, because people are not always worrying about the next meal or snack.

Lastly, intermittent fasting is known to reduce cravings. This is, at least in part, due to the idea that food is a need not a want. When we focus on what our body absolutely needs, rather than what it wants, our focus shifts from the need to eat when bored, to the recognition of satiety.

Spiritual Benefits of Fasting:

Many religious cultures also utilize this particular idea as a way to connect on a deeper level with their God. The idea is based on the notion that your spiritual needs outweigh your physical needs. Physical needs are ultimately put on the back burner when abstaining from food (or food and water) for a period of time. This allows allow the body to reconnect with its spirit or soul.  It is also believed that when abstaining for a period of time, a greater level of devotion is achieved for the one who is able to do all things. This includes recognizing the need for food is secondary to a need for Him.

How to Fast:

Knowing the benefits of fasting doesn’t make it any easier to accomplish, unless you have an incredible amount of self-control. So, how do you make fasting work for you? Whether you are doing it as a way to regain your health, improve your memory or get closer to your God you will need to understand how to go about it.

One method is the 5:2 method.

5:2 Method:

This fasting method consists of eating normally every day and then dramatically cutting calories for two days a week.  You can choose the days you fast and they do not have to be consecutive days or separate days. Its completely up to you.

This works better for many people because it allows them to eat regularly every day you are not “fasting.”

When training for a race or other strenuous activity, we recommended planning around the fast days.

16:8 Method

This method involves fasting every day for 14-16 hours and then eating 8-10 hours during the day. This allows you to fit in at least a few meals. This is one of the most popular fasting methods because it allows you to eat for a large amount of time. For instance, if you don’t eat after dinner and then skip breakfast the next morning, that period of time without eating could be considered your fast. Women do better with this method due to their hormones. You can drink zero calorie drinks all during this fast.

Warrior method and skipping meals are additional ways you can fast. It is really up to you how you choose to do it and how you feel your body functions best. Our suggestion is to try a number of methods until you discover one that works best for you.

There are a number of people who also suggest meditation in addition to fasting. This can significantly improve your sense of calm and allow what you are doing to seep deeper into your soul and improve your overall sense of well being.

The post Health, Mental and Spiritual Benefits of Fasting appeared first on Always Eat Good.

A blog by the name of “Always Eat Good” should only highlight Waffle House if the restaurant went to a lighter menu, began using organic products or closed, right? Do not get me wrong — I have spent many a late night at the local Waffle House and have eaten more scattered, covered and smothered hash browns than I should admit. But maybe its nice to see how good inner health can be found in a place so derided for its unhealthy food options. Yet, even this story could have gone a far less savory direction.

Shaina Brown waitresses at a North Carolina Waffle House, and on Mother’s Day, a man did what people only do at five-star restaurants (at least that’s what we thought until now): he pulled out his credit card, paid and left $1000 for Brown and asked her to give the woman at a nearby table an additional $500. If you’re keeping score, that’s a total of $1500 in cash and prizes!

The man left thereafter, and Brown faced a harsh reality that was out of her control: Waffle House does not allow its staff to accept large credit card tips. Corporate management instituted the policy as a safeguard against patrons who later regretted their generous decisions and sought refunds. The company does allow large cash and check tips. I have my guesses for why they think some of their eaters might not be in the best state of mind for financial decisions, but we’ll leave that for another day.

Waffle House — Good D’jour

The tip had all the makings of a Mother’s Day miracle for the single mom of three, but Brown knew the rules and properly adhered to them. Social media erupted with criticism all around, but is that really surprising? Waffle House was taken to task for its lack of charity. The tipper was criticized for putting such a burden on the waitress. Company-wide staff was questioned for their willingness to accept large credit card tips from customers. (Writer’s note: as a person who worked in restaurants, the last critique is the silliest — of course they are willing to accept the money, it’s the basis of their livelihood! Come on @meanpersonwhoneedsabetterhobbythantrolling.)

Now before you swear off Waffle House forever (though that may not be a horrible idea for those who are avoiding gluten, cholesterol-rich and fried food diets), the tipper later followed the restaurant’s policy and paid with a check. So Shaina Brown is $1000 richer and Waffle House waiters and waitresses around the country are being a little nicer to late-night/early-morning customers.

The post Waffle House Good for You? Here’s a Tip … appeared first on Always Eat Good.

The next time you get a tummy ache after eating at a local restaurant, you may want to reach for the pink stomach medicine and your cellphone. (Definitely grab the medicine first!)

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has announced food inspectors may soon incorporate regular use of app-based and web-driven restaurant review sites, like Yelp, in their investigations for potential health code violations. With the assistance of citizen reviewers, the new measure intends to gain a larger view of the food-related-illness landscape from the sick people themselves.

The CDC estimates that 48 million people become sick by way of contaminated, poorly-handled and under-cooked food, each year. But not every case is reported, and this new method could potentially add thousands more to these annual figures through a modern take on food inspection.

Originally tested in New York City, the program considers particular keywords reviewers use when relating their restaurant experiences. In this particular study, people who used terms like vomit, sick and diarrhea were 50% more likely to have an actual case of food poisoning. Food inspectors from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene also made direct contact with reviewers who posted about NYC restaurants in 2012 and 2013. From this sampling, the department added 16 official food-borne illness patients to their totals.

It may be difficult for inspectors across the country to implement something similar, but the CDC is being more proactive in its search for leads in its pursuit to protect the health and well-being of the general public. Major cities, including Chicago and Salt Lake City, have introduced kindred measures for their residents. The job of incorporating social reviewers into the food inspection process hampers its own effectiveness — the volume of follow-up, as well as the lack of information on the sick reviewers themselves, is severely limiting when advancing or closing cases. However, the CDC sees this idea as perfect when it’s in combination with other tools at their disposal.

The post The Reviews are In: Your Restaurant Made Us Sick! appeared first on Always Eat Good.

Compared to common fruits like apples, bananas, oranges, and pears, apricots get no play. (Don’t be ashamed though, I’m just as guilty of overlooking these fruits.)

The fact remains however, apricots are just as healthy and versatile as those fruits, if not more so.

Not only are they healthy, apricots are also very low in calories. There are only about 50 calories in three apricots. That’s right just THREE!

Like many fruits, there are a few different kinds of apricots. Usually though, you’ll only find one or two different kinds at your neighborhood market.

Fortunately, every apricot has the same health benefits so you would only have to make your choice based on taste not its benefit.

Here are some of the benefits I could find…

Video Overview

Cancer Prevention
Apricots have powerful antioxidants that aid in protecting the body from free radical activity and damage to cells and DNA.

Also, apricot seeds fight cancer due to their laetrile (aka B17) content.

High In Antioxidants

They are great sources of vitamins A and C, providing 20% of one’s daily value per serving.

Heart Health
Studies show that the beta carotene found in apricots play a positive role in cardiovascular health and heart disease prevention. They also help prevent oxidation to LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and detoxify the blood.

High In Fiber
The high fiber content in apricots could be vital in colon health. It’s great for digestion, helps balance metabolism, and aids in maintaining a healthy body weight.

Eye Health
The vitamin A and carotenoids in apricots help strengthen the eyes.

Anemia
Apricots contain a good amount of iron and copper, both of which may help in the formation of hemoglobin.

Skin Health
Rubbing apricot oil on the skin may help calm the symptoms of ailments such as eczema and scabies.

Weight Loss
As I mentioned before, apricots are a low calorie, nutrient rich food source and because of that, they are great fruits to add to a weight loss plan.

I don’t know about you, but I plan to go out and buy some as soon as I can.

As usual, eating fruits and veggies as raw as possible is the best way to go so here are a few apricot smoothie recipes for you to try.

Apricot-Strawberry Smoothie
2-4 apricots
1 apple
½ cup strawberries
2 cups fresh baby spinach (or other leafy green)
1 whole carrot
1/2 – 1 cup water

Apricot-Ginger Smoothie
2-4 apricots
1 apple
1 small stalk celery
2 cups fresh baby spinach (or other leafy green)
1 tbs ginger (to taste)
1/2 cup water

Apricot-Peach Smoothie
2 apricots
1 peach
1 whole carrot (optional)
2 cups fresh baby spinach (or other leafy green)
1/2 cup water

Apricot-Banana Smoothie
2-4 apricots
1 whole banana
2 cups fresh baby spinach (or other leafy green)
1/2 cup water

Thanks for reading you guys! If you try any of these smoothies, have a recipe of your own, or would just like to say HI, feel free.

Below are some of our top picks for  Dried Appricots that are so yummy you gotta give them a try!

Herbalia Dried Apricots

Oh! Nuts Dried Turkish Apricots

Dried Apricot Fruit Snack by Fuel by Nature

The post SuperFood: A – Apricots appeared first on Always Eat Good.