Good Foods For Good Moods

If you're been feeling crappy, it's time to take a good look at your food choices to see how they are affecting your state of being. Are your craving a lot of sweet or starches? If your blood sugar is on a roller-coaster ride from eating too much processed sugar, refined carbohydrates, and artificial ingredients, your are more likely to feel imbalanced and cranky. You'll also feel off balance if you've started a super-restrictive crash diet; your GI tract will be in destress with intense hunger pangs. Keeping your blood sugar stedy and your GI tract running smoothly will do wonder for your overall health and mood, Plus, the key nutrients you get in certain foods can influence your brain's levels of feel-good neurotransmitters such as serotonin, GABA, and dopamine. Other critical nutrients can help prevent inflamation in your body so that your blood circulates well to all of your organs.

Grilled Asparagus Sandwich With Hollandaise Sauce

This recipe is all about the juxtaposition of texture. The chewy, woodsy grilled asparagus is slathered in a tangy, light, dairy-free hollandaise sauce that creates a flavor explosion in your mouth. If you're prone to mood swings, asparagus is a must-have vegetable in your diet because it's packed with folic acid. Low levels of folic acid have been linked to depression, so you want to make sure you're getting plenty of it.

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MAKES 4 SERVING

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INGREDIENTS :


Hollandaise sauce:

• 1 cup cashews (soaked two hours)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 heaping tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon holy basil powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Asparagus sandwich:

• 2 teblespoons organic virgin coconut oil
• 1 pound asparagus spears
• 4 gluten-free english muffins, halved and toasted
• 1/2 cup diced red bell peper
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1/8 cup hemp seeds

DIRECTIONS :

1. To make the hollandaise sauce: blend all sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender for 30 seconds until smooth and creamy.
2. Heat the coconut oil in a sautè pan and cook the asparagus spears for five to six minutes on medium heat until tender and slightly browned. Transfer to a plate.
3. To assemble the sandwiches: layer each English muffin with a generous amout of the asparagus spears, hollandaise sauce, red bell peppers, parsley, and hemp seeds. Serve immediate.