Iron Rich Food Recipes

Today, at least 3.4 millions Americans suffer from anemia. Iron is a vital nutrient required by the body to supply oxygen to the blood, aid weight loss, build immunity and strength. Women need 18mg iron per day as compared to the daily iron requirement of men and children. Eating iron rich food will not ensure sufficient iron absorption in your body. It is relatively dependent on the form in which iron is consumed. A complete vegetarian diet is not recommended for people suffering from iron deficiency because it is 10 to 20% easier to absorb iron from animal sources (heme iron) as compared to that extracted from plant sources (non-heme iron). To increase the body's ability to absorb iron, supplement your iron rich food recipes with sources of vitamin C such as citrus fruits. Also its best to try to avoid cooking and eating raw food instead as heating reduces iron content in the food.

List of Iron Rich Food Recipes

Homemade Beef Liver with Onions
Preparation Time: 40 mins Cooking Time: 20 mins	Ingredients 2 lbs. thinly sliced liver 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. pepper 1 tbsp. parsley 1 lemon 1 tsp. thinly chopped garlic 2-3 tbsp. olive oil/ Coconut oil 1/3 cup butter (opt.) 2 cups thinly sliced onions 1/4th cup white wine for sauce Water	Preparation Rinse the liver with cold water using a colander. Marinate it with lemon juice. Let it sit for 30 mins. The lemon keeps the liver moist and gets rid of the meat's unpleasant flavor. Cut the liver into small pieces using poultry shears for ease while frying. Mix the flour with salt, pepper and garlic. Coat the liver pieces with this mixture as it dries out the meat. It gives it a subtle crispiness and acts as a base for the sauce. Opt for cast iron cookware to fry the oil to add more iron to the dish. When the oil starts to sizzle, cook the liver from both sides in the pan. Don't overcook or overlap the pieces. The meat should fry in approximately 2 mins. Cover it with a lid for another 2 minutes. Now, remove the pieces and pour water and stir. In the pan, saute the onions until dark and tender. Add the remaining flour and wine while continuously stirring the sauce. Add salt according to taste. Put the liver back into the pan. You may add the stock. Turn until the pieces are entirely coated with the sauce. Garnish with parsley and serve!
Tip: *You can use duck fat to cook. It gives a mouth-enveloping taste to the beef. *You can serve with mashed potatoes or rice as a side-dish and a citrus fruit salad.

Roast Duck with Orange Sauce
Preparation Time: 10 mins Cooking Time: 70 mins	Ingredients 2 small-sized ducks 1 tbsp. salt 1 tbsp. chili powder 1 tbsp. garlic powder Freshly grounded pepper For the sauce 4 oranges (juiced) 6 oz. white wine 6 oz. chicken stock 3 tbsp. sugar (opt.) 2 tsp. peach reserves (opt.)	Preparation Season the duck with seasonings on both sides. Keep aside. Now, in a large frying pan, pour the orange juice, wine and stock. Add some orange peels for essence. Bring to boil and reduce the flame. You may add the sugar and/or peach. In another pan, cook the duck for a long time. You will notice duck fat gathering on the sides of the pan. Remove it with a spoon. Add some soya sauce and turn off the flame. Turn the duck and leave in pan for 10 mins. Coat the duck with the sauce while cooking. Take the duck out of the pan and cut into palm-sized pieces. Now, add them to the orange sauce. Cook on low flame until hot and coat with orange sauce using a spoon. garnish with parsley and serve immediately.
Tip: *You can add mango chutney to the sauce to make it more spicy. *While adding orange peels, scrap off the white part else it will give off a sour taste. *You may reuse the duck fat in the sauce. *If the sauce turns out to be too sweet, add lemon juice to make it tangy.

Spinach and Tomato Pasta
Preparation Time: 10 mins Cooking Time: 30 mins	Ingredients 500 gms. penne or fusilli ¼ cup olive oil 1 kg. boiled, washed and trimmed spinach 2 cups chopped tomatoes 3 sliced garlic cloves 1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. chili flakes ½ cup grated Romano cheese 1 cup shredded Mozzarella/ Fonina cheese	Preparation Boil pasta to water with added salt. Drain and toss with 1 tsp. Olive oil. Steam the spinach at high plan while stirring continuously. Now, toss it with pasta. Heat the remaining oil at moderate heat. Fry garlic with salt and pepper until light golden brown. Add tomatoes and cook at high flame for 3 mins. Mix Romano cheese evenly and garnish with the remaining cheese. Bake in the oven at 200 Celsius until the cheese is melting and slight brown. This dish is delicious and contains 64% RDI iron.
Tip: *Buy a whole wheat variety of pasta to add to the nutrional value of your dish. *Use rice pasta to make your dish gluten free.

Lentil Salad
Preparation Time: 10 mins Cooking Time: 2 mins	Ingredients 2 cups brown lentils 2 tsp. fresh chopped coriander leaves 2 finely chopped onions 1 tsp. olive oil ½ cup fresh lemon juice Salt and pepper (according to taste)	Preparation Mix everything together! It is that simple and packed with iron. I love salads because they are the easiest and the quickest to make. The raw taste is a refreshing break from everyday dishes. Also, remember to soak your lentils overnight before you decide to use them in the salad. Toss some leftovers of the dinner last night or grate some cheese over your salad, it tastes amazing. You can also add a vinaigrette dressing to it and garnish with herbs. This is a very simple version of the lentils salad but you can add other ingredients to it and make it suiting to your taste buds.
Tip: *No need to stress if you do not have brown lentils, you can any variety of lentils in its place. *Cucumber, bell peppers and tomatoes are nutritious and crunchy additions to the dish.

To find out the iron nutritional value of the ingredients mentioned in these recipes, refer to the iron rich foods chart. If you really want to increase the intake of iron, cut down dairy products and tannins present in tea, coffee and wine. These foods hamper the body's iron absorption capacity. Cooking your meals in cast iron or stainless steel also increases the quantity of iron present in food. Seafood and poultry produce are high in heme-iron and facilitate better absorption of non-heme iron. Avoid whole grains and soy because they slow down absorption of non-heme iron. Although spinach and legumes are iron rich foods, they convert in to more complex forms once ingested and make it difficult for the body to absorb iron.

Add raisins and walnuts to your whole grain oatmeal during breakfast. They are packed with iron. You can also follow up your dinner with a black molasses smoothie, one of the richest sources of iron in a vegan diet. Bon Appétit!!!