Last week I mentioned that I’m having an awful time with my psoriasis and eczema recently. I’m getting flair ups almost every day, even water against my hands is causing sensitivity. I’m trying everything from acupuncture to homeopathy after finding only temporary relief from traditional treatments. In a bid to try and rid, or at least reduce, the flair ups I’m making a big effort to clean up my diet a bit more.  I’m usually a healthy eater anyway, but I recently read a few articles stating that anti-inflammatory diets can give relief to skin complaints, so I decided to give it a go.

Anti-inflammatory diet, eh?  Sounds about as appealing as cabbage soup and mouldy toast at first, I know, but in fact it all seems pretty straight forward. From what I’ve read, it just advocates eating more fresh fruit, veg, whole grains, fish, anti inflammatory spices (like ginger and turmeric), nuts and healthy fats while cutting down on processed foods, sugar, red meat, eggs and dairy. The key take away point of it though seems to be the more fresh fruit and veg in your diet, the merrier! Apparently it helps people with the symptoms of a whole host of inflammatory diseases including arthritis and psoriasis. I decided to give it a go because, well, what the heck. It’s nothing outlandish anyway, it just really touts knowledge and food principles we’ve already heard a thousand times… More veg, fish, nuts and less biscuits, burgers and cheese on toast. Got it.

I have a massive sweet tooth, and thought that would be the aspect of the diet upon which I would crumble (pun 100% intended), so was delighted when I successfully whizzed up this recipe and it was received by my guinea pigs with thumbs up. The fruit mix has an incredible flavour thanks to the ginger, orange zest and vanilla, while the crumble topping has a far more wholesome and nutty crunch than the usual flour and butter mix. Despite cutting out eggs, wheat and dairy, this is still at least, if not more, delicious than the average crumble. Hopefully you’ll whizz this up for yourself and be pleasantly surprised that something so good for you can taste so heavenly!

Ingredients (Serves 4-6):

3 Large Pears

1 Orange (remove zest and set aside before peeling)

1 Cup Mixed Berries (I used frozen… Cheap and cheerful)

1 Inch Fresh Ginger, Grated

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Powder/Extract (I like Nua Naturals)

1 Cup Oats

1 Cup Almonds

1/2 Cup Walnuts

6 Tablespoons Coconut Oil (rapeseed works too)

Coconut Yoghurt, to serve

1. Chop the pears and add to a pot with the grated ginger, orange zest and a splash of water. Put a lid on and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the pear pieces are softened.
2. Chop the orange and mix into the pot of pears along with the mixed berries.  Stir in the vanilla powder. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes so they’re all mixed together nicely.
3. Spread the fruit mix into a small/medium baking dish.
4. Pop the nuts in a food processor and blitz until they’re roughly chopped (or you can just chop them by hand). Mix in a bowl with the oats and melted coconut oil until all is well mixed.
5. Spread the oat and nut crumble mix over the fruit mix.
6. Pop the crumble into an oven preheated to 180C for 35 minutes.
7. Serve with a dollop of coconut or greek yoghurt and enjoy!