Top ways to enjoy your delicious Manuka honey
LOVE the taste of honey? There are so many ways to enjoy it, especially genuine Manuka honey from New Zealand. More than 90 per cent of honey lovers recently surveyed say they take it as part of their wellness routine — whether it’s dolloped on toast to super-charge their breakfast, stirred into a hot drink, or simply slurped off the spoon every morning or evening. Some reach for a jar at the first signs of feeling under the weather with a cough, cold or digestive issue. Others simply take it for general health and immunity. This delicious honey is only made by bees who collect nectar from the Manuka bush, a wild shrub which grows across New Zealand, but flowers for only a few weeks a year. Real Manuka honey has laboratory validated properties that other types of honey do not display, thanks to the inclusion of a naturally occurring compound called Methylglyoxal, or MGO for short. What’s more, Manuka honey tastes amazing! You see, Manuka has a stronger, deeper, earthier taste than the standard runny honey you’re used to buying at the supermarket. It’s also a little less sweet, much thicker, and can have a slight woody bitterness. Here are just three of the many ways to put your delicious Manuka honey to good use for healthy eating: n USE it as a marinade. Add it to soy sauce, garlic, vinegar and crushed red pepper before mixing in your raw chicken and letting it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking. Veggies? Just drizzle them in a little Manuka honey, mustard and oil, then roast for an hour on a low heat.
■ FOR breakfast, blend it into a strawberry and banana smoothie, add it to porridge or swirl it into plain yoghurt with a handful of fruit and a sprinkling of chopped pecans. Or if you’re in a rush, then Manuka honey on granary toast is a classic that is hard to beat. n LIKE baking? Mix it into a fibre-rich oat and nut crumble to top a nutrient-packed fruit stew. Add tasty Manuka honey to flapjacks for subtle sweetness. And if you can’t resist making a cake, you can spoon Manuka honey into the icing for a sticky, drizzly showstopper — or it works really well mixed in with fruit on the top.