Are you still looking for the perfect gift for your foodie-friend, partner, child or colleague? Here are 5 gifts to consider that are nutritionist-approved:
- A cookbook. This is not to say all ‘foodies’ love food prep, but many do. What kind of food do they like? Raw, vegan, paleo–these are just a few ‘genres’ to consider; also, there’s traditional ethnic cooking, with Mediterranean, Vietnamese being generally perceived as ‘healthy’. Can’t decide? Buy a gift card to a locally owned bookstore and they can choose their own.
- An electric juicer. Making “mocktails” is lots of fun! Juicing fruits and vegetables is an effective way to increase one’s consumption of these foods and the nutrients they contain. While this food prep method has been criticized for removing the visible (insoluble) fibre from foods, rest assured that the soluble fibre will still end up in the juice.
- A gift card from a popular local restaurant. Knowing the type of cuisine your gift-recipient favours is helpful here. Consider choosing a place you’ve eaten, or they’ve eaten and raved about. Reading reviews will also give you confidence about your choice.
- A mushroom grow-kit. Most mushrooms have nutritional, medicinal and aesthetic properties that make them a good addition to one’s meal. But there’s no need to wait until mushroom season and go foraging. You can know grow and harvest your own exotic edible mushrooms indoors. Check out JCB Mushrooms and choose from kits for oyster mushrooms, shiitake, lion’s mane, and many more.
- A gift card from a professional kitchen boutique. This is where chefs shop. Since giving knives as gifts is considered by some to be ‘bad luck’, a gift card enables the foodie to upgrade their cutlery, tableware and equipment on their own. Check out Ottawa-based Chef’s Paradise for an impressive inventory of kitchen tools.
While some of these ideas may require a little bit of research, the receiver of your health-conscious gift will surely love your choice, and if not, make sure you obtain a gift receipt at the time of purchase so they can exchange it for something more to their liking. Happy Holidays!