Food with vitamin D: best recipes 

Vitamin D or ‘sunshine vitamin’, as it is popularly known, is produced in our body thanks to the exposure of our skin to ultraviolet rays (80%-90% of vitamin D production). It’s recommended to sunbathe for about 10-15 minutes a day, but you must take into account certain factors to ensure a correct synthesis, such as: 

• the time of year (winter/summer)
• the climate (you have to assess areas with frequent cloudiness)
• the time of exposure
• the percentage of skin exposed to the sun and the type of skin (darker skin will need more exposure time) 
• age (as we age, the body is less efficient and absorbs less)

What food contains vitamin D

The rest of the vitamin D that our body needs, in addition to the one we generate with sun exposure, can be obtained from animal products such as eggs, dairy, fatty fish (tuna, salmon or mackerel) and fortified foods (such as certain kinds of margarine and plant-based milk like soy and almond).  There is also a plant source of vitamin D: mushrooms harvested in the wild, such as crimini, brown mushrooms, portobello and maitake.

Benefits of Vitamin D

The most important function of this vitamin is to keep the concentrations of calcium and phosphorus in the blood stable. Therefore, vitamin D is essential to keep our bones healthy. Without vitamin D, bones can become soft, thin, and frail. A decrease in its concentration or lack of it is linked to rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults.

It also contributed to regulating sugar levels (it has an essential role in the secretion of insulin), aiding lipid production, regulating blood pressure (by participating in the renal production of renin) and keeping the brain working properly.

It’s important to keep in mind that too much vitamin D can lead to high levels of calcium in the blood, causing nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, confusion, pain, loss of appetite, dehydration, excessive thirst and kidney stones.

This is not due to excessive synthesis in the skin because the skin limits the amount of vitamin D it can produce, but because of the uncontrolled use of vitamin D supplements and the ever-increasing availability of vitamin D-enriched food.

With a good daily walk in the sun and a varied diet (taking into account foods that have the most amount of this vitamin), we can receive the vitamin D we need.

CHEESE AND MUSHROOM CAPPUCCINO

Ingredients (4 people)

400 g of assorted mushrooms

200 g onions

200 g low-calorie cream cheese

500 ml chicken stock

75 ml semi-skimmed milk

40 ml extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Ground white pepper

Preparation:

• Peel the onions and coarsely chop them. Heat the oil in a pan or saucepan and cook them over low heat. When tender, add the chopped mushrooms, well cleaned and without traces of earth, and cook for five minutes. Add the stock, season to taste and, when it starts to boil, cook for 3 more minutes.  Blend it.
• While the mushroom soup is cooking, prepare the cream. To do this, heat the cream cheese and milk in a saucepan and season to taste. Stir well until both ingredients are fully combined.
• Pour the hot mushroom soup into transparent cappuccino cups, until almost completely full. Cover it with the cheese cream, using a spoon to spread it over the surface evenly. Sprinkle with ground white pepper and serve immediately.

BAKED MACKEREL WITH ROASTED VEGETABLES

Ingredients (4 people)

600 g mackerel

300 g vine tomatoes

200 g green Italian peppers

600 g potatoes

80 g onions

2 garlic cloves

130 ml white wine

50 ml extra virgin olive oil

30 ml lemon juice

Salt

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 180ºC, with heat above and below. Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices, wash the peppers and tomatoes and cut them into slices. Finally, slice the onion and chop the garlic cloves finely. Set aside.
• Pour a quarter of the olive oil into an ovenproof dish and spread it around the bottom of the dish. Place the potatoes mixed with the onion slices, season with salt and then add the slices of tomato and green pepper and chopped garlic. Season to taste.
• Add the wine and lemon juice and bake it for forty-five minutes, making sure that the vegetables don’t dry out. If they do, add water while they are cooking.
• Place the cleaned fish, with a few slices of lemon, on top of the bed of roasted vegetables and add water. Bake for fifteen minutes and serve hot.

FRUIT GRATIN CUSTARD

Ingredients (4 people)

240 g firm peaches

240 g firm pears

240 g apples

120 g bananas

12 cherries

40 g sugar

100 ml double cream

4 yolks

Preparation:

• Peel the peaches, pears and apples; remove the stones and cores and cut all the pieces into thin slices. Wash the cherries, halve them and take the pip out. Peel the bananas and cut them into slices.
• Heat the cream in a saucepan over low heat until it is reduced by half. Let it cool. Preheat the oven to 200º C.
• Whisk the sugar and the yolks, then add the cream. Don’t beat the mixture excessively so that it doesn’t thicken.
• In a deep baking tray, place half of the mixture. Alternate layers of fruit on top. Finish it off with the remaining cream and place the tray in the oven for 10-15 minutes until you see that the top layer is slightly browned.