Golden Milk With Turmeric and Ginger Recipe

A stylist, home cook and single mom, Paulina Brand was inspired by all her time spent at home during the pandemic when her work slowed down to take her love of home cooking to the next level.

She created a cookbook focused on her favorite simple and easy-to-prepare recipes (I can vouch for the deliciousness of her rum bread pudding recipe) as well as her unique home style and entertaining advice. Paulina's new cookbook The Bohemian Peach: Taste of Home is full of memorable recipes, many of them with a wellness angle including a soothing ginger lemon tea and an aromatherapy-oriented lavender bath scrub. A wonderfully eclectic mix of recipes for strawberry rhubarb cobbler and fried chicken are inspired by Paulina's time living in Georgia while her apple strudel and Czech pork roast are rooted in her origins in the Czech Republic.

"I wanted to create a book that inspires the aspiring or humble home cook to prepare an amazing meal right from the comfort of their home," says Paulina.

Her golden milk recipe, for instance, contains ingredients like turmeric (the curcumin that gives turmeric its yellow color is said to help with inflammation, and may help improve brain health and memory) and ginger, which many health experts also applaud for its supposed anti-inflammatory benefits. And because it contains antioxidants, honey has also been lauded for its health benefits including reducing inflammation.

Golden milk, known as haldi doodh, or turmeric milk, has a long tradition in Indian culture and has been enjoyed for centuries. Golden milk is a source of protein, magnesium, calcium and an excellent source of potassium which studies have shown may lower your risk of stroke-associated mortality and may lower your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Paulina Brand's Golden Milk

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 inches ginger root, cut into thin slices
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 pinch of ground black pepper
• 1 tablepoon raw local honey
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

Peel the ginger root and cut into thin slices. Bring the coconut milk to a boil, add ginger together with the turmeric powder, ground black pepper and cinnamon (optional). Strain the milk into your cup. Add the raw honey and drink warm.

Editor's note: Many people with sleep issues are devotees of a glass of moon milk before bed — create your own by adding a pinch of nutmeg (which is said to be a natural sleep aid) and 1/4 teaspoon of ashwagandha (a medicinal herb said to help your body deal with stress) to this golden milk.