Experimental breakfast - porridge variation

It is rare that I wake up in the morning and my breakfast hasn't been soaking all night. But this morning I realised I had fallen asleep on the couch the night before and completely forgot to prepare my breakfast for the next day. It was cold (2 degrees Celsius if you want to know) so I knew I wanted something warm. I opened my pantry and started to experiment.

Ingredients

• 

  Amaranth plant

  1 tbsp millet
• 1 tbsp cracked buckwheat
• 1 tbsp amaranth
• 1 tbsp quinoa flakes
• 1/2 tbsp shredded organic coconut
• 1/4 tsp raw honey
• 1 tsp raw cocao nibs
• 1 small banana mashed
• 2 drops vanilla essence
• Boiling water
• Ground cinnamon for garnish

Method

• In a small saucepan, bring to the boil, 1 1/2 cups of boiling water, millet, cracked buckwheat, amaranth, coconut, honey and vanilla. 
• Cover and simmer for 10 minutes (add more water if needed)
• Add banana, cocao nibs and quinoa flakes, simmer for another 5-8 minutes stirring occasionally and adding water as needed.
• Serve and sprinkle with cinnamon and cocao nibs

Result

This will not be winning any awards for looks but it makes up for it with the lots of flavours and lots of textures. I could taste the goodness in every mouthful and I enjoyed the earthy chocolaty flavour of the cocao nibs.

Verdict

It obviously takes a little while to cook so it wouldn't be my choice for breakfast on a work day. From a texture perspective I think next time I would ditch the coconut. It might have been nice to have some sort of milkiness added such as almond or soy. Having said that, I love that this has so many different grains/seeds.

Creamy buckwheat and vegetable soup

Soup is one of my favourite things about cold weather. Tonight after driving through the rain and traffic that was double the congestion as I'm used to, I set to work brewing my dinner. On my detox I am required to have protein at lunch and dinner. I had chicken soup for lunch so I wasn't keen on having the same for dinner. I didn't have any fish at home and my affinity with beans still needs some work. Then I remembered a recipe a friend of mine had graciously shared with me. Her mother's chicken soup avgolemono - Greek egg-lemon chicken soup.

In true adventurous style I tested the question, 'can you use the avgolemono in any soup?'

Ingredients

• 1/2 carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 zucchini, chopped
• 1 small stick celery, chopped
• 2 large button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 small flowerettes of broccoli, chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp Bob's Red Mill Creamy Buckwheat (partially stone ground buckwheat)
• 750ml water
• Stock powder or cube
• Two eggs
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Putting it together

• In a pot put all the vegetables (except the broccoli) in the pot with the water and stock.
• Bring to the boil
• Add the buckwheat and stir
• Cover and let simmer for about 7 minutes
• Whilst that is simmering separate your egg whites from your yolks
• Whisk your egg whites until you have very soft peaks
• Add your lemon juice and keep whisking
• Add your broccoli to your soup (not the egg mixture)
• Get a ladle and fill your ladle with the broth from your simmering soup
• Slowly add it to your egg whites and keep whisking them for about a minute
• Mix in the egg yolk to your egg white mixture
• By this stage it is looking less soft peaks and more frothy egg mix
• Making sure your soup isn't boiling, pour your egg mixture into it stirring the whole time. 
• Keep stirring for about 30 seconds then turn off the heat.
• Serve it up

Result

This is a protein rich, vegetable soup with the added umph of buckwheat. The flavour of lemon is delightfully tangy without being weird.  All and all, it's a winner. A complete meal in a bowl.

Verdict

This is definitely a keeper in my repertoire. You do need to watch that you don't boil the soup after you've added the egg mixture. If you do, your soup looks more like curds and whey than creamy soup. I really like the addition of the buckwheat.

Links and information

Benefits of buckwheat: Buckwheat is high in insoluble fibre and is a good source of protein and B vitamins and is rich in phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, iron, and calcium.
Learn more about buckwheat and its nutritional benefits

Bob's Red Mill products can be found and select supermarkets like IGAs or Leo's. They are also usually stocked at health food stores.

Deliciously simple brothy seafood soup

I was at the market today and as I walked past the fish monger I was drawn to the best looking marinara mix. Without thinking how I was going to use it I bought myself some for my evening meal. Back home I started to make an old favourite of mine - brothy seafood soup.

As enjoyed my dinner I realised I had to share this simple yet indulgent treat.

Ingredients for one

Vietnamese Mint

150g - 200g good quality marinara mix
3 cups water
Stock powder to taste (I prefer to use Massel brand)
1/2 carrot chopped
1/3 zucchini chopped
3 large mushrooms sliced
1 small stick of celery sliced
2 asparagus spears chopped
3 small broccoli heads
1 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp lime juice
approx 8 Vietnamese mint leaves finely chopped

Putting it together 

• Place water, stock powder, carrot and celery into a pot and heat. 
• When water is hot add the mushrooms and zucchini
• After a while add the fish sauce and lime juice
• Cover and let simmer for a minute or two
• Once the vegetables are looking almost cooked add the marinara mix and asparagus
• When you see that the marinara mix is almost cooked add in the broccoli and the Vietnamese mint leaves
• Once the broccoli is cooked (but still crisp) turn off the heat and serve it up.

Result

I had forgotten how much I loved this simple soup. It is delicious and nutritious. The key really is having a good marinara mix and being able to gauge when it is cooked to avoid over doing it. The Vietnamese mint is the extra something special that just makes the soup complete.

Verdict

It's a winner. It's colourful, tastey, nutrious and super easy. What more could you want?

Banana, apple and almond muffins

So after a very messy experience with the Almond Banana Breakfast Bonanza with a few too many variations I put the rest of the mixture into a muffin mould and chucked it in the oven. The result got me thinking...

As I continue to make my almond milk for my breakfast I continue to find ways I can use the remaining nutritious almond meal before it goes off. I think I've found it! They keep longer than the meal on its own and they make great morning or afternoon snacks.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups of almond meal (or meal remaining from 3/4 almonds after making milk)
• 2 eggs
• 1 to 1 1/2 smashed up very very ripe bananas
• 1 peeled and grated apple
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tbsp psyllium husks

Putting it together

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl
• Spoon into muffin moulds (or tray)
• Bake in moderate oven for 25 - 35 minutes (depending on your oven)
• Check they are cooked by using a cake tester or metal skewer
• Allow to cool

Result

Okay, so these little muffins are probably more nutritional than treat. The texture has echoes of firm jelly but without being weird. I guess that is what you get when you add the fibre of psyllium husks. I wouldn't go out of my way to make these for guests but they are excellent to make when I need to use up the almond meal which seems to go off within about five days. Each muffin is filled with goodness and I enjoy them.

Verdict

I won't always have a very very ripe banana on hand so no doubt this recipe will get plenty of experimentation in the future. But for now it gets my vote for quick, easy and a nutritious snack. Some people might want to add some sort of sweetener like agave or honey as they aren't particularly sweet.

What's the deal with psyllium husks?

Without going into too much into detail, psyllium husks come from the psyllium seed. It is an excellent source of soluble fibre and often used in products like Metamucil. In some gluten-free cooking it is an excellent substitute for gluten because of its gooey texture after adding water. Essentially, psyllium husks absorb moisture. In the body this means that it helps to keep bowel movements on the soft side, in cooking this means it binds a recipe together.

NOTE: With any supplement or food that adds lots of soluble fibre it is important to ensure you drink a reasonable amount of water. The reason being because it draws on your own water supply in your body. This is true of Chia seeds too which I have spoken about in my sweet gluten free slice recipe.

You can buy psyllium husks in health food stores or even the supermarket. You can buy it in husk form or powdered. You can even buy it in tablet form.

Dairy-free creamy beetroot dip

This recipe is super easy, looks great and tastes yummy. It is a variation on a recipe I heard about which included Parmesan cheese. Right now I'm off dairy so had to think of how to adjust the recipe. There is a little preparation involved if you want to soak the cashews but otherwise it's a throw it all together and blend it to a smooth consistency kind of dip.

Instead of Parmesan I used savoury yeast flakes which I had bought a while ago for making nut cheese. I had read that it had a cheese like flavour. Well, it seemed like the perfect recipe to test that out.

Ingredients

• 1 425g can of beetroot (drained)
• 160g raw cashews (soaked in water for 8 - 12 hours)
• 1 - 2 cloves of garlic
• The juice of one lime
• 2 heaped dessert spoons of savoury/nutritional yeast flakes
• Salt and pepper to taste

Putting it together

• Blend the drained cashews in a vitamix/food processor
• Add the drained beetroot, garlic, lime juice, salt & pepper and blend some more
• Add the savoury yeast flakes and blend again until you have a smooth and impressively pink dip
• Spoon out into a bowl
• Eat with carrot sticks or dry biscuits

 

Result

It looks fantastic and it taste pretty good too. I've had it in the fridge for almost a week and it has preserved well, probably due to the already preserved nature of the beetroot.

Verdict

I think this might just make it into my staple repertoire for when I have a bunch of people over for afternoon drink and nibbles. I love that it's dairy free and that it is high in protein and Vitamin B.

A word on savoury yeast flakes

Also known as nutritional yeast - this a product advertised as 'perfect for vegetarians'. The reason for this is that it is high in vitamin B12. It originates from molasses and though it is yeast it is deactivated. Basically they have killed the yeast culture but retained its nutritional properties.

To learn more you can google nutritional yeast or savoury yeast flakes and you find all sorts of sites that explain what it is and how to use it. Popcorn factors a lot in the 'how to use' stories.

It appears that the main reason why people use it is because of its cheesy taste.

More information:

• http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2011/10/what-the-heck-is-nutritional-yeast.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritional_yeast

Almond banana breakfast bonanza

This recipe comes to my blog thanks to a friend of mine. She introduced me to this concoction when we were travelling through Kangaroo Island SA. I was especially excited by this dish as I saw another opportunity to use the precious by-product of my almond milk.

What's in it?

• 3/4 cup of almond meal (or meal remaining from 3/4 almonds for milk)
• 1 tbsp psyllium husks
• 1 very ripe mashed up banana
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 egg

How it works

• Place all ingredients in a bowl
• Mix well ensuring you don't have a clump of psyllium husks
• Heat a frying pan with a little olive oil
• Spread mixture into the pan
• When base has browned, carefully turn over (hardest part of this recipe)
• Once other side is browned take out of pan
• Serve with berries

 

Result

Okay, so the mixture is a little difficult to flip in the pan (hence the reason I haven't go a photo of that). And as a result it isn't going to win any prizes for its looks ... but this dish is YUMMY!  Since giving it a go after coming home from SA I have made this four times. I love that I have no added sweetener (the banana is enough) and I love that it's dairy free and has the added fibre of the psyllium husks.

Verdict

This is a definite winner. I have tried a few variations when I didn't have a full banana such as adding berries or grated carrot. These attempts definitely fell into the TBNP bracket - that's Tasty But Not Presentable. Latter uses of this recipe I have made four small patties rather than one large one. A little less messy when flipping.

Quick & easy Vietnamese inspired salad

We have had some very hot weather in Melbourne. My little house with all its charm and potential is a hotbox in the heat. The last thing I want to do when the house feels like an oven is to turn any cooking appliance on to make my dinner. One such night I opened my cupboards looking for inspiration and my gaze rested upon a packet of rice vermicelli. I hadn't made the salad in years but the recipe is simple and for the past three weeks I've had it at least five times. At a friends request I'm posting the recipe on this blog.

Rice vermicelli often comes divided up in serving sizes. This following recipe serves two (and as per usual it's a little relaxed in it's quantities). I think the traditional salad that this is based off is called Goi Ga. I've cheated a bit with the dressing but when it's hot, I'm bothered which means a few shortcuts.

Ingredients

Wombok (Chinese)
cabbage

• Rice vermicelli
• 1 - 2 carrots grated
• a handful of snow peas sliced thinly
• 1/2 red capsicum sliced thinly
• 2 cups of finely chopped cabbage (wombok cabbage works best)
• handful of herbs chopped (coriander &/or Vietnamese mint)
• poached chicken shredded or your preferred unflavoured canned fish

Dressing

• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• chopped coriander

Pulling it together

• Soak the rice vermicelli in boiling water for 4 - 5 minutes
• Prepare the remaining salad ingredients
• Toss together the 'dry' ingredients (including the soaked rice vermicelli)
• In a small bowl mix the dressing ingredients to taste (depending on the fish oil and your lime juice you may prefer different ratios of ingredients)
• Drizzle some of the dressing over the salad but not all of it. I usually put half of the dressing in a little jug for people to add more to their own taste.

Result

This really is quick, easy and as a bonus is also really fresh tasting and healthy. The ingredients are not expensive and the only part which can make the experience go awry is the dressing. You really do need to taste test it as you go.

I use poached chicken most often and as I poach chicken a lot I always seem to have some cooked in the fridge. I'll post a blog soon about my method of poaching chicken with is fool proof (as it proven that I can do it), healthy, delicious and super super easy.

Variations

The beauty of this dish is it's easy to adjust based on what you have in your kitchen or what you want it to look like. Try purple cabbage for something a little more eye catching. You can use common mint and Greek basil if you don't have any coriander or Vietnamese mint. You can use just about any vegetable. You can use grated zucchini or add chives or thinly sliced cucumber. If you can eat it raw you can try it in this salad.

Bircher inspired creamy goodness

I love breakfast. I don't like to be rushed in the morning because I like to start my day with a wholesome meal with wholesome thinking. I don't just want to kick start my digestive system but also kick start my approach to the day.

This following recipe is a variation of what I have pretty much every day. Why the variation? Because usually I soak my Bircher style concoction in water in preparation for a quick cooking in the morning. As it's been rather hot in Melbourne the idea of cooking my breakfast is not appealing. So to find a yummy variation on my standard was my plan.

I'm not that keen on the more popular type of Bircher muesli preparation which has apple and usually yoghurt and fruit juice. I find it too sweet. This recipe that follows is still creamy and very good for you. Those who like more sweetness in their breakfast can achieve this by adding honey. The recipe is simple but it does require some forethought. I prepare my breakfast the night before.

Ingredients

• 1/4 raw rolled oats (not quick oats)
• 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 5 - 8 almonds
• 1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 handful of raspberries (I use frozen for convenience)
• Almond milk

Method

• Put all but the almond milk into a bowl that you will be able to cover. I use a Pyrex bowl which has a lid.
• Pour in enough almond milk to cover most of the ingredients
• Cover and place in the fridge overnight
• In the morning take it out when your ready, grab a spoon and dig in! Add honey if you want a little sweetness but it's so creamy and lovely I don't think it needs it. 

Results

I'm sold on this! My breakfast was creamy with just the right amount of crunch and there is nothing like knowing that the yummyness you are eating is also good for you.

Of course variations on the fruit/berries used and spices is endless. I've made this with lemon thyme instead of cinnamon and with mango in place of raspberries. 

A note on oats:

The reason for using rolled rather than quick oats is purely to try to use the least processed of options. Oats are an awesome food. Aside from the practical nature of keeping us regular, they can help reduce our bad cholesterol. It is also classified as a low GI food, meaning that it is slow to release sugars so you stay satisfied for longer.

Soaking them overnight makes them even easier for your body to digest.

Gluten: Oats are free from wheat gluten. However, there is a gluten which is found in oats. Also, oats are often 'cut' on the same food production lines a wheat so some gluten 'contamination' could be present. If you have to have a completely gluten free diet you will have to make your decision based on the information provided. The Coeliac Australia site has some information worth reading.

Almond biscuits - not bad for a by-product

After making my almond milk (it's now a weekly event) I am left with something akin to almond meal. I've been trying various ways to use the meal. I've had some rather impressive disaster experiments which I won't bother recording but my last concoction was actually quite good - not spectacular but then spectacular only comes along occasionally. As I only use 3/4 cup of almonds per batch (I found that the results of a cup of almonds went off before I finished it) I am left with about half a cup of this almond meal type stuff and most recipes I found for stuff required a cup or more.

So one night, I threw caution to the wind and decided to try making biscuits. I didn't really measure out what I was doing so the following is more of an estimate of what I did.

Ingredients

• Almond meal stuff (based on 3/4 cup for almond milk)
• 1 1/2 tbsp softened coconut oil
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
• 1/4 tsp xantham gum

Method

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
• In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients until you have a soft dough (you may need to adjust flour)
• Ball in your hand approx 1 heaped teaspoon of dough and place on prepared tray (I put down baking paper because it means I have less to clean)
• You'll see in the photo that there are some biscuits that are flat and with stripes. These were made when I rolled the dough into a log and wrapped in glad wrap in the fridge for about half an hour. Then I sliced the log and forked them for effect (that sounds a little wrong).
• Chuck into the oven for 6 to 10 minutes
• Make sure it doesn't burn on the bottom
• Take out and let cool
• Make a cuppa and enjoy

Result:

A cuppa is kind of important because these biscuits are a tad dry. But with a cuppa they are quite enjoyable. Certainly enough for me to make it again. I don't feel it needed any more sweetener than I had. Coconut oil is quite sweet anyway as is honey.

Verdict:

I'll definitely make these again and play around with other additives such as spices. As I know I'll be regularly in stock of the almond meal stuff I need to have a repertoire of ways to use - this is the first success I'll be adding to that repertoire.

Kale chips - nutritious and delicious

I had heard of kale chips from two sources. A friend in England a year or so ago made some crispy kale for dinner one night which was simply delish. At that time I had no idea what kale was so promptly forgot about it in the way of other exciting culinary adventures. But a month or two ago I was talking with my naturopath about sources of calcium when she mentioned kale.

What exactly is kale?

According to Wikipedia 'Kale or borecole is a form of cabbage, with green or purple leaves, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms.' Because of the high amounts of omega 3 and vitamin K it is known as a vegetable with strong anti-inflammatory properties. In addition to this it is high in antioxidants and glucosinolates (help with body detoxification). For more information about the nutritional benefits of kale visit: WHFoods website

Ways to eat

Well, as I introduced kale into my kitchen in winter it became my perfect addition to soups. As the weather started to warm and my trusty vitamix came into it's own for smoothies and other breakfast beverages I began adding kale. Then I was talking to a work colleague and she mentioned one of her family favourites was kale chips. When she mentioned a dehydrator I had a vague recollection of my brother dehydrating things when I was a kid for his many expeditions into the bush and up mountains. He dehydrated all sorts of weird and wonderful things.

It turned out he still had the dehydrator tucked away in his garage so I acquired it to experiment. I obtained the recipe from my work colleague, bought a bunch of kale from the market near my work and even had a social gathering at my place where I could serve up my experiment.

Kale chips

Equipment

• Dehydrator
• Large bowl

Ingredients

• A bunch of kale
• Olive oil
• Finely ground Celtic sea salt
• Lemon juice
• Fresh herbs: lemon thyme and rosemary

Method

• De-stalk the kale and tear into manageable pieces - that means into large chip-size
• In a deep bowl mix together some olive oil, lemon juice, a pinch of sea salt and finely chopped fresh herbs. I used the juice of one lemon and about the same amount of olive oil.
• Put the kale into the bowl and massage. Yep, that's right. You massage the kale. When my work colleague first mentioned this I thought she was joking but there are actual Youtube videos on how to massage kale. I was almost too scared to click on the link in case it was something kinky. The idea is that you massage the oil mixture into the kale leaves until the leaves relax and they really do! For the full effect I put on some calming essential oils and played relaxation music. I always knew my massage studies would come useful one day.

• Once the kale is relaxed you then
  lay them out in the dehydrator making sure the leaves don't touch each other. 
• I turned the dehydrator up to it's highest setting which for the retro machine I've got reads 'beef and meat jerky'
• It was in the dehydrator for about four hours. 
• During this time I managed to clean the house, go shopping for food, prepare said food and assemble three chairs after a quick trip to my sisters to borrow some tools to assemble the chairs (IKEA was wrong - I needed more than the allen key). Please note, these activities are not necessary to the results of the experiment with kale. 

Results

The kale chips were a hit. Very lemony - almost to the point of causing that trademark sour eye twitch. But they were enjoyed by all. One friend in particular apologised for eating most of them. Now that's the kind of result you want!

Verdict

I'd definitely do this again even though it took quite a while. As the dehydrator is like having an oven on it would be best to avoid making them on a hot day (again) but I'm intrigued to try a few other flavours. After trying the real thing I bought a packet of kale chips from my favourite health food store. I hardly had any of the chips because they were simply not nice. Real food made by real people in real time comes up gold again.

Warning

For those with dogs who will eat just about everything. I would advise not letting your dog near kale in any form. My dog managed to snaffle a rogue chip and I experienced the pungent results for almost four hours the following day. How do I know it was the kale? Let's just say that the fragrance was as distinctive as it was unpleasant.