A guest Blog entry by Leroy Templeton - Choices

***This is a guest blog entry***

How You Can Affect Your Predisposition to Cancer through What You Eat

By: Leroy Templeton

The number two cause of death in the United States (for those keeping score at home, the number one cause: heart disease) is cancer. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention claims that each year, over a half a million people die from cancer. That’s a lot of people. Now, we have all been warned of the main contributors to cancer. Smoking and excessive drinking. We see ads and posters often warning of us these dangerous vices. This is a good thing, don’t get me wrong, people need to
be warned of the dangers that come with this, but I do find it strange that we rarely hear about the other contributors to cancer. Diet, the next biggest cause for cancer seemingly gets no mention, though studies have shown that up to 30% of cancer diagnoses are due to diet. Since your diet can either predispose you to or help prevent cancer, it is very important to make certain you are doing all you can
to have a cancer free diet.

The foods you will want to stay away from are usually unnatural and hard to digest foods. Unnatural foods usually have a harder time being processed by the body and therefore can be difficult to break down. The struggle with breaking down foods can lead to offsetting the cell division process. When this happens the body becomes more likely to develop cancerous cells. Try to eat natural and organic foods whenever possible. Also, stay away from foods with excessive amounts of preservatives
and additives as these tend to contain carcinogens which can promote gastric cancer.

Avoid red meat whenever possible. Red meat has a high animal fat content which contains many carcinogens as well. Also, recent studies show the red meat is directly connected with colon cancer. You should replace red meat in your diet with other sources of protein that are less fatty and also easier to digest. This can be nuts or other, leaner, meats like chicken and fish.

There are a number of foods, however, that can help you avoid cancer. Foods with high
amounts of antioxidants and flavonoids can detoxify the body and therefore, help ward off cancer. These foods include; citrus fruits, fresh vegetables (especially tomatoes) and naturally bitter foods such as dark chocolate and coffee. Putting these kinds of foods in your diet can help fight a number of cancers including gastric cancer and pleural mesothelioma.

By watching what you eat, you will be able to markedly reduce your risk for cancer. If over 30% of cancers stem from poor dietary choices, then eating healthy will reduce your risk by almost one-third!

You’d be crazy not to take that in to consideration. You’ll be looking better, feeling better and living
longer.

A winter Green Smoothie

Still on the antibiotics...Fed up and needed a good healthy start to the day. 

Came up with:

Blueberry warmer smoothie:

2 lumps of frozen spinach (or 2 large handfuls of fresh)
1 Peeled banana
A cup of frozen or fresh blueberries
A peeled 1 inch thick knob of fresh ginger root
An apple (cored if you want)
1-1.5 cups of water
2 teaspoons of chia seeds (optional - but good for calcium)

Blend until completely smooth.  Let down with more water if too thick. 

Despite being a cold drink, it was creamy, sweet and warming. 

Need a boost? (My antidote to antibiotics)

My Dr has put me on very high dose antibiotics and i have not been feeling too good, plus i am tired from a lot of travel.  When i am tired, i crave carbs and then i am more tired as my system tries to digest them.  My favourite oatckes disappear faster than Paul Daniels's assistants.

So, what to do?

I decided that i'd make a green smoothie for lunch as a boost.

Here is what i made:

2 handfuls of raw (or equivilent of frozen) spinach
1 ripe banana (the riper the better, as it makes it sweet)
1 crisp sweet apple (i used a British Cox's - none of your foreign apples for me)
Water & Ice
2 tsp of Chia seeds (optional)

I did core the apple - don't know why as i usually don't.

Place it all in a high powered blender.

Blend on slow speed and push down with the pusher to get it started, then blend until smooth and unctuous.  You can add more water if you want and i would do if you use Chia as it absorbs water.

I was not really expecting it to taste great, but it really did.  Sweet and refreshing and a good lunch.

You should not eat anything else 40 mins either side of a Green Smoothie as it gets in the way of digesting it.

30 mins later and i feel a lot better than i did this morning.  Let's hope it lasts and helps me rid my body of this annoying infection. 

Greens are good for you, even at breakfast!

When i was a child, those words often rang out in our house.  "Greens are good for you" or "eat your greens".  My brother even planted spinach in the back garden and was so upset when it did not come up in cans as Popeye's did. 

So, how do you get your greens everyday?  The answer is a "Green Smoothie".  Here's one i made today.

In an high powered blender, place:

1 Banana
1/3rd of a can of peaches in juice (you can use a fresh peach, but i hadn't got any)
A tablespoon of oats
A heaped teaspoon of Chia Seeds (for Calcium)
3-4 lumps of frozen spinach
1-2 dates
A cup of vanilla or sweetened soy milk (if you use unsweetened, add 2-3 dates or some agarve syrup). 

Add a cup of iced water (wait 5 mins for the chia to absorb some of the water and swell up, if you can be bothered, have more time on your hands than the rest of us) and blend until smooth. 

Drink and enjoy. 

Yes, it looks like dragon snot, but it tastes delicious and it does you good to get your greens. 

A warming cold curry?

Despite it still being August, it was cold, grey and miserable, something i had not envisaged when i was planning this raw food detox.  Hmmmm.  So i fancied something warming, but raw food is cold or tepid at best.

I did some googling and found the inspiration for this - a curried white cabbage salad:


Finely chop 1 whole medium sized white cabbage (you can do it in a Food processor, but i did it by hand).  Remove the thick stalk bits.  Do the same to an onion - i used a red one as it was in the top dish of the veggie stand and i was too lazy to reach down to get a white one.

In a big bowl mix the cabbage and onion with some sunflower seeds, some sesame seeds, and some coconut.  I used dessicated (which may mean this is not officially raw - but i'm not worried about the raw food police).

To make the dressing, i blended:

• the juice of 2 lemons
• the juice of 2 limes (you could use vinegar)
• a tablespoon of curry powder
• a tablespoon of turmeric 
• a tablespoon of cumin (Actually - did not measure any of these, just checked some in)
• a splash of hot sauce
• some crushed garlic
• a handful of fresh coriander
• a tablespoon and a bit of coconut oil (you could use half an avocado or a flavourless oil)
• a big glug of light soy/shoyu sauce (about a 1.3rd of a cup, i guess)

Blend thoroughly, let down with more lemon or lime juice, add pepper.  Pour over cabbage mixture and mix.  It tastes a bit better if left to chill for a while.

I decided to make it go further that i'd add a box of marinated tofu to it - but that is not necessary.  

Yummy - a warming dish, despite being a cold day.  

Enjoy!

Fried Rice? Not easy on a raw food diet, or is it?

As part of detox week, I am trying to eat more raw food, so did some googling based on what veg I have in and came up with this:

Raw fried rice!

1 cauliflower
1/2 an onion
Piece of fresh ginger or powdered
A sprinkle of Chinese 5 spice powder if you have it.
2 handfuls of sweetcorn
2 handfuls of frozen or fresh peas.
Teaspoon of Thai curry paste (I used green curry)
Splash of soy sauce.
Splash of hot sauce.
2-3 handfuls of sunflower seeds.
2 cloves of garlic
Fresh coriander and or fresh flat parsley.

If the peas and corn are frozen, place in a shallow dish in the oven (fan assisted ideally) at between 80 & 110 to defrost.  In a food processor, place the cauliflower, onion, garlic, seasonings, herbs and blitz in bathches until the texture looks like rice! 

Add seeds, soy and hot sauce.  Mix, add peas and sweetcorn.

You can serve cold or warm.  I put it back in the oven/dehydrator at 80 for 30 mins, and served it warm. 

The low temperatures mean that this is still classed as raw food. 

It really does have the texture and flavour of fried rice. 

Enjoy! 

Quick healthy spinach salad.

Got home late and needed a quick healthy salad.

In a large bowl add a bag of raw baby spinach, a pack of cooked beluga black lentils (or any other cooked lentils or drained beans. A finely chopped spring onion or two. 3/4 of a chopped avocado and two tablespoons of chopped dried apricots. You can also add some goji berries.

In a dry pan put a couple of handfuls of sunflower and pumpkin seeds and dry roast gently for 5 mins and turn pan off and cool.

Mix the ingredients in the bowl.

Dressing: In a blender add: 1/4 peeled avocado. Half a handful of dried apricots, salt or salt substitute, pepper, with a good splosh of cider or white wine vinegar. Blend until smooth. You can let it down with water and olive oil or a mix of the two. You will get a creamy dressing thanks to the avocado.

Chuck dressing on top, mix and serve.

Enjoy.

Healthy Pesto

2 handfuls of raw walnuts, 2 cloves of garlic, juice of 2 lemons, bunch of basil, handful of raw spinach, vegan Parmesan, 2 tablespoons approx,(you can use real Parmesan if you eat dairy). You can add olive oil or a little water to let down.

Blitz gently, you want it to retain some crunch and texture.

Place in a covered container and keep in fridge for up to a week.

Good over rice noodles for a raw pasta or use in other recipes such as my raw mushroom soup.

Almond milk.

You can use my cashew milk or if you haven't got a high powered blender try this:

Soak the almonds (however many you want to use - 3 handfuls) in the same quantity of water (just cover). soak for min of 2-3 hours or overnight.

Blitz up in a blender or food processor.

Strain and add a little salt (or substitute).

You can use the pulp in other recipes.

The milk can be used in smoothies, soups etc.

Cream of mushroom soup - no cream, no butter & no cooking.

This creates a really creamy, thick mushroom soup.

You need a very high powered blender or make almond milk first or it will be grainy

Wash 2 boxes of mushroom (better to just brush the dirt off if organic).

Put in blender, with 2 stalks of celery, some almond milk (or handful of raw almonds and some water. You can add stock powder if you want). Half an onion, a clove of garlic, the juice of 2 lemons.

You can add a few leaves soft herbs, such as basil or tarragon. Add salt (or salt substitute) and pepper to taste.

Blend until smooth and creamy.

You can serve this at room temperature or chilled.

A swirl of garlic oil on top or some pesto (see separate entry).

Detox Week - Starter for 10....

My first recipe for my planned detox week:

A base recipe is my alternative to milk and cream, which i use as a base for smoothies etc.,

Soak 3 large handfuls of cashews and 2 tablespoons of chia seeds (black, white, whole or milled),  in the same amount of water for about 1-2 hours. 

Add 3-4 pitted dates, a 3rd of a teaspoon of salt,  a handful of oats. 

Blitz up in a high-sped powerful blender with ice and some additional water to let down a to a creamy consistency. 

Place in a sealed container in the fridge - this will keep for 5 days min. 

I use about 2-3 tablespoons of this as a base for my smoothies, such as this one:

In addition to the base, add 1 banana, a large teaspoon of coconut oil, some prunes (or any fruit, fresh or frozen) and some ice or water and blend/blitz. 

Enjoy. 

Cool as a cucumber

Been trying to find a good cool soup for these hot few days.

Wash a 4-5 inch piece of cucumber (do not peel) and put into a high Powered blender (like a vita mix) with 1/2 cup of cold water and 4-6 ice cubes.

Add two large celery stalks and a few mint leaves (you could use basil or dill too). Then add salt and pepper and a splosh of lemon juice, white wine or cider vinegar.

To thicken I used 1/2 an avocado one day and a small spoon of cashew nut cheese today (cashews, chia seeds, lemon juice, onion, with coconut oil - will blog that later).

Blend until completely smooth and serve.

Yummy, cooling and healthy.

Enjoy.

Simple salad - out of 3 bags

1 bag of washed spinach
1 pouch/bag of cooked beluga black lentils
1 bag of pecan nuts or walnuts (you can caramalise them with sugar substitute if you want).

Mix all ingredients thoroughly being gentle with the spinach.

If you dress this with a lemony tangy dressing, I'd top with a poached egg and use the yoke to make a creamy dressing.

Or you can let down some mayonnaise with lemon or vinegar, add some mustard and garlic to give a light creamy dressing.

Drizzle with dressing and/or top with a poached egg.

Easy.

Tomato and Haloumi Salad

I am not a raw tomato lover, as supermarket toms never taste right. As a kid there would be a glut of tomatoes every summer and they tasted like tomatoes should. So when I get some nice ones I want to eat them simply.

Here's an idea:

Slice and griddle some haloumi cheese. Allow to cool and cut up into small pieces. Wash and halve small cherry toms or quarter others. Add some torn fresh basil. Finely chopped red onions, or spring onions. Add salt (or substitute), lots of fresh ground pepper, some chopped garlic.

To make it more nutritionally dense I added a rinced and drained can of cannellini beans.

Dressing - either balsamic or some White wine vinegar with some sugar substitute.

You can add olives (I added chopped black olives).

Mix and serve, or chill and serve.

Egg and chips

Having been away, I wanted to eat food that was good for me. However when I am tired, I am never very good at sticking to things that are good for me.

So here's an idea for healthy comfort food.

Firstly - fried eggs - yes you can, but I love poached eggs.

Line a cup with cling film, with plenty over the sides.

You can spray with spray oil if you like.

Break sn egg into the cling film. Pinch top of cling film and twist so egg is held in it's little cling-film hammock.

For the chips, I scrubbed some sweet potatoes. Then microwaved them for 12 mins having pierced them first. Then put in cold water till cooled. Take out, dry and slice into thick slices then into chips.

Preheat oven to about 220c then melt a tablespoon of coconut oil in a baking tray. Toss chips in the oil, or spray with spray on oil.

Bake for 30-40 mins but be careful as the high sugar content can easily burn. Drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

Pop poached eggs into gently simmering water for 4/5 mins. 4 for soft poached. Be careful the cling film does not burn.

Lift out of water. Cut cling film open to remove eggs.

Enjoy.

Getting your 5-a-day or more in a glass for breakfast

Have you seen all those supposed to be healthy smoothies?  Some are pasturised, contain dairy, and some have added sugar.  Here's one that contains fruit and nothing but the fruit.  Actually, it does have some walnuts in it! 

In a powerful blender (such as a vita mix) place:

1 peeled banana.
1 quartered apple (you can remove the core, but i am too lazy).
2 handfuls of frozen berries.
1 large peeled slice of papaya (optional)
Some pitted prunes (in juice)
A generous splosh of coconut water (especially good for electrolyte replacement)
A glug of water
A handful of ice cubes
A handful of walnuts.

Blend until smooth, let down with additional water or coconut water. 

Better than all those "healthy" variants. 

A Green Dragon for Breakfast?

Now this one, may sound strange, but its one that i have when i need a quick healthy breakfast.  You will need a powerful blender to make this.  I use a Vita Mix.

In a blender, place 5 balls/lumps of frozen spinach, add a tablespoon of mixed seeds and a tablespoon of porridge oats.  Cover with vanilla soy milk.  You can add cold water if you need to let it down or some ice if you want it colder.

Blend until the spinach is completely broken down and your shake is bright green and smooth - it can take a while, you don't want to be picking bits of spinach from between your teeth.

You can also use unsweetened soy but i prefer the sweetened vanilla flavoured one.  You can also add a couple of stoned dates if you want it sweet and do not want to add sugar.

It tastes remarkably good and really fills you up and provides a breakfast that keeps me going until about 2pm before i need lunch.

It might be a way to get kids to have veggies - who wouldn't drink a "green dragon", although i am no expert not having any children, but it may work as long as you do not show them the ingredients.

Let me know if you get kids to drink it, it tastes great in my humble opinion.  

Childhood memories of Angel Delight - a chem free and healthy version?

My parents were of the generation where convenience foods were an innovation and no one cared about chemicals being added to food.  We would routinely have Angel Delight for dessert. 

A powerful blender is really needed for this - i use my Vita Mix. 

Throw in 2 peeled bananas, 1/3rd of a large pot of vanilla soy yogurt, a pack (circa 120g) of frozen fruits (I use Squeeze Me Blendies, Twinkle or Sparkle Fruits.  You could use fruit in tins (in juice, but drain) and add a few ice cubes.  Blend until creamy and smooth and serve. 

You may want to sprinkle with a few seeds to give a crunch and some agave syrup if you want it sweeter. 

If you want this as an iced dessert, then add more ice cubes and more frozen fruit.  

Serve immediately and enjoy.  Chemical and guilt free. 

Veggie Stroganoff

Had some nice mushrooms and i got a pack of veggie Chorizo (from a health food shop), could not decide what to do with them, so decided to make a healthy Stroganoff.

So here is my version:

Chop 2-3 large onions (red or white) to a medium dice.  Pop in a pan with some veggie stock and healthy saute (instead of oil use the stock to soften then).  Add the pack of veggie Chorizo and 2 packs of mushrooms wiped and stalks chopped off and quartered.  Pop lid on and allow to soften.

In a blender pop in a jar of roasted red peppers with the juice too, as well as a slug of white wine and two-three heaped teaspoons of rice flour, 2-3 heaped teaspoons of smoked or ordinary paprika, some garlic and a few drops of hot sauce, salt (or alternative) and black pepper.  Blend up. 

In the pan add a tin of drained and rinsed flageolet beans and a drained and rinsed tin of cannellini beans to the onions and mushrooms.  

Pour the blended sauce base into the pan and bring to a simmer.  Add some fresh or dried tarragon.  Add a pack of either soy cream or oat cream. 

Pop into the oven at 160c for about 90 mins.

You can serve with rice, brown or white, although i cooked some quinoa (rinse, add 2 x volume of quinoa in stock), bring to boil, simmer for 10 mins.  Put lid on, turn off and it will finish off by steaming itself. 

A healthy chowder?

Clam Chowder - so how do you make a healthier version?  Broccoli chowder is the answer.  

I had creamy clam chowder in the BA lounge the other day. It was lovely but not very healthy and very, very salty.   Richard loves chowder so I made him some, a healthier version. 

Finely chop 2-3 onions, coarsely chop the stalk and shred the heads of a couple of heads of broccoli. Put in a saucepan with some stock and close fitting lid to soften. 

Pierce 2-3 med potatoes and pop in microwave for 10 mins then plunge in cold water to cool. Dry and slice.   They should be almost cooked but not too soft. 

In a high powered blender put 1 can of cannellini beans, a large pack of silken tofu, some soy or oat cream and 2 tablespoons of rice flour. Add some stock powder, some salt (or substitute) and pepper. Whiz till like thin cream. Pour into pan (not draining the onion and broccoli) and the sliced potatoes. 

Bring gently to boil and stir till it thickens. 

Adjust seasoning. You can add fresh tarragon too.  

I've lost my noodles!

This is a version of Pad Thai, that has no noodles and is really a crunchy salad.  

Wash a few (say 3) large courgettes.  You could peel them but I am too lazy.  Dry and julienne on a mandolin.  It looks better if you do then lengthways so they resemble noodles Wash or peel some carrots and do the same. I also added some finely shredded red pepper. 

To make the dressing, toss all the ingredients into a blender.  As long as you have the basics - some soy or fish sauce, minced garlic, some lime juice, a couple of stoned dates or sugar substitute some grated fresh ginger if you have it (I didn't), I also added a shake of Thai spice powder, some hot sauce and the stalks from a bunch of coriander.  Blitz until you have a slightly green Thai dressing.  You can add a little oil, but I do not think it is necessary.  

Finely chop the top of the washed bunch of coriander.  

Pour the dressing over the shredded veggies, mix in a bag of ordinary or dry roasted peanuts and mix, then top with the coriander.  

Leave for 15 - 20 mins for the flavours to mingle.  

You could add finely chopped spring onion but I could not see the point, it is flavoursome enough without.  

I got this idea from Nomi Shannon, the raw gourmet.  It is a variation on her recipe, so not an original idea.

No cream and no sugar ice "cream"

I have blogged about a similar frozen dessert before, however this was so good and so healthy I had to tell you about it.

Ideally you'd have a vita mix blender (which I use 2-3 times daily, yes it was £400 but worth every penny). I think you could use a robust blender or a food processor instead.

pour a half a glass of coconut water into the blender (you could use ordinary water but the coconut water is interesting and health promoting. Throw in a handful of raw cashews or almonds and three pitted dates.

Blend on high until you have a sweetened nut milk. To this add two packs of frozen fruits (I used blendies from ocado - the ones with mango in but you could use fresh fruit or drained fruit in fruit juice and some ice cubes but the results would be more sorbet than ice cream. Blend until fruit is breaking down then add some soy vanilla yogurt (yes most of the brands do have sugar in them, aargh). To get the same creamy texture you could use coconut milk or coconut cream Let down with a splash more coconut water. Blend until smooth and resembling ice cream. Scoop out and serve or freeze for use later (although the texture goes very hard unless you churn/stir it every two hours).

Enjoy.

Dal, dull? Not at all. Scrummy curried lentils and aubergines.

There are some foodstuffs that transform themselves into something so wonderfully delicious with so little effort. One of these for me is the red lentil. Little rock hard mini pebbles that turn into something magical when cooked.

So...pierce a 2 whole aubergines and pop in microwave to soften for 10-12 mins. (quicker and healthier than frying) Then dump them into a bowl of cold water. Rinse a large bag of red lentils under cold running water until water runs clear. Place in a pot. Add some veg stock powder and some chopped tomatoes or a pack of sieved tomatoes and water to cover. Add 2 finely chopped onions. Throw in a large tsp of curry powder and a splash of hot sauce (see liquid fire recipe). And 4 roughly chopped cloves of garlic. Drain the aubergines. Trim off the hairy end stalky bit and cut in half and then chop roughly and chuck in pot. Add a little salt and some coarsely ground black pepper or a few peppercorns Bring to boil and simmer for 20-30 mins until lentils are soft and sauce is creamy. You may need to add more water if needed and stir to prevent sticking You can add lemon juice at the end of cooking and chopped coriander (but I'd not got any to hand).

You can serve as is, with rice, bread, or with a salad. It actually tastes better if left overnight.

Dairy & Sugar Free Apricot Mousse

Wanted to make a healthy dairy and sugar free dessert. Found a tin of chestnut purée in the larder so had an idea...

You need a high powered blender (vita mix) or a food processor, place a drained tin of apricots (or another strong flavoured fruit like mango) and blitz to a purée. Add the tin of chestnut purée and 1/2 a carton of soya custard. (you could also use soy cream or oat cream which would make it richer). Blend till smooth and thoroughly mixed. 

Put into glasses or ramekins to serve and chill. I served it with a little extra soy custard on top and some chopped almonds. 

You could mix in some agar agar for veggies or gelatine for carnivores if you want it to set. 

Makes 4 generous portions or 6 medium ones. 

Vegetable chilli for a freezing cold evening

 This is something that I made, when we were both cold, and needed something quick and warming for supper.

To make the chilli, finely chopped one large white onion, sautee in vegetable stock until soft.
Add approximately 2 glasses of red wine to the pan,  and a pack of quorn  mince, as well as a pack of sieved tomatoes, (passata).    In a blender, place a large tin of plum or chopped tomatoes, two more peeled onions some garlic, some chilli sauce, a half a teaspoon of cinnamon, two stalks celery and two carrotts. If you want the sauce nice and sweet, then either add some sugar or sugar substitute, in my case, I added an apple.  Blitz up until smooth. I also added a spoon of rice flour  to make it a little thicker, and some tomato purée and more wine to taste as well as seasoning with salt and pepper.

In terms of beans, I added the following: one tin of cannellini beans which I added the blender to thicken the sauce. One can of  aduki beans and one can of black beans. This may sound like a lot but I was making this to last two to 3 days. If I had red kidney beans, I probably would have used some of those. I don't know why, but I added some sweetcorn. It just kind of felt "Mexican".

Simmer for about 20 min until it's nice and thick and very tomato-y. (You can also add ketchup if you like).  I added a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end of cooking just to give it a slightly piquant flavour.  If you want to increase the chilli heat then add more hot sauce to taste.

I served it with plainly boiled brown rice. It was certainly filling and very warming.

ENJOY!

Can airlines do healthy food? "Chicken or Beef"?

Can airlines do healthy food?  
On my regular trips to Toronto, I do not eat the airline food as it is usually the same old same old and because I was let into secret.  I could opt for s special meal, however I was told by a member of staff that ones chance of an upgrade is far less if you opt for a special meal as if thy upgrade you, they won't have your chosen meal for you in the new cabin you are sitting in.  So, I never choose a special meal.  Today's flight was for almost 11 hours, well 12 if you count the time on the ground piddling about at Heathrow with cargo doors and waiting for some lost soul to join the plane rather than off-loading their luggage.  So despite my porridge from the BA lounge and stuffing my bag with fresh fruit from the lounge, I was hungry when they served the meal.  The lady next to me asked if there were any veggie meals and was given one. Usually they are risotto swimming in butter, or pastas caked in cheese etc.,  so I asked what the veggies were and the stewardess said: "I have a mushroom pasta or a chickpea Asian curry". I plumped for the latter and whilst it was probably a little greasier than I would have made, it was delicious, filling and low GI.  What a result.  The accompanying rice was spiced and there was a little spinach served with it.  The accompanying salad was ok, although BA's catering staff must love adding 5 fresh peas to each salad!  The dressing was standard fayre and and the dessert was some ghastly creamy concoction that had more to do with a science lab than a cow so I gave that a miss.  Still a vast improvement on the usual "chicken or beef" that I am used to being offered.  I wont choose that as an option in advance as I'd still rather starve and have my improved chance of an upgrade!  

Steak or Squash?

Griddled Butternut squash. 
Another veggie that I fall into s rut with.  I either puree it, roast it or make it into soup.  Then I had an idea.  What about butternut squash steaks?  Hmm. Sounds weird, but bare with me.  Peel a couple of squash.  Then slice from the stalk end in thick slices.  When you get to the bulb, just remove the core in the affected slices, or create little mini bowls from the bulb ends. (I stuffed mine and baked them). 

Steam for about 15 to 20 mins until the squash becomes translucent and soft ish.  Do not over cook as the griddle will do some more cooking for you.  Drain and dry.  Heat s ridged griddle pan to med high heat.  (beware as the sugar content in the squash may burn, which affects the appearance but not the taste). Place on the dry griddle pan and brush with a little garlic oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper or you could use those spice rubs that are intended for meat.  Cook for about 10 mins a side until they have charred marks on both sides and are cooked through.  I think I may have found a new favourite way with squash as this is meaty and chunky and has a smoked flavour from the griddle pan.  

What's a boy to do with an aubergine?

Baked mediterranean aubergine. 
There are times when a vegetable slips into a rut.  I look at something like a butternut squash and think soup or puree.  With the aubergine it has tended to inspire nothing better than ratatouille. However, unless I can slow cook it for ages with some nice olive oil, and very very fresh ingredients it never really delivers the tase that it promises.  So here I am looking at 4 shiney deep purple aubergines and wondering what to do with them. 

My way of wilting them and making them give up their yummy flesh is not to salt and fry them, but to prick them like sausages and pop them in the microwave for 10-12 minutes. They come out looking like they have aged.  Their skins no longer taught and siney is now wrinkled.  If I want to  use then straight away, I cool them in a sink of cold water for 5 mins. If not, I let them cool down.  For this dish, I just removed the stalk end and diced them up.  In a large tight lidded oven proof buffet pan, I sauteed some chopped onions in veggie stock and then added some dried basil, the chopped aubergine, a tin of tomato puree and lots lazy garlic in oil, along with seasoning especially lots of black pepper.  I deliberately eaporated a lot of the stock and added a good slug of red wine vinegar, (balsamic would be good too).  I added two tins of flageolet beans (drained) and put in a med oven 150/160c for 45 mins to an hour,  

You could add other veggies to this, peppers, celery etc.,  

I served it around a tower of griddled butternut squash topped with steamed spinach.  (see below for griddled butternut squash.

Hot soup for a chilly day, and will kids eats healthy food?

I have a theory that even the most turkey drummer addicted veg hating child would eat this. Try it.....

Also, jolly warming for a cold day like today.

My not only but also healthy tomato soup.  
In the winter there are days when I want to taste the sweetness of tomato and see that vibrant red colour in a bowl and not the version straight out of a tin, a la Heinz.  

Sauté 3 large chopped onions and 2-3 chopped cloves of garlic, in veg stock in a large saucepan until soft.  Then add some red or orange peppers, some chopped carrots, a couple of stalks of celery, 1 large tin of chopped tomatoes, a pack of passata (sieved tomatoes) and some stock.  I happened to have a sad bunch of tarragon in the fridge so added that too.  Then I added 2 tins of cannellini beans some red wine vinegar, black pepper, salt or salt substitute and some sugar substitute.  If you prefer you can use either a small can of tomato puree or a splodge of tomato ketchup, to act as a sweetener.  Then I added a block of silken tofu.  You can add a few drops of hot sauce into the mix too, if you like a bit of background spiciness.  

After boiling it gently for about 20 mins until the carrots and celery are soft, I blitzed It up in the vita mix until completely smooth and unctuous.  You can thin it down with water or veggie stock at this point, but it made the most heartwarming thick tomato soup.  It would be good for kids ad they would have no idea that it is actually a "healthy version". 

Thinking about it, I might use sherry vinegar next time or you could use cider vinegar.  Great served with black pepper oatcakes. 

Broccoli by Baz

Another good green recipe which is a Joel Fuhrman one is Oriental Broccoli.  So very simple.  Just steam some Broccoli in a pan as above in veggie stock, once tender add some garlic, soy, sesame seeds, some bamboo shoots or water chestnuts and a little cornflour.  (I just mixed 2 teaspoons of cornflour with the soy and garlic and added it to the remaining liquid to make a sauce.  You could add baby corn, tofu or almonds or cashews to this for variety.  It was jolly good and made a lovely starter. 

Kale is the new Beef!

Amazingly good kale.

I know that I bang on about kale and how good it is for you, but it is.  I had a couple of bags full and wanted to know what to do with them.  

I did this:

I washed the kale and heated a large lidded saucepan.  When the pan was really hot, I chucked in the wet kale and put the lid on, leaving it on high heat to wilt and steam.  

I then added some lazy garlic, some cider vinegar (about 2 capsful) and a bit of soy sauce, a few drops of hot sauce too. Stirred it up and presto.  

Syrup for a fuit salad.

In winter fruit sometimes does not have the sweetness that it does in summer months. Not wanting to add sugar to my fruit salad, I had an idea. I pureed up 3 stoned dates with some water. This time, i replaced the water with freshly squeezed orange juice. Fab - a sweet orsnge syrup without white sugar if you made it with water, You could add vanilla for a vanilla sugar taste but I am all vanilla'd out with the sweet potato I made. (see previous post)

I did this in my vita mix but I bet you could do it with a hand blender, or food processor.

It made the perfect syrup for my fruit salad.

You could add a pinch of cinnamon too which might be a nice addition for s winter friit salad.

I'm back! Vanilla sweet potatoes & Catalan beans and swede

Sorry guys. Been so busy in run up to Christmas that I did not blog. Also I've not been eating healthy food.

So now I need to. Lots!

My first healthy meal of 2011 was a quick and tasty supper.

Vanilla sweet potatoes was kind of s mistake. I peeled s load of sweet potatoes and boiled them. Then pureed them. You could mash, but I use my vita mix for everything. I did not want to add any fat, but they needed something so added pepper and some sea salt. Nope still not right. So added a slosh of soy milk. Oh bugger - it's the sweetened vanilla one. Tasted it and bingo. It's more like a light perfume of vanilla but I liked it and Richard ate it without complaint. So knock yourself out and try it.

To go with this, I made a spanish style stew. I sauteed sliced red onions in veg stock (no fat) until softened. I added celery, and some chopped broccoli stalks (being thrifty after Christmas). A dessert spoon of spanish smoked paprika, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, some drained chickpeas and some drained red kidney beans. I peeled a swede and cut it into bite sized pieces and added that too. I threw in some chopped garlic and then placed half slices of 2 oranges (washed the skins), the juice of 2 oranges and some pepper and salt and a little hot sauce, all over the top. Popped the lid on the casserole and cooked it for about 45 mins. I was going to thicken it but decided to reduce it a little, but it was great as it was, especially over the mashed sweet potato.