I love broccoli in most things, but this has to be one of the absolute best ways to eat it.
Ingredients – serves 2-3
1 pkt broccoli, steamed, about 250g
Pinch garlic powder
2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp hot Paprika
1tbsp toasted Sesame oil
Toasted Sesame seeds to top
1. Mix everything together
2. Serve immediately
Enjoy!
A spicy, salty fermented pickle that is the basis of many korean dishes. A couple of my past posts have used it so I thought it only right to post the recipe properly. Adapted from maangchi’s easy kimchi recipe on her site.
Ingredients – makes about 2 litres
3lb cabbage
1/3cup salt
2 cups pureed korean pear – aka Asian pears, but I’ve also used ripe conference pears, about 2 largish ones (peeled & cored before blending with a lil water)
1/3 cup soy sauce plus some salt
2 cloves garlic (the original calls for wayy too much imo. Wayyy too much)
1tsp minced ginger
1 cup minced onion (1 large onion)
3 green onions
1 granny smith apple
2 medium carrots, peeled
1/2 cup hot pepper flakes, or if like us y can’t get a hold of that, 46g ancho chilli powder plus 1tsp hot paprika & 2 generous pinches chilli flakes
1. Cut the chinese leaf into small pieces and remove the stalk. Wash well 2/3 times and drain (pic 1)
2. Add the salt and toss well. Allow to sit for 30 mins then toss again, repeating this 3 times. The leaves will wilt, release water and shrink considerably in size (pic 2)
3. Wash and drain the chinese leaf well. Chop the green onions, carrot and apple into matchsticks and add (pic 3)
4. Put all remaining ingredients into a food processor with 1.5 cups of water and blend until smooth (pic 4)
5. Mix your paste into the veggies, then store in a plastic tub in the fridge until needed. You can eat it immediately or let it ferment a couple of days at room temp to get a bit more sour, before storing in the fridge.
Enjoy!
You know when something tastes so good you can’t resist eating it while you cook, and when you finally get to the table you forget all about things like table manners and cutlery and start tearing bits off with your hands in excitement? This is one of those things. It took me a full 15 minutes of eating before I could muster enough sense to pick up the fork. I’m stuffed now but still find myself longingly staring at the uneaten half of my third helping. Oh yes. This is one to get the fat-pants out for.
Except, it isn’t… It’s almost all veggies, with gram flour, onions, vegan kimchi (thank you miss Maangchi!) and seasonings – apart from the oil used to fry them in there aren’t that many calories in them at all, for the way they taste. It’s like an amazing, crispy, pakora-like pancake but a billion times better… No overabundance of powdery dough, just the sweet, cruncy green veggies coated in a light layer of delicious, crisp, spicy batter… If I don’t stop describing this thing soon I’ll cave in and finish my plate. Make this. Especially if you find – as we did – a beautiful bunch of beets with greens intact that it’d be a crime to waste. They’re like kale but softer, less grassy and more sweet tasting. Although I’m sure baby kale or de-veined regular kale would work just as well.
Adapted from Maangchi’s kale pancake and kimchi pancake recipe vids on YouTube.
Here it is next to some stir-fried veggies… Yummm
Ingredients – serves 3-4
1 large bunch of beet greens with stalks, maybe 150g, chopped
1.5 pak choi, washed, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 green onion (scallion), chopped
1 medium chilli pepper, de-seeded and chopped finely
1/4 tsp smoked Paprika
1/2 cup kimchi of choice (we used vegan homemade – to Maangchi’s easy recipe with soy sauce instead of fish sauce & pear instead of rice flour slurry)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp toasted Sesame oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp salt
About 3/4 cup water
Up to 1 cup gram flour, or as much as required to make a thin batter that coats everything.
Generous amount of oil to fry in (2tbsp per pancake)
Optional – toasted Sesame seeds as garnish
1. Put everything except frying oil and gram flour in a large bowl
2. Mix well then add half the gram flour, mixing and gradually adding more until a thin batter coats everything and there are a few tablespoons more of it at the bottom of the bowl
3. Heat your pan with 2tbsp oil on high, putting ladlefuls of the mixture into it when hot, then flattening them out to make a relatively thin pancake (thinner means crispier and tastier). Fry until crispy on the bottom (around 3 min) then flip using a spatula, or just using the pan if you want to show off. Cook the other side until that’s crispy too, a few more min.
4. Transfer to a plate then start the next pancake in the same way. Stack the pancakes to keep them warm as you cook. Try not to eat too many as you fry!
5. Serve immediately, topped with toasted Sesame seeds if you like.
Enjoy!
With sliced green onion, veggie sausage and melted cheese on top. Yum, yum & yum!
Ingredients – makes 1 bowl
120g steamed or roasted sweet potato, peeled, mashed
100g chickpeas, cooked, drained, mashed
Half a green onion (scallion), finely chopped
1 vegetarian sausage of choice, cooked, chopped
2 tsp mayo of choice (I used egg free homemade)
Salt & pepper to taste
20g grated cheddar to top
Put everything in a bowl apart from cheese
Mix well, then season
Add cheese then melt under the grill or in the microwave
Enjoy!
These are great with nut cheese. You can dehydrate them if you want them raw instead of baked, too. Like most recipes here, easy, fast, yum. A great staple/ alternative to crisp breads & crackers. Adapted from a recipe from the blog Olives for Dinner.
Ingredients – makes about 20
1/3 cup ground linseed/flax seed
1/2 cup water
1 1/3 cup ground almonds
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp Nutritional yeast (optional – gives a cheesy flavour)
2 tsp onion powder
1 pinch garlic powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt (we used half sea salt & half smoked salt – nb these crackers are quite salty so reduce this to half if you want to eat them plain)
1 sweet, pointed red pepper, finely diced (optional, but very tasty)
Method:
1. Put everything in a bowl. Mix until it looks like a soft, sticky dough.
2. Turn onto a greased, lined baking tray (we foil line & spray with oil). Dump the dough in the middle, grease hands well with olive oil, and pat down to make a flat cracker, about 4mm thick. Re oil hands as necessary while working.
3. Score into cracker shapes using a pizza cutter. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees C for 15-20 mins or until crisp. (or dehydrate for 8h at 110 apparently, but I haven’t tried that). Allow to sit and cool a little before removing from tray, the steam will help them loosen (removing while hot makes them stick).
Enjoy!
Hands down the hardest thing for me about going grain free was losing bread. I searched through so many recipes but couldn’t find a go-to I was happy with: they either contained a ton of ingredients I never have/ can’t find, they have stupidly complex methods or perhaps worst of all, they don’t taste good. I loathe arrowroot in bread, js. Even the microwave breakfast muffin I posted here couldn’t meet my requirements for a staple, for its relative complexity and the fact it’s quite loaded with oil for its size, making it not so easy to eat all the time (although if you’re feeling it, still makes a great treat). This week I made up my own bread which is ridiculously fluffy, great tasting, naan like, and so simple even your cat could make it (though you might want to skip that last suggestion unless you don’t mind a cat-hair seasoning).
IT’S SO FLUFFY I’M GOING TO DIE!
Ingredients: serves 2
300g ground almonds (about 1.5 cups)
2 whole, large eggs or 3 egg whites, or 7 tbsp carton egg whites
4 tbsp olive oil, or double if using egg whites without yolks
Generous pinch of salt
Seasoning to taste: we used 2 heaped tablespoons Sundried tomato & onion paste the first time, then dried thyme, sesame, onion powder, smoked paprika & Sundried tomato oil the second. Yum.
Method:
1. Put everything in a bowl and mix well
2. Spread resulting sticky paste on to oiled baking sheet (we lined it with foil for ease of removal), patting flat with oiled spatula or hands
3. Bake on high (we used 220 degrees C) for 10 mins, or until slightly browned. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
This is one of my favourite recipes for a healthy version of baked beans. Without all the hidden nasties like excessive sugar and salt, these beans come in their own beautiful homemade tomato and herb sauce – perfect to use in any way you would use regular baked beans from a can. If you make this using pulses from a can or carton, the whole thing only takes about 15 minutes to cook. If choosing to make this recipe with dried pulses as we do, you’ll need to do a little pre-preparation before following the below method: pre-soak the dry beans in a large pot of water overnight, then boil them over a low heat for 2-3 hours – don’t worry about having to watch the pot in this time, as long as you’re in the general vicinity to make sure the pot doesn’t either go dry or boil over you can pretty much ignore it until its done. As long as the heat is set such that the beans keep on a low simmer, still bubbling and boiling gently, it’s happy on it’s own. I tend to make one huge batch of beans like this to portion into little bags and freeze until needed, which I can defrost in the microwave then use whenever.
But back to the beans…
You could have them as beans on toast…. or atop a baked potato… or with sweet potato chips…
or pop a whole aubergine (eggplant) into the oven for an hour (200 degrees C)….
… cut it in half, surround it with your favourite veggies…
… top it with baked beans, parmesan and a few herbs, then bake again for 20 minutes…
to make this delicious meal… there are hundreds of possibilities. and all of them delicious 🙂
You won’t regret making these… unless you really hate beans. In which case feel free to order pizza or something.
Ingredients – serves 4
The best way to get the best flavour out of an eggplant is to roast it!
Pre-preparation:
1. If you plan to be around other human beings in the near future, marinate the chopped onion in a mixture of salt, vinegar, and water for a couple hours. This will calm down the onion flavour and also infuse it with a gentle flavour, rendering it Socially Acceptable. If not, don’t worry about it!
2. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the eggplant whole and unpeeled in the oven and roast uncovered it for an hour, or until the peel is burnt and wrinkly, and the inside is tender. You may want to turn it occasionally. (Note: It should look burnt but not smell burnt; if it smells burnt, it’s overcooked!)
3. After the eggplant cools slightly, peel it and discard the peel. Then, chop the eggplant into bite-size pieces. Place it in a colander and allow it to drain for an hour .
Preparation:
1. Toss ingredients in an aesthetically pleasing bowl. Adjust the seasoning as desired.
2. Top with garnishes, if desired.
Don’t worry too much about the proportions – salad is forgiving!
Wholesome living tip: Eggplants, tomatoes, and bell peppers are all nightshade vegetables, which means that some people may experience pain or inflammation with excess consumption. If you feel this might be you, or if you suffer from chronic pain, don’t eat these vegetables every day!
This is one of my favourite sides ever. You can add it to almost any meal or enjoy it on its own with some bread and a little cheese. The rich, sweetness of the tomatoes comes out in the roasting, and the insta-marinade forms an amazing sauce with the juices- one so great you could just dip bread into it and eat it alone. This is my go-to side for any roasted meat, chicken or fish and, incidentally, what I’m having for supper tonight 🙂 super easy, super healthy, super delicious… Win, win, win!
Ingredients – serves 2
1 punnet good quality small tomatoes of choice – baby plum or vine tomatoes are best but cherry tomatoes and others work too (don’t use regular /salad ones as they’re not as flavoursome and tend to be a little watery)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar or 2 tsp agave or honey
1 tbsp dried oregano or 2tbsp fresh (the whole stalks are amazing when roasted – crispy, spicy, yummy leaves you can eat off the stick )
Optional – 1 tsp seasoning of choice eg. Cajun or pasta seasoning
1. Prepare a roasting pan or ovenproof dish. Place the tomatoes in the bottom of it. Drizzle the olive oil over the top, then honey or agave if using, then dry seasonings and finally herbs.
2. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees C for about 20 mins until the tomatoes have popped and their delicious juices have run out
3. Serve as a side or with your choice of bread. Dig in! 🙂
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