Nutrition

Vegan Thai Yellow Curry with Squash & Fava Beans

Posted on September 29, 2017 by leroy watson

Thai Yellow Curry with Squash & Fava Beans

This is an ideal, quick and easy, curry at this time of year, using seasonal squash (one of my favs) plus British grown fava beans from Hodmedods and all the beautiful flavours of Thailand in a creamy and rich coconut sauce. It’s one of those dishes that most vegetables will love and mingle into, add whatever combos you love, I kept it simple here.

SQUASH SEASON

There are so many squashes around at this time of year, the one I used here was a Hokkaido Squash which is a great all-rounder for roasting, stew/ curries and grating or slicing into a salad. Hokkaido is lovely and sweet with a brilliant orange colour and is normally quite small, making it ideal stuffing size. You’ll also find loads of Acorns, Kabocha, Crown Prince (I love that one) and if you’re lucky, a Spaghetti Squash, which is well worth seeking out. When roasted and fluffed with a fork, it forms a spaghetti like texture.

A lot of people I meet don’t like squash, strange as that may sound to some of you. It’s normally down to the fact that pumpkin is so popular, the variety we carve strange faces into at Halloween (although we always used a giant swede – the vegetable that is). That type of pumpkin is a little watery and lacking in flavour, not great eatin’, I’d recommend any of the winter squashes way ahead of old scary pumpkin head.

RECIPE INSPIRATION VIA BANGKOK SUBURB

This recipe is based on one of our favourite places to eat in Bangkok, Lemon Farm Organic Restaurant near, well, it’s kind of popped in the middle of a mass of sprawling Bangkok-ness (Chatuchak). It’s an out of the way place if you’re a tourist, a mainly residential area where we had the pleasure of staying with the awesome Kessi for a few weeks. There was really very little to do, so Jane and I did a lot of cooking (using only a rice cooker and kettle) and made a little home on the 13th floor of a tower overlooking the sprawling, buzzing city of Bangkok.

This dish is modelled on something cooked for us by the amazing Buppha, head chef/ manager at Lemon Farm, which was a sweet, rich and coconut-y lentil dish from her hometown of Phuket in the South. I had never tried Thai lentils before and it really inspired me. She made it with red lentils and always shared her recipes generously, but I was normally trying to write them down in a little notebook whilst holding a plate of food and being jostled by crowd of hungry Lemon Tree punters. It got packed at office lunch time you see. So I free styled this recipe and used the best of what was to hand, but the taste is similar, reminders of good times for sure.

THAI-STYLE (EAT!)

Phuket is a foodie centre, which can be said for all parts of Thailand I’ve found, and the dishes there are distinctly chilli-fied! Pow!! Buppha used to wake up at 4am with her team of chefs to prepare the days array of dishes and was very passionate about all things cooking, many of the recipes had been handed down to her by her mother/ grandmother. The food was served buffet style, with a little noodle soup spot in the corner of an organic food shop. It was cheap, very varied, plentiful and many dishes were vegan friendly, using some tofu and lots of interesting veggies. Buppha just loved cooking with vegetables and they even had their own little vegetarian festival. A week of vegetarian cooking that falls between September and October most years, most Thai’s go veggie at that time. This years festival ended yesterday!

VEGAN THAI TRAVEL

Thailand is of course a Buddhist country, but meat is very common in dishes, to the point that eating without planning in Bangkok and all over Thailand can be a challenge. This is just one of those things, the veg markets in Thailand are some of my favourite in the world. In fact the veg market in a little fishing town called Prachuap Kiri Khan is probably my favourite in the world (not to mention they have a vegan restaurant and a couple of vegetarian restaurants, plus an outdoor food market every night). These veggies just don’t seem to surface on restaurant menus though, but this is a gripe of mine all over the world (one you’ve probably heard before). It seems that most veggies are used in the home and meat is a ‘treat’ when people go out to eat. Having said that, Thai’s seem to eat out all the time, everyday, such is the abundance of street eats to be found. No country is like it, most streets have carts, wagons and tables vending all kinds of local delicacies. It’s almost impossible to keep up with what is going on and taste bud overload can occur.

Thailand is not the easiest country to travel around as a vegan, especially when you get off the tourist trail. English is not spoken generally and like I said, vegan options need to be sniffed out and the outrageous abundance of Thai street food is pretty much off the menu. Still, when you do find vegan hot spots, like the tourist friendly Chang Mai or one of the main tourist islands like Koh Samui, you’ve hit Thai food heaven. Thai food is very diverse, much more interesting than I imagined on my first visit. I was ignorant to the geographical differences in ingredients and flavours, styles and approaches. I should have known better really, as this is nothing new in the world of food, most countries have a similarly rich tapestry of dishes and produce as you wander around. Nowadays, when I return, that first Green Curry or Pad Thai Noodles is always a very special moment.

There is such a buzz to eating in Bangkok, eating out really means that, outside, huddled over a table near a main road, or near one of the hundreds of canals (think watery thoroughfare). Theres a bustle and energy to it all, loads of skill and panache in preparing and serving food and you can spend all night walking around, eating tiny delicious portions of things and just keep going until the early hours. It’s one of the highest forms of grazing, snacking at its best, Thai style!

Big Thanks to Hodmedods!

Just for being awesome really!! They have such an amazing array of British grown pulses and seeds, so many interesting things (to me), like Blue Peas, Carelina Seeds, Black Badger Peas, Fava Umami Paste, loads of ingredients that get me excited about cooking, trying new things. If you’re interested, they even do a Big Vegan Box!

Hodmedods were kind enough to send us some of their pulses and bits to cook with at our recent retreats and I think their fava beans are a cut above. Filled with amazing flavour, I love making Fave E Cicoria, a really simple Puglian bean dip. Making it with Hodmedods beans makes a huge difference to the flavour. The dish is simply made with cooked fava beans, garlic and a little olive oil. Doesn’t sound like much admittedly, but with those beans, it’s dynamite!! PS – Well done on winning the 2017 Best Food Producer at the BBC Food Awards. To celebrate they’re offering 15% discount on orders.

Recipe Notes
You can use any lentils you like, red lentils will take considerably less time to cook. Green/ brown lentils, dark green/ puy lentils will all work nicely. Mung beans are also very ace.

Not all coconut milk is equal. Check the cans, we’re looking for plenty of coconut content, if it’s around 50%, its going to be quite weak. Still nice, but not as creamy. We’ve been talking about the differences between Coconut Milk and Coconut Cream over on Facebook in the BHK Vegan Cooking Group. I like this dish really rich and really creamy.

Check that your Yellow Thai Curry Paste is vegan/ gluten-free. Thanks It normally is. The Green and Red Thai Curry pastes in most UK shops are not vegan.

Shop bought Thai curry paste can be high in salt, this effects our seasoning.

I didn’t have any coriander or fresh chilli, but that would have been the perfect addition to the topping of this dish.

Thai Yellow Curry with Squash & Fava Beans

Quick Thai Yellow Curry with Squash & Fava Beans

The Bits – For 4

250g fava beans

900ml water

5-6 kaffir lime leaves

1.5 inches ginger (finely chopped)

4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1-2 teas chilli flakes

½ head small savoy cabbage (sliced)

1 small hokkaido squash – 300g (peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch chunks)

1 big handful desiccated coconut/ coconut flakes (toasted is nice)

1 can coconut milk

2 tbs coconut oil

4-5 tbs yellow curry paste (vegan)

1 tbs coconut/ brown sugar (optional sweetness)

Sea salt

Toppings (optional)

A little more desiccated coconut/ coconut flakes

1 red chilli (finely sliced)

1 handful coriander (fresh)

1/2 lime (cut into wedges/ slices)

Do It
Wash and drain the fava beans. Cover with cold water in a large saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-40 minutes, until soft. Add more hot water if needed.

While that’s going on, in a large frying pan, add the coconut oil, warm on medium high heat and add the onion and fry for 7 minutes until golden, then add the garlic and ginger, fry for 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, chilli, desiccated coconut, lime leaves, squash and cabbage, bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the squash is soft. Stir in the yellow Thai paste, sugar and cooked fava beans (including cooking broth), warm through for a few minutes, adding a little hot water if needed. Check seasoning.

Serve with warm rice, more toasted coconut, lime wedges and sliced red chillies if you like it hot.

*To add a Thai flavour to your rice, why not add a few lime leaves and a handful of coconut when you start cooking it.*

Foodie Fact

You all probably know that I love my beans! But favas…..they’re almost a different league. PACKED with flavour and so, so good for us. Fava beans were dried and ground down to make bread traditionally in the UK, it was one of our major crops before we went wild for wheat and potatoes. There is a rich history of fava/ broad bean growing in the UK, but growing up, they always seems a little exotic, something from the Middle East maybe, not the Midlands.

Fava/ Broad Beans are rich in shiny things like Vitamin K, Thaimin, zinc, potassium and loads of other minerals. They are full of protein and have no saturated fat or cholesterol. They also contain good amounts of iron and folate (one of the vitamin B bunch), plus loads of fibre.

Categories: Autumn, Curries, Dinner, gluten-free, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Travel, Vegan | Tags: recipes, thailand, travelling | 10 Comments

Banana & Peanut Butter Muffins with Date Caramel

Posted on September 27, 2017 by leroy watson

Most of the time, the simple things are the best. Like these muffins. They take a few minutes to make and I love the combination of banana, peanut and dates. It’s like these flavours were created for a muffin! This is a recipe that I keep going back to again and again, I’m really chuffed that I’ve finally got around to sharing it.

These muffins are loved by kids especially, I’ve seen some amazing reactions from kids when faced with these. They disappear quickly and I think the caramel is a real favourite. They are also pretty healthy, but kids are in no way put off by that, they just love them because they’re yum. I’ve found kids are a good jury for muffins, they are perfectly honest and normally have an interesting point or two to make.

I have used a little white flour here, but you could go fully wholemeal if you’re feeling that. Also, buckwheat flour is a lovely addition to these muffins, adds a real depth. The key here it to not over bake them, they will go dry quickly. Get them out when they are still soft in the middle, but a skewer comes out clean (a little stickiness is fine) and they will firm up when cooled.

The date caramel is so, so easy and can be used on all kinds of desserts and as a go to icing and filling, it’s just a superstar recipe with three ingredients only!! These muffins also make for a great, super quick breakfast option.

These muffins use such simple ingredients that almost anyone can jump in their kitchen right now and give them a go!

Recipe Notes

Get some nice big muffins cases here. Little cup cake cases won’t do. Preferably without frilly patterns on. I’m against frilly patterns in this case. I like plain brown or white, however Jane has talked me into a pink muffin case in the past.

If you’re feeling chocolaty, add a few tbs of cocoa/ cacao to the mix, the results are amazing!!

I like coconut oil, but normal vegetable oil is also fine.

———-

Banana & Peanut Butter Muffins with Date Caramel

The Bits – 10 muffins
3 ripe bananas
70ml coconut oil (melted)
65g light brown sugar
100g self raising flour
120g wholemeal flour
1 teas bicarb
1 teas cinnamon
3 tbs peanut butter

Date Caramel

175g dates
3 tbs peanut butter
3-4 tbs water

Topping

1 handful toasted peanuts (roughly chopped)
10 pieces dried banana/ banana chips

Do It
Preheat oven to 180oC, place 10 muffin cases in your muffin tin.

Mash the bananas in a mixing bowl, mix in peanut butter, oil and sugar, then the flour, bicarb, cinnamon. Mix well until a lumpy batter form.

Spoon the mix into your muffin cases, so they’re ¾ full. Pop in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Leave the muffins to cool in the tin.

Caramel – Place all in a blender and blitz until smooth. This will take a few goes. Drizzle in more water to thin out to a spreadable consistency.

Spread your caramel over cooled muffins, sprinkle with peanuts and stick a banana chip on top for a final flourish!

Foodie Fact

Peanuts are nutritional powerhouses, like most nuts. A handle full a day is a great idea. Packed with minerals, antioxidants and protein, they are the ideal snack, rich in good fats and fibre. Peanut butter is a great way of adding peanut power to smoothies, dressings, curries/soups/stews. The hype is that nuts are fattening, but it has been shown that adding nuts to our diets can actually help us loss weight.

Jane and I have been enjoying them boiled, something we’d not tried until we went to China. Great added to a stir fry or tossed with a Chinese Style dressing in a salad.

Categories: Baking, Cakes, Desserts, healthy, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: cooking, muffin, recipe, vegan baking | 6 Comments

Msabaha – Lebanese Chickpeas (A tasty twist on hummus)

Posted on July 13, 2017 by leroy watson

Better than hummus!? Or at least equal! Regardless, an awesome, quick and easy summer dish to be eaten alone with warm bread, maybe a salad and then take it the whole way and make it part of a summer feast. Tables filled with lovely dishes one of my favourite sights, especially in the garden with a shining topping of sunshine. Come on sunshine!!

BEIRUT BITES

I ate this mainly for breakfast on a recent trip to Beirut. Warm, with crisp tomatoes and pepper, plus fresh, thin pitta bread, it set me up for days traveling around the fascinating country of Lebanon. It’s a simple dish and can be ready in minutes.

Msabaha (some spell it Mussabaha, Msabbacha, Mschabeca, Messabbeha but in Lebanon I saw Msabaha, I hope that makes some sense) is a great twist on hummus, containing most of the same ingredients. This is a really creamy, more-ish way of serving chickpeas, perfect as a picnic mezza.

I was sharing a table with a friendly American one morning and I recommended the Msabaha, he exclaimed “THIS IS THE NEW HUMMUS MAN!!” I’m not sure about that. I don’t think it really matters. It’s just Msabaha. And it’s just amazing.

CHICKPEA LOVIN’

The Lebanese love, I mean love, their chickpeas. I excitedly ordered a dish in a bar/ restaurants (there are loads of excellent bars and restaurants in Beirut, especially in and around Gemmayzeh.) What showed up was basically a bowl of chickpeas, dusted with cumin and a splash of olive oil. It was delicious, but still, just a bowl of chickpeas straight up.

The main challenge with travelling for me is re-creating the dishes that I loved once I arrive back home. It can be a thankless task, we cannot recreate the chickpeas here, for some reason, they taste so much better in the Med/ Middle East. Also the veg, the cucumbers and tomatoes in Lebanon were a constant sensation. We can’t replicate their fertile soil and sun. But we can try and we can get close.

THE BEST SOUVENIRS ARE RECIPES!

The funny-ish thing about travelling is we go away and sample all of these delicious delicacies and local people are unfazed by the adulation. It’s like a tourist wandering into a Gregg’s and getting worked up about a pasty. These kind of dishes are what everyone eats, they’re the working persons food, cheap, delicious, plentiful and ever present. In Britain, I think things like good chips and mushy peas, or a cheese and pickle sandwich (now back on the menu with vegan cheddar), or maybe even the perfect shepherd-less or apple pie are our equivalent of hummus, falafels, baklava and the like. Simple food that everyone loves! My best souvenirs are always recipes like these and delicious memories.

THE GREAT HUMMUS DEBATE – WHICH IS BEST?

Basically, don’t go there!! In Lebanon, hummus recipes are precise and it can be a point for debate. I’ve encountered this in other countries, many little variation, some say add ice and blend, others say only use a hand masher, some say painstakingly remove the jacket from each individual chickpea.

Most people I spoke to in Beirut said keep it simple. No garlic, no spices. Just lemon, salt and a little olive oil. The hummus we eat in the UK, especially those pale imitations in the supermarkets, are nothing like those in Lebanon and Egypt. Their hummus is super creamy and perfectly balanced, also, the olive oil is normally very fruity.

In Lebanon, the folk I spoke to would never put cumin in hummus and many would not dream of garlic. No, no, no, nooooo! “Garlic!! Are you crazy Britishman!!” Direct quotes from a falafel stand in Beirut.

I think it’s about balance and knowing what your dream tahini tastes like and the texture you want. Some like it a little rough, some smooth. I like mine with a little more tahini. But anyway….back to Msabaha……

Remember this though, tahini alone, mixed with water, a little garlic and salt, makes for an incredible sauce for many, many dishes. Can be called Tarator. I love tahini, we should all be eating it at least twice a day in my humble opinion. More at weekends. Have you ever mixed tahini with jam/ molasses/ something sweet and spread it on warm toast or drizzled it over things like porridge or muesli? You’ve got to try it!! It’s a breakfast based revelation.

I love the simplicity of Msabaha, so easy to get very wrong and incredible when mastered. I’m no master, but this is a decent effort I reckon. If you’re from Lebanon, please try it and send me your kind and not-too-harsh feedback. Chokran!!

Recipe Notes

If you like a thicker sauce, stir in a few spoonfuls of hummus. This is perfectly acceptable behaviour.

I ate this with hummus, so I didn’t make it really saucy. Feel free to add more sauce.

Cook the chickpeas until they’re nice and soft, melt in the mouth!

I prefer soaked and cooked chickpeas, better flavour, but tinned will be fine.

I think this dish is best served warm.

I like cumin, so I put it in.

The Bits – Enough for 4-6 as a mezze

550g chickpeas (cooked) – 2 tins

1 teas ground cumin

6 tbs light tahini

1/2 lemon (juice)

5 tbs water (more if needed)

1 small clove garlic (crushed)

Salt

Toppings

Sprinkle of paprika

2 cloves crushed garlic (optional but nice)

1/2 handful chopped parsley (use the soft stems also)

Big glug of extra virgin olive oil

Salad

1 green pepper

1/2 cucumber

2 tomatoes (all sliced)

Fresh mint leaves (I used basil)

Do It

Cook your chickpeas, as you like, and drain.

When still warm. Stir the tahini, water, garlic, lemon juice, cumin and salt together, adding the water gradually to make a thin sauce. If you didn’t cook your chickpeas with bicarb of soda, use the chickpea cooking broth instead of water. You can make the sauce in advance if you like.

Gently stir the sauce into the warm chickpeas. Top with parsley, paprika and crushed garlic and serve with warm flatbreads and crisp, chopped salad.

Foodie Fact

Tahini! Why we love it so, other than it tastes awesome.

Tahini is one the best sources of calcium out there, it keeps your skin and muscles healthy, high in vitamin E and many of the B’s, helps with detoxing, full of minerals like magnesium, potassium, iron and more, a great source of protein (even better than nuts), it is highly alkaline, it is high in unsaturated fats and therefore can help with weightloss.

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, plant-based, Recipes, Side Dish, Summer, Vegan | Tags: chickpeas, hummus, Lebanon, traveling | 13 Comments

Summer Veg & Almond Cous Cous with Tahini Sauce

Posted on June 15, 2017 by leroy watson

Just landed back in the UK and am chuffed to be back in the kitchen playing with pots, pans and potatoes. I love travelling but finding a good kitchen to cook in can be a challenge. It’s probably the only thing I really miss. I’ve been munching my way around the world for a while now and am ready to recreate a huge chunk of global tastiness this summer on the BHK. I hadn’t had cous cous for an age and really enjoyed it recently in Beirut. Although not exactly traditional Lebanese (more of that to come) I thought it would be a nice way to get the BHK recipes rolling again.

This is a quick, easy and delicious summer dish, I love these flavours; a little spice, apricots, crunchy almonds. YUM! Plus a creamy tahini sauce. It takes no time at all to get together and when served with a salad or two, maybe even some warm flatbread, you’ve got a meal every one will enjoy.

So we’re just getting settled into the British vibe again, I must admit that it’s still quite a shock not waking up in India! It was one of the hottest days of the year yesterday and I wore a big fleece and scarf. I’ll get used to it!! 2017 has been an incredible year so far, Nepal, India, Lebanon and even a little taste of Ethiopia, but we can’t wait to tour around the UK for all the events, festivals and retreats we have planned. Maybe see you there!!

If you get the chance to try this, or any of our recipes out, let us know in the comments. We love to hear about your kitchen adventures.

Recipe Notes

All Spice is best used sparingly, if you don’t have any, go for a spice mix like garam masala or Ras El Hanout and use 1 teas more.

I really like millet and it makes a great sub for cous cous. It’s healthy and gluten free.

You might like to roast your almonds in an oven for 10 minutes to bring out the amazing flavours.

Summer Veg & Almond Cous Cous with Tahini Sauce

The Bits – Light lunch/ dinner for 4
1 large onion (sliced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 pepper (all cut into small cubes)
1 small aubergine
1 small courgette
1 large tomato

1 tbs cumin seeds

1 1/2 tbs sesame seeds
1 teas all spice (or other spice mix)
2 tbs cooking oil
Salt + pepper

1 handful dried apricots (chopped)

1 big handful almonds (roughly sliced)

1 handful parsley (chopped)

Cous cous (150g is good for 4)

Tahini Sauce
5 tbs light tahini
1/2 lemon (juice)
1 small clove garlic (crushed)
Salt (to taste)
Water

Do It
In a large frying pan on medium high heat, warm the oil and add the cumin and sesame seeds. Stir and fry for 1/2 minute and then add the onions and cook for a few minutes. Now add salt, pepper, all spice, aubergine, courgette and peppers. Gently stir and fry for 5-7 minutes, until all is soft. Add the tomatoes and apricots, take off the heat and pop a lid on. Set aside. The tomatoes will be just soft and not overcooked.

Cook your cous cous, follow the pack instructions. Using veg stock adds more flavour and a few twists of black pepper is nice.

In a bowl, mix the tahini sauce bits together with a fork, adding water gradually until you have a thin sauce.

Serve warm or cold. Arrange the cous cous on a large plate, pile the veg in the middle and top with parsley and almonds. Drizzle with tahini sauce as you like.

Foodie Fact

Almonds are packed with healthy fats and minerals, it’s been shown that nuts can actually help you lose weight. We eat the sweet almonds, but bitter almonds are used to flavour things like amaretto and almond extract.

Many people I speak to don’t realise what a good source of antioxidants nuts are and are put off because of high fat contents. The fat’s in most nuts are healthy and they come with so many more benefits. Plus, they taste incredible.

Categories: Dinner, Healthy Eating, Lunch, Nutrition, Recipes, Salads, Summer, Vegan, veganism | Tags: cous cous, Durham, plant-based, travel | Leave a comment

Everyone’s Lovin’ Jack! Ten interesting facts about jackfruit

Posted on May 24, 2017 by leroy watson

Everyone is loving Jackfruit at the minute, all those pulled jack fruit sandwiches and have you tried jackfruit ice cream? It’s incredible! But how much do we know about this strange fruit? Don’t let the spikes put you off, this is a super fruit in every way!! I’m lucky on my global wanders to have tried many varieties of jackfruit and different dishes. I’ve never met a jackfruit dish I didn’t like!

Here are 10 facts about this strange, spiky and wonderful fruit:

1) Jackfruit, the yellow bit we eat, is actually called an ‘aril’. It’s a flower and we eat the edible petals. One jackfruit contains hundreds of flowers and one tree can grow 250 fruits per year.

2) Jackfruit seeds are edible and healthy most people roast them. You can also boil them up and make a lovely attempt at hummus. Comes highly recommended.

3) It is said to smell and taste like a cross between very ripe bananas and pineapple, with a twist of apple and mango. It’s a confused fruit! I think that’s quite accurate but there is definitely a custardy, juicy fruit gum-ness there too.

4) There are many varities of jackfruit, some are pithy inside and some are very sweet and tender.

5) In Indonesia, they make chips out of jackfruit, called Kripik. You can buy them and eat them like crisps.

6) Jackfruit seeds, when roasted, taste like brazil nut crossed with a chestnut. You can boil, bake and roast them. They can also be ground into a flour.

7) Using jackfruit as a meat substitute is nothing new. In Thailand it’s sought after by vegetarians and historically called ‘gacch patha’ (tree mutton!)

8) In Indonesia, the wood of the jackfruit tree is used to maked the famous ‘gamelan’ drums. Popular in Bali (see video below). The leaves are also fed to cattle, but also make a nice alternative to other greens.

9) Every part of the jackfruit tree is medicinally beneficial, the bark, leaves, pulp, skin and roots. It is also antibacterial and anitviral.

10) Jackfruit is the heavyweight of all fruits, growing to four feet long and weighing in at over 35kgs. That’s a lot of burger right there!

Cooking wise, the main attraction to Jackfruit for me is the interesting texture, when unripe, nothing else gives that stringy, chewiness when cooked. It is meat-like and an ideal plant-based dish to serve meat eaters. Also the flavour is totally unique, in fact, Jackfruit is a very strange fruit indeed, like nothing else. As the world goes meat free (it’s happening!) we’ll be increasingly familiar with Jack. It’s going mainstream! Great news as the production of meat is one of THE main causes of global warming.

I’ve been in Goa for a while and jackfruit grows everywhere. Jackfruit has been hailed as a ‘future food’, due to the fact that it grows so easy and is high in nutrition. It requires minimal fuss and pruning. One jackfruit can feed many and some say it will help to ease the issue of global hunger/ food security.

For me, the country who does jackfruit the best is Indonesia. I’ve never been to a country where it is used so frequently. Almost every meal I had in a proper place had at least one dish using jackfruit. The dish ‘Gudeg’ is a stand out staple. Of course, it makes for a great dessert. It’s a very useful plant, although I have been warned that in places like Brazil, it can be invasive. This is probably not such a problem in rural Wales as it will only grow in warm places.

I also tried a ‘Pulled Jackfruit Burger’ in quite a cool little place in Yogayakarta, Indonesia. This is a contemporary twist on things and its great. You’ve probably tried one yourself? I’ll be cooking it when I get back to the UK for sure. Unfortunately, up here in the Himalayas, it’s not a Jackfruit zone. Great organic veggies though.

You can eat ripe Jackfruit raw, I love it like that, but they have to be ripe. It’s also interesting when it pops up in a salad. Jackfruit originated in India and in the South you can find people selling it as a street snack and, of course, in parts of India it’s made into a curry. I know they sometimes make candies/ sweets out of the juice.

Jackfruit is easily confused with the pungent freak that is Durian (see below). Popular in South East Asia and banned from public transport there (it reeks like something gone way rotten and wrong). Durian is an acquired taste and once (or if) you can get over the stink, has an incredible flavour. When I did the TV show ‘Meat vs Veg’ I was tasked with wandering around the streets of London, trying to get people to try it. Some did and liked it, but most just looked sickened! Again, something totally unique. Go to Thailand, try it out. The Thai’s adore the stuff. Durian looks different, bigger spikes and doesn’t grow as large.

Nutrition wise, for something quite starchy, its got lots to offer. It’s low in calories with good levels of Vitamin C and Vitamin B6 (which is quite rare). Its also a reasonable source of minerals and a good source of carbohydrates, fats, protein and has plenty of fibre. The seeds have plenty of vitamin A.

Although it’s not exactly local (and you know we love our local produce) I guess there is little difference tucking into a pineapple or mango. Jackfruit is a treat and when you look at the quite high prices in the UK, this makes it even more so. I think for a every now and again, taste of something different, you can’t beat Jack!

You can buy jackfruit canned in most countries and if you buy a whole jackfruit, be warned, they can be a trick customer. They ooze a white sticky liquid when cut into and it takes ages to pick out the little fruits, seperate the seeds etc. It is well worth it, the texture of a fresh jackfruit is different from the tinned.

Have you tried Jackfruit? How did you cook it? It seems like a fresh and new ingredient in the UK and beyond that everyone is falling for. We love it!

Finally, some fascinating and hypnotic ‘Gamelan‘ music from Indonesia:

Categories: healthy, Music, Nutrition, photography, Superfoods, Travel, Vegan, veganism | Tags: cooking, gamelan, Indonesia, jackfruit, pulled jackfruit | 11 Comments

Cooling Watermelon, Tofu & Mint Salad

Posted on April 1, 2017 by leroy watson

It’s getting HOT over here!

I realise that most of you don’t need cooling down, but we do. Its baking in our little place in the coconut grove, Goa. This is the most cooling and simple salad I could think of with the added benefits of tasting very awesome and also bags of sparkling nutrition.

We don’t have a kitchen so we’re loving playing with salads, of the fruity sweet variety and killer savoury ones normally with tahini dressing. We’ve a great supply of locally made tahini and tofu, it’s making us very happy. It’s been about a year since I’ve enjoyed one of my favourite things, tahini I could eat on anything and everything. I love the creamy flavour and it’s of course, one of the best sources of calcium around.

Whilst taking these pictures we had to fend of Indra the local alpha bull geezer, a speckled massive creature with impressive horns. He’s a bit of a punk and loves nibbling things when we sit near the edge of our terrace. His tongue is outrageously long, something like a mighty iguana. Especially good at hoovering up stray bananas. Cheeky chap, but we’ve a soft spot from his brusque greediness. He eats all of our peelings and I think looks a little happier afterwards. Other animals hanging around the coconut grove today are large woodpeckers, egrets, a family of buffalos, stripy chipmunks, a pack of semi-feral yet friendly mongrels, wild peacocks at dawn, fish eagles, many funky lizards, a praying mantis and probably loads of other amazing little things. Mosquitos, some. Families of geckos, yes. Anyway, we’re a food blog right!…….

If you’re in northern Europe, maybe save this one until summer hits (or turn the heating right up!) If you’re in more southern climes, this one is a light and cooling lunch for two that also looks a bit sexy.

Recipe Notes

The chillies are a great little kick, but optional.

The tofu quality is important when being eaten cool like this. See if you can get some good stuff, the tofu here is rich and creamy, slightly crumbly like feta. Perfect for salads. Add a squeeze of lemon, a little salt and come nooch (nutritional yeast flakes) if you have them for extra feta like cheesiness.

Watermelons are always huge. We’ll only use a little here so why not try cutting it into cubes, freezing it and using it as exotic ice cubes in your favourite juice/ cocktail. Of course, blended up with cucumber, lemon and mint (maybe a touch of sweetness), your looking at a wonderful smoothie.

I’ve seen some people taking the pips/ seeds out of their watermelon. It’s a total waste of time! Just crunch them down, they are not bitter at all.

The Bits – For 2 lunch

250g firm tofu (cubed)
1 cucumber (peeled and cubed)
2 cups watermelon (cubed)
2 tbs fresh mint (finely sliced – do this last)
Pinch salt
Squeeze lemon juice

1 green chilli (finely sliced) – optional

Dressing
2 heaped tbs tahini
½ lemon (juice)
Water
Pinch salt

Do It
Cut the melon, cucumber and tofu into similar sized cubes.

Squeeze a little lemon and a pinch of salt over the tofu and toss lightly.

Mix your dressing together with a fork adding drizzles of water and stirring in until a single cream texture is formed.

Mix your mint in with the tofu and place in the centre of a large plate. Surround in layers with your melon and cucumber. Sprinkle over leftover mint and chilli (if using)

Foodie Fact
We’re going to let Macka B take over the foodie fact, so many incredible health giving properties to the humble cucumba!!!!

Happy cooking!

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Music, Nutrition, photography, Recipes, Salads, Summer, Travel, Vegan | Tags: healthy, recipe, salad, traveling | 10 Comments

Roast Potato and Cumin Frittata with a Farro and Cannellini Bean Salad

Posted on April 4, 2016 by leroy watson

I had a great time on BBC Radio Wales recently, a little thing they do called ‘Foodie Friday’. It was the wonderful Eleri Sion show (although Tom was standing in) and we mainly talked about how accessible and incredible a vegan lifestyle is and coconut scones, but I did mention one of my very favourite dishes at the moment, a simple and really nutritious vegan frittata. Plant power for all!! I just had to share the recipe.

Tom mentioned that vegan food can be more time consuming to cook than a piece of meat with vegetables, which may well be true for some dishes, but this frittata is so easy and straightforward and as with all vegan cooking, substitutions can be made, things can be swapped, veggies played with, happiness unearthed, taste buds dance a merry jig. It’s always easier when you’re done it, so lets do it!

This is a lovely light Italian lunch with a twist. I just can’t help myself! Cumin seeds are one of my favourite ingredients (along with gram flour) and they bring a subtle and deep spice to this dish. I know that cumin is not exactly traditionally Italian, but I’m sure they’ll forgive me! Especially if they get to try this frittata. Molto delizioso! (Which means pretty dang nice in Italian)

Spring is taking its gentle hold on North Wales and the nights are lighter and the sun is making reappearance after a long winter. Its such a beautiful time of year and we are naturally turning to lighter foods.

This frittata is a brilliant way to use up gorgeous roasted vegetables, either freshly roasted or leftovers. The other night, after some very posh curry and chips (see below), I pondered how to use the leftover potatoes. It’s been a while since our last Spain time and I know Jane loved Potato Tortillas so this was a no brainer. I know the art of romance, surprise frittata!

Posh chips and curry sauce - a Beach House classic made with local organic roasted potatoes and a spicy masala sauce (recipe from Peace & Parsnips) Yumah!

A tortilla is basically a Spanish name for an unfolded omelette. Most people will cook this in a pan and then grill it (this is also called a ‘Frittata’ in Italy or even a ‘Kuku’ in Iran – confused yet?!) but I’ve made it easier, pop it in the oven and all is well. In fact, omellete’s seem to be a staple in most countries I visit, from North Africa to India, the world loves an omellete. Making it a vegan delight is quick and easy. I’ve cooked this for many non-vegans and they love it, a few glugs of olive oil for richness and no misses out on flavour.

Looking good with a plenty of fresh coriander (although parsley is probably slightly more Italian)

THATS LUNCH!

Frittata is very happy when paired with a grain salad and some green leaves. That’s lunch! I’ve made a little Farro and Canellini Bean Salad, packed with crunch and the wholesome feel of the farro, served with some top salad leaves from our local organic farm. When the leaves are this good, with amazing vitality, fresh flavour and texture, I just give them a quick rinse and tear them up with my hands. Finely slicing amazing salad leaves just seems like a waste. I love to see their shapes.

Recipe Notes

You can also use this gram flour mix for omelette’s cooked in a pan or as a filling for a vegan quiche or tart. A baked gram flour pancake in Italy is known as a Farinata and its one of the best things ever.

For a lighter frittata, why not add 1/3 teas baking powder to the gram flour and then stir in the water.

Farro is basically Italian Spelt, meaning that some people who are gluten intolerant can handle it. If you are off gluten, try using buckwheat or even quinoa.

Due to my intense love of veggies, this salad is light on grains. I like a high veg ratio in any dish.

The Bits – For 4-6

Frittata

250g roasted potatoes (or similar quantity of any roasted vegetables)

2 small onions

2 tbsp olive oil

¾ teas cumin seeds

½ teas turmeric

150g gram flour

225ml water

1/3 teas salt

Large pinch pepper
Garnish

½ handful Fresh Coriander or Parsley (finely chopped)

½ handful Crushed Walnuts (optional)

Farro and Cannellini Bean Salad

100g faro (I use quick cook type)

1 small kohlrabi (finely diced)

3 handfuls leek (finely sliced)

½ yellow pepper (finely diced)

1 handful toasted pumpkin seeds

1 handful pitted green olives (sliced)

½ lemon (juice)

200g cannellini beans

4 radishes (sliced into thin batons)

1 handful parsley chopped

Couple of pinches of salt and pepper

Very simple salad, torn leaves. No need to mess. Delicious!

Do It

Frittata

Preheat an oven to 200oc.

Grab a 10 inch non-stick baking dish, round looks good but you could always use a square one. If you are not sure about the non-stickiness of the dish, line it with baking parchment.

Drizzle in a little oil, add the cumin seeds, onions and a couple of pinches of salt. Toss together and place in the oven. Roast for 15 minutes, stir, roast again for 10 minutes, stir, roast again for 10 minutes, by this time the onions should be nicely caramelised and golden. Set aside.

While the onions are in the oven, in a large bowl, add the gram flour along with the turmeric, olive oil and a couple pinches of salt. Stir together and then gradually pour in the water whilst stirring, until a thick and smooth batter forms.

Add your potatoes to the oven dish, mixing them in with the onions. Pour over the batter and sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the frittata.

Pop in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the frittata is firm and getting nice and golden on top. Cut into slices and drizzle over a little more olive oil and a sprinkle of coriander/ parsley. A few toasted walnuts are also delicious.

Serve straight away.

Salad

In a saucepan, bring roughly 1 litre water to a rolling boil, add the farro and simmer for 10-12 minutes. Until the grains are soft. Drain and refresh with cold water. Set aside.

Once the grains have cooled, toss everything together in a big bowl. Serve with your favourite dressing and ideally, a nice big slab of frittata.

Vegan frittata - ideal and super nutritious Spring lunch

My dressing for this was using pomegranate molasses, english mustard and sherry vinegar, with a light olive oil and a touch of salt and maple syrup.

Foodie Fact

Did you know that potatoes are a good source of protein, iron, fibre and vitamin C? I sometimes overlook how nutritious potatoes are.

Gram or Chickpea flour is another ingredient to get excited about (of you’re that way inclined). I love using the stuff! It makes for a brilliant egg replacer, when stirred with a little water, in baking and is sooooooooo versatile. Helpfully, its also gluten-free and packed with nutrition. High in

When buying gram flour, it may be called Besan (unroasted) or Chana (roasted) flour. They both have slightly different flavours. Chickpea flour has twice the amount of protein that wholewheat flour has and six times the amount of protein compared to white flour. It is also very high in folates and healthy unsaturated fats and is a good source of vitamin B6, iron and magnesium.

Wales is so beautiful in early spring - taken at Trigonos, Nantlle Valley, North Wales

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Lunch, Nutrition, Organic, photography, Recipes, Salads, Spring, Vegan | Tags: food, italian, plant-based, recipe | 4 Comments

Coconut Scones

Posted on March 7, 2016 by leroy watson

Mum’s here!!!! (and Dad) When Mum visits we get stuck into loads of cooking. We always have done and I’ve had these scones in mind for a while. I knew Mum would love ’em! Coconut + scones = genius.

This is a light, rich and crispy scone recipe especially for all those Mum’s out there. It’s MOTHERS DAY!! (Well it was yesterday when we made them!) This will make any afternoon tea a little bit special. Just add your favourite jam or Mum just had one with chocolate spread. Yowzah!

These little beauties are based on the awesome recipe sent across to us by Janice at Nourished by Nature. A place we visit regularly for nutritious, delicious, healthy recipes. Janice is so passionate and creative and we love the way she cooks! These scones even scooped the ‘Sweet Treat’ award at our last cookbook giveaway. We just had to share our version of the recipe.

I love making scones and must admit, that at the moment I make more savoury scones. Rosemary scones being my favourite. They work so well with a nice hearty vegetable broth in these chilly winter months. I have some great memories of Mum’s baking as a child. Mum’s walnut and date scones were always amazing! They were at least three times the thickness of these little guys. I must remember to ask very nicely for a recipe…..

I have never used a food processor to make scones before, but I will again. If used with care, i.e. not over working the mixture, the resulting scones are light with a delicious crispy crust. I do not have a massive sweet tooth but these are right up my street! A brilliant twist on a classic, just what we’d expect from Janice.

Recipe Notes

I use the coconut oil here in solid form. This works best.

Feel free to use vegan spread instead of coconut oil, which I realise is quite expensive. I must admit, I prefer the coconut oil ones. Richer, lighter and with a crispier crust.

These scones can be made thicker, but I find thin scones great because there is less leftover mixture at the end and that means more lighter scones. Once we start to reform the leftover straggly bits, the scones become heavier (although still very tasty). Try weighing them in your hands, you’ll see what I mean.

Remember when baking scones, cookies etc they will seem a little underdone when removing them from the oven, they tend to firm up on the cooling rack. This is perfectly normal and its best to take them out slightly undone than slightly overdone I feel. Check the tops and bottoms, if they are beginning to brown, you’re there.

The Bits – Makes 8 medium-sized scones

225g self raising white flour

2 level teaspoons baking powder

50g unrefined white sugar (unprocessed)

100g coconut oil or vegan spread (olive, sunflower etc)

55g desiccated coconut

4-5 tablespoons plant based milk (soya milks works well)

2 tbs soya milk (for brushing)

2 tbs desscated coconut (for topping

Do It

Preheat an oven to 200oC (180oC Fan Oven)

In a food processor, add all the dry ingrdients and pulse a few times until a loose crumb forms. Add the soya milk gradually whilst pulsing until the mixture just starts coming together.

If you are not using a food processor, place all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and crumble the mixture using your fingers and thumbs (think breadcrumbs). After a while it will form a fine crumb, add the milk gradually, mixing with a spoon.

Pop the mixture onto a floured surface and bring it together with your hands. Do not over handle at this stage or your scones will be dense. Light scones will come about from very little handling.

Roll out the mixture using a rolling pin to a depth of 1 – 1/2 inches and cut out the scones using a cutter of your choice (Janice using a very cool heart shaped one). These ones will be the lightest, gather together the straggly bits of pasty and make into extra scones.

Place on a baking tray lined with parchment and bake on a middle shelf in the oven for 12-14 minutes until the tops are have browned.

Serve

You know how you love ’em! A scone eaten still warm from the oven is a thing of rare beauty (blazing fire and purring cat on lap optional).

Foodie Fact

Coconut is an incredibly good thing in so many ways. It is high in fat, giving it that gorgeous richness. The fat in coconut is no ordinary fat however, a large portion of it is known as lauric acid. A fat which has been shown to heighten our good cholesterol levels. A medium coconut covers all of our energetic, mineral and vitamin needs for a whole day! If you are ever in a tropical country and feeling the heat, reach for coconut water. It is excellent at rehydrating the body

Categories: Baking, Cakes, Nutrition, photography, Recipes, Treats, Vegan, Wales | Tags: coconut, dairy free, plantbased, recipe, thebeachhousekichen, veganism | 12 Comments

Quick Carrot and Ginger Pickle plus Five Health Benefits of Ginger

Posted on February 27, 2016 by leroy watson

Quick and easy - Carrot and Ginger Pickle

This is the perfect accompaniment to your Saturday night curry feast! Curry makes any weekend extra special.

I like shop bought pickles, it’s generally what you eat in restaurants in India. Although the very best pickles I’ve ever eaten have been home made (no surprises there then!) Mango, lime and mixed pickles are my favs but I had a few nice carrots in the kitchen, so I thought I’d give this a go. The spice combination and method can be used for most firm, sweet veggies, pumpkin or squash for example also work very well. This is very much a milder pickle don’t expect that eye-popping and taste bud tickling saltiness. Its mellow like a mango pickle with spicy bells on with a nice sweet and sour chilli-ness.

The drawback of most shop bought pickles is the salt. In India I have noticed pickles are used sparingly, a couple of teaspoons per meal. In Britain, I think we can overdo it sometimes and all that salt is just not cool. The lovely thing about taking a wholefood approach, making an effort to cook much of your food at home, is that you know whats going into your dishes. We can moderate the sugar and salt levels here accordingly.

FIVE HEALTH BENEFITS OF GINGER
Really ginger is more like a medicine than a food! It is just so good for us. Some people get a little freaked out when I start talking about the health properties of food, but I can’t help myself!! I love to know that the food I enjoy is actually doing me some good, not just tasting amazing, but filling me with nutrition and vitality. Healthy food is not the worthy, boring grey slop of old, its the bright and very tasty future for us all!

Anti-oxidant – Ginger contains a powerful anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory called gingerol. It is one of the natural oils in ginger which gives it such a powerful aroma. Ginger may also help to prevent cancer and helps to fight infections.
Helps Nausea – Many people use ginger to treat nausea like morning sickness and sea sickness.
Lowers Cholesterol – Ginger has been shown in many studies to reduce bad (LDL) cholesterol and has even been shown to lower blood sugar levels.
Helps the brain – Studies show that ginger can help to prevent age-related damage to the brain and improve brain function in elderly people.
Can help to treat chronic indigestion and pre-menstrual aches – Food containing ginger leave the stomach quicker, beneficial for people who suffer from indigestion. It may also help reduce pre-menstrual pains if taken at the start of the menstrual cycle. It has shown to be as effective as taking drugs like Ibuprofen.

Ginger is most certainly one of those foods worthy of the ‘superfood’ name!

Back to pickle. Enjoy this tangy, spicy pickle with flat breads and of course, a curry or two for company. It also goes down well in sandwiches and I even like it on toast in the morning. Remember, I also eat chillies for breakfast on occasion. I understand that it’s a slightly more intense affair than strawberry jam.

The Bits – Makes 1 jar or serves 4-6

450g carrot (peeled and cut thin half moons – slice anyway you like really as long as its thin)

1 onion (finely sliced)

3 tbs ginger (finely sliced or grated)

3 tbsp oil

½ tsp fenugreek seeds

1 1/2 teas cumin seeds

1 teas coriander seeds (the smaller ones are best)

5 whole dried red chillies (cut in half length ways – more if you love chilli)

1 ½ tsp turmeric

2 tsp salt

5 tbsp unrefined sugar

1/2 lemon (juice)

Do It

If you are jarring the pickle and looking to preserve it for a while, sterilise the jars by either boil the jar and lid in a pan of water or bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

Add the oil to a large saucepan on medium heat and when hot pop in the fenugreek, cumin seeds and dried chillies. Fry until they pop, a minute or less, then add the carrot, onion and ginger, fry for five minutes.

Add the salt and turmeric, stir and lower heat, cover the pan and leave to cook until the carrot is soft, 20 minutes. Add the sugar and lemon juice stir, warm through for a minute and then leave to cool.

This pickle can be enjoyed once cooled or preserved for later tasty times. It will keep nicely in a sealed container for three days.

Serve

With your favourite curry or like I said, good on toast!

Foodie Fact

See above – we’ve got ginger covered.

We've been loving the winter sunshine down on the beach.

Categories: Chutney, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, Recipes, Side Dish, Superfoods, Vegan, Wales | Tags: curry, health, india, pickle, recipe | 2 Comments

Blender Banana and Pecan Pancakes with Chocolate Sauce (Gluten-free)

Posted on February 8, 2016 by leroy watson

Blender Banana and Pecan Pancakes (Gluten-free)

There is only one pancake night so lets do it in style!!!! Why is there only one pancake night actually? I feel like we need at least a weekly or bi-weekly pancake night. Pancakes are better than that.

So I felt like joining in on the pancake party but with a busy week ahead, I wasn’t going to have much time to play with pancakes. I needed something super quick and tasty. I know that a lot of you are avoiding or taking it easy on gluten and I wanted to give you a brilliant option. I love making food accessible to all and no one will feel like they’re missing out with these pancakes. Impossible!

They’ll make for a great breakfast or dessert any time of year, maybe add some berries or chopped fruit, a little dusting of cocoa…..

I’m going to have to write this quickly before I eat all of these! I am actually multi-tasking here, typing with a mouthful of pancake. It is possible after all!! This recipes is hot out of the pan. I always said that the precious time that I get out of the kitchen I would not spend in the kitchen (does that make sense!!) taking 56 pictures of a pile of pancakes. Tonight…..I have. There is surely no better way to spend an evening.

This is easy. Pop all the ingredients in a blender, blitz, fry and enjoy! I love the way some talk about pancakes ‘behaving well’ in the pan!? A well behaved pancake sounds so bland. Make these small and you’ll have no problems at all flipping them and kids absolutely love a mini pancake (mini most things really).

THE GHOSTS OF PANCAKE DAY PAST

Pancakes have come a long way since my family launching them at the ceiling and redecorating the walls with flour and eggs. It always seems a very messy night with loads of fuss for a little, thin thing that normally had the consistency of a supple frisbee. It was always fun though and we laughed at our attempts and devastation. Everyone had a go at flipping and it was always very exciting and quite nerve wracking as an 8 year old. You always remembered your technique from last year, after four failed and mangled attempts!

One of my heroes...as an 8 year old. Banana Man!

I still love the classic lemon and sugar crepe, but lets face it, we’ve all become a bit more Americanized with our pancake habits. Hotcakes are big, light and fluffy (like some Americans I know) you eat two and feel like you’re about to explode. Quite filling they are. Sets you up for the day or an early return to bed!!! Sleep off breakfast.

This is the later, light and fluffy, but without that heavy feeling. We use gluten-free flour and the delights of banana paired with pecans.

SAUCY IDEAS

There are so many! I had mine with a simple chocolate sauce (melted chocolate with a little coconut oil mixed in) or try warming peanut butter in a pan and stirring in some maple syrup, or tahini in the same way, in fact any nut butter is sensational warmed with some sweetness stirred in. Another option is warming the peanut butter, sweetening it and then stirring in a little coconut cream (the thick stuff in a tin of coconut milk). Wow! That is a sensation.

Something fruity, how about marmalade or cherry jam, warmed in a pan with a dash of whiskey or dark rum stirred in. Why not toss some apples, dates and orange zest in a pan and warm them through. Once the apple has broken down you have a lovely apple compote to use liberally on pancakes and more.

Although, having said all of that and being a purist in the department, just maple syrup is enough for me.

Recipe Note

Not everyone likes the full taste of buckwheat, I do. These pancakes are awesome with just buckwheat flour.

I like these pancakes small, you can eat more of them and they are fresher when you do. In a large frying pan you should be able to fry three at a time. Use a spatula to flip them. If you can flip three pancakes by tossing them in the air…..well done.

If you’ve no pecans, walnuts will be fine. If you have no walnuts…cashews will do.

You can experiment with your favourite mix of gluten-free flour. If you’re using normal flour, I’d mash up the banana, chop up the pecans and stir it all togther. The blender may get the gluten going in the flour and you’ll be left with weird pancakes.

These pancakes are easy flippers, no messing about for you this pancake night.

The Bits – 12 mini pancakes (serves 2)
2 ripe bananas
1/2 teas g.f. bicarb of soda
1 handful pecans
4 tbs white gluten-free flour mix
3 tbs brown gluten-free flour mix
150ml soya milk (or plant milk of choice)
1/2 teas vanilla extract
Pinch salt

Dark chocolate

Coconut oil

Do It

Make your sauce first. Place a glass bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Add your chocolate and melt. Stir in a little oil, the sauce will be shiny and super rich. Its best serve warm.

In a blender, add all the pancake ingredients and blitz until all is combined. There will be chunks of nuts left, that is cool. You may need to get a spoon in there and mix things up, making sure all in smooth and batter-like.

Lightly oil a frying pan and warm on medium heat. Add 2-3 tbs of mix per pancake. Fry 2-3 minutes one side, flip and fry for 1-2 minutes on the other. I normally reduce the heat of my pan as I go through the batches of pancakes. It can get carried away. Keep your eye on it.

Keep the pancakes warm in an oven, or wrap them in a clean kitchen cloth until you’re ready to serve.

Serve

Enjoy with your favourite sauce or topping. You know the one……

Foodie Fact

Pecans are so intensely brilliant in many ways. They are packed with good fats and fatty acids, keeping your heart healthy. They are full of fibre which helps our digestion out, anti-oxidants and they are powerhouses of minerals, helping things like our bones, skin and immune systems. A handful of nuts a day, keeps the grim reaper at bay!

Categories: Breakfast, Desserts, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: food blog, healthy, pancake, pancake day 2016, recipe, sugarfree | 2 Comments

Lazy Lahmacun – Vegan Turkish Flatbread Wrap

Posted on January 17, 2016 by leroy watson

Lazy Lahmacun – Vegan Turkish Flatbread Wrap

We absolutely love Turkey and it’s diverse, veggie-friendly food. We have so many happy and tasty memories about our trip there a couple of years ago. We will be sharing more Turkish dishes soon as they are firmly on the menu at home and at work; Pide, Imam Bayildi, Shakshouka, Corba, outstanding salads, wicked coffee…….the highly delicious list goes on and on. If you are vegan/veggie/ or just love amazing food, Turkey is calling to you!

Three of my favourite things are travelling, eating and history (the order changes daily). Turkish is a feast on all these fronts. We did not eat Lahmacun in Turkey, it was always non-veg friendly, but I vowed to experiment with it when I returned home.

On a walk – Sunset in Cappadocia, Turkey

Travelling inspires so many of the dishes I cook, influencing recipes, my constantly evolving style of cooking and the way I prepare food. I love wandering the world, soaking up all the flavours and techniques and then giving them a blast next time I’m in the BHK (or just any random kitchen for that matter). It is what inspires and challenges me to be a better cook and take on different influences.

We travelled around the south of Turkey in a clapped out car, mainly camping, taking in some of the outstanding ancient sites and spending as much time bobbing around in the azure Med as possible.

We then spent a couple of weeks working on an organic farm where we cooked with the local veggies, normally without electricity, power or water. It was a great challenge! At the end of meal times, we went across and fed the scraps to the giant resident wild boar.

Jane in Cappadocia

We bought produce from the local market in Burdur (Central Turkey, proper middle of nowhere. Beautiful people and landscape). The farm made its own rosewater, ran by a vet, enviromentalist and animal lover, they even cared for rare eagles, wild boar and wolves (yes, grey wolves! Normally injured by hunters).

We especially loved the weekly trip to the markets and have never seen such a fine display of olives. Many stalls were like works of art, colourful patchwork quilts of olive perfection. Have you tried a pink olive?! One of our most random memories of Turkey was hitching a rid in a ramshackled sewerage wagon. We were stuck in the middle of the mountains and it was a lifesaver. Very fragrant.

Outside the Blue Mosque – Istanbul, Turkey

The markets of Turkey were always overflowing with beautiful produce. When we travel we generally prepare many of our meals, saves money and ensures we’re keeping this gloriously vegan and tasty. Everything seems to grow well in Turkey and Turkish people have a real passion for produce, they absolutely love their veggies, especially local favourites like aubergines and pomegranates. Here’s what The Guardian wrote about Istanbul’s markets, I always feel very at home in a food market, you generally see people enthused and passionate about food, it’s a revealing window into local culture. I also find many of the very freshest and most authentic restaurants and food vendors around markets. They’re the real deal, where the locals flock for delicacies.

We camped on a beach down south, on the Med coast, under an olive tree and did lots of this……somewhere near Antalya, Turkey

Lahmacun is normally made with minced beef and is served all over Turkey but we’ve packed loads of plant-based gorgeous-ness into our version and the flavour is epic. This is another recipe plucked from our recent cookbook ‘Peace & Parsnips’. You can eat it like a pizza or wrap it around some salad leaves, pickles, onions etc….either way, you’re in for a totally Turkish treat. I use shop bought ‘lazy’ flatbreads here, it would be awesome on your favourite home made flatbread of course. In Turkey, they may even be made in a blistering wood fired oven.

One of our favourite 'Lokantasi's' In Istanbul. Cheap and filling with loads of veggie options.

Turkey really captured our hearts, from the vast expanses of emptiness in the heart of Turkey, the mountains of the East and of course, the glittering Mediterranean coastline. It is a truly fascinating place expressed perfectly by the diverse and rich cuisine.

Afiyet olsun! (Enjoy!)

————————

Lazy Lahmacun – Vegan Turkish Flatbread Wrap

The Bits – Makes 4

1 large aubergine
1 red pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
150g mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
a large pinch of ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¹⁄³ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 tomatoes, grated
½ a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
4 wholewheat flatbreads
juice of ½ a lemon For the topping
1 x lemon tofu feta (optional)
5 tablespoons cashews, roughly chopped

Do It

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6

Pierce the aubergine many times with a fork, then put it on a baking tray with the red pepper and rub them both with olive oil. Bake in the oven – check the pepper after 15 minutes, then turn them both over with a spatula and bake for 15 minutes more. Take out the pepper and leave the aubergine in for another 10 minutes. They should both be soft and well coloured. Deseed the pepper, trim the aubergine, and roughly chop them both.

While that is going on, on a medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and fry for 6–8 minutes, then add the garlic, mushrooms, spices, salt and pepper, and continue cooking for 3–4 minutes. Add a splash more oil if needed. Now add the red pepper and aubergine, with the basil and tomatoes, and warm through on a low simmer for 6–7 minutes more. Stir in the parsley, cover and keep warm.

Your oven should still be rocking. Bring it back to 200°C/gas mark 6, lay out your flatbreads on baking trays and brush them with olive oil (especially the edges). Spread the vegetable mixture thinly over the bread – 4 tablespoons per lachmacun is normally cool. Top with cashews and tofu feta (if you’re using it) and pop into the oven for 12–15 minutes.

Serve

Drizzled with a little more olive oil and even a little squeeze of lemon juice. Depending on the size of the flatbread, this dish makes a great little or big plate and can be cut into wedges to be served as an appetizer or rolled around some salad. Raw cashew hummus (see page 160) is a perfect accompaniment.

Turkey really took our breath away

Foodie Fact

Aubergine (or eggplant, brinjal….) is a nightshade, along with tomatoes, potatoes and peppers. It has not always been appreciated as a delicious vegetable, for centuries in Europe it was a purely ornamental plant and was even said to cause insanity and leprosy if eaten! Aubergine is a good source of fibre and minerals, the skin is high in anti-oxidants and it is low in calories.

Categories: Healthy Eating, Lunch, Nutrition, Peace and Parsnips, photography, Recipes, Travel, Vegan | Tags: cooking, dairy free, food, Istanbul, turkey | 4 Comments

Homemade Vegan Mayonnaise

Posted on November 3, 2015 by leroy watson

Vegan Mayonnaise

A quick post here, but something quite special. Have you played with aquafaba yet? It is a sensation and amazing in so many ways. This very simple vegan mayonnaise is both rich and creamy whilst purely plant based.

AQUAFABA?

Aquafaba is basically the cooking broth of chickpeas or other beans. It can be used in a whole host of amazing ways, from making vegan meringues, fudge, pavlova and macaroons to a brilliant egg substitute in baking. See The Vegan Society’s 13 Amazing things to do with aquafaba. There is also an awesome Facebook page called ‘Vegan Meringues – Hits and Misses!‘ which has thousands of people playing and talking about this bafflingly brilliant ingredient. Exciting times!

It seems we are only just getting to grips with all of the uses for this aqua faba (Greek for ‘water’ and ‘bean’). There is much experimenting going on in kitchens across the world. I know most of my non-vegan friends are really excited about the prospects of converting something so innocuous and plentiful into sensationally light and dreamy cakes and whipped creams. Even Baked Alaska is now possible, purely plant! (see the brilliant Lucy’s recipe here).

When making things like mayo, dips, hummus etc that call for quite a lot of oil, I normally opt for something a little less expensive. Extra virgin olive oil is never (and should never be) cheap and is best drizzled unadulterated onto warm bread or salad leaves. The flavours are so subtle and fragrant that they can be wasted on a dressing or hummus. My advice, find a decently priced middle of the roader with good flavour but not a hefty price tag. Rapeseed oil is a wonderful one and if you’re in the UK, its grown and made here and has the most amazing flavour and deep colour. It’s making quite a comeback. Many new modern style producers are making rapeseed oil in the same way that high quality olive oil is made. It shows! Here are two of the very best Blodyn Aur and Bennett and Dunn. Having said all of that, I wouldn’t use these oils here. Something more neutral like a sunflower oil is perfect.

There are so many ways of flavouring things mayonnaise, blend with roasted red peppers or onion, try it with any combo of herbs, add chipotle chillies or smoked paprika, lime and coriander…….go wild with it! Have fun……

Here goes our basic, everyday mayo recipe. Nice amount of vinegar, touch of sweetness and a little kick of Dijon mustard. After you give this simple recipe a try you’ll never go for shop bought mayo again.

Recipe Note

You may like to add 1 teas lemon juice and reduce the vinegar content. We don’t normally do this as it is means your mayo won’t last as long in the fridge. It does taste nice though.

Most vegan mayo lasts a good six weeks after opening, to give you some gauge of how long it will last in the fridge. Our mayo normally doesn’t make it past a few days.

The Bits – Makes roughly 200ml Mayonnaise

1 1/2 – 2 tbs apple cider/ white wine vinegar

2 tbs chickpea/ bean broth

1 teas dijon mustard

1/2 teas sea salt

1/2 teas sweetener (we use rice syrup)

125 ml neutral oil (like sunflower)

All you need to make glorious mayo

Do It

Add all of the ingredients bar the oil to a narrow cup/ jug (a measuring jug works well). With a stick blender, blitz the mixture a few times and then gradually drizzle the oil into the jug whilst the blender is running.

The amazing aquafaba makes such a creamy texture

The mayonnaise will thicken and become white and creamy. Keep blending, for a minute or two, until the thickness resembles your favourite mayonnaise.

Do not add any further vinegar to the mayonnaise at this stage, it will ruin the thick texture.

You can do this in a food processor if its easier.

Serve

You know how you like it! Although we’ve taken pictures of mayo being served like a dip, its worth remembering that this is predominately oil. Mayo is always good spread over some freshly toasted bread and made into a sandwich or Jane’s favourite, with chips (they are French Fries to our American contingent)

Vegan Mayo – How do you like it?

Foodie Fact

Sunflower oil is light and highly nutritious and can also be used to keep skin moist and hair shining. It has a good balance of mono and polyunsaturated fats (the good ones) and is also high in vitamins, especially Vitamin A and E, a potent antioxidant.

Unrefined oils, like sunflower, are best in recipes that do not require cooking. Unrefined means that the nutrients, colour and flavour are still there. Refined oils are generally more stable at high temperatures i.e. when frying or baking.

We’ve been on some lovely walks recently up near Snowdon

The lake beside Plas-y-Brenin, looking down towards Snowdon

Categories: Nutrition, Recipes, Sauces, Vegan | Tags: aquafaba, food, healthy, homemade, mayonnaise, rapeseed oil, recipe, sunflower oil | 11 Comments

Mexican Toasted Corn & Mushroom Omelette with Avocado & Tomato Salsa (Vegan)

Posted on October 28, 2015 by leroy watson

Vegan omelettes are delicious and simple to prepare. A very tasty day-starter especially when boasting smoky chipotle, mushroom, toasted sweetcorn and a lively salsa.

The flavours of Mexico mirror Mexican culture; diverse and vibrant, fresh and intense. There are many ways to make a plant-based omelette but I like this combination of gram flour, caramelised veggies and silken tofu. Loads of flavours and textures going on.

I’m not so keen on creating dishes that exactly mimic meat/ cheese/ eggs etc, just something that everyone will be able to enjoy and appreciate the similarities in texture and flavour. This is one of those dishes that is carnivore approved!

Eating vegan food doesn’t mean giving things up, it normally means adapting dishes and is always full of creative surprises. Just like these omelettes. They are rich and delicious and of course, are packed with wonderful nutrition.

I normally like juices, fruit, porridge, muesli etc for breakfast, I don’t have a sweet tooth, but it seems to be what my body is craving first thing. There are however those exceptional days when only savoury will do. This normally follows a few glasses of moonshine down at the local tavern I find!

Pan fried mushrooms are just packed with umami-style flavour, along with the sweetcorn and the toasty, nutty flavour of the gram flour making for a flavour packed breakfast.

VIVA MEXICO!

Mexicans are brilliant at breakfast and many of the classic breakfast dishes are egg-based. Huevos Rancheros, Huevos a la Mexicana, Breakfast tacos or burritos, Gorditas (think a pasty meets a tortilla, stuffed with beans and griddled, utterly delicious)……. All easily veganized, especially as avocado is such a staple in Mexico. They are normally served with loads of chilli in some form or another, either chopped raw or a potent sauce. There is also the beauty of the ubiquitous and always freshly homemade green and red sauces (salsa verde y rojo) that can be spooned over anything to add sensational flavour. Breakfast is no exception.

Chilli is sure to get the body and mind warmed up for the day! Once a week, I like to have a spicy brekkie and in Mexico became accustomed to chewing on a whole chilli in the morning. Beats an espresso I can tell you!

Chipotle Chilli - A real taste of Mexico!

WHAT IS CHIPOTLE?

Chipotle is basically a smoked red jalapeno chilli that is now readily available around the UK and Europe. If you’re reading in the States, I’m sure you know your way around a chipotle already! Chipotle chillies can be bought in many forms either dried, in adobo (canned), as a paste (popular in the UK) or ground. You can sometimes replace chipotle with smoked paprika in recipes.

I spent six months backpacking around Mexico, many years ago now, but I can still perfectly recall many of the meals I ate there. The diversity and flavours of Mexico blew me away. Thank goodness there are a few decent Mexican restaurants in the UK nowadays, there is much more to Mexican cuisine than a Texmex Burrito (although they can be awesome too!)

One of the delights of Mexican cooking is the chipotle and other smoky, sweet chillies. They are unique and a real delicacy. Many markets have a huge variety of smoky chillies piled up, all used in different dishes, from the salsa rojo to the feast that is a mole pobaldo. Chipotles are quite fiery, but I’d say are medium on the blow your head off scale. Less hot than a raw jalapeno that is for sure.

Chipotles are normally smoked for several days and in that time shrivel up. The flavours really intensify, so this is worth bearing in mind when cooking. A little chipotle can flavour a large pot of stew. Chipotles are quite tough and are therefore best used in slow cook dishes like soups, stews and are especially good as a surprise ingredient in chutney/ marmalades. I love a cheeky Chipotle Marmalade and will attempt to get a recipe on here one day.

Gram flour is a wonderful ingredient. So full of flavour and totally gluten free, made from ground chickpeas. Gram flour can also be made form roasted pulses and comes in raw and roasted varieties. Roasted gram has a fuller flavour.

It is a healthy alternative to wheat flour and I’m using it to help bind together vegan baking at the moment. A couple of tbs mixed with an equal quantity of water can make a huge difference to the texture of a cake.

Gram flour has been used in Europe for many years, its maybe not so exotic as we think. Examples of this would be the pancake style dishes Socca (France) or Farinata (Italy). Both traditional and totally gram. When gram flour is cooked its strong flavour mellows, I do quite like my vegan omelettes a little soft, but some are not keen on the flavour of raw-ish gram flour. Gram flour is a top larder item for every cook.

My other favourite chilli at the moment, the mighty British Komodo Dragon Chilli. POW!

FUTURE FOODS

We can’t eat meat and dairy at current levels. The world will not sustain us. There are very clever people out there who are creating fake meat and cheese in laboratories and just recently I saw a youtube clip of a scrambled vegan egg. It certainly looked like the real deal, all soft and shiny when cooked. What it tastes like remains to be seen so I’ll stick with this omelette for now.

Most of us are waking up to the fact that our eating habits must change, for so many positive reasons; we love animals, for our own health and the health of the planet. The future of food for me is lots of fruits, legumes, veggies and nuts. However, some folk will still want a bloody hamburger or a runny egg yolk, this is now becoming a very real, plant-based alternative.

This is a lively breakfast/ brunch (in fact lunch too) sure to get your taste buds firing first thing, certainly adding a little spice and big flavours to an autumn morning. A wake up call! A fiesta in your mouth!!

*****For more regular BHK action we are now posting loads of news, recipes etc over on facebook and twitter.*****

Recipe Notes:

Corn season in the UK is coming to an end, but what better way to use your gorgeous fresh corn on the cobs. You can use tinned sweetcorn, but it just ain’t the same.

Some vegan omelettes call for the tofu to be mixed in with the flour, but I like the texture contrast of keeping it separate.

I like these just cooked, over cooking an vegan omelette will only make it dry. Which is never a good thing. A couple of minutes in a warm pan is enough and then straight under the grill and then eaten just after. Just like an egg omelette, the warmer and fresher the omelette the more delicious.

I love chilli so 1 1/2 tbs is a good amount. Use a little less if you’re not quite ready for a full chilli hit at the breakfast table.

Adding fresh coriander to the salsa and omelette is lovely. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any.

The Bits – For 2 large omelettes

Omelettes

150g gram flour (besan)
250ml water
½ teas salt
½ teas baking powder (gluten-free)

1 teas cumin seeds

250g firm silken tofu (sliced)

200g sweetcorn (2 corn on the cobs)
2 large mushrooms (like field or portobello)

1-1 1/2 tbs chipotle paste

Oil for cooking (I used rapeseed/ canola oil)

Avocado and Tomato Salsa

2 tomatoes
2 spring onions
1 avocado

2 large leaves kale (curly, black kale etc – stems removed and finely sliced)
1 lime juice
½ lime zest
½ teas salt

Unfolded you can see the lovely corn, shrooms and those tasting pieces of soft tofu.

Do It

In a bowl, mix together the gran flour, water, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Make your salsa, this can be done in advance. Combine all the ingredients, lightly toss together and check seasoning.

Grab a large, heavy bottomed frying pan. Add 1/2 tbs oil and warm on a high heat. Once hot add the cumin seeds and corn. Stir and saute for 5 minutes, until the corn has a nice, dark golden colour. Set corn aside. Wipe pan clean.

Pop pan back on the stove. Warm another 1/2 tbs oil and add your mushrooms, saute for 2 minutes, stirring regularly, add the chipotle paste and cook through for another minute. Set aside and wipe clean pan.

Warm a grill on medium heat. You can flip the pancake in the pan, but it is quite thick and can break easily. Better to go for the grilling option.

Warm 1/3 tbs oil in your frying pan, make sure the pan base has a nice thin covering of oil. Scatter half your corn and mushrooms into the pan and spoon over half your gram flour mix. Ensure the pan base has an even covering of mix and place half your tofu evenly across the omelette. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then loosen the edges with a flat spatula. This is a good sign that the base is cooked (you can even have a quick peek!)

Place the pan under the grill (drizzle a little more oil over the omelette for added richness at this stage) and grill until the omelette is cooked through, a nice golden colour, a couple of minutes should be enough.

Serve

As soon as possible along with the salsa. You can either fold the omelette or leave it flat and sprinkle over the salsa, like a pizza. Mexican omelette pizza!? Quite a thing!!

A nice sweet and sour sauce, something like a smoky Mexican Salsa Rojo would be perfect, but not necessary.

Down on Dinas Dinlle. Autumn has been beautiful in North Wales.

Foodie Fact

Gram flour is higher in protein than wheat flour and is packed with healthy unsaturated fats, iron and fibre. More reasons to go gram.

Categories: Breakfast, gluten-free, Nutrition, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: chipotle, gram flour, healthy, mexican, Mexico, omelette, photography, plantbased | 5 Comments

Homemade Blackberry Vinegar – Free Food!

Posted on October 12, 2015 by leroy watson

Blackberries. You can’t escape them in Autumn!

Its that time of year, when blackberries are everywhere and we need inspiration outside crumbles and cakes. Jane and I try to pick as many as possible, although sometimes its a thankless task. They are not the easiest fruits to harvest (especially wearing shorts!) Braving all those thorns is well worth it though. Blackberries are one of my favourite berries and so versatile. Vinegar may not be the most obvious way to use them but turning fruit into vinegar is wonderfully simple and the best thing about it is, they last for an age. Perfect for preserving our seasonal berry gluts. Fruit vinegar is also quite an expense in the shops so you’re saving a few pennies.

REASONS TO GO BLACKBERRY PICKING

Once you’re out there, it’s actually loads of fun!
Eating blackberries makes our brains work better and also make our skin look younger.
They are FREE!
You can use the leaves of the blackberry plant. We dry them out and use them to make tea. The most tender leaves work best.

FREE-STYLE FORAGER

Its a good idea to have some bags or punnets in your car, when you see a blackberry hot spot, you can leap out and share in the wealth. You can also arrange a family/ group of friends collective forage. This means you can prepare vinegar or blackberry jams or compotes together in big pans. This works out more cost effective and there is something very rewarding about a jar of homemade, foraged jam in the heart of winter. Full of good memories and nutritional vitality.

Blackberry vinegar can be used in salad dressing or drank with some hot water (think a hot cordial) for a vitamin boost on a cold autumn day. You may also like to try roasting beetroots with the vinegar, similar to when we use balsamic vinegar in roasting roots. The results are delicious and are all the more satisfying because you made it! For free! From the hedgerow!!

So get out there with your punnets (or buckets). Free berries for all! That’s (almost) free food!

Beach House Blackberries

The Bits – Makes roughly 300ml Vinegar

250g blackberries
125ml white wine vinegar
150g unrefined light brown sugar

Do It

Soak blackberries in vinegar for 5 day to 1 week. The longer you leave them, the more concentrated the flavour. We left ours for 10 days.

You can use a sieve to support the muslin if you choose to lightly press the blackberries.

Strain using muslin. You can either leave hanging above a vessel for 12 hours or pass through the muslin. The blackberry pulp left over should be relatively dry.

Add the vinegar and sugar to a saucepan and bring gently to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes stirring regularly. The sugar should be completely combined with the vinegar.

Leave the vinegar to cool and the store in a clean bottle with a decent cork/lid.

Bottle it up and enjoy!

Foodie Fact

Blackberries are high in vitamin C and the very dark colour of blackberries means lots of anti-oxidants. One of the highest in fruit. The high tannin content of blackberries helps with intestinal inflammation, it has a soothing effect. The high vitamin K content in blackberries is said to regulate menstruation and aids in muscle relaxation.

Categories: Autumn, Foraging, Healthy Living, Nutrition, Recipes, Vegan, Wild food | Tags: blackberry, cooking, homemade, recipe, vinegar | 13 Comments

Dischi Volanti with Avocado and Kale Pistou, Broccoli and Slow-Roast Tomatoes

Posted on September 29, 2015 by leroy watson

Dischi Volanti with Avocado and Kale Pistou, Broccoli and Home Sun Blushed Tomatoes

Dischi Volanti with Avocado and Kale Pistou, Broccoli and Slow-Roast Tomatoes

‘Dischi Volanti’ translates as ‘Flying Saucer’ and this dish is supernatural in loads of ways! A dish that is easy to prepare, with ingredients that can easily be swapped and changed. The basis is a vibrant ‘pistou’ (very similar to a pesto) made creamy and rich with avocados. I love this side of plant based cooking, always looking for creative ways of adding richness and texture to traditional dishes.

WHAT ARE SUPERFOODS?

There’s a lot of talk about superfoods at the minute in the UK. In fact, its a buzz word all around the globe. I sometimes wonder what actually constitutes a ‘superfood’? It used to be only foods with purely radiant health properties, but this seems to be getting looser nowadays.

Really all plant foods are ‘super foods’. They all contain some form of incredible nutrition (except maybe Jerusalem Artichoke, beautiful when roasted though!) The huge advantage of a plant based diet is very low cholesterol and saturated fats along with a complete lack of animal protein. All of this will result in better health. I also think we need to look at the way our ‘superfoods’ were produced or grown, how they were transported, who profited from them……. I wish things were simpler to fathom, but a superfood to me has greater implications than just our own health.

There is no wonder cure in foods, a harmonious approach to eating and nutrition is important, a balanced diet is ever the way to proceed; rich in wholefoods, variety and plenty of fresh, seasonal ingredients. We like to think that the plant-based way is a ‘super diet’. Ticks all the boxes for a healthy way of being. Food can be our medicine after all!

In the BHK we like to look close to home for our super magic wonder foods and find the sparkling health properties in what some may see as normal fruit and veggies. This dish highlights a few of these superstars; Broccoli, Rocket, Tomatoes, Kale…..to name but a small cluster of shiners.

REAL EVERYDAY WONDER FOODS

Broccoli – probably one of the healthiest and tastiest vegetables. Grows like a dream in the UK and is available for most of the year. Packed with vitamin C, calcium, protein. It really is one of the most amazing things you can eat.

Kale – a leafy green that is obvious a little en vogue at the moment, but rightly so. Its been making people shine for years and all our Holywood/ famous types are not averse to looking and feeling at their best. I guess they get some pretty good nutritional advice. Kale is high in iron, calcium, protein, vitamin C.

Rocket – is one of natures best sources of calcium. I bet you didn’t read that on a milk carton! In truth, there are many better source of calcium in the plant world that milk. Milk is just a source of calcium, certainly not the source (as I was led to believe for much of my adult life). Good to know these things!

Avocado is of course not so local, but we wrote an article about it recently highlighting our love and appreciation for all things avo – Avocado – Friend or Foe?! It’s a treat.

Pistou is like pesto without the pine nuts, I’m taking real liberties here by calling this creamy, plant-based sauce a ‘pistou’ but I think you’ll agree that it works well whatever the name. You won’t find this type of pistou in the south of France, that is for sure! I thought about using blended cauliflower to add richness and that creamy touch, but avocado is easier and sensational (and green to match the colour scheme of the dish).

You can use shop-bought sun blushed tomatoes for this one, but we have plenty of tomatoes coming from the Trigonos farm and in our organic veg box at the minute and this is one way of making them shine. The slow roasting process does take a while in the oven, so maybe you’d like to whip a cake up or some muffins while the oven is one. We made some Blackberry and Almond Flapjacks while our tomatoes were slowly drying out. Thin, tray bakes are perfect at a low temperature so are the ideal fit when drying out your gorgeous toms.

We would have used spelt pasta here, its our favourite at the moment, but we had a bag of Volanti left over from our Italy trip (seems like many lifetimes ago now) so decided to put it to very good use. Also eating ‘Flying Saucers’ makes us feel like kids again, playing with Alphabet Spaghetti and the like. Fun and games with serious flavours!

This dish will only take a short time to get together, the homemade sun blushed tomatoes do take a while in the oven, but otherwise its a matter of blending up the pesto and cooking the pasta. That’s it! It is ideal for people who are averse to green food and we know a few (naming no names……Dad). This is a plate to get everyone into the green revolution!

Recipe Notes

Try to leave your tomatoes in the oven for as long as possible after cooking has finished. Ideally leaving them to cool down with the oven. This really helps to get them dried gently.

If you are doing a load of slow-roast tomatoes, keep them in a jar covered with oil. This means they will last much longer. Even better if you flavour the oil with fresh herbs and a little garlic.

Some subs – Broccoli for runner beans, green beans, mangetout, snow peas. Kale for spinach. Rocket – Watercress. Cashews – Pine Nuts, Almonds, Hazelnuts

Slow-roasting in the Beach House Kitchen

Slow-roasting tomatoes in the Beach House Kitchen

The Bits – For 2

6 tomatoes (cut in half)

250g Dischi Volanti pasta (or pasta of your choice)

1 medium broccoli (florets cut in half, stem thinly sliced)

2 ripe avocados

2 handfuls kale (finely sliced)

14 basil leaves

2 cloves garlic (crushed)

1 lime (juice)

2 tbs nutritional yeast flakes (optional – for added savoury cheesiness in the pistou)

3 handfuls rocket leaves

Garnish

1/2 red chilli (finely diced)

1 big handful cashews (toasted is nice)

Slow-roasting tomatoes at Trigonos (you can see the scale goes up a little!)

Do It

The slow roast tomatoes can be done well in advance. Start the tomatoes off a couple of hours before you want to eat. They take a while to dry well, intensifying the flavours.

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F. Place them skin-side down on a lightly oiled baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Place in the oven for at least an hour, checking after 45 minutes. Now press them gently with a fork or spatula to release some of the juices. Turn them over and pop back in the oven for 20 minutes more. Turn the oven off and leave the tomatoes in there until needed.

When your tomatoes are approaching deliciousness, blitz together the avocado, kale, basil, garlic and lime juice in a food processor. Season with salt, pepper and nutritional yeast flakes if you have some. Add a splash of water, until a thick, smooth sauce consistency is formed, roughly 50ml will do it.

Cook your pasta in a large sauce pan, remembering to add salt to the boiling water. Three minutes before the pasta is ready, add the broccoli to the pan. This will result in nice crisp florets. Drain when the volanti is al dente and pop back into the warm pan. Pour over the pistou and combine gently. Stir in the tomatoes and rocket.

Serve

Serve immediately topped with a scattering of cashews and chilli, a drizzle of good olive oil for added richness and a nice green side salad with a racy dressing.

Dischi Volanti with Avocado and Kale Pistou, Broccoli and Slow-Roast Tomatoes

Foodie Fact

(I think we pretty much covered it above today.)

Snowdon yesterday looking stunning in the September sun

Categories: Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, Recipes, Superfoods, Vegan | Tags: cooking, health, pasta, plant-based, recipe, superfoods, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Fragrant Wild Rice, Curly Kale and Pistachio Salad – Original Recipe from Peace & Parsnips

Posted on September 8, 2015 by leroy watson

Fragrant Wild Rice, Curly Kale and Pistachio Salad – Recipe from Peace & Parsnips

A rich, zesty and highly nutritious salad that is ideal for an early Autumn lunch. This is packed with ‘superfoods’ although I think most plant-based foods are superfoods (bar maybe the Jerusalem artichoke, which I love, but lacks much nutritional oomph). So plants are all superfoods and it seems that being a vegan, no matter what you choose for dinner, your body and mind is going to thrive on it! That is of course if you keep things natural and whole food. We are what we eat and I don’t want to feel like a processed vegan hotdog. Ever. Just doesn’t appeal! Radiant health is just one of the coolest things about being a plant muncher. The other benefits are well documented, many times on this blog. But I’m a cook, so lets talk food…..

This salad is a filling centre piece dish and can be made even more so by the addition of tofu/ tempeh or even a scattering of pulses/legumes. To be honest, that’s a little OTT. This fragrant number is already loaded with nutrition; protein, calcium, iron, vitamins, healthy fats…. For this reason, it is very satisfying and filling. I love dill, its such a distinct herb that is seldom used. In this salad it is not overpowering, but mingles in with the other strong flavours.

I love to create salads and toy with texture, colours and flavours. Salads are the perfect medium to express the freshness and vitality of seasonal produce and tomatoes, carrots, kale are bang on season up here in the wild Welsh hills. We’ve had a poor year weather wise (you may have heard me mention many times over!) but we’re hanging in there are getting some beautiful cavolo nero and curly kale and down on the Trigonos farm, we have a massive poly tunnel laden with a variety of sensational tomatoes. Some of which weigh over 1 kg! All are bursting with sweetness and fragrance. Experimentation on ways of preserving tomatoes is under way, our own sun dried tomatoes lack one very important element. So we are going to slowly dry them overnight in the oven, it will take several nights. Needless to say, this time of year is filled with jar hunting, lots of roasting and creative twists and freezers fit to burst. I’m a lucky fella to be cooking with such produce on a daily basis. Thanks to Judy and team for producing the most amazing vegetables and fruits. A cooks dream!

That’s what I call a tom!

KALE! WHATS ALL THE FUSS ABOUT?

As mentioned above, we’re in a ‘sea of green’ kale at the minute and not dreaming of complaining. As we all know, many times over, eating greens is the quickest and most effective way of becoming a super happy wonder being. It is (sort of) that easy! Kale is a star for so many incredible reasons:

Kale is high in good fats. Omega 3’s that is. Good for the heart, brain and can reduce Type 2 diabetes.
Kale contains a huge amount of vitamin A. The highest of any green leaf.
Gram for gram, kale has more calcium than milk.
By weight, kale has twice the amount of vitamin C as an orange.

Eat your greens, live the dream……………

Sea of green. Kale harvest is going very well at Trigonos

“HEY, WHAT’S HAPPENIN’?!”

(Any Marvin Gaye fans out there?) The BHK is, of course, not just solely about food. We do other things and like to keep you abreast of what’s happening in our lives up here on Bryn Teg (Fair Hill), North Wales. We are going through renovations of the cottage and have recently built a deluxe wood shed, which could comfortably sleep a young family. We need a lot of wood over the winter! We have also been building a slate path out the front, all from local slate that we have scavenged and traded for. Its looking like something out of the Hobbit at the minute. Quite rustic, but very cool. Add to that, loads of painting, gardening, oh working for a living and wandering around the hills, our summer has been packed.

We are now starting food festival season and this weekend we have two, Ludlow (Saturday 12th) and Beaumaris (Sunday 13th). We will be doing cooking demonstrations, all recipes from Peace & Parsnips, and then book signings. We are really looking forward to kicking things off this year and will be attending a load of food festivals around Britain. Maybe see you there! (See ‘Contact and Press’, top right of the screen, for more details).

The Nantlle Valley, where we wander and work (looking great with the new heather growth, everything is going purple!)

We have been sharing a much more on Twitter and Facebook these days and this has meant a few less BHK posts. Its nice to mix things up a little! Although Instagram is a step too far at the moment (I don’t have a mobile phone!)

This recipe has also recently featured in Your Healthy Living Magazine and posting it was inspired by Janice over at the wonderful Nourished by Nature blog, celebrating plant based food and natural health magic! Thanks Janice.

This salad is great warm, just don’t let the rice cool fully and watch all those flavours come to life! You can play around with the veggie components of this salad and keep it seasonal. We are using sorrel loads at the moment, it growing in patches all over the garden and even likes to grow in the cracks in or front garden slates. I can think of worst ‘weeds’. Sorrel is delicious. ‘With your long blonde hair and your eyes of blue, the only thing I ever got from you, was …….’

Sorrel. Our favourite weed.

The Bits – For 4-6

•250g wild rice
•1 carrot, grated (if you have any carrot tops, finely chop them and add)
•5 leaves of curly kale, cut from the stems and very finely sliced
•3 tbsp raisins, soaked for two hours and roughly chopped
•½ a handful of roasted pistachios, roughly chopped
•6 radishes, trimmed and finely diced
•6 sun-blush or sun-dried tomatoes, including any oil, finely chopped
•4 spring onions, finely sliced
•½ a handful of fresh dill, chopped
•½ a handful of chives, finely sliced
•A handful of sprouted mung beans or green lentils

For the dressing

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
•3 tbsp olive oil
•Juice of 1½ limes
•Zest of ½ lime
•½ tsp sea salt
•½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the garnish: •A handful of roasted pistachios
•3 tbsp chopped fresh dill

Do It

Rinse the wild rice in cold water a number of times until the water runs clean. Place in a pan, pour in water to cover by 3cm, then bring to the boil and put a lid on the pan.

Reduce the heat to its lowest possible and cook for 45-50 minutes, until the rice is soft and all the water has evaporated. Fluff up gently with a fork and allow to cool fully. Spreading the rice out on a plate will help here.

To make the dressing, whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss well to mix evenly. Add the dressing, spoon in the rice and combine well.

Serve

In shallow bowls, garnished with the extra nuts and herbs.

Foodie Fact

The fats in this salad (oil) and the citrus (lime) will help the body to absorb the nutrients available. They work in harmon together and carotenoids (part of the Vitamin A family) are fat-soluble and the high levels of iron in the kale are made more available by the acid in the lime. Not only are they tasty, but all these ingredients are working together to keep our bodies shiny and happy.

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Local food, Nutrition, photography, Recipes, Salads, Superfoods | Tags: festival, food, peace and parsnips, plant-based, vegan, wales | 3 Comments

Nutty Apricot and Sesame Energy Balls plus the benefits of soaking nuts and seeds

Posted on September 1, 2015 by leroy watson

Nutty Apricot and Sesame Energy Balls

I love these little energetic things. The perfect way of cramming loads of nutrition and energy into the smallest possible area. These little balls are packed with protein power and full-on flavour and are highly portable! They went down a treat yesterday, I had to share them with you.

Nuts and dried fruits are nutritional power houses and contain vast amounts of good stuff; sugars and fats. The last two should of course be enjoyed in moderation and these little balls are perfectly portion controlled. Unless you make them the size of a cricket ball ( I prefer more of a squash ball size and smaller) then you’ll be getting the optimum levels of everything you need from a revitalising, healthy between meal booster.

PLAY BALL!
I have kept these very simple and natural. No added flavours, just the nuts, seeds and fruit. I like to use seeds primarily because they taste amazing, but they are also less expensive and work just as well as nuts. I used a good mixture of nuts, but you can mix and match with whatever you have handy. Nuts like walnuts, cashews and almonds blend smooth, it is more tough to get a Brazil nut to play ball! This is great when mixed with other nuts, adds a crunchy texture. The same can be said for sunflower seeds, once soaked they blend up nicely, unlike pumpkin seeds which take a little more blitzing action. If you have a high powered blender, non of this really applies, as they will take care of anything you put into them. They’d quite happily blend a bean tin I’m sure (this is an untested theory).

BENEFITS OF SOAKING YOUR NUTS
I mention nut soaking quite a lot in Peace & Parsnips, I think its important to know about and can really accentuate the flavour, texture and nutritional properties of nuts and seeds. It takes a little forward planning but is very much worth it. Nutrients are tucked away in our food and in some occasions, are missed by our bodies. They are not available to the body, so we miss out on all the goodness. This is known as the ‘bio-availability’ of nutrients and soaking nuts in water before using them opens up the nutrients to be absorbed by the body. They have known this for thousands of years in India and soaked almonds are promoted within the Ayurvedic diet for a number of health boosting reasons.

Soaking nuts in water, preferably overnight, inhibits the potentially harmful effects of enzymes inhibitors, tannins and toxins in nuts. Nature doesn’t want seeds and nuts to germinate until the right conditions are present, by soaking nuts and seeds we are creating these conditions. They literally come to life! Enzymes are essential to good health, just as important as minerals and vitamins. Soaking releases more beneficial enzymes that our bodies love. Most nuts also taste better after they have been soaked, they plump up nicely and become crisp. We normally soak to order, but you can soak in bulk. This just means that your nuts need to be dried out a little. You can do this in a dehydrator or in a low oven. The nuts can then be stored in a air tight container and used on cereals and salads.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO SOAK NUTS, SEEDS (AND LEGUMES)

1 – Increase the amount of vitamins, especially B vitamins

2 – Produce greater levels of beneficial enzymes

3 – To make digestion easier

4 – Allows easier absorption of protein

5 – To limit enzyme inhibitors, tannins and potentially harmful toxins

We soak nuts in warm water and some people add a little salt. Cover the nuts and leave them overnight, between 7 – 24 hours is best. That’s it!

REASONS TO LOVE TAHINI (AND SESAME SEEDS)

Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds and is one of our favourite ingredients. A wonderful source of vegan creaminess that creeps into dressings, sauces, stews/ curry’s or mixed with jam/ molasses/ maple syrup and lathered on toast and crackers. Tahini normally comes in light and dark varieties, dark has a much more toasted, full flavour. Its not only the delicious aspects of tahini that are attractive, nutritionally its a proper superstar, its is actually one of the best sources of calcium found in nature and also keeps your skin vibrant and muscles toned. It contains 20% protein which is higher than most nuts and is high in very good fats of the unsaturated variety. See our Foodie Fact below for more nutritional bits and pieces.

Feel free to sweeten them as you see fit (taste the mix before rolling up) but I think they are mighty fine with just the apricots. Good dried apricots will not be bright orange. Try and get some un-sulphured apricots, they are out there and well worth the effort and slightly higher expense. Hunza apricots especially (from Afghanistan) are really interesting. If you are living in an area where loads of apricots grow, you could dry your own and even use the kernels instead of nuts or seeds. Apricot kernels are delicious and becoming quite popular in the UK.

We love to play around with combinations of nuts, seeds and flavourings. The possibilities are huge and its much more satisfying and cheaper to make these at home. The main thing is having a dried fruit to bind everything together, normally soaked so that they break down nicely into a sticky paste. Then add nuts and seeds to the equation, any type that takes your fancy and flavour with things like citrus zest, cocoa/ cacao, rose water, orange blossom water, vanilla extract, pomegranate molasses, spices……etc. Energy balls are a medium for a healthy snack charged with all the nutrition we need when leading an active and healthy life.

Nice sticky mix

The Bits – For 12-15 energy balls

300g mixed nuts and seeds (soaked in water for at least 7 hours beforehand. I used cashew, walnuts, brazils and sunflower seeds)

150g dried apricots (soaked in water for at least 1 hour before hand)

4 tbs toasted sesame seeds

2-3 tbs light tahini

2-4 tbs sweetener (maple syrup, brown rice syrup etc)

Do It

Drain your nuts and place in your blender/ food processor. Blend them for a minute of so, scraping down the sides of the blender a few times. Add the drained apricots and continue to blend until a chunky paste is formed. You can keep the apricot soaking water, its lovely and sweet. The mix should be sticky, you will be able to form small balls with it between our fingers. Stir in the tahini and sweetener (if using).

Pour the sesame seeds onto a plate and spread out. With damp hands (stops the balls sticking to your fingers) take a roughly squash ball sized amount of mix (3-4 tbsp) and roll in your palms into a ball. Pop it onto the plate and roll in the sesame seeds. Apply a little pressure when doing this to make them stick. Place the finished ball onto a serving plate. Repeat until all the mix is used up.

These energy balls will firm up in the fridge and keep well in a plastic container out of the fridge. Of course, they will not be lasting that long…..!

Serve

These type of energy balls are designed to be portable and travel perfectly. They are especially good sustenance when exercising, down the gym or hiking. They are a boost anytime and sometimes I like to nibble one before a busy day in the kitchen. Intensely nutritious and easy to roll.

Chocolate and Coconut Energy Balls – a simple variation with walnuts, sunflower seeds, cacao, coconut and vanilla extract

Foodie Fact

Tahini is a great friend of the BHK. Very high in many vitamin B’s and vitamin E. It also contains lot of minerals like iron and potassium and contains chemicals that help our liver detox. Tahini is alkaline which makes it easy to digest and helps with weight loss. As mentioned above it is very high in protein and even higher in calcium. Try a scoop of tahini in the morning instead of dairy products and you are covering yourself for calcium and a healthy raft of other things.

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Have you met Cosmos yet? He’s our new garden cat. You may remember our dear Buster who has moved on…….where to we are not sure> Cosmos is a character and it’s good to have him hanging out, lying down and occasionally purring. Cats are great teachers in so many ways.

Cosmos – The new cat on the scene

Categories: Desserts, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Recipes, Vegan | Tags: energy, food, health, nuts, protein, recipe, tahini, vegetarian | 7 Comments

Charred Cauliflower Steaks with Coconut & Kale Puree

Posted on August 19, 2015 by leroy watson

Charred Cauliflower Steaks with Coconut and Kale Puree

This really is vegan food for everyone! Charred cauliflower is something that appeals to all and not something you’d expect from the humble cauli. It’s actually a superstar veg and has been hopelessly cooked over the years, giving it a bad rep. Don’t boil it to death, breath life into it by bringing out its intense flavours and creaminess. Of course, this being the BHK, we have to talk a little about its shining health properties. Its REALLY good for you (see ‘Foodie Fact’ below).

Here’s a dish that looks great, tastes mighty fine and takes very little preparation. This is the easy kind of recipe that anyone can whip up at home and make it look like a restaurant style dish. I love it when that happens! This is also a very BBQ friendly way of cooking cauliflower. These steaks will grace any BBQ and make a tasty burger filling (or two). Charring the cauliflower ‘steaks’ (what else could we call them?!) and poaching the rest of the cauli in coconut milk highlights two of the amazing flavours hidden in a humble cauliflower. In this dish, you get the best of both worlds. Great texture and superbly creamy when poached and blended (something to do with the natural pectins).

Vegans can easily cook this for self-confessed carnivores (aka people who cannot live without meat….until they try these!!!) and want to make their way into the world of plant-based food. There is a huge shift towards plant-based foods happening and there are an infinite number of ways of making plants incredible; vegans are now making meringues and macaroons out of chickpea/ bean juice, the other night I made something like a parmesan cheese out of gram flour (its a long story……more to come in that department). Endless is the plant kingdoms culinary surprises and I feel we are only beginning to harness the tastiness of plants. Watch this space. Vegans are pulling out all the creative stops!

BLEEDING BURGERS!?

Somebody has recently made a vegan burger than bleeds. I have very contrasting feelings about that. One, a little unsettled. Two, amazing for our health, animals and the planet. Looking at it like that, the little weirdness is something I can get over. The more plants we pack into our diets, the better for all!

Its a stormy day up here on the hill, but we’ve had a few nice days of sunshine which always makes me very happy for our little veg patches. I also get to dig my shorts out. Our cauliflowers are nothing to write home about this year, slugs seem to find them irresistible and our slug issues are many and overwhelming sometimes. You know we’ve only watered the garden once this year. Once! This is surely some kind of record. Wales will not be running low on water anytime soon. Its a blessing (in a way). But maybe it could bless us more in autumn, than in the heart of summer. We’ve been harvesting blackberries (strangely early), raspberries, rocket and kale. We’ve also got a good looking crop of potatoes, beetroots, parsnips and we may even get a few peas if the wind stays down.

BEACH LOVIN’

When the sun comes out, we’re on the beach. Our local beach Dinas Dinlle (where a lot of the pictures in Peace & Parsnips were taken) is one of my all-time favourites. Backed by the Snowdonia hills and mountain rangers, it stretches for many miles, all the way from Caernarfon down to Trefor near the Llyn Peninsula. There is a large Bronze age fort halfway along the beach and at one end you have a bird anctuary and the other, a dramatic mountain range, the Rivals. I run along the beach quite often and when the tide is out, feel like the only person alive. No footprints to be seen, just me and the smooth sand stretching off into the distance, the sea birds, the occasional wave. Even though the weather is….changeable, the sea is still warm and the water seriously rejuvenating. A swim in the Irish Sea is not easily forgotten! There is something very special about our local beach, overlooking Lovers Peninsula on Anglesey and the Menai Straits. (Maybe I should start working for the Welsh Tourist Board?) Anyway…..back to the kitchen….

No complaints here – North Wales is beautiful! Dinas Dinlle Beach

The Bits – For 2
1 large cauliflower (750g)
1 white onion (finely diced)
3 teas ground cumin
2 teas turmeric
2 pinches chilli flakes
3 large stems kale (roughly 80g leaves only)
3 tbs light olive/ coconut oil
500ml coconut milk

Black pepper and sea salt

Do It

Trim your kale leaves off the woody stems. Finely slice. Cut cauliflower (as below) down the centre into two cross sections/ steaks, roughly 1 1/2 inches think. Nice and chunky. Trim the end of the stems off. Roughly chop the rest of the cauliflower. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper.

Cut your ‘steaks’ from the centre of the cauliflower. Nice, neat, cross sections if poss. (they cook nicer that way)

Preheat oven to 180oC.

For the puree – In a large saucepan, add 1 tbs oil and warm on a medium heat, saute your onions for 2 minutes, until softened. Now add the cauliflower and 2 teas turmeric and 2 teas cumin. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk, bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Pop a lid on and leave to cook for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

For the steaks – While the puree is simmering. Grab a large, heavy frying pan. On a high heat, warm 1 tbs oil. When hot, place your cauliflower steak (one at a time), face down, into the pan. There should be a good sizzle now. Press down with a spatula to get it nicely charred. Check after 1-2 minutes of frying. Once you get a nice char, flip over and do the same on the other side. You may need a drizzle more oil here. don’t be shy with it, this dish needs a bit of oil to get that nice colour.

Straight out of the pan, sprinkled with spices, ready for the oven

Now place the cauliflower steak onto a baking tray, lightly sprinkle with ground cumin, chilli flakes and a few more twists of fresh black pepper. Repeat the process with the other piece of cauliflower. Once both are cooked, place the tray in the oven and finish off cooking the cauliflower for 15-20 minutes. Check that the base of the stem is softened. You can do this by trimming off a slice of the stem and trying it.

Finish the puree, by adding the finely sliced kale leaves and stirring them in. Pop a lid back on and simmer for a few minutes. Then blend the puree well with a stick blender or add to a food processor and blitz, thin with a little water if needed. Check seasoning and keep warming.

Charred Caulifower Steak – Ready for your resident/ local carnivores approval!

Serve

On a warm plate, ladle out some sauce into the centre, spread out evenly in a circular motion with the base of the spatula and gently place a cauliflower steak in the middle.

Foodie Fact

Cauliflowers are actually really high in Vitamin C, in fact, this dish will easily supply your daily RDA for Vitamin C in one tasty plate. Cauli also contain a good amount of protein and high levels of fibre. It also offers a load of the vitamin B’s and a healthy helping of omega 3 fats. So if you’d like to keep a healthy heart, brain, give yourself a bit of a detox, cauliflower is perfect.

Catching a few rare sun rays in the herb garden aka the sun trap

Catching a few precious sun rays in the herb garden aka the sun trap

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, photography, Recipes, Wales | Tags: cauliflower, cooking, healthy, plantbased, steaks, vegan, vegetarian | 10 Comments

Top Tips and Health Benefits of Juicing plus Kale, Beetroot and Green Pepper Juice Recipe

Posted on July 19, 2015 by leroy watson

Beetroot, Kale and Green Pepper Juice

Here is your five a day in just a few gulps! Juicing is the easiest way of supercharging your day and getting loads of shining fruits and veggies into your diet.

I love experimenting with new flavour combos in our morning juice. What do we have available and will they sing together in a glass?! This one is backed up by a hit of ginger and lemon (whole, the zest is awesome in many ways), apples, carrots and a handful of mint. Its a feast and a massive wake up call to the immune system. When you juice, you can forget about the need for expensive supplements, vitamin pills etc. Nothing can compete with a fresh juice. Juicing also helps in weight loss and makes you much sexier!!!

SUPERCHARGE YOUR DAY

Our favourite way to start any day is a glass of freshly made juice. It just seems to make perfect sense. Our bodies have just woken from (hopefully) a nice long sleep, when we have basically been fasting for many hours. We’re dehydrated and a little depleted, we need a serious boost of something nutritious and preferably, charged with vitality and vibrant flavours. Juicing is the easiest way to get loads of essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals, enzymes etc) down the hatch, very easy on the digestion and we can feel the benefit soon after. Energy levels rise and we get a healthy glow about us.

The contents of this juice are a sign that things are really flying now this summer. You could call this our ‘Veg Box Nectar’, basically whatever we get from the farm in a juicer with a little consideration for overall flavour. Really though, all these sensational veggies and fruits cannot taste bad in a glass. There are probably a few guidelines to a good juice; go easy on the cabbage, turnip or swede, too much whole citrus (with pith on) can be a little challenging.

We always try to add greens, like Kale, Chard or Spinach, to our juices as they are the bodies best friend. Greens contain so many amazing nutrients, not to mention things like protein, calcium, iron….the list goes on and on. They also contain bags of chlorophyll which helps the liver detox and purifies and rebuilds blood cells, also helping with high blood pressure. Eating a lot of greens regularly, daily if possible, is our number one suggestion for staying healthy and feeling amazing.

TOP JUICING TIPS

EAT YOUR FRUIT AND JUICE YOUR VEGGIES – As a basic rule, this works a treat. Many fruits are high in sugar and unless they are packed with fibre, can make your blood sugar levels rocket. Its best to drink a balanced juice, with sweet fruits as a sweetener and not a base. Some root vegetables can also be high in sugar, worth bearing in mind. Having said that, a pure fruit juice is an awesome treat!

PREP WELL – Get everything cut down to size and peeled (if needed) before you start. This will make juicing a breeze. We always fill our juicer shoot up (wide funnel juicers are best) before turning the machine on, this is more efficient. Wash up before you drink the juice, for some reason, this seems to make it less of a chore!? Not juicing because of the washing up is a very poor show.

DON’T HANG AROUND! – Juices are highly perishable and are best drank as soon as possible to get maximum flavour and health benefits.

REASONS TO GET JUICY

INTENSE NUTRIENTS – Juicing condenses down produce into a glass, you can cram so much goodness into a juice. One glass can contain 5 carrots, 3 apples, 1 lemon, 5 kale leaves…….whatever your imagination can come up with! To eat all of those in one sitting would take a long time and lot of chewing….

DIGESTION – Juices take almost no digestive energy, meaning the body is getting loads of nutrients and expending very little in return. That energy can be used for other things like replenishing and rejuvenating.

LOSE WEIGHT, LOOK GOOD – Juices can really help here, accompanied by a good, balanced diet (we’d of course recommend a vegan diet) and regular exercise. The intense nutrient hit you get from juicing helps keep the skin shining and hair and nails strong, it will also help to make you feel and look younger.

WHICH JUICER?

There are two main types of juicers, cold press or centrifugal. We have always used a centrifugal juicer and if they are well made and powerful, produce good results and extract plenty of juice (you can check this by pressing out the waste pulp – this pulp can be made into tasty burgers or muffins).

Centrifugal juicers basically extracted the juice using a spinning blade. Cold press (or masticating) juicers normally extract more juice and at low temperature, maintaining all of the nutrient content. They are quieter and can be used to make nut milks, however, they are more expensive.

We’ve tried out many juicers and our favourites are Sage. They sent us a juicer over a year ago and its been brilliant since then. Very well made, easy to clean and powerful. They are not the cheapest, but if you are serious about getting into juicing, its well worth the investment.

First Summer Strawberries

BERRY NICE SUMMER:)

We just ate our first wild strawberries from the garden and they were so sweet. The song ‘Summer Wine’ by Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra sprang to mind. A classic with a proper retro video. Lee knows how to wear a moustache! A perfect tune for strawberry munching in the sun. Jane and I have been playing it recently on guitar and it’s a cheeky tune that makes people smile. The raspberries are coming at Trigonos and we’ve been inundated with gorgeous gooseberries (so sweet) and blackcurrants (potently purple). This time of year is just one long celebration of sensational seasonal produce, even the cauliflowers are making an appearance!

FAT, SICK AND NEARLY DEAD

This documentary came out a while back and has influenced loads of people and certainly spread the good juicing word around the globe. Going on a juice fast can have wonderful health benefits, incredible transformations, as highlighted by the personal stories in this film. Some friends of ours are going to try it out, although a shorter version, it will be interesting to see the results. Jane and I feel that juice fasts can be an incredibly cleansing and revitalising opportunity, although we’d not recommend carrying them on for too long. Juicing does take fibre out of your fruits and veggies and we love fibre in the BHK. Its essential for maintaining good health and digestion.

Along with a healthy balanced diet, juicing can be a brilliant habit to get into, the benefits of which are best experienced to be believed!!!!

Here’s a recipe for a seriously tasty juice, full of zing and good things:

The Bits – For 2

3 kale leaves (with stems)

3 large carrots (scrubbed)

1-2 inch fresh ginger (peeled – with a teaspoon is easiest)

2 large apples (halved)

1 large beetroot (scrubbed – with leaves if you’ve got any)

1 green pepper (deseeded and halved)

1 small lemon (whole)

Do It

Pop all into a high speed juicer, leaves first, then ginger and lemon. The carrot and apple will flush everything through.

Serve

In your favourite glass (or jars if you are trendy, or poor, or both) with a smile.

Foodie Fact

Beetroots are in the same family as chard and spinach. The beetroot leaves (greens) are exceptionally high in iron, calcium, vitamin A and C.

Many athletes are now getting into beetroots. Apparently it lowers muscle fatigue and is of course, amazingly nutritious with huge amounts of beta carotene and a good hit of sugar to keep you well fuelled for a workout. Beetroot is also ideal for detoxing, as it kick started the detox process in the liver. Ideal for a morning juice.

TOP BEET TIP – If you have beetroot fingers, all purple, try rubbing some lemon juice over them. This helps. Or wear gloves in the first place.

Categories: Breakfast, Detox, Healthy Living, Juices, Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: beetroot, health, juicer, juicing, music, nutrients, raw | 11 Comments

Vegan Baingan Bharta (Minced Aubergine Curry)

Posted on May 30, 2015 by leroy watson

This curry is perfect for a Saturday curry festival. I love BB, its surely one of my favourite Indian dishes and is always a delight. This is one of those recipes that I will surely be cooking for the rest of my days. When we look at Indian recipes, they can look a bit long, but most of the ingredients are spices and when you break it down, this is a very straightforward recipe and packed with gorgeous smoky flavours.

Baingan Bharta is eaten all over India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Its like an Indian version of Babaganoush (or is Babaganoush a Mediterranean version of BB?). There are many variations, they use plenty of mustard oil in West Bengal of course and it is eaten in many parts of the sub-continent at weddings. Brinjals (Aubergine) in India normally come in quite a small size, but its alot easier and convenient in Europe to use the larger varieties of aubs for this dish, more delightful aubergine flesh and less skin to deal with. You can imagine that traditionally, a warm flatbread is the best accompaniment to this dish.

IS IT A DIP?

Some would call BB a dip, but I cannot get to grips with the word dip. Especially for something so majestically tasty as BB or Babaganoush. I always think of a supermarket bought ’90’s style dip medley’ (those four shades of dodgy dips that come in plastic trays) and these dishes are light years away from that kind of fare. BB has serious heritage and is a feast in puree form.

Because aubergine breaks down so much when cooked, this seems like one (only one I may add) of the finest ways of treating an aubergine. In Turkey they do amazing things to aubergines and its known as the ‘Sultan’ of vegetables. In Wales we’ll call it the ‘Tribe Leader’ of vegetables! I made a version of Babaganoush a couple of days ago and will post it somewhere soon. You can never have too much aubergine on one blog! Impossible!!

COOKING TIPS

I like to caramelise the aubergine in the pan, making it stick to the bottom a little. A crust will form, this is fine and adds to the richness and depth to the sauce. Just make sure that it doesn’t burn too much! As with so many recipes, the pan scrapings are the best bits for making sauces/ gravy, basically concentrated flavours.

Traditionally Baingan Bharta is made a little like Babaganoush in that the aubergines are cooked over open flames. Unfortunately, in the Beach House Kitchen we have an electric hob. No open flames, so this technique is a decent option and more straightforward. It also means that you get the benefits of all the goodness found in aubergine skins.

If you are getting a BBQ going this summer, I cannot recommend smoking a load of aubergines highly enough. The flavour is wonderful and you can always freeze any excess aubs. This gives you the base ingredient to make either of these delicious vegan dishes. I mentioned on twitter recently that there is nothing as decadent as a well roasted aubergine and a few of you commented that you can probably think of a few things slightly more decadent. This is probably true! But aubergines to me are a sensational veg, especially for a vegan. They have so many qualities, a wonderful vegetal creaminess and when mixed with something rich like olive oil or tahini, for example, I’ve got one foot in Nirvana.

G.M. CROPS IN INDIA

Genetically Modified (G.M.) crops are becoming a huge problem in India as large multi-national agriculture businesses, with a myriad affiliates and branches, try to introduce GM crops to India. There are many people fighting against this unnatural invasion, one of the main spokesperson in Vandana Shiva. In 2011 to protest against the introduction of GM Brinjal (Aubergine) into India, the Meridien Hotel and Greenpeace volunteers in Delhi cooked a world record 342 kilograms of organic aubergine and presented a portion of the dish to the president at the time, Manmohan Singh. A very tasty protest!

A RADIANT DAY ON THE HILL

Its a lovely day up here on Tiger Hill and Jane is facilitating a Woman’s Workshop, so I am home alone. Jane has been working really hard on her new website this week, Womans Wheel. It looks beautiful! I’m off for a walk up ‘Myndd Mawr‘ (Big Mountain, also called Elephant mountain because it looks like a massive sleeping Elephant or ‘Yr Eliffat’) and will then plant Percy, our new Snowdon Pear Tree in the garden. We’ve picked a nice sunny spot for him. I’m also making tofu today and am seeking a nice firm tofu texture. I’m going for a different salt to coagulate the beans and hopefully this will help. Homemade tofu is really easy and cost effective, I’ll post the recipe soon. Anyone got any top tips for homemade tofu?

Jane at the base of Snowdon with Mynydd Mawr in the background

JO POTT SUPPER CLUB

We had a delicious meal at Jo Pott’s last night. Each month Jo puts on a fantastic five course menu, served in a very cosy and stylish attic space above her cafe in the Kiffin area of Bangor. Last night, the theme was South Asia and we enjoyed all kinds of traditional delicacies with a twist. I loved the Aduki, rice and ginger balls and I think Jane was quite taken with the Watermelon and Vodka crush (which I ate half of because Jane was driving). The Lentil Cakes in Citrus Broth was also really interesting. Jo’s food is always creative and looks beautiful. Jo does this every month and the fact that Jane and I could sit down to a 5 course vegan meal in a beautiful space was a real treat. Nice one Jo!

The Bits – For 2

2 large aubergines (cut into chunky batons)

4 medium tomatoes (roughly diced)

4 cloves garlic

3 cm fresh ginger (finely chopped)

1 medium onion (finely sliced)

Spices

1 teas mustard seeds

2 1/2 teas ground cumin seeds (1 teas ground)

3 teas coriander seeds (1 ½ teas ground)

1 teas turmeric

2 teas sweet paprika

1 chilli (finely diced or 1/3 teas chilli powder)

1/2 teas asafoetida

1 -2 teas sea salt

3 tbs oil

125ml water

Garnish

Fresh coriander (or sprouted lentils as we used)

Do It

On a medium heat, add your coriander seeds to a pan, toast for two minutes and then add your cumin seeds and toast for one more minute, until fragrant and slightly brown. Bash up well in pestle and mortar. Use ground spices if you’re in a hurry.

In the same pan, add 2 tbs of cooking oil on a medium high heat and fry the aubergines. Stir/ toss them regularly and add 1 teas salt. Cook for 12-15 minutes, until nicely soft and well caramelised. They will stick to the bottom a bit, but this is perfect. That crust equals deep flavour. Set the aubs aside and cover with a plate.

Now put the pan back on the heat and add your tomatoes to the remaining oil on a high heat, stir them well and try to scrape up the aubergine crust to combine with the tomatoes. Fry for around 5 minutes. Set aside and cover.

Wipe out the pan and add 1 tbs of oil and on a medium heat, fry your mustard seeds for 30 seconds, they will pop a little, then add your onions and lower heat slightly. Cook the onions until they are becoming golden, 8 minutes, then add your garlic, chilli and ginger, cook for three minutes, then your spices hit the pan, stir them well, not allowing the spices to stick to the bottom, add 1 tbs of water if this happens. Saute for two minutes and then add your tomatoes, aubergine and 125 ml water and cover cook on a fast simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Serve

We love it with fresh, homemade super simple chapattis (recipe here). They are really easy once you get into a flow. We also love Baingan Bharta with pulao and pickles, or with daal, why not go the whole shebang and get a Indian feast together, Beetroot Raita and all. It is Saturday night almost after all!

Foodie Fact

Aubergine is just one of those veggies that has it all, good lucks, charisma, tastiness, and dashing nutritional properties. I love all veggies and when I learn about their nutritional benefits to body and mind, I get even more excited.

Aubergine has loads of dietary fibre, which is amazing for the digestive system and is one of the most important factors in detoxifying our body. Vitamins are important, fibre equally so.

Aub is a nightshade, like tomatoes, peppers and potatoes. Called ‘eggplant’ in many parts of the world, I think the coolest type of aubergine is surely the ‘graffiti’ aubergine, with its purple, speckled skin.

Aubergine is a good source of B1 and B6, potassium, copper and magnesium.