I thought I’d pop these on #thebeachhousekitchen as I had such a laugh doing them, it was the first time I’d ever set foot into a radio studio and spoke to a nation! Quite a day out. All the people I met were lovely and made me feel very relaxed. I’ve never had a problem talking (loads) about anything! Especially veganism, something I’m so passionate about. They could hardly shut me up!
I ended up chatting about all things vegan, fav foods, chia seeds, healthy eating, nutrition, vegetarian week and ‘Peace and Parsnips’. I started the day with BBC Radio Wales and Eleri was a real star. We kicked off with a little ABBA ‘Knowing me, knowing you’ and halfway through the interview we went for ‘Whhhaakkaaan Be Your Hero Baby’ by Enrique Inglesias. The banter could hardly live up to the tunes, but we tried. Eleri is the daughter of a cattle farmer and I had little chance of converting her to vegan ways (not that I expected to!) but we had a real laugh and some of Eleri’s questions were quite a surprise. My favourite of the day was;
‘So Lee, tell us, where is the peace in ‘Peace and Parsnips’?’
I wasn’t prepared for something so deep! I thought we’d just talk a bit of tofu.
Steve and Janie Lee Grace were very nice and welcoming, the interview was high energy with loads of chat and questions flying around the place. I challenged Steve to a ‘Roast Squash Gnocchi’ (a recipe from the book) which he didn’t fancy much, but I got the impression that they were both open to the idea of vegan food and more veggies in our diets. I was sandwiched between the guys from ‘Made in Chelsea’ and Gilbert O’Sullivan. A mixed bag! I also got my picture taken outside of the BBC building by the paparazzi and touched Elton Johns piano. Quite surreal times.
Todays cook off – Loads of new tasty recipes for the Beach House Kitchen.
Listen to me chatting with Eleri Sion HERE about vegan wind issues, the joy of plants and PEACE. I start about 2:05 minutes.
Sunbathing today on Dinas Dinlle, many miles away from a Radio interview! PS – This is how we sunbathe up here, wearing jeans and hiking boots.
If you’re not in the U.K. I don’t think you can access these. Sorry about that. If you’d like to hear them, Jane’s recorded them on her ZOOM. We can maybe transfer them across somehow.
PEACE AND PARSNIPS ROCKS THE TOP 20
Peace and Parsnips has been selling really well and even stormed the Amazon top 20 bestsellers recently. It is still the number 1 selling Salad cookbook on Amazon and we have plenty more promotional behaviour planned for the summer. Jane and I are organising some supper club style nights in local cafes and restaurants, I’ll be doing book signings and cooking demos around the country and we may even run a vegan cooking course (with yoga and hiking) this winter. We’ll let you know. Add all that to tending to our veg patch and cooking up a storm in the BHK and 2015 is looking like a busy one!
WIN!
If you’d like to win a copy of Peace and Parsnips, have a look here. Plenty of sparkling veggie books being given away by the great folk over at The Happy Foodie.
I have snuck into the beach house kitchen blog to post this in complete secret…
So without further ado, a Big Beach House-y Happy Birthday to you Lee!
I made some chocolate brownies, blueberry slices and some of Lee’s brazil nut and spelt chocolate chip cookies from ‘Peace and Parsnips’ for the special day! Lee is working today so they had to be gorgeous but transportable and that’s why I opted for the kind you can cut into squares and share around…. Roll on the 10 o’clock tea break down at the Retreat Centre!
brazil nut choc chip cookies from ‘Peace and Parsnips’
Cooking these cakes was so much fun, and I had such a great time covering the kitchen in flour(!) while sieving and grooving to a very cool album… not so much fun clearing up, but I felt compelled to share with you the experience anyway and post some pictures so that you can be with us from afar!
I love baking, and I tend to start with a recipe from a cookbook and see what happens…. Sometimes I go way off-piste and create something totally new, other times I stick to the recipe religiously. Both are interesting and produce unexpected results…!
The blueberry slices recipe originally came from ‘The Vegan Baker’ by Dunja Gulin and I changed it in a couple of places, but gosh I recommend you try it! I munched on a quick slice with a cup of tea this afternoon (pure research you know, checking to see if they were cooked properly..!) and they were delicious!
Lee’s birthday blueberry spelt slices
The Bits
260g/ 2 cups unbleached spelt flour
65g/ ½ cup plain wholemeal / wholewheat flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
a few pinches of ground turmeric
250ml plain soya yoghurt
30ml soya milk
170g / 2/3 cup maple syrup
100g coconut oil (melted)
1 lemon (freshly squeezed juice and zest)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 cups blueberries
Do It
Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together (that’s the flours, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla powder, cinnamon and turmeric).
Combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl (that’s everything apart from the fruit, because that goes on top). You may need to mash the coconut oil with a fork a little to get it to mix.
Mix them together really gently keeping the air inside the mixture, if it looks a little dry here you can add a tiny more soya milk.
Gently spoon into a baking pan (23cm x 30cm is best) and get it fairly level without squashing the mixture down (the aim is to keep the air in the mixture). Scatter the fresh blueberries over the top making sure there are gaps between to stop the cake going soggy.
Put the cake into pre-heated oven (180 degrees, gas 4 or 375 farenheit) for 30-35 minutes and when it comes out it should be golden on top.
Allow it to cool in the pan and once it is nearly cold gently lift onto a wire rack. When it has cooled completely you can cut it into squares. Mine were nice big squares and I got 16.
Serve
Lovely warm, drizzled with a little more maple syrup…Yummm!
Enjoy the pictures, and if you have a chance and would like to leave Lee a message that would be fabulous!
Have a great Day,
Love Jane Xx
Ps Thanks Dunja for great recipe idea from your book 🙂 Love it!
Roast Squash and Pepper Soup with Bharat – bowls of sun in The Beach House Kitchen
I’m conscious that on a day like today, Monday, time is more precious than at other times of the week. I am very much, in the same boat. I made tonight’s soup as easy as possible, but did not want to compromise on deliciousness! The roasting part here adds unmistakeable sweetness and the bharat brings a spicy edge to the soup.
You may ask the obvious question, “but Lee, you are in a hurry and yet you take pictures of your food and write a blog piece?!” It does seem like a strange way to behave, I admit this, but such is the ways of the food blogger. We are those people in the restaurants who unabashedly whip out their camera when presented with a particularly nice slice of cake while the rest of the table pretend they aren’t with you. Its a passion/ affliction. Once you blog, you can’t stop……
We are in the middle of some very stormy and chilly days up here in the Beach House and soups seems like a very good idea. I love the bright colour of this soup, with added radiance from the turmeric. Its sunshine in a bowl and is a real lift when the sun is hiding behind the clouds.
We’ve been celebrating a little after the release of ‘Peace & Parsnips’. Jane and I took a trip down to Criccieth, a local beach and went down to Black Rock Sands for a proper bag of chips. There is an amazing chippy in Porthmadog that we frequent on rare occasions. Chips = celebration! We sat on the flat sands, a rare place where you can actually drive cars around on a beach without the imminent danger of sinking like a stone. Black Rock Sands reminds me of beaches in Australia, or what I imagine the tip of South Africa to look like. You can look out over maybe a kilometre of flat sand before you see the sea. A truly beautiful place to scoff chips!
Us. Catching some well earned rays on Criccieth beach
BAHARAT
Is basically a spice mix from the Middle East, as well as Turkey and Iran. Although the ingredients may vary, some usual suspects are: black pepper, cardamom seeds, cassia cark, nutmeg, chillies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds. The baharat we use is very much a Middle Eastern style, in Turkey they add a lot of mint and in Tunisia they make a mix with rose petals, cinnamon and black pepper. There are an almost infinite number of combinations of spice mixes, but most of the baharat sold in large shops in the UK is similar. More a warming spice mix than a turmeric or chilli driven one.
If you don’t have any Baharat around the kitchen, use the same amount of Rae El Hanout or Garam Masala. They will add a similar spice kick to the background of the sweet peppers and squash.
This soup is as easy as roasting a tray of very roughly chopped vegetables and blending.
The Bits – For 4 small bowls
1 medium butternut squash – 1kg (cut into 1/4 lengthways)
1 head garlic (skins on)
2 yellow peppers (deseeded)
1 large onion (sliced)
3 teas bharat
2 teas turmeric
2-3 teas salt
Olive oil (for roasting and frying)
Do It
Preheat oven to 190oC.
Grab a large baking tray and rub a little oil over the squash and peppers. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes. Rub a little oil into the garlic cloves and take the tray out of the oven and scatter the garlic cloves onto the tray. Pop back into the oven and roast for another 15 minutes. Take the garlic and pepper out, check to see if the squash is nice and soft, if not, put back in for another 10 minutes. Set the garlic and pepper aside to cool, do the same with the squash once it is lovely and softened.
In a large sauce pan, add 1 tbs olive oil and fry the onion on a medium heat for 6 minutes, until translucent and soft. While the onions are on, peel the skin off your peppers, garlic and squash. Chop them all roughly. Add the spices to your soft onions and stir for a minute, then add the squash etc. Pour over 1 ltr of hot water and check seasoning (add salt as needed). Leave it to simmer for 5 minutes before blending the soup with a stick blender or using a food processor (leave the soup to cool a little beforehand for this).
Roasted Squash and Pepper Soup with Baharat
Serve
A nice idea, for added richness is to stir some tahini into the soup. Tahini is also packed with goodness, so nutritionally the soup becomes a real shiner. If you are going all out tonight (it is a Monday after all!!!) chop up some coriander leaves and finish with little sprinkle of baharat.
Foodie Fact
Butternut squash is one of the healthiest veggies you can eat. It is much lower in calories than potato and leaves you feeling nice and full after eating it. Calories are of course only one part of the dietary picture, counting calories is definitely not our thing (big bags of chips and all!) You can tell by the colour that its loaded with some good carotenes, which are ace anti-oxidants. Squash is also good for vitamin C and is high in dietary fibre.
Our car off in the distance at Black Rock Sands, North Wales And who can forget……the glorious CHIPS!
It’s a bit like Christmas morning in the Beach House today……..Peace & Parsnips goes on sale across the world. There are people selling it in Germany, France, Spain, Czech Republic (we think), Japan, Korea, Russia….all over…..Its very cool indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace & Parsnips is finally out in the shops. It seems like an age since I first sat down to begin writing it and dream up the recipes and how best to showcase vegan food. “How can I make vegan recipes appeal to everyone?” Make them outrageously tasty I think is the answer!
The process has been long and fascinating and I must thank all at Penguin Books UK for their amazing support and enthusiasm. Peace & Parsnips was written in India, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Wales and various family and friends houses in England. It has been a wonderful experience getting this cookbook together and seeing it morph and change, finally creating a gorgeous vegan tome. I still can’t believe it happened!!!! The shoots in London and Wales especially were a real laugh and the photography in the book is just stunning.
Peace & Parsnips have been a labour of love for sure. It really is ‘vegan cooking for everyone’ and I have packed as many tantalising recipes into the 350 pages as possible. No filler, all foodie heaven. There are many recipes I love, so many great memories of friends and family are linked to them. Food is so important to Jane and I, we believe it links us all and goes a long way to representing who we are.
Chestnut, Millet and Sage Sausage Sarnie with Homemade Ketchup
If I had to do a top 11 recipes that I’d make right now for lunch. It would be (drum rollllllllllllllll pllleeaassseee):
– Portobello Pecan Burger with Roast Pumpkin Wedges
– Blueberry and Macadamia Cheesecake
– Shiiitake Tempura with Wasabi Mayo
– Seitan and Sweet Potato Kebabs with Mango Barbecue Sauce
– Oven Baked Squash Gnocchi with Spinach Pesto
– Smoked Chocolate and Beetroot Beans with Baked Chilli Polenta
– Pakistani Beetroot and Pumpkin Bhuna with Banana and Lime Raita
– Puy Lentil and Walnut Burger with Parsnip Clotted Cream
– Chargrilled Chorizo Pinchos with Pistachio and Coriander Pesto
– Okra, Corn and Black Eyed Bean Succotash with Chilli Cornbread Crust
– Spiced Apple and Date Pie
Portobello and Pecan Burger, Raw Blueberry and Macadamia Cheesecake – a few shots from Peace & Pasrnips
In the book, Jane and I share with the world what it is to live up here in the Beach House and cook in our lovely kitchen. The book revolves around our little cottage and the beautiful landscape around. There is, of course, some shots of us on the beach and me trying to catch some little waves on our surfboard. Unsuccessfully! We also take in local waterfalls, lakes, valleys, mountains and of course, our local glorious veg and fruit farms. Wales sparkles and shines in the book.
Burgers, curries, many sweet treats, bakes, salads, sauces and dips, tapas style little plates, mammoth style big plates, hot drinks and smoothies, its all here in P & P. All superbly healthy and naturally vibrant. I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it!!!
Falafels are a simple ‘go to’ in any kitchen, the addition of fava beans changes things up a bit. Chickpeas are awesome, but fava beans are at least an equal. They also happen to be indigenous to the UK.
Anyone can eat falafels (almost), no matter what the food allergy or persuasion (carnivore or otherwise) EVERYONE loves a well crafted falafel with lashing of creamy yoghurt and preferably a warm wrap somewhere on the scene. They are almost always gluten free, dairy free, almost saturated fat free (depending on the oil usage) but packed with the flavours and textures that we adore.
The idea for Egyptian falafels made with fava beans came from one of my old bosses in London, Henry Dimbleby, and his ever tasty Guardian column. I used to work with Henry at Leon Restaurants and had a ball down there in the big smoke making healthy food for happy people. His article claims ‘the worlds best falafel recipe comes from Egypt’, something I whole heartedly agree with. I had some magical falafels over there in Cairo and surround, having said that, I am yet to visit Lebanon or Israel. There seems to be alot of competition in the falafel/ hummus stakes in this whole region. I have heard many a heated debate between various nations over bragging rights to the worlds finest chickpea creations.
Henry’s article is a quest to find the perfect falafel recipe and shows a great deal of passion for the subject. I remember Leon’s sweet potato falafels bringing about a u-turn in my falafel habits and opinion. I had once thought them late night, bland and stodgy, kebab shop fodder. I came to realise that a day without a Leon sweet potato falafel, was a day wasted!
The great British outdoors – Up a Welsh hill, Snowdonia
FAVA BEANS – AS BRITISH AS A BEAN CAN BE
Really, they are. Fava beans have been growing in the UK since the iron age and would have probably been made into bread back then. Something I’d be interested to try out. They are Britain’s original bean. Its strange how these things just come up, but I was in our local shop and saw a new brand Hodmedod’s, I liked the look of them and noticed they were selling Black Badger Peas. Intriguing stuff. I bought some and loved their full flavour (like a big pigeon pea, normally used in Caribbean cooking). British peas and beans. How marvelous is that! I then noticed that they do split and whole fava beans and this recipe had to be made.
Split fava beans are perfect in in stews, dips, curries and can easily be made into a very flavourful daal. They are like lentils in many ways, they don’t need soaking which is perfect if you’re in a wee rush. Hodmedod’s have got some creative, global recipes on their site HERE.
Henry’s original recipe is brilliant and very easy to make. I, of course, had a little play and added a few tantalising twist and tasty turns. I’ve also toned down the oil usage to make them even shinier and healthy. Hodmedod’s have a really nice looking Egyptian Falafel recipe HERE.
Plenty of variations to try, but I think falafels are so easy and delicious, once you’ve made one batch, you’ll be hooked and want to try them all!
The falafels may seem a little crumbly when yo handle them, but they firm up in the fridge and pan. The ground coriander and gram flour help with this. Just “try a little tendernessssssssssss……”
The Bits – For 12 falafels
250g fava beans (soaked overnight, or at least 6 hours, in loads of water)
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion (finely diced)
1 carrot (grated)
1 ½ teas cumin seeds
2 ½ teas ground coriander
1 teas turmeric
1 teas dried mint
½ teas bicarb soda
2 tbs gram (chickpea) flour
1 big handful fresh coriander (soft stems and all – finely diced)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Coating
2-3 tbs sesame seeds
Extra oil for frying
Cucumber Yoghurt Sauce
6 tbs soya yoghurt
1/2 medium cucumber (grated)
½ lemon (zest)
1 tbs lemon juice
Pinch of sea salt
½ handful fresh mint leaves (finely sliced)
The carrot mix with all those gorgeous, spicy aromas….
Do It
In a large frying pan, on a medium heat, add the oil and warm, followed by the cumin seeds. Allow them to fry for 30 seconds and then add the onions and carrot. Stir and cook for 6-7 minutes, until they are soft and just getting caramelised. Add the ground coriander (not fresh) and turmeric to the pan, stir in and warm it all through for a minute. Take off the heat and leave to settle and cool a little.
Once cooled, add the carrot mix and the rest of the falafel ingredients to a food processor/ blender and blitz until almost smooth, but still ‘grainy’ and coarse. This will take a few goes, you will need to scrape down the side of your blender with a spatula.
Scatter the sesame seeds onto one plate and have another clean plate ready. Using your hands, make small, golf ball sized globes of falafel. Press them gently down into the sesame seeds, flip them over and get a decent coating. Pop the finished falafel on your clean plate and continue. Once the mix is finished, cover the falafels and place them in a fridge for an hour or more.
Mix all the yoghurt ingredients together in a nice bowl. Check seasoning. Jane loves lemon, so we are liberal with citrus.
Preheat an oven on a low heat (160oC) and line a baking tray with parchment and pop it in to warm.
Clean out your pan and warm on medium heat, then add roughly 1 tbs of olive oil. In a large frying pan, you should be able to fit 5-6 falafels comfortably. Don’t over fill or it becomes fiddly. Fry the falafels for 2-3 minutes each side. Using a flat spatula, loosen the falafels a little and flip them over. They will firm up in the pan, but need be handled gently. Place the falafels onto the warm baking tray and keep warm in the oven. Once the batches are finished, leave the falafels in the oven to warm through for 5 minutes. Moderate the amount of oil in your pan, you will need to add a bit more as the falafels love soaking it up.
Playing the Preserved Lemon waiting game (they take at least four weeks)
Serve
We made some Peanut and Lime Hummus (recipe coming very soon) and a big salad to accompany these lovelies. A warm flat bread would also be nice. We would serve this with some of our Preserved Lemons, but they need another week.
Egyptian Fava Bean Falafels with Cucumber and Lemon Yoghurt (vegan and gluten free)
Foodie Fact
Fava beans are used all over the world in dishes, especially in the countries around the Med. For some reason, they are not so popular in Britain, but I think that is going to change. Fava beans are more British than baked beans!!!
When legumes grow, they actually enrich the soil with nitrogen, fixing it. This means that they actually benefit the fertility of the soil as opposed to drain it. Legumes and pulses are incredible in that respect.
STOP THE PRESS – I’ve just read that Hodmedod’s are supplying British grown Quinoa. HOORAH! Quinoa is back on the Beach House menu.
(Just for the record, we only promote products we really like and will say if anyone has sent us freebies. Hodmedod’s, we just love the whole ethos and have received no bean-based bribes to promote their brilliant pulses. We want to support the good guys ’tis all!)
Mighty MUFF – Blueberry and Hemp Muffin (vegan/ gluten free)
I love cooking with vegan and gluten free food. It’s a challenge. How can we make a muffin taste, look, feel as good as a ‘normal’ muffin without the things that can muddle our bodies. So many people are giving gluten a miss, it seems like a good idea as many people struggle with it. I love bread so I made a tasty loaf the other day using predominately ground sunflower seeds, it worked a treat. I feel a shift, things are changing in the foundations of how we eat. The next generational food norms will be very different indeed. Gluten free and vegan will be as normal as fish and chips or black forest gateau.
I cook in a place called Trigonos, an idyllic retreat centre and organic veg farm. It’s a blessing. There I encounter all sorts of dietary requirements, every group that I cook for has a long list of specific dietary needs. The most regular are vegan and gluten free (we are a pure veggie place), but there are so many people out there waking up to food intolerances and how they can hamper our wellbeing. We are all unique and beautifully different, what works for me, might not work for you. But eating less gluten and animal-based saturated fat can only be a good thing for our health. That is a widely held, universal, food understanding. So these muffins are nice….. They can be enjoyed by almost anyone and there is no sacrifice in the taste or treat departments.
Nobody who eats these muffins would think they are vegan or gluten free. They are really quite healthy but very delicious. Any berry can be used here, depending on the season. We managed to get some blueberries and I admit, they are one of my favourites. The berries sort of explode in the muffins, creating lovely fruit pockets of happiness. There is plenty of richness from the coconut oil and a little bit of bite from the polenta flour (very fine polenta that is, not the course grain stuff we use normally).
GLUTEN FREE BEHAVIOUR
We tend to make our own gluten free flour mixes, we still haven’t got round to making the definitive Beach House Bread Mix. But its coming. Banana helps with the binding here, but you can use stewed apple instead. This is also very nice and works well when using blackberries in this recipe. We’ll be doing his later this year for sure. The brambles are already winding their wicked way all over the back of the garden and in Autumn, it will be an oasis for big, juicy blackberries.
FLAX EGG?(!)
Making flax eggs is so easy. Grab some flax/ linseeds and grinder them in a coffee grinder, blender, something like that. You are looking for a fine powder, but a few whole seeds is absolutely fine. You can also buy ground flax seeds or flax meal. This can then be added to all baking shenanigans in order to add a very nutritious binding agent. In the absence of eggs, I find them the best. They even have a vaguely egg-like texture, very gelatinous and gloopy. For 1 tbs of ground flax, I add 1 1/2 – 2 tbs water, stir and leave for a short time. You’ll see the change very quickly. Ground flax is also an amazing way of adding nutrition to your morning cereal, yoghurt or smoothie. Ground flax also helps to make a substantial and chewy loaf of bread or pizza crust. Fibre is so, so important to a healthy diet. It cleans you out in more ways that one!!!!
I love using hemp seeds although they are a little rare. You could try sunflower seeds here, but the hemp seeds (hulled ones anyway) are so creamy and light. They seem to blend into the muffin adding richness. Sunflower seeds will be more of an obvious presence. Tasty non-the-less. Hemp is a wonderful plant and is becoming more and more popular for its uses in making fabric and even paper.
On the beach, with a shell
What with promoting our new book PEACE & PARSNIPS (out tomorrow I may add) and cooking, cooking, cooking…..there seems little time to squeeze in blogging, let alone glorious beach walks. Which is a shame. We will hopefully get some more of our recipes up on the B.H.K very soon. It is almost impossible to keep up. I love writing about food, but I must say, I love cooking much, much more. I’m an out of balance food blogger. Forgive me!!!! I just bought a new computer to replace my ancient little Filipino net book gadget, hopefully this will make me vastly more efficient. You never know!
These muffins are light and fruity…..healthy and delicious….give them a whirl!! All of your guilt-free dessert dreams are coming true….right here:
Fresh from the oven- THE SMELL! THE AROMA! (yum) PS – I ran out of mix so the top left muff is a bit wee
The Bits – Makes 6 muffins
50g gluten-free flour mix (brown is nice)
50g rice flour
25g polenta flour (not coarse polenta, it should be fine like flour)
(or try 125g of a pre-mixed gluten free flour)
30g hulled hemp seeds
2 tbs coconut oil (softened)
½ teas g.f. bicarb soda
½ teas apple cider vinegar
¼ teas sea salt
1 teas vanilla extract
1 banana (mashed)
4-6 tbs rice syrup (depending on how sweet your tooth is; I’m a 3 and Jane’s an 8 – on this scale)
30-50ml soya milk
1 flax egg (1 tbs ground flax seeds mixed with 1 1/2 tbs water and left for 15 minutes)
100g blueberries (or berry of your choice)
Do It
Set the soya milk aside and then mix together the dry and wet ingredients separately. Then mix both together until just combined, adding the soya milk as need. The batter should be sticky, but not wet. Gently stir in the blueberries without popping any if poss (no drama if you do, they will have cool purple streaks).
Spoon the batter into oiled and lined muffin trays. Use muffins cases if you like, I prefer cutting out squares of baking parchment, oiling them and using them. They look far cooler. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick test comes out clean and not sticky. Remember, a little moisture in a muffin is a good thing of course, over baking them would be a shame. Use your muffin-sense here.
Leave to cool in the tray for 20 minutes before enjoying liberally with mugs of your favourite chai.
Blueberry and Hemp Seed Muffin – Difficult to be this close without taking a bite…..
Foodie Fact – Flax Seeds
Flax seeds contain soluble fibre, a gel forming substance called ‘mucilage’. This means that they are brilliant for slowing down the release of sugars into our bodies, helping us absorb more nutrients from our foods and resulting in us being fuller for longer. 2 tbs of flax seeds contains 4 grams of dietary fibre.
Flax seeds are also the very best source of lignans, which provide the body with anti-oxidant and fibre-like benefits. In fact, flax seeds are actually higher in anti-oxidants (polyphenols) than blueberries! Not bad for a little grass seed.
Flax seeds are also ridiculously high in Omega 3 fatty acids, probably the highest to be found in nature. Omega 3’s help to keep our hearts healthy.
Only a couple of days until the BIG DAY!!!!! No, I’m not talking about the election (which surely must be a little refreshing), I’m talking ‘PEACE AND PARSNIPS‘!!!!!!!
‘Happy, healthy and hearty – it’s time to cook vegan…discover the delights of eating meat- and diary-free recipes, bursting with vitality and taste. Using fresh produce, Lee celebrates this incredibly healthy way of eating through recipes that are varied, nutritious and utterly delicious. From curries, burgers and bakes to show-stoppers….’
Preparations are almost complete, like Christmas Day, all of the vegan elves and parsnip fairies have been working overtime to get the book ready and on Thursday, all the good veggie (and non veggie) boys and girls of the world will wake to a massive slice of vegan deliciousness. It’s a real tome, over 350 pages packed with recipes and gorgeous pictures of North Wales, many of which are gluten free (or with options for GF). Its the full montilado!!!!
Here’s a little look behind the scenes of the shoot where I’m trying to keep my cool in the middle of a heatwave and full on cookathon:
Here is something we found growing under our apple tree, with a few bits from the rockeries and surround. Free food! And highly nutritious leaves. Like gifts from the ground, they come to grace our garden with edible happiness.
This may well be rabbit food to some, but these leaves are actually nutritional powerhouses. They are full of calcium, protein and iron, minerals and also have bags of vitamins. The only thing they really lack is carbs (but some people quite like the idea of that anyway). Gorillas, elephants, buffaloes, the strongest creatures on the planet eat leaves. Not just for rabbits! Leaves (with a nice dressing) are meal in themselves.
FORAGING
Primroses are everywhere at the moment, and although they are not particularly nutritious, they make salads look amazing. Primroses carpet our garden every spring, so when we found out we could eat them, it was a good moment. I am thinking Primrose Tempura soon?
Dandelions are best in spring and early summer and the leaves should be picked preferably before there is a flower. The leaves are really bitter when the flowers have bloomed.
Sorrel is a real trooper and thrives like a weed. It has such a distinct flavour, like a very bitter apple, that is best used sparingly in a salad. Just one leaf per mouthful will give you a really pleasing zing! Sorrel grows everywhere and is easily harvested, the leaves are very distinct and even older leaves taste lovely.
Always forage in areas that are away from industrial agriculture, train lines….generally clean and natural spaces. Nasty chemicals, pesticides etc can be present on plants close to these places. Remember that if industrial waste etc has been dumped in the ground, pollutants will be absorbed by the ground (and subsequently the plants).
THE BEACH HOUSE GARDEN
The weather has actually been quite nice recently, so we’ve been out in the garden getting our hands mucky. The veg patches are ready for action and all of our seeds are in the planter of strooned around the house. We are growing all sorts this year; a few varieties of beetroot, fennel, salad leaves, rocket, cauliflower, kale, chard, cabbage….radish. We’ll see what pops up! No potatoes this year as we had a bit of blight last year and think its best to leave this fallow for a while.
Our fruit trees seem to have had a good winter and our new rowan is hanging in their. Raspberries have blossomed and we’re looking forward to them! Also our wold strawberries are looking mighty fine. The herb garden has taken a wallop and will need some tlc. Rosemary is indestructible! May is my birthday month, so we have a new tree lined up. A Snowdon Pear Tree, the fruit has dark green skin with a light pink centre and a feint fennel taste. Wow!
Weeding the veg patch, the seeds are in, we are going for many varieties this year. Too ambitious?!
Our friend Shira is the real inspiration for this salad. She has been going through our foraging books and identifying all the local plants that we can munch on. There are so many and its only April/ May. We are looking forward to raiding the hedgrerows and fields this year and seeing what we can find. Plenty of sloe gin, blackberry whiskey, rosehip cordial, elderberry jam, elderflower cordial etc. Not to mention much fun and games with gooseberries. We will hopefully sniff out some edible mushrooms this year, we’ve been tipped off about a special little place. Maybe a cep or two for the pot?!
We love this time of year, nature is waking up and the earth is warm again.
The Bits – For 4 (as a side salad)
2 handfuls primrose flowers
3 handfuls sorrel
3 handfuls dandelion leaves
4 handfuls young spinach leaves
2 handfuls red cabbage (grated)
Apple and Mustard Dressing
5 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbs apple juice concentrate
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1 clove garlic (crushed)
sea salt and pepper (to taste)
Do It
Wash and drain the leaves well (use a salad spinner for best results). Gently toss all the leaves together and arrange on a nice big plate. Scatter the flowers over the salad in a pleasing design.
Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
Foragers Salad
Serve
With a small jug of dressing on the side, some fresh bread and maybe something like bean puree/ hummus would be nice.
Foodie Fact
Dandelion leaves are hugely nutritious, they are very high in calcium and iron. In fact they have more calcium than kale and more protein than spinach. They are also full of anti-oxidants, mainly vitamin C and A. They are also great for supporting the liver, the ultimate detox green!
Little lambs – cute now, but in a couple of months they’ll be invading our garden!
Peace and Parsnips was a full-on shoot, Sophie and I worked our socks off getting the food looking scrumptious for the camera and Al, the photographer, did the rest….
Stacked Portobello Mushrooms, Hazelnut Tofu and Leeks with Caramelised Garlic and Red Lentil Sauce (Quite a mouthful in so many ways!)
We are really giving it to you here! A restaurant-ified dish made at home with very little mess and fuss. Our kind of food! It also happens to be outrageously good for you. This is utter, guilt-free indulgence.
These stacks sound quite complex, but are actually anything but. In fact, it would be a good restaurant dish for the same reasons. It’s simplicity. A few ingredients speaking nicely together all wrapped up in a creamy lentil sauce.
If you meet a vegan/ vegetarian who says they don’t like Portobello mushrooms, look them right in the eye and repeat the question very slowly and slightly suspiciously. “Are you sure????” They may be an undercover carnivore. All veggies like Portobello mushroom, they are so flavoursome and have a magnificent texture. They can be used in all sorts of ways to sate even the most ferocious of carnivores. Some whack them in a burger, other use them as a base for stacking fun and games (that’s me).
Hazelnut tofu is not that easily sourced, but you can always use firm tofu instead. I’d recommend marinating it in a fridge for a while. Press the tofu to get rid of most of the excess moisture and then glug a little tamari (or good soya sauce) over the top. Toss the tofu in the tamari and leave for a couple of hours before use. Hazelnut tofu can be bought in health food shops and the like, it can also be ordered online and is one of Jane and I’s favourite treat bites.
You would like the lentils quite thin, it is a sauce by name after all. Add a little more water to make it the consistency of a thick gravy. Leeks, how we have missed them. Most of our recent dishes have revolved around the mighty leek. Wales does many things well; sunsets, leeks and hail stones and you can only eat one of them.
Cookin’ up a stack! (Fleece essential)
The Bits – For 2 (as a big plate) or 4 (as a little plate)
Red Lentil Sauce
1 tbs olive oil
3 garlic cloves (peeled and finely sliced)
2 tomatoes (roughly chopped)
200g red lentils (well washed and rinsed)
1/2 teas dried thyme
750ml water
Leek Greens (finely sliced, see below)
Leeks, how we adore thee.
Stacks
1 pack hazelnut tofu (roughly 250g, cut into 8, 1 cm thick slices)
4 large Portobello Mushrooms
2 leeks (washed well, green part cut off and finely sliced, white part cut length ways into quarters and then sliced into 4, 3 inch pieces/ chunks)
1 whole head garlic (seperated into individual cloves, skins still on. Use three of the cloves for the lentil sauce)
A good drizzle of olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
Garnish
Something green (preferably a little fresh thyme, parsley or even finely sliced spinach – as I used here)
Tray of goodness, ready for the oven
Do It
Wash your lentils well, cover them with fresh water and drain. Keep doing this until the water is clear. Grab a medium sized saucepan and add 1 tbs oil, warm on a medium heat and then add the sliced garlic, stir and fry for a minute, then add the chopped tomatoes, stir well. Pop a lid on and allow to bubble on a fast simmer for 5 minutes.
Now add the lentils and water, turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Drop a lid on and lower the heat to a steady simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. Stir in the leek greens and the thyme, place the lid back in and cook for a further 20 minutes. Adding more water to make thick, gravy like consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
Preheat and oven to 180oC.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment, drizzle over a little oil and rub over the tray with your hand. Then lay out all of your veggies onto the tray, including the tofu. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pop in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, remove the mushrooms and tofu, turn over the leeks and garlic, place them back into the oven for 10 minutes (if they need them, they should be nice and soft with the occasional caramelised hue).
Assembly job – in a warm serving dish (or you can serve each stack individually on warm plates). Cut your tofu in half lengthways, pop the garlic out of their skins (they should not need much encouragement). Now place two pieces of leek and two cloves of garlic onto a mushroom and top those with four nice slices of tofu (criss-crossed looks cool). You can put these back in the oven on a low heat to keep warm until serving.
Serve
Pour a thick layer of lentil sauce over your serving dish/ plate and gently place one of your towering stacks on top. Sprinkle with something green, a little more seasoning with salt and pepper and a slight drizzle of good olive oil.
Stacked……..YUM!
Foodie Fact – Leeks
Leeks can be a little overlooked from a nutritional point of view, their more popular cousins the onion and garlic get all the attention. This means there isn’t as much nutritional info out there about them. However, we know that leeks are champions of Vitamin K (see our last article, No-Knead Everyday Loaf, for more on ‘K’). We also know that they are high in Manganese (good for bones and skin) and Folates (Vitamin B’s that keep our cardiovascular system in order).
Probably the most interesting thing about Leeks are their history. They originate from Central Asia (not Wales) and were highly revered by the Romans, in fact Emperor Nero used to eat alot of leeks to help give him a strong voice. Leeks were in fact introduced to the UK by the Romans and are probably most famous for being worn in the helmets the Welsh army, who defeated the Saxons in 1620.
‘Peace and Parsnips’ our new cookbook, taking off!
We went up to the top of Tiger Hill and it turned into a full power ‘Peace and Parsnips’ fest, with various pictures of me goofing around with our brand new cookbook (out on May 7th!). Forgive Jane and I, we are little excited about it all.
Our friend Shira was amazing at catching me in mid air, looking like I’d just been dropped out of a passing plane.
I also went back to cooking at Trigonos Retreat last week, which is always a real pleasure. You could call this my day job, cooking vegan fare for meditators and yoga folk. I am a very lucky chap indeed. It is the place where many of the cookbook recipes were tried and tested.
Playing with food, back cooking at Trigonos Retreat Centre, Nantlle, Wales
Once more, just for kicks…..
‘Peace and Parsnips’ is coming to get yaaaaaah! (Its all in the hips)
We’re also sticking loads of new Beach House Kitchen stuff on Twitter and Facebook. Check. It. Out. Xxxx.
If you haven’t bought the book yet (tuttututututututututtttttuuuut), HERE is a great place to pre-order your very own copy for a superbly reasonable price. Over 200 vegan/ gluten free recipes straight from the Beach House Kitchen. How cool is that! Priceless….. The books contains chapters like: Nuts About Nuts!, The Vegan Larder, Eating from soil, shoot or branch, Seasonality, A Very Meaty Problem, Homemade Milks, The ‘Whats Up’ With Dairy and of course the recipes:
Breakfast, Smoothies, Juices, Steamers and Hot Drinks, Soups, Salads, Sides, Nibbles, Dips and Little Plates, Big Plates, Curries, Burgers, Bakes and Get Stuffed, Sweet Treats and finally Sauces, Dressings, Toppers and Other Stories.
That’s quite a plateful of vegan fare. It’s a tasty vegan tome.
Friends, family and loved ones (everyone) I will even sign your copy for no extra charge!!!! Expect many more gratuitous ‘Peace and Parsnips’ plugs coming in the next couple of weeks.
“Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.” HH Dalai Lama
Viva Vegan (peaceful, bright and bountiful food)xxxx
Risk free, no brainer baking. Perfect! If you have never made bread before, start here…….if you’re a pro kneader, give this one a whirl, you’ll be surprised by the results.
This is bread making without all the fuss and mess. In fact, its as simple as; combining, baking, eating. This is a light loaf, with a slightly crumbly finish, like an Irish soda bread (without the faint twang of soda). You can really taste the yoghurt which is a nice addition, giving richness to the loaf.
This is a bread that we make regularly and is perfect for a quick loaf in a hurry. There is no proving or hanging around with this one. Mix it up, whack it in the oven and before you know it, your whole house is fragrant with the joys of imminent warm bread. Homemade bread is the only way to go and with recipes like this, its hassle free.
Adding sparkling water to your baking really adds a lightness to proceedings. Normal water works fine here also.
Jane nibbling on a ‘Tostada con Tomate’ – One of the recipes in our new cookbook – Peace and Parsnips
Modified from the awesome vegan baking book ‘The Vegan Baker’ by Dunja Gulin
The Bits – Makes a 1/2kg loaf (around 8-10 slices)
275g unbleached white flour
125g wholewheat flour
2 teas baking powder
50g rolled oats
1 ½ teas salt
250ml soya milk
225ml water (sparkling water is best)
4 tbs soya yoghurt (unsweetened)
2 tbs olive oil
Everything in neat bowls, probably the tidiest bread making recipe (no flour everywhere for a start)
Seed Mix
3 tbs rolled oats
1/2 teas caraway seeds
2 tbs flax/linseeds or sunflower seeds (any seed will do….)
Loaf topped and ready for the oven
Do It
Preheat an oven to 220oC (425oF).
Sift the white flour with the baking powder, then stir in the oats and salt. Mix well.
Mix in the wet ingredients and combine well with a trusty wooden spoon until a sticky dough is formed. It should be easy to spoon, add a touch more water if needed.
Line a loaf tin with oiled baking parchment, the neater, the better. Sprinkle half of the seed mix on the base and then spoon in the bread mix. Level with a spatula (a wet one works best) and sprinkle over the rest of the seed mix.
Pop in the oven and lower heat to 200oC (400oF) and bake for an hour. If you’re using a fan oven, check after 30 minutes that the top is not burning (our oven is a beast and tends to burn tops). Cover with more parchment if this is happening.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin. Turn out and peel off paper. Leave to cool further on a wire rack, the crust will now crisp up nicely.
Store as you do, this bread lasts well, 5 days.
We let it cool outside, meaning you can start eating it sooner!
Serve
Warm with Marmite and good olive oil or some of Jane’s lovely Apple and Tomato Chutney (coming soon on the B.H.K). This loaf is a good toaster.
Foodie Fact
Oats are a concentrated source of fibre and nutrients, a pocket battleship so to speak. They are very high in minerals like manganese, phosphorous and copper. It contains beta-glucan, which is a special type of fibre that actually lowers cholesterol. Isn’t nature kind! Have loads of fibre also means that oats help to stabilise our blood sugar level, meaning a better metabolism and less freaky weight gain. Oats are very cool.
Moods. What can we do? Sometimes you’re up and then for no reason whatsoever, your down. Can food help? Most people realise that moods affect what we eat, but does it work the other way. Do foods effect our moods?
There has been much research into the matter which has shown a link between moods and the food we eat. A recent survey has shown that a large proportion (over 80%) of people felt better when they changed their diet. Eating healthier makes us feel better inside and out.
SCIENCE BIT
From what we can tell this is down to serotonin, the happy chemical, produced in our brains. Serotonin cannot be produced without tryptophan (an amino acid), so its a good idea to eat foods high in trypophan to make us happy. Simple enough!? Low serotonin levels are blamed for anxiety, cravings, mood disorders and IBS. The concept of eating foods high in trypophan is similar to that of taking an anti-depressant like prozac. Holistic anti-depressants.
Moods cannot be gotten rid of, but can be brought under control. The extremity of the ups and downs can be lowered, meaning you feel more centered and grounded in a good place. Eating and living well can be essential in maintaining not just our physical, but also our mental health.
TOP 5 GOOD MOOD FOODS
1) mung beans
2) nuts
3) tofu
5) bananas
Taken from the e-book The Serotonin Secret, Dr Caroline Longmore
After too many ‘good mood’ foods Jane sometimes tries to fly!!!!
WHAT MAKES THEM FULL OF ‘HAPPY’?
Foods high in fibre, wholegrains and protein can also help boost moods. Food with a low glycemic index, like oats for example will help the brain absorb all of these happy amino acids. Tryptophan absorption is boosted by carbohydrates.
These foods should be combined with lots of clean water and fresh fruit and vegetables. Eating regularly and not skipping meals also boosts our mental health. A balanced diet is always the best way forward.
Foods that have the opposite effect are sometimes called ‘Stressors’, the main culprits are listed below:
STRESSED FOODS
– Sugar
– Caffeine
– Alcohol
– Chocolate
– Wheat-containing foods
– Additives
– Dairy
– Saturated Fats
Provided by the ‘Food and Mood Project’, backed by the mental health charity ‘Mind‘.
A diet heavy in the ‘stressors’ can lead to all sorts of problems including anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, panic attacks, lack of concentration and unfortunately, many more…
Sugar has a powerful effect on our sense of well being, if we eat too much, we can get into a sugar roller coaster, which is never nice. Our blood sugar levels are all over the place and we feel drained and fatigued when the sugar is lessening and high as a kite when its peaking.
OVER INDULGING
If you do over indulge (who doesn’t?!) one of the worst things that you can do is feel guilty about it. Feel great about it! You have just treated yourself and you deserve it. Move on and make efforts to eat better and feel better, step-by-step, slowly slowly. It’s a long road without any fixed destination.
Apparently we all have ‘triggers’, foods that can take us up and down. This depends on you, have a little experiment. If you are feeling a bit sluggish and down, think about what you have eaten that day or the night before. Trends will inevitably form. We found it really helpful to take the plunge and go for a full raw, vegan diet. Just for a month or sometimes just a week or so. Our bodies became sensitive to what we ate and we learned alot about what makes us feel good and otherwise. There seem to be definite trends in the foods that take the shine off things, and in our experience, most of them are all noted above as ‘Stressors’. You don’t have to go this far of course, just cut out certain foods for a period of time and see how you feel. Many people are doing this with gluten at the moment and feeling the benefits.
The occasional treat can never be a bad thing!!!!
MINDFUL EATING
Eating well is one thing, but thinking well is another level completely. They both tend to rise inclusively. Once we are feeling more stable and peaceful in the mind, our eating habits seem to change. We become more aware of how we are fueling our bodies, the effects that the foods we eat have a profound effect on health, both mental and physical. We all have a good idea of how to make our bodies fit and lean, but how is our mind shaping up? Are we happy and content?
Thinking positively is the key, a good place to start. If we can practice thinking only positive thoughts for a minute at a time and build on that. If this is done whilst meditating, even better. Meditation doesn’t need to be done on a Tibetan cushion, you can do it anywhere. On the bus or train or even when walking or simply sat in a waiting room. The days are filled with moments of potential mediation, windows of unexplored peace and rejuvenation. In our opinion, meditation is the most important practice in creating/ maintaining a more peaceful mental outlook. Once your thoughts are flowing in the right direction, the body tends to follow. The cookies you crave one day are the carrot sticks you cannot live without the next. Habits change very quickly. It is really surprising. We have been through all of this ourselves and being ‘mindful’ requires discipline and dedication. But it does have incredible, trans-formative rewards. Add that to your new found passion for mung beans and you’ll be shining away for all to see.
Here is a meditation clip for those interested. Jane and I recently attended a Tibetan Buddhist meditation retreat up in Dharamasala, India. This is there style of doing things, but there are so many styles and methods of meditating. The most important thing is feeling a sense of peace. That’s it! Whatever works for you is the way.
We have a very soft spot for Tibetan Buddhism, so here’s how they focus the mind (this Rinpoche has the most lovely, smile-inducing voice):
If meditation is not your thing, how about some good exercise, get the blood pumping; a long walk in the countryside or a park, turning the computer off and doing some gardening, turning the mobile phone off and cooking your loved one the most beautiful feast, painting, writing, putting up a shelf with care and attention. Anything that gets you away from the tidal waves of thoughts and ‘thinking’ will no doubt rejuvenate. Taking care of ourselves, being gentle with ourselves, nourishing mind and body.
For more information on mood foods, check out the‘Mind‘ site. There is information here for Brits on how to contact dietitians and nutritionists to get started on a new diet plan and lifestyle.
Take it easy, have a handful of sunflower seeds, meditate peacefully and shine onX
Bananas always make me smile!
This piece is a revised version of something we wrote a few years ago. We just love the idea that foods can have such a profound effect on our sense of wellbeing, or otherwise…
Just a quickie to let all our lovely followers of the B.H.K that we did a cookbook and its coming out very soon with the great folk at Penguin. Pure vegan, pure delicious and packed with stunning pictures of the Beach House and beyond. We couldn’t have done it without all of your inspiration and encouragement along the way.
Peace and Parsnips is simple and decadent, spicy and sultry, moreish and quite an eye full. There are recipes here for everyone, we’ve even tested them on all on ravenous carnivores and they smiled and asked for seconds. YES!
(The veggie prints on the front cover were hand printed by Sarah, our amazing Art Designer, and her daughter on a Sunday afternoon. How lovely is that!)
“This book will rock your concept of vegan cooking – join the meatless revolution and the trend for cooking healthy, hearty food! Nutritious, cheap, easy, diverse and mouth-wateringly delicious, Lee Watson is set to reinvent the way we think about vegan cookery with an incredible range of styles and flavours. Packed full of fantastic recipes that range from basic bites to gourmet delights. This vegan tome is the answer to all your cookery needs, whether you’re a vegan or just want to give it a go. Burgers, curries, salads, pies and sweet treats, this is a book that will appeal to everyone – including carnivores! Welcome to Peace & Parsnips, the ultimate vegan cookbook.”
We are very, very, very happy with the book. It looks AMAZING and the recipes really shine and the food photographs are just plain sexy! Some beautiful shots of the Welsh landscape and plenty of Jane and I cooking up many storms and trays/ bowls of full power vegan goodness. You’ll even see us surfing, hiking in the hills, attacking sandwiches, sitting under a waterfall and laughing. Lots of laughing. IT WAS FUN!
We have filled ‘Peace and Parsnips’ with the recipes that make us smile and shine; Portobello and Pecan Burgers, Macadamia and Blueberry Cheesecake, Kashmiri Turnip and Spinach Curry, Oven Baked Squash Gnocchi, Asparagus and Cashew Tart…..there are over 200 shimmering purely plant-based recipes to get stuck into! There’s even a section on making your own nut, bean and lentil milks.
You can pre-order the book HERE for a special 5 pounds off.
We will be sharing excepts and bits from the book on The Beach House Kitchen as we move towards the launch date. As you can imagine, Jane and I are getting quite excited about it all!!!!!
We’ll also be doing alot of stuff on our facebook and twitter pages. Follow us there for more vegetal fun, games and deliciousness……..
Papaya Paradise – Papaya, cashews and a drop of coconut milk. A tropical tickle.
Paradise for me involves papaya, cashews and coconut. Maybe a beach and a few palm trees lolling in the background. Put all those in a bowl (minus the salt water, sand and chewy leaves) you are approaching my idea of a fruit-based nirvana. We are in Goa and all of these things are plentiful, there are stalls that enforce coconuts on you with each passing, men gifting papayas to you on a regular basis and cashews, the size of small curved chipolatas, are sold for peanuts. Also, it is not mango season in India, so there is no fruity conflict for me, the papaya reigns supreme.
Peter (the wonderful man who looks after the apartment we are staying in) gifted us the largest and ripest papaya I have ever clapped eyes on yesterday. Carving it is something like hollowing out a canoe from a large orange tree trunk. Peter obviously has a secret local supplier, I’ve never seen a papaya like this is the stalls by the side of the road. It would take up half the stall!
I am not sure if you’re going to be able to get a decent papaya in Europe and beyond. Maybe try a Caribbean or Asian shop, you know the one, the Aladdin’s cave of interesting ingredients from all corners of the world. The little space that transports you to Africa, Jamaica, Thailand and Pakistan just by the power of the brands they stock, the occasional aroma and random, unknown, packet of semi-illicit looking spice that just has to be experimented with.
Se Cathedral – dedicated to Saint Catherine, the largest cathedral in Asia (with the largest bell also)
Goa is a magical land, totally different from the rest of India, the cuisine is very interesting, a mixture of many things, Indian and Portugese especially. Each dish changes from region to region and this is not a huge state by Indian standards.
I have been reticent to cook much in the apartment, not wanting to stock up on loads of spices and ingredients, we are only here a short time and whenever I travel I always end up with kilos of half used packets and sachets lurking in the depths of my backpack. This time, I’m trying not to waste a thing.
Tonight I will try something like a Goan Curry, which normally has a good tang to it, created by adding toddy vinegar or tamarind. Adding vinegar to food was the main influence of the Portugese who were here for hundreds of years, in fact, Vasco de Gama landed in 1498 and they hung around until well into the 17th century. Old Goa had population larger than Lisbon or London at that time. The Portugese also brought some other quite important staples across the waves; namely, chilies and potato, along with some very common spices, especially nutmeg, which the Goans love to use liberally in savoury dishes. The Portugese also influenced the Goan desserts, many resemble the flans and tortas of the Iberian Peninsula. Most of our local friends, living around the apartment have Portugese ancestory and could actually emigrate to Portugal if they wished. Interestingly, most of them have the last name ‘De Souza’, there are a few ‘Courtinho’s’, ‘Perrera’s’ and so on.
Dad does an Abbey Road Impression – in front of the Bom Jesus Cathedral, Old Goa (‘Bom’ means ‘good’ in Portugese.
Goa is mainly divided between Christian and Hindu (with a small population of Muslims), they have lived in harmony since the beginning and even share some festival days. Religious background affects the way that dishes are prepared, one Xacutti or Kodi will differ greatly depending on the faith involved. Goan cuisine is incredibly traditional and diverse, awe inspiring really. I have never tasted anything like the Vegetable Xacutti I had yesterday in the excellent ‘Viva Panjim!’. A restaurant tucked down a side alley in a sedate quarter of the capital city, Panjim. ‘Viva Panjim!’ is located in the old Fountainhas area of the city, with many colonial looking buildings forming small quiet alleyways and nooks. In this place you can really see what things would have looked like under Portugese rule. My Xacutti involved alot of roasted coconut and was heavy on the warming spices, especially cinnamon and clove, there was definitely some kind of nutmeg/ mace going on in there as well . Dad opted for a Kingfish Goan Curry (like a ‘Vindalau’ – as they call it here), which has a vibrantly red coloured sauce which contained; Kashmiri chillies, tamarind, lots of onions and garlic, cumin seeds and tomatoes. It looked sensational. All of this served in an old colonial home with slow fans and hand carved furniture. The owner Madam Linda D’Souza sat at a desk overseeing things and when we showed an interest in the cuisine, how it was prepared (I was digging for a recipe or two of course) she gifted us a beautiful cook book, packed with the history of Goan culture and very personalised recipes from local home cooks and chefs. There are even diagrams of how to climb a coconut tree and work a rice paddy.
In ‘Viva Pajim!’ one of our finest dining experiences to date
Goa has no end of old school hippy joints that sell homemade tofu or seitan, pancakes, vegan cakes etc which was fine for a couple of meals (Bean Me Up, Blue Tao, Whole Bean Cafe and the legendary German Bakery were particular favourites) but we are now definitely in the hunt for more Goan delicacies. The only problem is we’ll have to leave the beaches and head inland, to the small towns to find the real deal. It seems that travelers/ tourists are not really into the local wonders. Which is a real shame. We have been invited by two real old school gents, Patrick and Peter (who run a tiny bar beneath our place) to their home for a home cooked (vegan!) dinner on Sunday. Something we are both very excited about. Will keep you posted.
Vegetable Xacuti, Fried Aubergine Chips and Dad’s Goan Fish Curry
I’ve been writing a travel blog about my Dad and I’s journey around India, ‘The Jalebi Express’. We visited some tribal vegans recently, wonderful peace-loving people living in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan. I hope you enjoy the article!
Brazil Nut and Banana Breakfast Cookies – Up close and personal
Warm, healthy cookies for breakfast. Yes, please!!!!!! A fine start to any day and even the sleepiest of heads can cope with the simplicity of getting these together. This is a nourishing and energy giving breakfast on the run and one of these cookies contains much more nutrition than your average bowl of cereal.
A strange post to be winging it across from the Turkish Med, but the weather in the port town of Antalya is dreadful. Jane and I are tucked up in bed with cups of well stewed Turkish tea. We were here two weeks ago and the sun was blazing, it now resembles a supermarket car park in Leicester town centre in a November hail storm (with the occasional roman aqueduct thrown in). Amazing the difference some pants weather can make.
THE BEACH HOUSE ON TOUR
A quick update as to our wandering ways. We’re in Turkey, as mentioned and have been whizzing around in a hire car for two weeks, covering thousands of kilometres in this fascinating and rich land. Firstly, Turkey is a country with many layers of incredible history and culture, stunning and varied landscapes, but the real star (as ever we find) is the people. The folk we have met have been absolutely brilliant, wonderfully hospitable, kind and funny. Jane and I have felt very at home ever since, on the first night, a genial waiter Abdullah, offered us his house to stay in for as long as we like. We declined his more than generous offer, so he halved our bill and sent us on our merry way. This has become quite normal, every day we are confronted with bare faced kindness and highly welcoming behaviour.
The view from our hotel in Antalya on the first day, now it looks considerably greyer with occasional lightning forks crackling over the mountains.
We’ve been so active in the last 14 days its quite hard to recap that’s been done. Having taken in most of the Turquoise coast, with its stunning ancient Greek and Roman Ruins and beautiful beaches, we headed up to Pammukale, which is a massive calcite wave with hot thermal springs (and an almost token vast ancient Greek settlement on top). We then whisked our little Fiat up through the Alpine clad mountains, inland and across a vast Anatolian steppe to Konya (the resting place of the poet Rumi and the home of the whirling dervishes) and then spent a few days exploring and hiking in the ridiculously unique and surreal rock features of the Cappdocian valleys. We stayed in a luxury cave, carved out of compressed volcanic dust. The beauty of having a car is being able to stop alot along the way and get lost. Getting lost I find is the best way to get to know a country properly. The out of the way places are always more fun than the tourist ‘hives’.
Now we’re back on the coast, having traced the silk road for a while and hung out in caravaserai’s. We’re readying ourselves for a weeks volunteering and cooking on an organic farm and animal sanctuary (meaning sitting down for a day). Phew! In a nut shell, its been intensely brilliant. It feels like we’ve been away for years. Pictures will hopefully follow when a better internet connection arises.
THE TRIALS AND TRAVAILS OF VEGAN TRAVELER
Being a vegan foodie traveler outside select parts of LA is never going to easy, but many Turkish staples are easily veganised and we haven’t struggle for sparkling sustenance thus far. Saksuka, corba (soup, lentil normally), bean stews, gorgeous pides (Turkish pizza), village rice dishes, shepherd salads, smoked aubergine and pepper salads, many clay pot roasted veggie variations (in wood fired ovens), and lashings of white bread ( no whole grains on the horizon) have kept us ticking over quite nicely. All washed down with plenty of tiny glasses of Turkish Whiskey (well stewed tea normally grown around the Black Sea).
We do have a very unique diet in the Beach House Kitchen and we always feel the pinch the first few weeks of a travel. Gone are the 6 vegetable morning juices and rampantly organic raw salads and layered tofu bakes. Having said that, back here in the big city Antalya (population 11 million) we have just enjoyed a slap up mezze-fest in a white table cloth joint. Radical selections of local leaves, beetroot, funky turnip juice, fresh steaming white bread, melt in the mouth aubergine dishes (known as the ‘sultan’ of vegetables in Turkey and quiet revered), interesting and intense tomato rice (the shape of which I’d never seen before, very squat and dumpy grains). Great stuff and an open fire to boot.
Generally travelling as a vegan means scouting out as many fruit and nuts as you can find. I’m not a huge supplement fan, but do travel with some Spirulina which I picked up in India, see this article I wrote for more info on this wonder green powder. Getting balanced nutrition is a happy quest when on the road. A vegan traveler has to be more patient with food and accept the occasion stray lump of cheese or gristle with grace and impeccable manners. After all, we are ambassadors of something highly positive, why ruin it all with a restaurant rant. It can get a little embarrassing on occasion, especially when in a home. No matter how much you explain yourself, language barriers can become chasms when ordering in a restaurant. It is quite an alien concept in most parts of the world. So far, on this trip, I have been fine and had no encounters with surprise ingredients. There is an element of keeping it simple and realising the the cornucopia of local food is generally out of bounds and you will have to settle with some simple veggies dishes and many baffled and perplexed looks from local waiting staff and restaurant owners. Jane and I also make alot of salads and simple veggie dishes ourselves, we always travel with a good knife and some plates. This keeps costs down a little and means that we can pack loads of gorgeous local veggies into diets with relative ease. Overall, Turkey is a great country for vegan travel and much of the produce is organic and seasonal.
I made these cookies just before we left the Beach House for our travels around Turkey, Spain and India. They were a real hit with our friends over coffee and chats. As usual with our sweet things, they are an attempt at taking a gorgeous cake/ cookie recipe and making it as healthy as we can, without compromising on delicousness.
These baked beauts are packed with nutrition and low GI, all that shebang! They are also super tasty and almost a meal in themselves. After one of these for breakfast, we feel pretty much sated for the morning. We’ve basically put loads of the things that we love in a bowl and baked it, most are ingredients that we believe will do our body the most amount of good first thing in the morn. A novel way of approaching cookie making you may say?! But the cookie taste it there, it just so happens that we snook in a few wonder foods as well. We’ve got oats, flax seeds, bananas, maple syrup, brazil nuts, cinnamon……it’s like a health food shop condensed down into small disc of crispy happiness! All these things are going to make your body smile and sing.
Gluten free folk may like to try buckwheat flour or your favourite gluten free flour mix instead of the wholewheat flour, we haven’t tried it, but are sure it will lead to magic results. Gluten free oats are also readily available. You can also just use oats, but the cookies won’t quite have the density and firm texture that these will.
Fresh out of the the oven. Would you call this a cookie or a biscuit?
SO WHEN IS A BISCUIT A BISCUIT, AND A COOKIE A COOKIE?
I think this is a matter of cultural surroundings and varying criteria. Personally, a cookie is moist and chewy and a biscuit is crunchy and crumbly. Cookies are normally fatter and biscuits are thinner. Cookies are not traditional in the UK, so any new and magical ingredients normally take things in a cookie direction. What do you think? I know in the States biscuits are served with savoury dishes, they seem to be more like a semi-scone, but generally quite heavy. I know one thing, there is no way anybody would refer to these whoopers as a biscuit, maybe a ‘slab’ would be better way of describing them, or a ‘chunk’.
Use any variety of nuts and seeds here, whatever’s handy (although poppy seeds are probably best used only if you love ‘em dearly).
Once baked and cooled fully, these cookies will keep for a few days in a tight fitting container or biscuit tin and don’t just eat them for breakfast, eat them all day if you like!
Gluten-free flour mix and oats will be great in this recipe too.
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Breakfast Cookies with Banana & Brazil Nuts
The Bits – 6-8 big cookies
200g Scottish oats (50g more reserved)
30g wholewheat flour
2 bananas (mashed with your hands or a fork)
3 tbs sunflower seeds
1 ½ tbs flax seeds
1 handful brazil nuts (roughly chopped)
200ml sunflower oil/ light olive oil
3 tbs maple syrup/ brown rice syrup/
1 teas bicarb of soda
1 ½ teas ground cinnamon
1 teas almond extract
In the mix
Do It
Preheat an fan oven to 180oC.
Mix together all the bits in a large bowl until a smooth dough is formed, then add the rest of the oats and stir in. This will give the cookies a little bite and texture.
For soft cookies bake for 10 minutes, for slightly crisper cookies, turn the tray and bake for a further 2-3 minutes.
Breakfast is served!
Serve
Using a flat spatula, place on a wire rack and leave for 15 minutes to cool. Best served with a nice big cuppa tea.
Foodie Fact
Many people believe bananas to be high GI (Glycemic Index) foods, meaning they release their carbohydrates straight into your blood stream and leave you with a ‘sugar spike’ that can lead to blood sugar level mayhem and long term ailments.
Bananas are actually low GI and are our friends, meaning they help against diabetes and keep our heart healthy. The greener your banana, the less sugar present. Plantains have the lowest sugar levels.
Following on from the ‘Simple Blackberry Compote‘, we take the next reasonably logical step, the ‘Quick Blackberry Tart’. The Beach House is beginning to resemble mound of blackberries at the minute, our garden and the neighbouring horse fields are a sea of green with many purple patches. Forgive us for our bramble based indulgence, but they’re so tasty. It seems that horse muck is the ideal breeding ground for giant blackberries, although horse manure seems to benefit all plant life, our tomatoes definitely appreciate it. Even though our neighbouring horses are a little wild and aloof, we thank them for producing their fertile goods.
As with the compote, cooking rarely gets easier than this. Three ingredients and minimal fuss make this the perfect last minute/ lazy moment dessert. It is of course, greater than the sum of its parts and is one of those recipes that punches well above its weight (not sure if that analogy is particularly Beach House-ified!) I use frozen puff pastry for very obvious reasons, any brave soul who attempts to make their own puff pastry cannot be described as ‘lazy’ in anyway. Its quite a labour intensive process involving advanced folding and rolling techniques. I have made a type of parantha that is similar, but a parantha is a very forgiving format (like a fat flaky chappati). Puff pastry is something we have in the freezer and use when our folsk visit, they all seem to love a bit of crumbly dough. Dad is here at the minute and he approved of this tart, eating the leftovers for lunch which is not a bad sign.
The rowan jelly has been kicking around our fridge for a while and this tart is the perfect home for it. We have plenty of rowan berries and elderberries loitering around the Beach House and we are planning on a mass harvest very soon. Hopefully next year we’ll have homemade rowan berry jams to sample and probably whack in a cake/ tart.
There are so many differing ways that you can take this tart. The astringent rowan here works well with the sweet blackberries, our berries were very sweet and you may like to add a little more sweet jam/ jelly if you have a batch of more tart fruits. Once you’ve made the base, you choose the toppings. Something like a pizza desert. This recipe is simply what was to hand, seasonal and looking good. We’ve had it with apples and marmalade, strawberries and cashew cream, plums and star anise, pear and cinnamon, banana and custard……the list goes on. All of them simple and very quick to get together.
The pastry base is best blind baked, depending on the tart filling, the pastry may seem ever so slightly soggy in the very middle. It is cooked and is just a result of the liquid wetting the pastry and having something like a steaming effect. Think a Chinese dumpling as opposed to a pasty (like a Jamaican Pattie). The combination of soft middle and flaky outside only adds to the textural fun.
The Beach House Potato Patch (looking a little sorry for itself after a serious blight infestation, theres always next year!)
The Bits – For 4
250g block of puff pastry (frozen is much easier)
6 big handfuls of blackberries (or as needed)
4 tbs rowan jelly (or other fruit jam)
1-2 teas vegetable oil
Do It
On a lightly oiled surface, using a rolling pin, roll out your pastry in a roughly rectangular shape. Flipping it over a few times, whilst rolling, giving the pastry a good even thickness and light coating of oil.
Place on a baking parchment and give it another few rolls. Score a 1 inch border around the edge of the pastry by running the tip of a knife around. Cut roughly 1/2 way through the pastry with a sharp knife. Poke the base (not the border) a few times with a fork, this will lessen the rising.
Preheat an oven to 180oC and when warm, pop in the tart base bake for 12 minutes. Until lightly golden and well risen. Press the base of the tart down, leaving the border slightly raised. Spoon in and spread the jelly/ jam and scatter over a good layer of berries, packing them in tightly. Place back in the oven and bake for a further 15-20 minutes, until the border is dark and golden and the fruit is soft. Leave to cool for 10 minutes and serve warm. You know your oven, if its not a boss fan oven, then flip the tart around halfway through cooking to balance the bake.
The tart fresh out of the oven
Serve
Dad is here, we had custard!!! There is hardly any difference between normal custard and vegan custard, try making custard with almond milk, its extra yum!
Jane and Dad getting stuck in!
Foodie Fact
Rowan berries grow all over the UK and can be seen a mile off due to their vivid red colour. These berries have long been regarded as fantastic for health; they boost the immune system, help the digestive system, prevent certain cancers and reduce bacteria infections. They also make a very tasty jam.
These little red suckers are packed full of vitamin C and fibre and also contain a very powerful blend of antioxidants (aka disease fighters).
Do not eat rowan berries without cooking or freezing them for a decent period of time, they are quite toxic. They contain what is called parasorbic acid, which is no good, but when heated or frozen this acid transforms into sorbic acid, which the body loves. Rowan berries are technically a ‘superfood’ that lives on our doorstep. They can also make for a potent and eye popping liqueur! (Isn’t that what they call the best of both worlds!!!?)
Rowan berries are one of the many hedgrerow goodies that seem to be overlooked. I don’t think it will be long until many more folk are out there at this time of year, harvesting the bounty of fruits and leaves that are springing out of our hedgrerows, many boasting fabulous health giving properties and a diversity of flavours and textures.
A flax egg is basically 1 tbs of ground flax seeds mixed with 2-3 tbs of water. Left to sit for around 15 minutes, it becomes gloopy and a little egg-like. Ideal for binding vegan baked fare and highly excellent from a nutritional point of view.
The flax seeds should be as well ground as possible, depending on the equipment you have to hand. It is best to use something like a high powered food processor or coffee grinder. We use the later after a good rinse (old coffee grinders smell a little like ashtrays, have you noticed?) We also try to use a pestle and mortar and after lots of elbow grease and caveman grunting; pounding and crushing, we were left with the consistency above. Namely, not very ground up at all. They are hardy little suckers, maybe it’s because they are so full of good things. Even when only semi-bashed, they still work well.
OMEGA 3 POWER!
Flax seeds are full, full, full of healthy Omega 3 fatty acids, one of the highest sources in nature. In fact, flax, chia and hemp seeds contain more Omega 3’s than any type of fish, which may also contain heavy metal contaminants. Recent studies show that baking or cooking these fats is no problem, these amazing polyunsaturated fats will not wilt in the heat.
One of their main uses for the Omega fats in the body is to aid and stimulate metabolism. Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown, in tests (by people wearing white coats clutching clipboards) to help with cumulative conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes and can also assist with inflammation and may potentially help with cancer and mental health. None of these ‘white coat’ tests seem conclusive but we can be sure that Omega-3’s (and their sibling linolenic fat, Omega 6) help with the healthy development of brains, eyes and nerves. Other fatty acids in flax seeds give us shiny hair, strong nails and keep our cells firing on all cylinders. Do I need to go on……………….!!!! They’re great!
Glorious flaxseed (or is it a linseed?)
Omega 3 fatty acids come in different lengths, and without getting too scientific (because I am a cook), the longer the chains (called EPA and DPA), the easier it is for the body to synthesize these glorious fats. Plants provide our bodies with short chain fatty acids (ALA), which can be converted into longer chain fatty acids (with more bonds open for chemical reactions) but the conversion rate depends on whether you are male or female, your age and on your diet. Flax seeds contain roughly 10 times more omega 3 fats per serving than fish, so there is a pretty good chance you will be getting a good dose of the finest EPA’a and DPA’s if you use things like flax eggs, to regularly add flax seeds to foods; cereals, stews, baking, vegan/ veggie burgers, breads and pizza dough etc. Once you make the decision to give up animal products, you are definitely not saying goodbye to our Omega 3 friends.
LIGNANS AND FIBRE
Flax seeds are also by far the highest source of lignans in nature (some say 800 times the amount of their nearest rivals!!!!), which basically translates as a whole bunch of anti-oxidant benefits. In fact, most people think that anti-oxidants rich foods are normally berries and brightly coloured foods, but flax seeds are well up there in the anti-ox states. Not bad for a grass. Flax seeds are almost 70% fat, but will not make you pile on the pounds. These fats are all beneficial to the body and are essential to a healthy, well balanced diet.
Flax is packed with fibre, which helps, especially in baking, when you are adding sugar to the mix. Flax seeds will help to put the brakes on sugar leaping into our systems and creating metabolic havoc and subsequent weight gain. These little seeds actually help to kickstart the metabolism, perfect morning food. Flax seeds are widely used to help the bowels, they are cleansing and maintain ‘regularity’. Especially good for I.B.S., diarrhea and constipation. Try taking a tablespoon of flax seeds before a meal and you may feel fuller, reduce hunger and stimulate your digestive system. Healthy bowels also have the knock on effect of you losing a little weight.
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1 tbs of flax seeds contains a similar amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and lignans as 30 cups of Broccoli.
Wow! What a thing. See this great site, Healthelicious, for more in depth info.
FLAX OR LIN-SEED? WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
There is no difference, its all in a name. Just be aware that boiled linseed oil is best for your shed or garden furniture and not for eating. Things bought in DIY shops are normally not great on the plate! Linseed oil is actually a brilliant wood preservative and perfectly natural, unlike the horribly toxic alternatives (creosote et al). Golden linseeds and flax seeds (a dark reddish brown colour) are very similar things and both can be utilised in the same way.
OTHER VEGAN EGGS (!?)
There are many options out there for vegan egg-subsitutes, most come in packets and plastic wrapping. There are powders you can buy, but I have always found ground flax eggs to do the trick, they are like ‘an egg with benefits’. As I’ve already harped on about, they are proper nutritional powerhouses. Baking recipes with lots of eggs in are normally out of bounds for vegans, but if its something like a quiche or dished with boiled eggs in, tofu or tempeh will make for a perfect substititute. I have used plain silken or firm tofu, blended together with gluten free flours like tapioca, potato or gram, this also works well in cakes and vegan burgers/ sausages. It is always best to blend tofu first, as it may leave chunks in your lovely cake. I have also used mashed sweet potato as a very funky binder.
Vital wheat gluten (or ‘Seitan’ as its called when formed into chunks) is a great addition to breads and burgers. It is basically flour, washed until only the gluten remains. It acts as a string binding agent when added to things like vegan burgers or sausages. It is, of course, highly non-gluten free and I like to enjoy it in moderation.
Chia seeds, when ground and soaked in a similar way to flax seeds, offer a decent gloopy texture and as you may know, wondrous health benefits. Bananas and stewed apples/ fruit can also be used to replace eggs in some recipes, but non of these option offer the ‘fluffiness’ that eggs, especially egg whites can give to baked goods.
Here are some top tips from PETA on egg replacement options:
The egg-options mentioned here are a reasonable solution to the vegan baking egg dilemma with the added bonus of being amazing for the heart (and all parts of the body for that matter). See our Juicer Pulp Muffins with Pecans, Fig and Turmeric for flax seed eggs in full effect. It is fascinating what you can do when baking vegan, and although some recipes will be slightly denser than those with eggs, the obvious health and ethical advantages far out weigh the textural differences.
And flax eggs make these, Juice Pulp Muffins with Pecan, Fig and Turmeric
GLUTEN FREE, VEGAN, SUGAR FREE, LOW GI, HIGH FIBRE, …….whatever you want to call them, these muffs are very cool.
The worlds healthiest muffin? Almost, possibly not. The worlds strangest muffin? Quite possibly. The worlds tastiest muffin? (Probably) YES!
These are muffins if Doctor Parnassus made them in his Imaginarium (any Terry Gilliam fans out there?) Containing what can only be described as pscycedelic pulp (great name for a surfer rock band). This is what you could call a classic Beach House post, we woke up and all of a sudden made some pink-ish muffins with turmeric in them, then thought we’d write about the experience. I trust you don’t think any of these posts are planned or orchestrated in anyway. This is adventure is all the food we are eating right NOW. Steaming on the plate/ wire rack. You can probably tell by the rushed looking photo’s, a hungry camera man is a complacent camera man. Thankfully these freakish muffs are totally delicious, have an almost succulent texture and are happily brimming over with health giving properties and the main thing (that we almost forgot) is that they are a pleasing receptacle for your leftover juice pulp.
Yes,these sweet thangs are ‘sugar free’, although I don’t quite get this new movement. The whole sugar free thing seems mystifying; you can’t eat one type of sugar but can eat other types of sugar. Its like being vegan, but you can eat goats cheese because its lower in fat???? Can someone please explain the ‘Sugar-free’ craze? Anyway, these are sugar free as they only contain dried fruit and maple syrup, which are not classed as ‘sugar’ by some. They are of course, much better than processed, bleached, alien sugars, meaning all white sugar (which isn’t even vegetarian as it can contain bone meal!!!!). Low GI seems the way forward, or eating fructose with fibre (like a banana) which naturally slows he absorption of sugar into the blood stream.
PULP (NON)FICTION
Jane and I would be nowhere without juice. Our lives have changed since we got our first juice machine and we are now a happier shade of orange (too many carrot and ginger juices, you have been warned!). We have been curious about juice pulp muffins for ages. How can we use up all of this wonderful looking chaff. Its almost pure fibre and we’re not eating it? Quite a conundrum! How can we utilise this excellent commodity, other than adding to the ever grateful compost bin. What better way that baking with it! We discover a great webpage that gives ‘20 smart uses for using up leftover juice pulp’ from making ‘pulpsicles’ to a face mask, there are so many creative ways of putting pulp to work. Check it out! We also like to add it as balast ie replacing, rice, lentils etc, to vegan burgers and patties (falafels, sausages, frisbee…….or whatever shape is being moulded), it can also be incorporated into a wholesome and frugal soup. No doubt, more pulp-based Beach House posts are coming this way….watch this space for Pulp Gazpacho.
A bucket full of pulp derserves a home
PULP NUTRIENTS VS JUICE NUTRIENTS
The leftover pulp from juicing is primarily fibre, although there are some other good things in it as no matter how good your juicer, dry pulp is virtually impossible to extract. Too much pulp is not great for the system as the high fibre content may lead to ‘blockages’. Some would say, and this makes perfect sense, that juicing inundates the body with concentrated nutrients that it may not be quite ready for and eating whole foods is the way forward. We’d agree with this. The enzymes needed to extract the nutrients of most foods can be found in the food you’re eating. How cool is that!!!! When we juice, we seperate the ‘whole’ food, so eating the pulp later means that all of the nutrients are not necessarily available to the body.
Another theory is that the nutrients from vegetables is in the juice and the nutrients from fruit is in the pulp. Meaning, juice your veggies and eat your fruits. This is due to the flavanoid content in the skins of especially citrus fruits.
This is not in anyway us angling against juicing, just give some differing opinions. Juice is the finest way to start any day and we’d whole heartedly recommend it to anybody. For us, it is the cornerstone of healthy, vibrant diet. Juicing is a truly awesome way to offer our bodies potent nutrients and is a sublime wake up call to our system first thing. How often would we normally eat 4 carrots, 2 apples, 1/2 beetroot, 2 inches of ginger and loads of kale (our juice ingredients this morning) in one sitting, especially one glassful! You can just imagine what good that is doing our bodies and it shows the effect of bags of energy and a sense of ‘fullness’. Normally after a breakfast juice, I won’t eat again until at least lunchtime.
These here psyco muffins are beautifully moist due to the high pulp content, we baked ours for between 35-40 minutes (37 1/2 minutes to be exact!) any more and you’d loose some of that ‘gooey in the middle, crispy on the outside texture’ that is so drop, dead gorgeous. Also, under baking vegan/ gluten free goods will not mean that you catch anything or have dodgy digestion for the rest of the day, so there is no risk going for gooey.
Maple syrup is so precious on this hill, we did a half/ half mix between malted rice syrup and the glory sap (maple syrup). Anything is better with more maple syrup, so go wild accordingly. You could use any combo of dried fruits and nuts in this recipe. With the bright purple beetroot content of these muffs, I thought at one stage that pecan and fig just didn’t go. For some reason, they didn’t seem fun enough for pink!? Peanut and cranberry seemed better, and still sounds nice. Hazelnut and dried apricot, walnut and date, almond and prune……..The dried fruit used will alter the sweetness, especially if you’re going for dried dates. I’d say this recipe is moderately sweet and would make the perfect, post juice, mid morning nibble.
If you’re not very keen on spice, omit the cardamom and turmeric (adding 1/2 teas more cinnamon), although the latter especially is one of the finest things you could ever wish to consume (health wise). Turmeric also gives these muffins a very funky colour, especially when combined with beetroot pulp (although the raw mix hue does tame slightly when baked). You can use most juice pulp here, but things like celery will take things in a more savoury, eclectic direction. Things like carrot, beetroot, greens (maybe not cabbage), any fruit, ginger are all fine pulp fodder for baking sweet things.
So if you try one muffin this morning, fill it with psychedelic pulp. Don’t worry, I’ve ate four of them whilst typing this with no obvious side effect (other than a goon like grin and a misty/ vacant look in my eyes, “Parnassus you rogue, is that you!!!!!??????”,,,,,,,,,,@). All is well in the BHK!
Dr Parnassus himself would be proud of such a mound of goodness
The Bits
2-3 cups juice pulp (ours was beetroot, carrot, apple)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (we used 1 cup rice flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal/ fine polenta)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (coconut oil is also wonderful)
1/3 cup whole bean, organic soya milk
1/2 cup maple syrup (brown rice syrup or liquid sweetener of your choice. Adds to the crispy exterior)
3 tbs flax seeds (ground well and mixed with 6 tbs water. Leave for 15 minutes to become gloopy)
3/4 cup dried figs (roughly sliced)
1/2 cup pecans (roughly chopped)
1/2 tbs vanilla extract
2/3 tbs bicarb of soda
1 teas ground cinnamon
1/3 teas ground cardamom and 1/2 teas turmeric (optional but awesome)
For additional oomph! and new flavour directions (especially if you’re making a breakfast style muffin):
Add 1 heaped teaspoon of ground coffee/ wheatgrass or spirulina/ lemon or orange zest – and let us know how these go……we are trying the wheatgrass version next week.
Do It
Simple as.
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl with a trusty wooden spoon. Form into big balls with your hands and pop into a muffin tray. You don’t need a special muffin tray for this recipe, you can form big balls with your hand and place them on a lined and oiled baking tray and then fashioned them into a muffin shape.
Preheat an oven to 180oC (fan oven) and bake for 35-40 minutes, turning the tray/ trays after 20 minutes. Our oven is a beast and can burn the items closest to the fan (do you have that problem?).
Leave to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before nobbling one or two. Best served warm and slightly steaming.
The psychedelic muffin interior (dampened slightly by baking)
Serve
As quickly as possible. We ate ours with some homemade blackberry and apple compote, just because it was on the hob. I’d imagine some cashew cream or soya yoghurt would be pleasant. You will of course need your favourite brew (that means a cuppa tea, not a beer in these parts, we are drinking alot of ‘Iron Buddha’ tea at the minute. From China.) to hand.
Foodie Fact
Pecans. These little beauties are members of the hickory family and like all nuts, are packed with the things we need and thrive upon. Full of very good and useful fats, huge amounts of energy, good cholesterol and dietary fibre. They are also rich in anti-oxidants, especially an excellent source of vitamin E which protects our cells and skin from free radicals.
beach house kitchen 