Posts Tagged With: healthy eating

Black Olive Tapenade with Beetroot and Red Onion Salad

Posted on June 25, 2012 by leroy watson

Beetroot and Red Onion Salad with Black Olive Tapenade

Tapenade is one of those things that we don’t eat enough of. Everytime we have it, we say the same thing, “Why are we not eating more tapenade!” It is delicious and is one of those classic summer dishes that reminds me of holidays in Greece and France.

I ate alot of tapenade at break times whilst picking grapes in Beaujolais. We’d have it spread over warm baguettes, with local cheese and lashings of whatever wine was in the bucket (purely medicinal, it helped to dull the back pain you see). I believe that the intense satisfaction I got from munching the tapenade pulled me through those back breaking times. The wine was certainly nothing to get excited about, unfortunately.

This is a wonderful concoction of flavours that I’ve had a little play with (of course) and omitted the use of capers due to a forgetful moment at the shops. The unique caper-ness has been replaced by the gorgeous sun-dried tomato. Not a bad substitute! I have also added raisins to add a little sweetness, the black olives can be a little bitter in these parts, Wales not being high on the olive producing charts. The rest is fairly classic tapenade, forming a delectable black paste that can be spread or dipped as you choose. I love this type of food, which is greater than the sum of its bits.

I normally think of Tapenade as being a Greek dish, but it actually hales from Provencal in France. Traditionally this puree contains caper, anchovies, black olives and olive oil. The French would normally serve it as an hors d’oeurve or stuff it into a steak.

Tapenade is alot like pesto (see our ‘Hazelnut Pesto‘ post) in that it is a joy to behold sitting in the fridge door. It just hangs around and marinates, getting better and better. It goes well in so many things and mixed with some oil, makes for an instant wonder dressing. The best part is that it has a gourmet flavour with very little needed in way of preparation.

The way you chop up your veg has a major effect on the presentation and texture of a salad. Have a little think before you begin to chop about what type of effect you’d like to create.

If you spend a little more on good quality olives here, it is well worth it. The black variety are normally a little cheaper and in their own way, just as good as some of their greener brothers and sisters.

The Bits

Tapenade – 1 cup black olive, 6 sun dried tomatoes, 2 cloves crunched garlic, 1/2 red onion, 1/4 cup raisins, juice of 1 lemon, handful of chopped parsley, sprig of rosemary, pinch of thyme and oregano, glug of olive oil, cracked black pepper and sea salt (to taste), glug of olive oil (if needed)

Salad – 1 nice red onion (thinly sliced), 4 small beetroots (cut into eighth’s), 2 cups of spinach (chopped), 3 carrots (grated), 2 stalks celery (chopped), 1 cupful of sprouts (we used green lentil sprouts)

Black Olive Tapenade in the mix…..

Do It

Tapenade – Add all ingredients to a food processor and begin to whizz. As it becomes sticky, trickle in some remaining olive oil to create a beautiful, shiny puree. Keep in a sealed container in the fridge overnight for maximum marination (new word for you there!).

Salad – We put the red onion and carrot into a food processor and grated, then chopped the celery, spinach and beetroot separately.

Serve

Thin out some tapenade by adding the same quantity of good olive oil and whisking well. You can lower the amount of tapenade if you’d prefer a lighter dressing. Pour the dressing over the salad and give a good mix in.

Place in your favourite salad bowl and top with a handful of green lentil sprouts (see our ‘sprout‘ post for how to sprout your own, its quite simple). Then spoon on some tapenade.

We have also used it to flavour soups and stews and of course in post June days we’d have it lathered on some warm oat bread.

We Love It!

This tapenade has a great balance of bitter and sweet, with the beautiful silky texture of pureed olives.

Foodie Fact

Olives are one of the oldest foods known, dating back 7,000 years. Black Olives are left to ripen for longer on the trees, green ones are picked earlier, they generally have a milder flavour. Olives are a good source of iron (which helps to carry oxegen in our blood) and are low in calories with plenty of good fats. They do however contain a decent amount of sodium and should be eaten in moderation if you’re keeping an eye on salt intake.

Twelve black olives provide 1.8mg of iron. Interestingly women need 18mg of iron per day and men only 8mg.

Categories: Dinner, Dressings, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Lunch, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Side Dish, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: black olive, black olive tapenade, dairy free, dinner, food, food photography, French, gluten-free, good fats, Greece, green lentil, hazelnut pesto, healthy eating, holidays in greece, iron, low fat, onion salad, pesto, photography, raisin, raw, raw food, raw vegan, recipes, salad, sprouts, summer, summer dishes, sun-dried tomatoes, tapenade, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, wine, wine making | 8 Comments

Purple Sprouting Broccoli & Broad Bean Salad with Hazelnut Pesto

Posted on June 21, 2012 by leroy watson

Local veggies

We live on Bryn Teg which translates to English as ‘Fair Hill’. I call it tiger mountain because of the stripes, but it doesn’t seem to be catching on in these parts.

So Fair Hill it is and this salad reflects what is growing near our little home. Things are beginning to come into season and our local farm shop’s shelves are beginning to fill (thankfully). We bought what they had and this delicious salad was born. The combination of flavours worked surprisingly well with the pesto and it was even better the day later after having a good marinate in the fridge.

Broad beans (Fava beans) are special in any salad, they add a unique, nutty texture. Texture is one of the key ingredients to a brilliant salad and ingredients should be selected accordingly. Limp leaves are not the way forward! Fresh and crunchy is the key, something that is exciting to in the mouth and on the taste buds.

We have been discovering the art of salad making this raw month. Ingredients and dressings take on a completely different flavour when combined and subtle changes in flavouring can make all the difference.

Making a vegan pesto is tricky, without the pungent cheese, you just cannot recreate that unmistakable flavour. I think this is a decent attempt, matured cheese is something that vegans just have to give up on. You can buy those yeast cheese flake things.

You do end up using quite a bit of herb in the pesto, but it is well worth it.

The Bits

Salad

1 cup shelled broad beans

3 handfuls chopped sprouting purple brocolli (leaves as well)

1 sweet potato (peeled and grated)

1 courgette (1/2 grated, 1/2 cubed)

Hazelnut Pesto

4 cups basil leaves, loosely packed

1 cup fresh parsley

1 – 2 tsp sweetener of your choice

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup hazelnuts (soaked overnight, drained and rinsed)

1 – 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed

3 tbs nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

Do It

Salad – Separate your broccoli florets from the stems and leaves, chop up. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Pesto – Chop the basil and parsley until reduced to 1 cup basil and 1/4 cup parsley, blend all ingredients except hazelnuts until smooth. Add hazelnuts gradually and continue blending, adding more olive oil as needed for desired consistency. Check seasoning.

Thin down the pesto a little, a thick dressing and mix into the salad.

Serve

Dress with a few of the broccoli leaves and a few more spoonfuls of the thick pesto. Maybe a few leaves of parsley or basil if you are feeling extravagant!

Raw pesto salad

We Love It!

The glory of pesto! Mix it in yoghurt for a tasty side dish, thin with oil for a dressing, mix with hummus to make the finest hummus ever! It really is one of the finest things you can have lurking around the fridge.

Foodie Fact

Sometimes referred to as the horse bean (!), broad beans like all legumes are a high in protein and low in fat. A really meaty legume! They are packed with vitamins, fibre and have a high iron content.

Categories: Dinner, Dressings, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Local food, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Side Dish, Vegan, Welsh produce | Tags: broad beans, cooking, courgette, delicious, dinner, fair hill, fava beans, food, hazelnut pesto, health, health food, healthy eating, herbs, local produce, pesto, pungent cheese, raw, raw food, raw pesto, raw vegan, recipes, salads, summer salad, sweet potato, taste buds, tiger mountian, vegan, vegan pesto, vegetables, vegetarian, veggie, wales | 6 Comments

Sunflower and Beetroot Pate (Raw)

Posted on June 15, 2012 by leroy watson

Raw Sunflower and Beetroot Pate

A pinky purple veggie/ raw pate that will get your taste buds zinging and brighten up any happy plate.

The wind is howling outside, probably smashing our poor little runner beans and sunflowers. I can’t bring myself to go out and check them. Its the worst possible weather for our newly planted veggies and flowers. We are hoping they’ll tough it out. We need cheering up with some vibrant food and colours. Thankfully we got out hands on some delicious organic beetroots and already had a batch of sunflower seeds sprouting, so the combination seemed logical (and tasty).

We are eating alot of salad, as you would imagine being raw this month (rabbit food we are regularly told. Lucky rabbits!) but like to have something a little different on the side. Another texture to compliment the crunch of the salad, this pate is perfect for that.

It has a light texture, but is full of flavour and I imagine would be great spread on toast (like the other livery stuff). We have added hazelnuts to the recipe in the past, which gives it a fuller texture and richness.

We use Blodyn Aur rapeseed oil here because it is delicious and from Wales. It has a lovely nutty and buttery flavour that is totally unique. It also contains 11 times the amount of omega oils compared to olive oil. If you are in the U.K., keep your eyes peeled for it. It’s a star. You could however use a good quality olive oil or flax seed oil.

We seem to be using alot of jars with this new diet change. Having been saving them for so long, I’m glad to get some use out of them. They are ideal for shaking up and storing dressings and this pate will keep for a couple of days refrigerated in a jar. They also happen to look much cooler than a clunky tupperware! That rustic look that is very fashionable in our hamlet.

The Bits
Makes one large jar
3 small beetroots, 2 carrots, 1 stick of celery, 2 handfuls of spinach, 1 courgette, handful of parsley, 1 small red onion, 1 cup sprouted sunflower seeds, 2 tbsp rapeseed oil (olive oil is fine), 1 big handful of black olives (de-stoned), juice and zest (finely chopped) of 1 lemon, 2 tbsp tamari, 2 tsp cumin, 1 red chilli, 3 cloves garlic.

Raw Sunflower and Beetroot in the mix

Do It

Add all ingredients to a blender and blitz until a smooth paste is formed. You may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times, to ensure that all is blended nicely.

Serve

Finish with another glug of oil and some chopped parsley and sunflower seeds. Great as a side dish, or as a dip. You may also like to spread it thickly on things that you like.

We Love It!

It packs so many nutrients and flavours into one little paste.

Foodie Fact

Sunflower seeds are a great source of nutrition, a really concentrated food. It is an excellent source of vitamin E, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant.

Sprouted sunflower seeds are full of iron and chlorophyll which helps to detoxify the liver and blood. They also contain the wonderfully named, phytosterols, which act like a superhero all over the body, battling all sorts of nasties.

PS – Here’s a gratuitous shot of our morning bowl of happiness bathed in a few rare and cherished rays of sunshine:

Today’s fruity cereal

Categories: Raw Food, Recipes, Side Dish, Vegan, Welsh produce | Tags: beetroot, food, healthy eating, pate, rapeseed oil, raw, recipes, sunflower seeds, vegan, welsh produce | 6 Comments

Four C’s Juice with Barley Grass

Posted on June 14, 2012 by leroy watson

About to get juicy

CARROT, CELERY, CUCUMBER, CORIANDER…….the fours C’s.

Why has nobody thought of this before! Or should I say, why have I never heard of this before, a carrot and coriander juice.

A classic soup recipe will no doubt make a tasty juice, just colder and thinner but still full of all those good enzymes and nutrients we need to keep ticking over.

I’ve made a few additions here to spice things up a little. The cucumber adds some freshness, the celery a more savoury edge and the ginger and nice little POW.

We take the skin off the cucumber as it has a bitter flavour and also turns the juice a peculiar beige shade.

We have been using barley grass in our savoury juices, it is a real super food and also has a pleasant taste. We’d like one day to start a little wheat grass farm here, but this dried barley grass is a more than adequate substitute for wheat grass.

Fire up the Magimix!

The Bits

Makes two good glasses

4 Carrots, 2 sticks of celery, 1/2 cucumber (de-skinned) 2cm cube of ginger, 1 handful of coriander (celantro, stalks and all). If your juicer is not great, you may need to mash up the celantro in a pestle and mortar and add it to the juice later. It can get left behind. If you have one of those little wheatgrass crushing machines (lucky you) use that instead.

Follow the instructions on the barley grass packaging (don’t over indulge!) we use half a teaspoon per glass. Add a little juice and mix to a paste, then add the rest of your juice, stirring all the time. This avoids blobs of intense barley grass surprising you mid-slurp.

Do It

You will need a juicer here unfortunately, we are blessed with a crimson Magimix that is by far the greatest appliance we have ever owned (purrs like a Rolls Royce when started).

Juice your coriander and ginger first, then the rest goes in with the carrots last. Carrots are a great veg to juice last as they give off alot of juice and really clean out any lingering bits and peices.

Four C’s Juice

We Love It!

This is a delicious savoury way to start the day, packed with vitality and goodness.

Foodie Fact

Several reasons that barley grass is worth adding to your diet. It contains:

– Five times more iron than brocolli.

– More iron than steak.

– Seven times more vitamin C than orange juice.

– Eleven times more calcium than milk.

Our bodies are mainly too acidic for our own good, leading to many health issues. Barley grass is a strong alkalizer and helps to neutralise the effects of an acidic diet and let our cells get on with their business.

Categories: Breakfast, Juices, Nutrition, Recipes | Tags: acidic diet, alkaline foods, barley grass, carrot, healthy eating, juice, juicing, nutrition, raw food, vegan | 1 Comment

Raw Fruity Cereal

Posted on June 12, 2012 by leroy watson

Sprouting Breakfast Salad

This mornings breakfast was very good looking (and tasting), I felt it deserved to be shared with the world.

Adding wheat sprouts to meals is great for us as it gives that sugary wheaty boast that we normally get from our muesli. The wheat sprouts are very easy to grow and have a nice soft, chewy texture.

Wheat has addictive qualities and the bread at work last night smelled amazing. This is probably why I opted for a sprouting breakfast.

I dislike using out of season produce, but it seems unavoidable at the moment. Jane and I are always up for a bargain and visiting the shops, found some amazing berries from Spain on sale. We love Spain, so we snaffled them up. They were .30p a punnet! Of course, they lack flavour and the magic of a seasonal berry (preferably ate straight off the bush), but we are not an island blessed with abundant fruit reserves. I also thought that somewhere in the world, you may live in a land where the sun shines and fruit is always on the menu. You may have a mango tree in your back garden! (We have a hawthorn and a couple of gnarled crab apple trees).

Raisins add a lovely sweet surprise to this awesome morning bowlful of happiness, you could used diced dates or figs. Try soaking your raisins overnight, they become nice and plump and give off a nice raisin drink for slurping or using in cooking.

Wheat sprouts

The Bits

Enough for two decent sized bowls.

1 apple, 1 pear, 1 carrot, 1 kiwi, 1 large handful of wheat sprouts, 1 handful of blueberries, 1 handful of blackberries, 1 handful of raisins, soya milk.

Do It

Slice apple, pear, carrot and kiwi, we don’t peel anything (except kiwi). Just wash or scrub them. Use your creative flair and mix all nicely in your fanciest bowl. Mix some sprouts and raisins into the salad.

Serve

Use the rest of the sprouts for topping with the berries and some nice chilled soya milk (add as much as you would with your favourite cereal). If I was having this for lunch and not watching my food combinations, I’d have some seeds with this. Pumpkin and sunflower would be my choice.

Buster and I busy gardening

We Love It!

Its fruity cereal! It is bursting with vitality and crunch and not as stodgy as our average muesli counterpart. It also contains no fats, so the good nutrients can get straight into your system and get some morning work done.

Foodie Fact

Don’t throw the water away when you sprout wheat, it has many restorative powers. You can even mix it with ground seeds and leave it for a day to make a sort of cheese. It can also be used to make the drink Rejuvelac, which was created by Anne Wigmore of the Hippocrates Health Institute.

This mornings Beach House tune is by Panda Bear ‘Alsatian Darn’:

Categories: Breakfast, Healthy Eating, Music, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: anne wigmore, blackberries, blueberries, breakfast, cats, cereal, chewy texture, crab apple trees, food, food combinations, fruit, healthy breakfast, healthy eating, hippocrates health institute, low carb, low fat, music, no fat, panda bear, photo, photography, raw breakfast, raw food, raw recipes, raw vegan, recipes, rejuvelac, spain, sprouting, sprouting wheat, vegan, vegetarian, wheat, wheat sprouts | Leave a comment

Raw Carrot Dip

Posted on June 8, 2012 by leroy watson

Raw Carrot Dip

It was time to wish Savannah goodbye and good luck for her trip to Spain, so we made her a beach house special raw lunch. Over the last few days I have come to realise I LOVE preparing food raw. It is a new found passion for me! It’s so quick, easy, the washing up takes two minutes, and I am learning about some amazing ingredients that make everything SO tasty. Plus the herb garden herbs are becoming so bushy of late they are just perfect.

This makes a jam jar full 🙂

The Bits

3 large carrots, half an onion, chopped parsley, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp tamari, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 4 tbsp tahini, 2 tbsp water

Do It

Chop the carrot and onion (we used the grater blade in our blender which grated everything perfectly), put everything into the blender and blend for a couple of minutes and then have a little taste – YUM!

We Love It!

This adds a nice bit of richness to our salads and can be used for dipping or spreading on your favourite things.

Foodie Fact

Tahini has an incredibly high nutritional content, full of most of the vitamin B’s and calcium. In most diets, calcium is taken in via cows milk which is not great for the digestive system, potentially leading to irritation and other difficulties. Many people believe that tahini has the highest calcium content of any food.

Fresh coco and nut yogurt

We thought we’d add this little snack on, we made it as a fatty number to be eaten 3 hours after our sugary morning fruit salad and before dinner (see our Raw Food No No’s for why?) We chopped up fresh coconut, a handful of mixed nuts (unroasted) and a good blob of soya yogurt.

Happy dippingX

Love, JaneXXXX

Sunshine lettuce

Categories: gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Raw Food, Recipes, Sauces, Side Dish, Snacks and Inbetweens, Superfoods, Vegan | Tags: calcium, carrot, carrot dip, celiac, coconut, cows milk, dairy free, dip, food, garden herbs, healthy eating, herb garden, lunch, raw, raw carrot, raw food, raw recipes, raw vegan, recipes, snack, soya yogurt, tahini, vegan, vegetarian, vegetarian recipes, vitamin B, wheat free | 1 Comment

Sava’s Elephant Garlic Flower Salad

Posted on June 7, 2012 by leroy watson

Sava’s last lunch at the BHK

Here was this lunch offering, made by Jane and Sava. A crunchy wonder, with bucket loads of veggies, topped with the ever intriguing, elephant garlic flowers.

This was Savannah’s last meal with us and we wanted it to be special. We rustled up a few different salads, dips and even a piquant beige guacamole.

Sava is originally from South London, but is currently masterminding world domination (Sava style) which means spreading love, happiness and vibrant energy to all corners of the world. Sava is also an ace vegan chef and was the perfect house guest during this raw time at the Beach House. We have spent most of our time sitting around talking about food and travel, two of our most favourite chat topics. Its been a gas….

Sava has an brilliant travel website, all about travelling the world and living your wildest dreams. Its called travel butterfly. Sava has just returned from travelling around Central and Southern America and there are loads of wonderful tales, images and tips to be found there.

These garlic flowers have thick stems with a potent garlic punch (the whole house stank of garlic after chopping a few up). The flowers seem edible, with small yellow petals. One bunch has lasted us quite a few days as its best used sparingly. Warning, if you are worried about garlic breath, do not approach these flowers (and stop worrying).

You may like to add some spirulina, wheat grass or barley grass powder to the topping if you are raw, or even if you aren’t, this would give you a serious boost. These are three heavyweight contenders of the superfood world. It is said that you can live on these green powders (the barley grass actually tastes of dried fish) but not even I will venture this far down the road of cleaning my internals up. The barley powder we have is labelled as a ‘powerful’ food and should be eased into, you wouldn’t want to over do it (this all seems very tame compared to my tequila slammer days, but unimaginably healthier!).

These salads are always super easy to get together, we’ve made them per person so you can just have it yourself, or share with the people you really, really like. This is a big salad and designed to be a main meal so there is a lot of ingredients in it. We realise this goes against some of our ‘The Big Four Raw Food No No’s’ but we are trying to be good! We topped it with the elephant garlic flowers so we could measure the amount we ate with eat spoonful, it also looked great.

Elephant garlic flowers

The Bits

Per person – Handful of baby corn, 1 carrot (chopped), handful of mangetout, 1 ripe tomato, 1/2 courgette (chopped), 1/2 apple (green and sour is best, chopped), 1 stick of celery, handful of cucumber (chopped), handful of cos lettuce (chopped), 2 teas linseeds, 1 handful of mung bean sprouts, 2 teas alfalfa sprouts.

Topping – Handful of elephant garlic flower (chopped), handful of sunflower seeds, splash of olive oil.

Elephant Garlic Flower Salad

Serve

Layered with a creamy Miso, Tamari and Tahini Dressing, topped with the chopped elephant garlic flowers.

We Love It!

Mainly because Sava made it and she is very lovely indeed. The elephant garlic is amazing and well worth seeking out, it explodes in your mouth and adds a spot of romance to the plate.

Foodie Fact

Native Americans believe wild garlic to help against ailments such as high blood pressure, asthma and scurvy.

Our Morning Juice Routine

Is stuttering along. We are still getting into the routine of a mid-morning juice. I used to have a nice jug of coffee, now its a yogurt pot full of fresh juice. I know which one my body prefers (bit sometimes I miss that aroma).

Jane made a magic juice this morning with the trusty Magimix. Simple and not really worth a separate post, its similar to a couple we have done before. It was a zesty Apple, Carrot and Ginger. The perfect balance of sweetness with a kick of ginger. Here is Jane mid juice:

Jane making morning juice

We aim to be drinking at least one juice per day and are finding that we are not hungry in the mornings. This would make sense, all of our nutritional requirements are being met, so the absorption cycle of the body doesn’t really kick in until 12pm. That’s when we whip out the salads.

We plan on getting a 25 kilo bag of carrots from a farm down the road and really getting juicy next week. Apparently, if you drink too much carrot juice, you actually turn orange. Watch this space, will make for interesting pictures I’m sure.

Happy days aheadX

Categories: Breakfast, Friends of B.H.K, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Sauces, Side Dish, Superfoods, Vegan | Tags: ailments, apple, asthma, barley grass powder, barley powder, carrot, cook, corn, elephant garlic, flax seeds, flowers, food, garlic breath, ginger, global, guest, happiness, healthy eating, healthy living, heart disease, high energy, juicer, juicing, linseeds, low fat, magimix, miso, native american, potent garlic, raw, raw food, raw vegan, recipes, remedy, salad, spirulina, sprouts, sunflower, superfood, superfoods, tahini, tamari, travel, travel butterfly, vega chef, vegan, vegetarian, wheat grass | 1 Comment

Ang’s Avocado and Mango Salad

Posted on June 3, 2012 by leroy watson

Lovely Ang with cake and coffee

This one has floated all the way over from New Zealand. That’s a long way for a recipe to float.

Big hugs and thanks to my ace mate Ang for this one. Ang was a resident of Barcelona, but has recently left Catalonia for her native island, New Zealand. In our topsy-turvy world of hopping around the place, I haven’t seen Ang in way to long, this salad reminds me of the amazing healthy food (and warm cookies) that she used to whip up in Spain when I visited.

This is exactly what we are looking forward to eating this month of raw-ness.

Ang is one of the most thoughtful and loving people I’ve met (not to mention rather amusing). So here is ‘Ang’s Avocado and Mango Salad’ in all its glory, just like Ang, it’s fruity and sweet:

Try this one on for size –

2 avocados
1 mango
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 small onion
1/2 red capsicum/pepper

Dice all of the above into tiny cubes and mix with a dressing made of the following:

1/4 cup oil
2 tbsp lime juice
Clove of garlic, crushed
Fresh red chilli, finely chopped
S&P

Enjoy!
I make this to take to parties or picnics but always leave a portion at home because it’s even better the next day.

This is adapted from a recipe in my beloved ‘The Essential

Vegetarian Cookbook’ by Murdoch books ISBN 0-86411-510-5 in which you also use chopped roma tomatoes, black beans, corriander and rocket.

Do you have a raw recipe we could try?

Ang’s Avocado and Mango Salad

Categories: Friends of B.H.K, gluten-free, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Lunch, Raw Food, Recipes, Salads, Vegan | Tags: ang, avocado, capsicum pepper, clove of garlic, cookies, food, healthy eating, healthy food, healthy-living, mango, raw, raw salad, raw vegan, recipe, recipes, red chilli, salad, spain, tiny cubes, vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

Raw Hazelnut, Rosemary and Lentil Hummus

Posted on June 2, 2012 by leroy watson

Day two of raw June and I’m feeling good. We have been eating quite a bit of raw food recently, so I wasn’t expecting wonders. Later in the month, who knows, maybe I’ll be sprouting!

I am working in a kitchen at the minute and its the middle of ‘silly season’, so its hard graft. I am finding no problems with the energy and when I eat healthy I find I need less sleep (which is a real help in the catering industry). It does have its advantages, I wont be missing cooking this month that’s for sure! I am also surrounded by temptation, nice looking chips and slabs of cheesecake. It’s a good test. Most of my colleagues think I’m mad, but I’m used to this (for one reason or another). I am definitely eating less and not feeling hungry, I don’t even fancy a coffee anymore, which is rare behavior.

Many people comment that raw food sounds ‘boring’. This recipe is anything but and I find most raw food to be fascinating in its complexity and creativity alone; never mind the health benefits.

This is a real gourmet raw hummus. I thought I’d start as we mean to go on. It contains a lot of ingredients, but it is much more than a dip. This will be the main part of dinner tonight, with an orange, sweet potato and red cabbage salad.

It is rich with the nuts and oil, but does not have the smooth texture of a normal hummus. The flavour is a knockout though and like with alot of health foods, you have the piece of mind that it is doing your body good and providing you with some super nutrients.

We used sprouts here due to the fact that our sprout corner is going mad. At the minute we have a variety of receptacles holding all sorts of seeds and beans. We’ve mung bean, sunflower seed, buckwheat, wheat grains, quinoa and green lentil all in various states of soak and sprout. The mung beans are a staple here, but most of the other ones we’ve either tried and failed with or are completely new to. It’s a great little experiment and the right weather for sprouts. We found it difficult in the winter to get them going and our airing cupboard seemed too warm. Now we have the happy medium of summer (ish) temperatures in Wales.

Sprout Central

We have been soaking our nuts overnight, this helps to release the enzymes and nutrients. They are also softer, better for blending. Hazelnuts are one of the good nuts, peanuts, pistachios and brazil nuts are not goodies. We will still be eating them though, just a little less than before.

It’s worth spending a little more on a good almond milk, the cheaper varieties are thinner and not as creamy.

So here’s our first attempt at a raw hummus:

The Bits
1 cup of hazelnuts, 1 cup sprouting green lentils, 1 cup sprouting chickpeas, 1 handful of dried rosemary, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil (evoo), juice and zest of 1 lemon, 1 tbs raw tahini, 1 tbs flax seeds, 2 cloves of garlic chopped, salt and pepper if you like (I used a dash of Braggs Liquid Aminos instead, it contains naturally occurring sodium and loads of good amino acids).

Do It

This is the easy part, put it all into a blender and blitz until smooth, roughly five minutes should do. If it is sticking or dry, add water as you are blending. This should loosen things up.

Serve

Great as a dip of course, or with a salad. We will be mixing it into chunky chopped vegetables tomorrow.

We Love It!

We Love sprouts! So anything they are in, we are happy about. This recipe is bursting with flavour, the hazelnuts and rosemary work together so well. It has a nice creamy, richness to it, but is low if fat. Hoorah!

Foodie Fact

Sprouting Chickpeas (Garbanzos/ Giggle beans to some) are packed full of protein. They contain more protein than milk! Many vegans and raw food types are asked about how they add protein to their diets, the truth is protein is available in many plant based foods. Nuts and seeds mainly, but sprouts are also a good source.

Chickpeas are full of carbs, but low in fat. A small serving of chickpeas contains around 50% of your daily Vitamin C requirement.

Raw Hazelnut, Rosemary and Lentil Hummus

Categories: Dinner, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Low G.I. (glycemic index), Nutrition, Raw Food, Recipes, Snacks and Inbetweens, Vegan | Tags: buckwheat, catering, chickpeas, dips, food, garbanzos, hazelnuts, healthy eating, healthy living, hummus, mung beans, nuts, raw, raw food, raw hummus, recipes, rosemary, sprouting, sprouts, vegetarian | 2 Comments

Why are we raw this June!

Posted on May 31, 2012 by leroy watson

Raw June is here for the Beach House. Jane and I are going cold veggie (and fruit) for the entire month and we both cannot wait to get going.

It really has come around quickly this 100% raw/vegan June adventure. We have both been working quite a bit lately and have had less time to plan for the big plunge than we would have liked, hence the lack of any ‘build-up’ posts. As with most things, we’re going straight in there!

I have a strange excitement in the pit of my stomach and I don’t know why. I know that I will feel alot better and have bags more energy, focus and vitality, but there is the feeling that this could be something very big in my life. It could be a huge lifestyle change for the better, no matter how unconventional it is and no matter how many people call me a ‘weirdo’ (there have been quite a few already) I going for this new diet and looking forward to experimenting with my body and mind in a good way. We are what we eat, well, we shall see.

The main reason for eating raw is that cooking kills nutrients in food. Vitamin C and B are heat sensitive, enzymes are also destroyed when food is cooked, which are essential to the function of the body. If enzymes are not replenished in the body, we can age quickly and loss health. Raw foods have been used for years to treat ailments and illness, most famously by Dr Ann Wigmore,who set up the Hippocrates Health Institute. The truth is that we are exposed to more pollutants than previous generations and our food has less nutrients, even organic food is grown on soil that is less rich than is was in previous times (normally due to bad farming techniques).

Ecologically, if we all ate more raw foods there would be a relief on the planets resources. No cooking conserves energy, there is less packaging (hopefully non) with raw foods, there are no emissions created no processing, the waste is compostable and biodegradable, meaning no rubbish.

Below is the Raw Food Pyramid (thanks to the Almost Raw Vegan for this), this replaces the average diet with meat, dairy etc and will give you an idea of what we will be munching on in June. We are eating no dairy, refined foods, wheat etc and no alcohol or caffeine. Our diet will consist of many different types of salads, smoothies and juices and another host of interesting raw foods that you will seldom find, especially in the UK where raw food is still a relatively new thing. In the States and Australia for example, raw food seems to be very popular. Many people say that raw food will become the new vegetarianism for this generation, I have already seen restaurants with raw options on the menu.

We have always eaten alot of raw food, we just didn’t necessarily call it ‘raw’, just a salad or a smoothie. We will try and be as close to 100% raw as possible, but aren’t really too fussy about things. We’ll still be drinking herbal teas and if our new lovely looking olive oil is not certified raw, we’ll still use it. The same goes for nuts, seeds, dried fruits, pastes etc which are all borderline raw foods. We love these items too much and deem their nutritional values to be too important to eliminate from our diet.

We hope to open a few people’s eyes, minds and palates to the joys of raw food. Raw food is nutrient rich, meaning you don’t need to eat or digest as much. When you are eating a bag of crisps, or packet of biscuits, the reason you are not getting full is because they are devoid of nutrients. Your body needs the right fuel! A raw diet puts that fuel in and makes it readily available. We have had a few days almost raw already and the we have been buzzing! I went for my normal jog and needed to extend it a little, up the mountain. I couldn’t stop! With raw food, your body needs less energy for digestion, which can be utilised in other beneficial ways.

The body has clearly define cycles or natural rhythms:

12pm-8pm Digestion cycle

8pm-4am Absorption cycle

4am – 12pm Elimination cycle

The raw diet will help to cleanse our system of toxins and bring us into balance. After gradually eating healthier for a number of years (we are not just diving in here, we have been eating well for a while now) my body is quite sensitive to toxins and rich foods. I sometimes get what is called a food ‘hangover’ after a cheese or chocolate binge, I will be glad to be free of them. Raw food is devoid of toxins and packed with nutrients. There is a popular raw slogan, ‘stop counting calories and start counting nutrients’. It makes perfect sense to me that what we eat has a profound effect on our bodies and minds. What we consume affects us on ways that we cannot see or know. Raw food seems like a stepping stone for me to a greater understanding of my body and what makes me tick, what makes me truly happy.

Raw food will also free up so much time, as I mentioned we are both busy this summer with work, so not cooking will allow us to do other things. The garden is definitely looking like it needs some TLC.

We will be taking alot of inspiration from our fellow bloggers of the cyber world and also have some good books. ‘Eat Smart, Eat Raw’ by Kate Wood being one of the main ones. Written by a Brit for British folk, mainly important because we don’t have the plethora of fruits and veggies that many countries enjoy. We also have the long cold, dark winters, where soup is our best friend and a chilled smoothie seems like a difficult proposition.

We will be supplementing our diets with a few superfood-type bits. Jane picked up some Barley Grass at the health food shop and that is supposed to be super charged stuff. We will also be drinking propolis daily, which is a bee resin with amazing properties. We’ll be writing about it soon. We will also be sure to drink plenty of water, as this seems to be important no matter what foods you are eating. Become more fluid! It is worth noting that many mineral waters are not organic and the best water you can drink is water that has been treated by reverse osmosis, this is pure H2O. You should also not drink water, or any liquid with meals, as it affects digestion and absorption (diluting stomach acids).

So we are going out in a blaze of intoxication tonight. We said we wouldn’t, but we are. It is a relatively decadent evening with some smoked stilton with sparkling wine planned, followed by some of the finest chocolate I have ever tasted (post coming soon..).

Raw June, a time when we in the Beach House gain a greater awareness and respect for the foods we eat and the bodies we inhabit; a time when we gain a new insight into the world of nutrition and the impact it has on us.

Jane and I are both very positive about all of this, which we feel is crucial, as our mental state has a more profound effect on our health than anything else.

Happy Days!

Categories: Blogs, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Organic, Raw Food, Vegan | Tags: alcohol, ann wigmore, body, caffiene, chocolate, cycles, diet, digestive system, dr ann wigmore, ecology, fluid, food, health, healthy eating, healthy living, healthy-living, herbal Tea, hippocrates health institute, lifestyle, mineral water, natural rhythms, nutrients, nutrients in food, nutrition, nuts, raw, raw food, raw vegan, seeds, superfood, tea, vegan, vegetarian, worlds healthiest diet | 8 Comments

Green Kiwi Juice

Posted on May 15, 2012 by leroy watson

The bits

Our first juice with the Magimix, quite a moment. I have never had a more pleasing kitchen gadget. The motor purs and hums, no clattering and pops like our old smoothie maker.

I looked at the fruit bowl and veg basket and decided it was a green morning. Kiwi would go very nicely with apple, the cucumber is always refreshing and the pear would add a nice sweetness.

We loaded it all into the extra big funnel and whizzed it up. The Magimix made quick work of it.

The juice was lovely, fresh and sweet, with a good kick of kiwi.

The Bits

2 apples, 1 pear, good chunk of cucumber, 2 kiwis.

Makes enough for two glasses.

Do It

Pop it all in a juicer.

Foodie Fact

Kiwis are sometimes called a Chinese Gooseberry as they are the national fruit of China. They contain more vitamin C than orange, it is also full of Vitamin K and is amazing for protecting our DNA (which is important!).

What a wonderful way to start a day. Let the juice experimenting begin!

Green Kiwi Juice

Categories: Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Juices, Recipes | Tags: apple, breakfast, chinese gooseberry, DNA, food, health, healthy eating, healthy living, juice, juicer, juicing, kitchen gadget, kiwi, magimix, recipes, vitamin K, way to start a day | Leave a comment

The Beach House Kitchen nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award

Posted on May 14, 2012 by leroy watson

The nominations are coming in thick and fast this month! Hooray.

We are really happy to see people reading and enjoying the blog and to get a nomination for anything, makes it even more special.

Thanks to More Than Greens for the vote, it’s a relatively new blog, but already there are some very tasty recipes to be found and lovely pictures of all things vegetal. We love their moto:

There’s so much more to vegetarianism that rabbit food…

The Versatile Blogger Award is a great way of meeting other like-minded bloggers and getting folk to have a look at your pages (I believe it is known as ‘traffic’).

The rules for the Versatile Blogger are as follows:

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

Thank the person who gave you this award
Include a link to their blog
Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly
Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award
Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself

Fifteen blogs I’ve recently discovered:

I love all of these blogs, but unfortunately don’t have time today to write individually about each one. There is an incredible amount of talent and delicious looking food here. You’ll find these blogs nestled in our ‘links’ column on the right hand side of the screen.

I’ve chosen only food blogs and those that I hope have not been nominated before (in no particular order):

– Allotment 2 Kitchen

– Bananas and Beans

– Fig and Fork

– Fork and Beans

– Heathy Belly Ellie

– Mother Nature Loves You

– The Hearty Herbivore

– Vegetarian Ventures

– Emmy Cooks

– Kolpona Cuisine

– The Post Punk Kitchen

– The Lab Kitchen

– The Vogue Vegetarian

– Turning Veganese

– The Raw Warung

– Celery and Cupcakes

– The Farmers Market Foodie

Seven things (not all interesting) you may not know about me:

– I haven’t always had a beard

– I play the guitarlele with gusto

– I always prefer hazelnuts (or cashews)

– I’m eating only raw food this June

– I love all things bean and bean related

– I have just completed our veg patch (watch this space for blooming info)

– I one day dream of making my own wine (proper wine with grapes that is)

The Beach House Kitchen

Thanks again to More Than Greens for the kind nomination.

Happy blogging and munching,

Lee and JaneX

@ the B.H.K.

Categories: Awards/ Recognition, Blogs, Friends of B.H.K | Tags: awards, beans, blogger, blogs, cooking, food, guitarlele, healthy eating, nomination, rabbit food, raw, raw food, vegan, vegetarian, versatile blogger award, wine, wordpress | 8 Comments

Wonder Pulp – Aloe Vera Juice

Posted on May 9, 2012 by leroy watson

I’ve heard loads of people talking about the benefits of Aloe Vera Juice, in fact, I nearly had a job selling the stuff! The only problem is that I knew very little about it. This was until we were given a bottle of the wonder pulp. It is made by Pukka; organic, ethically sourced, comes in a nice glass bottle, we thought we’d give it a go.

Pukka Aloe Vera Juice

The Aloe plant originates from Northern Africa and it has been used in herbal medicine since the 16th century BC. The flavour is what you’d call an acquired taste (you can flavour it with juices etc) but you’re not drinking this for a Dom Perignon moment. This is all about getting you feeling good from the inside out. Having said that, Aloe Vera is also amazing when rubbed on the skin and has incredible healing effects for burns, scars and many skin conditions like eczema. You get used to the flavour and it does have a very soothing texture and quality.

The Aloe Plant looks alot like the Agave plant, the famous succulent (that’s a type of plant) that is used to make tequila. So technically you are drinking a distant cousin of raw tequila. That’s about as ‘rock and roll’ as the health food industry gets really! You ain’t going to look like Keith Richards drinking this stuff (which is surely a good thing).

Some technical info:

Pure Aloe Vera juice can be extracted by cutting the leaf, collecting the juice and then evaporating it. When used for drinking, the juice provides many benefits. This is due to the fact that it contains 12 vitamins (including A, B1, B6, B12, C and E), 19 amino acids and over 20 minerals, with most of these being essential to the body.

Aloe Vera Plant

In Ayurveda, the Indian health system, Aloe Vera is known as Kumari (‘The Princess’) because of its positive effect on the menstrual cycle and female reproductive system. It is also known for its ability to cleanse the liver and protect the digestive system by reducing intestinal inflammation.

With ‘Raw June’ coming to the BHK, we are stocking up on all things healthy, revitalising and nutritious, it seems like Aloe Vera juice ticks all of these boxes and then some. This bottle of Pukka Aloe Vera Juice now graces our fridge door shelf and we will soon be taking a few teaspoons a day to give us a boost, especially in the first week of the Raw diet, which we hear can be tough.

Just to clarify that we are in no way health experts and all of the medical claims above are exactly that, claims. It is difficult to prove these things conclusively.