Here are some of the wholefoods recipes Antonio loves best.
Baby Dahl recipe
This is a recipe I've addapted from my Harre Krshna cookbook, which I love. It's fantastic because I can make a large quantity if we're having Indian food for dinner and we all eat the same. Always preferable to cooking two different meals! These quantities make about 2 meals for baby.
1/8 cup masoor dal
1/8 cup quinoa or rice
2 cups water
1 tomato
70g sweet potato
2tsp butter or ghee
2tsp grated fresh ginger
2tsp cumin seeds
1tbsp organic shredded coconut
pinch aesefetida (if you have it)
sea salt to taste
Boil dal and quinoa/rice in a small pot with the water. Add sweet potato and chopped tomato, boil again, cover and turn down heat. When the dal has dissolved turn off the heat and cover.
In a small frypan heat ghee or butter, add ginger and cumin seeds and fry. Add coconut and brown a little, don't burn the spices. Add aesefetida and remove from heat. Add spice base and some salt to the dahl. Blend with a stick blender and serve.
Cauliflower soup
Another one for the whole family. These flavours compliment fish well, so I sometimes poach a slice of a mild, white fish in the soup, then break it up with a fork.
one whole cauliflower
2 large potatoes
1 cup quinoa
1 leek
1L homemade chicken stock
sea salt
Fry off leek in a heavy casserole pot, add potatoes, cauliflower, stock, quinoa and salt. Boil then blitz!
Baby Breakfast Smoothie
This fun, fabulous recipe is made possible because Antonio learned to drink from a straw! It was so easy to teach him, and makes it easy to keep his fluids up. The following can be blizted in a processor or in a milkshake cup using a stick blender.
half a banana
1/3 cup of fresh or frozen berries
2 tbsp whole natural yoghurt
1 tbsp coconut cream
one raw egg yolk
Baby Bucco recipe
1 small slice osso bucco
half carrot
half celery stick
small onion
small garlic clove
1/2 cup homemade chicken stock (or water)
splash of olive oil
2 fresh tomatoes or half tin chopped tomatoes
sea salt
optional dried herbs
Chop veggies and saute (all but tomatoes) with the oil or butter til soft. Add dried herbs. Brown osso bucco in another pan, then add to vegies. Add stock, chopped garlic and tomatoes, then season and pop the lid on over low heat and cook 1/2 to 1 hour, til the meat is soft and the bone is empty. Chop or blizt, depending on the age of your baby.
Baby Lamb Korma recipe
This is a recipe I pulled from an online Indian recipe database years ago, and I've made it so many times since then that I no longer require the recipe, my hands do it on autopilot! You don't have to use lamb, I've done it with beef, chicken and vegetarian. This makes a few meals worth.
1 clove garlic
same amount fresh ginger
100g lamb cubed
half a cup cubed veg, anything works
half a tin chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp whole natural yoghut
1 small onion
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 cardamom pods
2 whole cloves
tsp garam masala
tsp turmeric
sea salt
Mince ginger and garlic and put into 1/4 cup water and set aside.
Heat ghee and add cumin seeds and onion. Fry til the onion softens, then add other spices. Add tomatoes and allow to reduce. Add yoghurt and veg.
In a separate pan, heat more ghee and brown meat, then add to the curry. Cook until the meat is soft, gradually adding the garlic/ginger water. Remove whole cardamoms and cloves, and cut up or puree.
Showing posts with label healthy dinner recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy dinner recipes. Show all posts
Friday, August 26, 2011
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Meals that Heal
Another recipe blog!
Here are some recipes for meals so high in nutrition they're actually medicinal. One of the ancient forefathers of medicine said "let food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food". We're beginning to discover how right he was; science is discovering that we absorb nutrients most effectively from food and not so effectively from supplements. What a shock, Mother Nature had it right the first time! Humans still can't beat her complex system.
So include these kinds of meals regularly in your diet and feel the vitality!
Grapefruit and Avo Salad (to serve 2)
Grapefruits are awesome food. They actually clean the liver! Only Mother Nature provides substances that clean the liver at this stage, modern medicine hasn't yet come that far. A clean liver is important because the liver regulates the health of our entire body. It's the body's filtration system. A healthy liver burns more fat, increases immunity to disease, prevents allergies like hay fever and asthma, balances cholesterol, balances hormones and allows you to feel energetic and vital, free from toxic accumulation and hyper-acidity.
Apart from grapefruits, eating more raw foods will help to clean the liver.
1 large pink grapefruit, segmented and cut into chunks
1 large avocado, cut into chunks
fresh salad greens, like baby spinach
handful of sprouts, like alfalfa
a few tbsp organic olive oil to dress
In a bowl toss the salad leaves with the alfalfa to distribute evenly, then arrange pieces of avo and grapefruit over the top. Drizzle with oil and serve with fish, tempeh or chicken.
Stracciatella Soup
This is a traditional soup from the region of Lazio in Italy. (Rome is in Lazio.) It's made for any ill person who doesn't want solid foods, and it packs some fantastic nutritional value into every spoonful. This one was passed on to me by my Dad, so it's particularly special.
2L home made chicken stock (see Eating Warm part 1 for recipe)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
4 eggs
big handful fresh chopped parsley
Bring stock to the boil and simmer. Whisk eggs and add grated Parmesan and chopped parsley. In a thin stream, add to the simmering stock while whisking to separate. Simmer another minute or two to cook through, then serve hot.
Turmeric Cabbage
A double dose of greatness! Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory with an affinity for the liver. As a concentrated medicine it can be used to treat inflammatory conditions from arthritis to hepatitis to colitis. As a spice in cooking it's a great preventative for all these things. Also, the mustard seeds have anti inflammatory properties.
Cabbage is a fabulous alkaliser, and therefore also great for reducing inflammation. Studies also show that cabbage has special anti-cancer properties, especially when gently cooked as in this recipe. It's one I've adapted from my Hare Krshna cookbook, one of my prize possessions!
Half a head of cabbage, shredded
4 or 5 medium tomatoes cut into wedges
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp asefetida
1-2 tbsp turmeric powder
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cloves
ghee
salt
In a large pan heat the mustard seeds until they start to pop. Add ghee then asefetida, cloves and cinnamon stick, stir for a minute, then add cabbage and turmeric. Sweat the cabbage down gently and turn to coat with spices and ghee. Add tomato wedges and cover for about 5-10 minutes over low heat. You want to retain some crunch in the cabbage. Warm through, covered, then serve with rice and dahl.
Sprouted Quinoa and Coriander (cilantro) Pesto
Coriander is a wonder-herb. Recently scientists found it's capable of chelating heavy metals. In English that means it safely removes Aluminium, Arsenic, Mercury &c. from the body. Those metals don't belong in our bodies, but when they get in there they can cause chronic ill health; fatigue, lowered immunity, poor metabolism etc. They get into us via dental fillings, cookware, vaccinations, contaminated food eg shellfish, etc
When quinoa is sprouted and prepared raw its nutrition is increased enormously. Sprouting foods increases the vitamin content so much that they become medicinal. If you add sprouted quinoa to your diet you can prevent lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Quinoa is also well known as a helpful food in female reproductive disorders from painful periods to infertility, and helps to increase breast milk for lactating mothers.
Pine nuts are the highest protein nut, so combined with the protein from the quinoa this recipe is very low GI, therefore a perfect snack for anyone seeking to loose weight or increase muscle mass.
2 cups chopped coriander leaves and small stems
1 cup sprouted quinoa
1/2 cup chopped pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
To sprout the quinoa soak a cup of dry white quinoa in a bowl of cold water for at least 4 hours.
Blitz all of the above in a little blender. Use it as a dip with some vegie sticks, or stir it through rice for flavour.
Here are some recipes for meals so high in nutrition they're actually medicinal. One of the ancient forefathers of medicine said "let food be your medicine and let your medicine be your food". We're beginning to discover how right he was; science is discovering that we absorb nutrients most effectively from food and not so effectively from supplements. What a shock, Mother Nature had it right the first time! Humans still can't beat her complex system.
So include these kinds of meals regularly in your diet and feel the vitality!
Grapefruit and Avo Salad (to serve 2)
Grapefruits are awesome food. They actually clean the liver! Only Mother Nature provides substances that clean the liver at this stage, modern medicine hasn't yet come that far. A clean liver is important because the liver regulates the health of our entire body. It's the body's filtration system. A healthy liver burns more fat, increases immunity to disease, prevents allergies like hay fever and asthma, balances cholesterol, balances hormones and allows you to feel energetic and vital, free from toxic accumulation and hyper-acidity.
Apart from grapefruits, eating more raw foods will help to clean the liver.
1 large pink grapefruit, segmented and cut into chunks
1 large avocado, cut into chunks
fresh salad greens, like baby spinach
handful of sprouts, like alfalfa
a few tbsp organic olive oil to dress
In a bowl toss the salad leaves with the alfalfa to distribute evenly, then arrange pieces of avo and grapefruit over the top. Drizzle with oil and serve with fish, tempeh or chicken.
Stracciatella Soup
This is a traditional soup from the region of Lazio in Italy. (Rome is in Lazio.) It's made for any ill person who doesn't want solid foods, and it packs some fantastic nutritional value into every spoonful. This one was passed on to me by my Dad, so it's particularly special.
2L home made chicken stock (see Eating Warm part 1 for recipe)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
4 eggs
big handful fresh chopped parsley
Bring stock to the boil and simmer. Whisk eggs and add grated Parmesan and chopped parsley. In a thin stream, add to the simmering stock while whisking to separate. Simmer another minute or two to cook through, then serve hot.
Turmeric Cabbage
A double dose of greatness! Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory with an affinity for the liver. As a concentrated medicine it can be used to treat inflammatory conditions from arthritis to hepatitis to colitis. As a spice in cooking it's a great preventative for all these things. Also, the mustard seeds have anti inflammatory properties.
Cabbage is a fabulous alkaliser, and therefore also great for reducing inflammation. Studies also show that cabbage has special anti-cancer properties, especially when gently cooked as in this recipe. It's one I've adapted from my Hare Krshna cookbook, one of my prize possessions!
Half a head of cabbage, shredded
4 or 5 medium tomatoes cut into wedges
2 tbsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp asefetida
1-2 tbsp turmeric powder
1 small cinnamon stick
2 cloves
ghee
salt
In a large pan heat the mustard seeds until they start to pop. Add ghee then asefetida, cloves and cinnamon stick, stir for a minute, then add cabbage and turmeric. Sweat the cabbage down gently and turn to coat with spices and ghee. Add tomato wedges and cover for about 5-10 minutes over low heat. You want to retain some crunch in the cabbage. Warm through, covered, then serve with rice and dahl.
Sprouted Quinoa and Coriander (cilantro) Pesto
Coriander is a wonder-herb. Recently scientists found it's capable of chelating heavy metals. In English that means it safely removes Aluminium, Arsenic, Mercury &c. from the body. Those metals don't belong in our bodies, but when they get in there they can cause chronic ill health; fatigue, lowered immunity, poor metabolism etc. They get into us via dental fillings, cookware, vaccinations, contaminated food eg shellfish, etc
When quinoa is sprouted and prepared raw its nutrition is increased enormously. Sprouting foods increases the vitamin content so much that they become medicinal. If you add sprouted quinoa to your diet you can prevent lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Quinoa is also well known as a helpful food in female reproductive disorders from painful periods to infertility, and helps to increase breast milk for lactating mothers.
Pine nuts are the highest protein nut, so combined with the protein from the quinoa this recipe is very low GI, therefore a perfect snack for anyone seeking to loose weight or increase muscle mass.
2 cups chopped coriander leaves and small stems
1 cup sprouted quinoa
1/2 cup chopped pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic
To sprout the quinoa soak a cup of dry white quinoa in a bowl of cold water for at least 4 hours.
Blitz all of the above in a little blender. Use it as a dip with some vegie sticks, or stir it through rice for flavour.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Eating warm part 2 - Recipes!
Following on from last weeks blog, here are some of my favourite Winter comfort foods. Other than these recipes I also make lots of soups, stews, and meat/fish/veg type stuff, but although my man prefers the simple things, those recipes were too boring to bother blogging!
My awesome korma recipe
I found this recipe on the net and it’s really great! I make it at least every couple of weeks, either with some chicken or lamb and a couple of veggies, or just with veggies. It’s really tasty and really warming.
Diced lamb or chicken breast
Cubed veg, either sweet spud, pumpkin, eggplant etc
Green veg like green beans or broccoli
2 cloves garlic
3 cm piece ginger
1 finely chopped onion
1 tin organic chopped tomato
½ cup natural pot set yoghurt
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander powder
2 cloves, whole
2 cardamoms, whole
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 small stick cinnamon, whole
Salt and chilli powder to taste. Sometimes I use fresh chilli, whatever you’re in the mood for!
Mince the garlic and ginger together, place in a bowl and cover with 2 cups cold water. Set aside.
In a frypan with a fitted lid, gently sauté the chopped onion in some butter or ghee. Add the cumin and stir til fragrant, then add the tomatoes, then the remaining spices. Allow the tomatoes to reduce a little.
Meanwhile brown meat in another pan in some butter or ghee. If I’m using potato or sweet potato I fry them too for extra flavour!
Stir the yoghurt into the tomato and spice mixture, then add the meat and any firm veggies, pop the lid on and let it sit on a low heat about 20 mins til the meat is tender. Every so often lift the lid and add some ginger/garlic water and stir. This gives the right texture to the sauce.
Finally, add the green veg and allow to cook through. Serve with rice.
Pumpkin & Spinach Risotto
Make an ordinary risotto, starting with a base of organic butter and onion, then adding your home made chicken stock, seasoned with sea or rock salt. Just before the rice finishes cooking add some big handfuls of spinach. In another pan fry about 3 cups of pumpkin cut into 1cm cubes til they get a little caramelised on the sides, then stir into the risotto as it finishes absorbing the stock. Add lots off parmesan to serve.
Grilled Veg and Quinoa Salad
This is a good winter salad and great for the lunchbox the following day. It’s great with some grilled haloumi too!
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves of garlic
a little butter
rind of one lemon
juice of half lemon
1 or 2 tsp turmeric
a zuchini
an eggplant
some cherry tomatoes
more garlic
olive oil
Slice up the vegies, mince a clove garlic and combine with oil in a bowl, toss the veg to coat.
Mince another clove of garlic and warm in the butter in a medium pot, then add quinoa and warm through. Add turmeric and stock, bring to a boil, pop lid on and turn to lowest heat on smallest element until quinoa is cooked.
Meanwhile, grill veg on a grill pan.
Once the quinoa is cooked remove it from the heat and add lemon rind and juice and stir through. Mix the grilled vegies through the quinoa, drizzle with olive oil and serve with some fish or chicken, or a salad of baby spinach leaves.
Polenta and lentils
As a kid I loved lentils! So soft and flavoursome. The best thing about making polenta is making extra then letting it set in a biscuit tray, cutting it into bars, crumbing them and grilling or frying them into big fat polenta chips! (Which are also great for lunch boxes)
You’ll need lots of your home made stock, maybe 6 cups to serve 2 with some left over for chips, then a little more for the lentils, organic instant polenta, organic dried lentils, organic tinned chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, carrot and celery and some dried Italian herbs. It’s also a great treat to occasionally include some free range spicy Italian pork sausage!
This one is an overnight process since you’ll have to soak the lentils, and the cooking process needs to be started early too. Once they’ve soaked for 24 hours boil the lentils til they’re mostly soft, then drain. In another pot, heat some butter and fry the diced onion, carrot and celery, then add the garlic once the others have softened. Add the dried herbs, then the tin of chopped tomatoes and cook them down for a bit. The tomatoes need to spend some time losing their acidity. If you’re adding sausages, fry them now in a dry pan, cut into forkfuls and set aside. Finally, add the cooked lentils and a little stock (and sausage if you’re using it), and allow everything to sit with the lid on over a low heat while the flavours entwine! Season with good salt.
The polenta part is really easy, just season the stock and add the instant polenta, whisking it up until it’s thick. You can add a handful of fresh chopped parsley at this point if you like. Serve onto plates, (with the lentils over the top) then immediately pour the remainder onto a tray with sides and stick in the fridge.
Polenta chips
Once the polenta has set cut into bars and cover with egg and salted breadcrumbs, then either grill or fry them in a non stick pan with a little oil. They’re good either hot or cold!
My awesome korma recipe
I found this recipe on the net and it’s really great! I make it at least every couple of weeks, either with some chicken or lamb and a couple of veggies, or just with veggies. It’s really tasty and really warming.
Diced lamb or chicken breast
Cubed veg, either sweet spud, pumpkin, eggplant etc
Green veg like green beans or broccoli
2 cloves garlic
3 cm piece ginger
1 finely chopped onion
1 tin organic chopped tomato
½ cup natural pot set yoghurt
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander powder
2 cloves, whole
2 cardamoms, whole
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 small stick cinnamon, whole
Salt and chilli powder to taste. Sometimes I use fresh chilli, whatever you’re in the mood for!
Mince the garlic and ginger together, place in a bowl and cover with 2 cups cold water. Set aside.
In a frypan with a fitted lid, gently sauté the chopped onion in some butter or ghee. Add the cumin and stir til fragrant, then add the tomatoes, then the remaining spices. Allow the tomatoes to reduce a little.
Meanwhile brown meat in another pan in some butter or ghee. If I’m using potato or sweet potato I fry them too for extra flavour!
Stir the yoghurt into the tomato and spice mixture, then add the meat and any firm veggies, pop the lid on and let it sit on a low heat about 20 mins til the meat is tender. Every so often lift the lid and add some ginger/garlic water and stir. This gives the right texture to the sauce.
Finally, add the green veg and allow to cook through. Serve with rice.
Pumpkin & Spinach Risotto
Make an ordinary risotto, starting with a base of organic butter and onion, then adding your home made chicken stock, seasoned with sea or rock salt. Just before the rice finishes cooking add some big handfuls of spinach. In another pan fry about 3 cups of pumpkin cut into 1cm cubes til they get a little caramelised on the sides, then stir into the risotto as it finishes absorbing the stock. Add lots off parmesan to serve.
Grilled Veg and Quinoa Salad
This is a good winter salad and great for the lunchbox the following day. It’s great with some grilled haloumi too!
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves of garlic
a little butter
rind of one lemon
juice of half lemon
1 or 2 tsp turmeric
a zuchini
an eggplant
some cherry tomatoes
more garlic
olive oil
Slice up the vegies, mince a clove garlic and combine with oil in a bowl, toss the veg to coat.
Mince another clove of garlic and warm in the butter in a medium pot, then add quinoa and warm through. Add turmeric and stock, bring to a boil, pop lid on and turn to lowest heat on smallest element until quinoa is cooked.
Meanwhile, grill veg on a grill pan.
Once the quinoa is cooked remove it from the heat and add lemon rind and juice and stir through. Mix the grilled vegies through the quinoa, drizzle with olive oil and serve with some fish or chicken, or a salad of baby spinach leaves.
Polenta and lentils
As a kid I loved lentils! So soft and flavoursome. The best thing about making polenta is making extra then letting it set in a biscuit tray, cutting it into bars, crumbing them and grilling or frying them into big fat polenta chips! (Which are also great for lunch boxes)
You’ll need lots of your home made stock, maybe 6 cups to serve 2 with some left over for chips, then a little more for the lentils, organic instant polenta, organic dried lentils, organic tinned chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, carrot and celery and some dried Italian herbs. It’s also a great treat to occasionally include some free range spicy Italian pork sausage!
This one is an overnight process since you’ll have to soak the lentils, and the cooking process needs to be started early too. Once they’ve soaked for 24 hours boil the lentils til they’re mostly soft, then drain. In another pot, heat some butter and fry the diced onion, carrot and celery, then add the garlic once the others have softened. Add the dried herbs, then the tin of chopped tomatoes and cook them down for a bit. The tomatoes need to spend some time losing their acidity. If you’re adding sausages, fry them now in a dry pan, cut into forkfuls and set aside. Finally, add the cooked lentils and a little stock (and sausage if you’re using it), and allow everything to sit with the lid on over a low heat while the flavours entwine! Season with good salt.
The polenta part is really easy, just season the stock and add the instant polenta, whisking it up until it’s thick. You can add a handful of fresh chopped parsley at this point if you like. Serve onto plates, (with the lentils over the top) then immediately pour the remainder onto a tray with sides and stick in the fridge.
Polenta chips
Once the polenta has set cut into bars and cover with egg and salted breadcrumbs, then either grill or fry them in a non stick pan with a little oil. They’re good either hot or cold!
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