Join me on Substack! I’ll be deleting this website shortly but you can continue to access my recipe drops over on Substack. Hope to see you there!

Events

Substack – my new recipe drops

Hello kitchen fireflies!

In case you missed it, I no longer post from my website www.susanjanewhite.com

My NEW home is on the legendary Substack platform with a lot more benefits, which I know you’ll want to be in on! There are several subscription choices – you are currently a free subscriber. (Click for more info). Hope to see you there, and to continue frolicking on this veggie-fueled dance floor.

What is my Substack?

It’s called Taking the Hell out of Healthy, and operates like a health train – hop on and off however you want! You can pay a monthly subscription of €6 or for €50 you can join me for the full year. It works out basically as the same price of two yoga classes, but lasts all year long! My posts are designed to be your Allen key for creativity in the kitchen. Each crunch and crumb will fuel your body, and help you to nudge junk food off your radar.

Why pay for a subscription?

Paid subscriptions make my work possible. Recipe development and writing is labour intensive, and it’s subs like yours that keep my pots and pans turning! It’s such an honour to write for this super-engaged and present audience. You are all so generous, fun and smart – what a gift. Thank you for bringing me into your kitchen and your lives.

What will a paid subscription give me?

(a) 3 themed posts per month, with in-depth elements such as step by step photos and cooking tips, like this.

(b) Further reading and listening from scientists on the front line of research, for my fellow data freaks and health geeks.

(c) Several live cookery lessons over Zoom (recorded for those who miss it).

(d) Becoming a paid subscriber is a wonderful way to support my work and to support your body. Together we’re taking the hell out of healthy, and hopefully living longer and juicier lives! I really believe that good health starts in the kitchen.

(e) There are a couple of founding memberships left, which offer all of the above but also a private Zoom cookery class of any dish or theme you choose from my catalogue.


And if you prefer to stay as a free subscriber, I’m delighted to have you on board! You will still receive occasional public posts, which may be sufficient for your health buzz right now. Either way, I’ve got your back. If health is our wealth, let’s eat ourselves rich!

Love and peas,

Susan Jane

x

Salads & Suppers

Harissa White Beans

Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you wonder what goes on inside our pipes! Beans carry a nice little freight of oligosaccharides. These nifty carbs move through our small intestine totally intact where most food is broken down. The oligosaccharides then make their merry way to our microflora in the large intestine who snack on them and toot with happiness! I’m somewhat mutilating the scientific language here, but you get the picture. (You might like to read more on gut health with Tim Spector or Giulia Enders).

Other foods that contain oligosaccharides include onions, garlic, asparagus, cabbage, (f)artichokes and leeks. So there’s no point in keeping beans out of your diet for fear of bottom burps. Chances are you’re already mainlining oligosaccharides into your diet anyway! Besides, it strikes me as a very good idea to keep our pipes on speaking terms with us. Let me help you do exactly that.  

Try serving these harissa beans on toast with Parmesan or a fried egg. Simple, easy, cheap and quick.

Let me know how you get on!


1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large white onion, diced

1 fat clove garlic, sliced

1 tin white beans (eg butterbeans)

Fresh crack of salt and black pepper

2-4 tablespoons harissa paste (depending on heat, some can be wild and others deliciously tame)

Good squeeze of lemon


Gently warm some olive oil in a frying pan. Sautee your onion and garlic for 8-10 minutes or until soft and glassy.

Drain the tinned beans, and add the beans to the pan with a little of the tinned juice. Cook for 5 minutes with a sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper. (You can reserve the bean juice to use in a myriad of aqua faba recipes such as zero waste orange cake and my brownies).

Stir through the harrisa, and cook for a further 5-10 minutes to over-ride the tinned bean taste. The amount of harrisa paste you add will entirely depend on the brand you have – some are fragrant and mild, others bold and fiery. Feel free to adjust as you go along.

Plate up as is, or maybe with a good squeeze of lemon and shavings of pecorino. If you’re feeling fancy, a dollop of plain yoghurt and lashings of parsley and lemon zest will take it up a stratosphere.

Treats & Snacks

Pancake Tuesday, Feb 21st

While I like my pancakes trashy, I also love them to be healthyassed. So this week our pancakes are fraternising with flaxseed, brown rice and banana while smothered under a rich tahini sauce. Eating something nourishing that feels deliciously sinful can feel strangely conflicting, like being mugged by Cupid.

Makes 6-8

For the pancakes:

1 large or 2 small bananas, peeled

230ml your preferred type of milk

2 tablespoons milled flaxseed

180g plain flour or brown rice flour (or 100g flour with 80g oats works well)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1-2 teaspoons vanilla

Dot of butter, ghee or coconut oil, to fry

For the chocolate tahini sauce:

1 tablespoon cocoa or cacao powder

3 tablespoons maple or date syrup

100g seriously silky, runny tahini

Flaky sea salt, to taste

1- 3 tablespoons water, oat milk or coffee


Belt the listed pancake ingredients in a blender until silky smooth. Feel free to do this by hand with some muscle and Spotify tunes. Leave the mixture to bloom and absorb for 15 minutes.

Then heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat with your preferred fat (we love ghee, which has a naturally high smoking point). Drop in a little batter about the size of a scone, and cook on both sides. You’ll know when it’s time to flip the pancake as teeny little bubbles will form on the surface after 60 seconds. We’re going for thicker American pancakes rather than thin French crepes.

Taste this cooked pancake before starting another pancake, so that you know whether it needs more time in the pan, or less time.

To make the chocolate tahini sauce, beat all the ingredients except the water together with a fork until smooth. A little bit of water helps to thin it down, but too much water actually thickens it right back up! I find 1 tablespoon of water perfect, but this will depend on the viscosity of your tahini so start splashing in small amounts until the sauce resembles pouring cream.  Drizzle over your cooked pancakes, and nosedive into the lot.

A special announcement

Join me on Substack

Howdy! I’ll be deleting this website shortly. Gah! But please stay in touch – I so appreciate your loyalty and lovebombs.

You can continue to access my recipe drops over on Substack.  Hope to see you there, and to continue frolicking on this veggie-fueled dance floor.