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Treats & Snacks, x For Freezer x

Malted Rye Chocolate Cake

I care about my body and my mind. The thrill of them both feeling ace when I wake up, is really very special.

I used to feel like I had woken up underneath a lawnmower. I hate feeling like shit.

Being consistently under par is not good for me (or for, erm, society). Nah-aw. I can’t be a good human on a diet of processed junk. It’s just not possible. I deserve to feel amazing, and have learned just how easy it is to maintain.

The first step is to start lovebombing your kitchen space. Pick some podcasts to make your dimples hurt with laughter. Own that zone. This is where the magic happens. So much of our diet is contingent on mood and convenience. If we curate both of these in our very own kitchen, then we stand a chance of giving our body the grub it so desperately needs.

 

 

The second step is to ditch diets. Anyone notice that dieting doesn’t seem to be a terribly effective route to losing excess weight?

An industry does not grow into a $60 billion bonanza by permanently solving the problem it is designed to address. Guh! If you’re going to count something, count nutrients, not calories.

 

Malted rye chocolate cake

Can be frozen in slices

 

Here’s one way you can start switching out processed white flour and white sugar, for something more wholesome. The ingredients in this cake are totemic of a modern, wholefoods whore; barley malt, rye, home-made ghee, and dark chocolate. When I am poofing my final breath, and my life flashes before my eyes, there is no doubt that this chocolate cake will loom large like an illicit peep show portal. You’re about to find out why.

 

200g ghee or butter
200g dark chocolate
3 eggs
100ml malted barley
100g coconut, rapadura or muscavado sugar
½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
100g whole rye flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
nip of lemon juice

 

Whack up your oven to 150 Celsius. Now let the chocolate and Irish ghee party over a pot of simmering water, until gorgeously glossy. This is called a bain marie. If you’re not into ghee, you could use butter.

Measure the barley malt, sugar and eggs into a bowl and beat until bubbly. Whisk in the melted chocolate and ghee. Now add your flour, salt, lemon and raising agent.

Find a 23cm (9inch) circular springform tin, or something similar. Line with baking parchment to prevent tantrums and sticking. Pour the cake mixture in, and bake for 30 minutes. Let it cool before looting.

 

Taking the hell out of healthy.

Hit “BOOM” at the top left corner with your email address my friend, to receive new monthly recipes direct to your inbox.  Here’s hoping 2018 will be your most exciting year yet!

 

 

Salads & Suppers, Sides, x For Freezer x

A pot of Really Good Daal

During these biting wintry weekends, daal can be a life-enriching experience. It’s a form of spellbinding magic. My nostrils do an all-consuming samba as I inhale a whole load of happiness that only food chemists could explain. This is daal – noun, verb, adjective, it’s much more than a bowl of hot legumes.

Food is always my first medicinal port of call. I prepare daal to soothe indolent moods and sore hearts. It’s got to have lots of sizzling garlic and blood-thumping ginger. Like a hug, these are to help us feel grounded yet simultaneously lifted, something Indian cooking almost always achieves. The injection of chilli is life’s defibrillator – the bigger the burn, the quicker we wake and shake.

 

 

 

Yellow Daal

Serves 3-5

This daal’s got more kick than a bunny in heat. Yellow split peas will give the daal a chunkier consistency, boiled until softly crushed then stirred into slow cooked onions and spiked with spices.

Namaste, from my little Indian love nest.

 

250g yellow split peas, rinsed
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
3 tablespoons coconut oil, butter or ghee
1 white onion, finely diced
4 fat cloves of garlic
1 red chilli, sliced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Chunk of ginger, lightly peeled and grated
Squeeze of lime
Generous handful of plum tomatoes, halved
Natural yoghurt, to serve
Fresh coriander, to serve

 

Cook the split peas and ground turmeric in a small deep pan, covering with unsalted water. Let them putt-putter for 30-45 minutes until you can crush the peas between your thumb and forefinger. You’re looking for a soupy consistency.

While the peas gurgle away, gently colour the onions in your preferred form of fat (butter, coconut oil or ghee) over a low flame for 12 minutes. Turn up the flame, add the crushed garlic, chilli, cumin and grated ginger, stirring for a few minutes to prevent charring.

Now you can add the lime, fresh tomatoes and turn the heat right down to let the flavours socialise under a lid. After 10 minutes of cooking, stir through the cooked split peas. Serve in large bowls alongside some natural yoghurt and freshly torn coriander leaves. A plump poached egg also serves us well.

 

 

 

 

 

Treats & Snacks, Vegan &/or Raw, x For Freezer x

Gingerbread Men

If my kitchen frolicking has taught me anything, other than the limits to my belt-expansion, it is that how food tastes qualifies as only one segment of its true appeal. When is just as crucial to our taste buds because of the memories it can set in motion. And who plays a decisive role in a food’s celebration.

Nothing demonstrates this better than Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Gingerbread Men are suffused with happy memories for me. I start pimping them from early November, just so I can bathe in childhood memories and mad amounts of oxytocin.

Happy holidays everyone! May endless mistletoe and sherry be upon you.

 

Ninjabread Men

A note for wily mums; you can replace some of the ground almonds with milled flaxseed or hemp powder, to inject some omega-3 artillery into your little ones.

4 tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil

3 tablespoons maple syrup (or raw honey for snotty noses)

100g (4oz) ground almonds

1-2 teaspoons ground ginger

Pinch of unrefined salt

Gently melt your coconut oil in a small pan over a shy flame. Remove from heat and stir through the remaining ingredients. Scrape the mixture out over a sheet of baking parchment. Press it into a rough dough ball, then place another sheet of parchment over it and flatten with a pastry rolling pin. You’re looking for a couple of mm in depth.

Transfer to the freezer for 10 minutes, until barely set. Alternatively, you can freeze for up to 3 month and let thaw for 5 minutes before cutting into gingerbread men. Choose a cookie cutter, and off you go! No need to bake. We store ready-to-eat gingerbread men in a freezer bag, waiting for unexpected playdates and midnight munchies.

Taking the hell out of healthy.

Hit “BOOM” at the top left corner with your email address my friend, to receive new monthly recipes direct to your inbox. Free of charge. Namaste!

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.