Category Archives: Whole Food

Join us as we share our favorite whole food recipes

Rice Cakes with Avocado Spread, Parma Ham, and Eggs

Breakfast, Snacks, , , , , , , , , , ,

Rice crackers with guacamole, parma ham and boiled egg

When we stopped eating bread we had a gap to fill – those mid afternoon hunger moments, or a quick lunch or breakfast. This recipe has become one of our fall back ones. The avocado spread will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, so you can use it more than once.

Ingredients

Avocado spread

  • 2 Avocados, peeled and seed removed. Roughly chopped
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • handful fresh coriander
  • 1 large green chilli, stalk and seeds removed
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • a couple of turns of freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp olive or avocado oil
  • sumac

Directions

  1. Put all the “avocado spread” ingredients except the sumac in the blender. Blend until smooth.
  2. Add to a bowl and sprinkle over the sumac.
  3. Cook the eggs in boiling water for 6 minutes until softly boiled, but no longer runny.  (You can choose to cook a little longer or shorter according to your personal preference).
  4. Spread a generous amount of the avocado spread over the rice crackers.
  5. Top with a slice of parma ham.
  6. Peel the eggs and slice into 5mm slices. Place 1 egg on each of the rice crackers.
  7. Serve with some freshly ground pepper, and a little sprinkle of sea salt.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: French for Rabbits – Spirits

 

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Garlic

Dinner, , , , , ,

roast chicken with lemon and garlic

Roast chicken is a classic Sunday favorite. This variation has a delicious summery taste to it as a result of the lemon juice in which it is basted. As a variation, try sprinkling with a little pimenton along with the salt and pepper.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole roast chicken (approximately 1.5kg)
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tsp ghee
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • fresh oregano and thyme
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 lemon halved
  • juice of 1 lemon

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees celcius
  2. Place the chicken in an oven proof baking tray.
  3. Rub the cavity of the chicken gently with one half of the lemon.
  4. Slice the other half of the lemon and place it into the cavity of the chicken.
  5. Add the garlic cloves, thyme and oregano into the cavity as a stuffing
  6. Insert your hand under the skin of the chicken and rub with 1 tsp of the ghee
  7. Rub the top of the skin of the chicken with the other 1 tsp of the ghee.
  8. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the top of the chicken.
  9. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
  10. Put into the oven to cook for 20 minutes
  11. Remove from the oven and squeeze the juice of the other half of the lemon over the chicken. Return to the oven.
  12. Bake for 40 minutes more or until the juice of the chicken runs clear when you separate the leg of the chicken from the body of the chicken.
  13. Serve with sweet potato fries, and broccoli with fried garlic, or grilled courgettes with pomegranate and pesto.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Oscar and the Wolf – Entity

 

Duck with Passionfruit and Orange Sauce

Dinner, , , ,

Duck breast with orange and passionfruit sauce

This recipe pairs a big flavoured sauce with a big flavoured meat – passionfruit and orange sauce with duck breast. Our son also liked dipping the broccoli and turnip fries that we made to go with it in the sauce.

Ingredients

  • 1 or 2 duck breasts (depending on how many you are cooking for)
  • Juice of 1 large orange
  • pulp of 2 large passionfruit (or 3 smaller ones)
  • 1/2 a red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • salt and pepper
  • few thyme sprigs
  • ghee or coconut oil

Directions

  1. Fry the duck in a little ghee or coconut oil in a medium hot frying pan around 6 minutes on each side – starting with skin side.
  2. Get rid of most of the duck fat from the pan, but retain 1 Tbsp.
  3. Fry onion for a few minutes in the 1 Tbsp of Duck fat. Add the garlic and from for 1 more minute.
  4. Add orange, passionfruit, honey and balsamic vinegar. Cook until reduced to a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the pan. Add thyme and stir.
  5. Serve the orange and passionfruit sauce on the duck breasts, along with sweet potato fries or turnip fries and a salad or broccoli with fried garlic

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Drive by Truckers – English Oceans

 

 

Lamb Koftas with Thai spices

Lunch and Light Meals, , , , , , , ,

Thai koftas

In its simplest form, koftas consist of balls or sausages of minced or ground meat—usually beef or lamb—mixed with spices and/or onions. They can be found from Greece, all the way across to Pakistan and India. This version uses Thai rather than Middle Eastern spices to make a simple but flavorsome meat dish.

Ingredients

Koftas

  • 2 Tbsp yellow curry paste
  • 60ml coconut milk
  • 500g minced lamb
  • 1 white onion, very finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, very finely chopped
  • salt and pepper

Sauce

  • 1 shallot
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp yellow curry
  • 100ml coconut milk
  • cucumber and salad leaves

Directions

  1. First mix the coconut milk with the curry paste in a bowl
  2. Add the minced lamb, onion, garlic, salt and pepper in another bowl. 
  3. Wet your hands and shape the meat into 6 sausage roll shaped koftas
  4. Brush the outside of the koftas with the curry paste mixture.
  5. Put them into the fridge for 30 minutes
  6. Bake in a little coconut oil for about 3 minutes in a hot pan until brown all over. 
  7. After making the koftas, fry the shallots, garlic from the sauce ingredients in a pan. 
  8. Add the curry paste and coconut milk and stir until it thickens. 
  9. Serve over the koftas with some cucumber slices and salad leaves. 

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify:  Hurray for the Riff Raff – Small Town Heroes

Lemon and Mint Juice

Drinks, , , , , , , ,

Lemon and mint juice

This is a very refreshing drink that is perfect for a hot summer day. It is inspired by a drink that we had in Dubai, but uses honey as a sweetener instead of sugar. Makes 2 glasses.

Ingredients

  • 15 mint leaves
  • Half a lemon – unpeeled, cut into quarters
  • 1/2 Tbsp honey
  • 2 Tbsp boiling water
  • 2 glasses water

Directions

  1. Add the honey to the boiling water and let it dissolve.
  2. Put the mint leaves, water, lemon and honey into a blender.
  3. Blend for 1-2 minutes until you can see a green juice in the blender, and the lemon is finely blended
  4. Strain the juice to remove the lemon and mint remnants
  5. Serve over ice.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Regan – Wiser

 

 

Ghee

Glossary, , , ,

Ghee

Ghee is a type of clarified butter that originated in ancient India and is commonly used in Kurdish, Afghani, Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi, Nepali and Sri Lankan cuisine, traditional medicine and religious rituals.

Ghee is prepared by simmering butter and removing the residue. The texture, color, and taste of ghee depend on the quality of the butter and the duration of the boiling.

Ghee is made from butter but the milk solids and impurities have been removed so most people who are lactose or casein intolerant have no issue with ghee.

Ghee can be used for frying because its smoke point is 250 °C, which is higher than typical cooking temperatures.

We use Ghee sparingly when cooking Indian food, and for some dishes where pan frying is required. Ghee gives a delicious buttery, nutty taste, but could be substituted with Coconut Oil if you prefer.

 

Sea Salt

Glossary, , ,

Sea Salt

Sea salt is salt produced from the evaporation of seawater. It is also called bay salt or solar salt. Like mineral salt, production of sea salt has been dated to prehistoric times.

According to The Mayo Clinic and Australian Professor Bruce Neal, the health consequences of ingesting sea salt or regular table salt are the same, as the content of sea salt is still mainly sodium chloride.

In comparison, table salt is more heavily processed to eliminate minerals and usually contains an additive to prevent clumping.

Some gourmets believe sea salt tastes better and has a better texture than ordinary table salt. This is because sea salt is generally of a coarser texture, so it can provide a different mouth feel, and may change flavor due to dissolving slower than table salt.

The mineral content of sea salt also affects the taste. The colors and variety of flavors are due to local clays and algae found in the waters the salt is harvested from. For example, some boutique salts from Korea and France are pinkish gray, some from India are black.

There are however other salts that are also coloured, such as pink “Himalayan salt”, Maras salt from the ancient Inca hot springs, or rock salt.

 

 

 

Chili Pepper

Glossary, , , , ,

chilli

The chili pepper (also chile pepper or chilli pepper) is part of the capsicum family. Chillies come in a lot of different varieties and colours (from green through to yellow, orange and red) and are one of the most popular spices in the world.

Originally from South America, they are thought to have spread through Asia and the rest of the world with the Portugese traders in the 16th century.

Chillies can be used fresh, dried or powdered, and the level of heat varies from type to type, from sweet and mellow to blisteringly hot. As a general rule, the smaller the chilli, the hotter the taste. Green chillies are also generally sweeter than red ones.

The substance that generates the heat is called capsaicin, which is found mainly in the pith and, to a lesser extent, the seeds.

Chilis are also a member of the nightshade family, so people with nightshade sensitivities should be cautious with Chilis.

Dates

Glossary, , , ,

Dates

Dates have been a staple food of the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years. They are believed to have originated around Iraq, and have been cultivated since ancient times from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt, possibly as early as 4000 BCE. There is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in eastern Arabia in 6000 BCE. Dates are an important traditional crop in Iraq, Arabia, and north Africa west to Morocco. Dates are also mentioned more than 50 times in the Bible and 20 times in the Qur’an. 

Dry or soft dates are eaten out-of-hand, or may be pitted and stuffed with fillings such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, or tahini. Dates can also be chopped and used in a range of sweet and savory dishes, from tajines (tagines) in Morocco, to puddings, and other dessert items. We use them as a sweetener in our breakfast muffins.

Maple Syrup

Glossary, , , , ,

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is an intensely sweet flavour that is often used for topping pancakes, waffles, and french toast. It can also be used as a sugar substitute in baking, or used over nuts or fruits that are being dried to increase their sweetness.

Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring.

A hole is bored into the trunks of the trees, and the sap is collected. The sap is boiled to evaporate out the water, leaving a more concentrated syrup. Most of the maple syrup produced in the world comes from the Canadian province of Quebec.

Beware of immitations: In the US, maple syrups must include only maple syrup, with only trace ingredients of for example salt allowed. “Maple-flavoured” syrups on the other hand include maple syrup but may contain additional ingredients. “Pancake syrup”, “waffle syrup”, “table syrup”, and similarly named syrups are substitutes which are less expensive than maple syrup, but their primary ingredient is most often high fructose corn syrup flavoured; they have no genuine maple content.