Parsnip Polenta for an Autumn Night.

October 27th, 2009

parsnip polenta

It seemed like a good idea at the time to buy that big bag of parsnips but I soon I began to wonder just how many ways I could cook these bold flavored roots up.  Baked or in soup seemed the obvious ways to go, but I felt like something a little different today.  Something that reflected the dreary morning that we had awoken to and the actually quite pleasant evening the day had become. Something brightly flavored, but comforting nonetheless.

For the past few months I really fell out of the routine of creating proper meals.  Lunch has been various veggies dunked in an assortment of dips.  Dinner has been vegetarian Indian delivered to our door. Slowly though, I am coming back on track.  The more we settle in to our new home, the more inspired I find myself.  I knew I was on to a winner tonight too, for I had envisaged this dinner before I’d even left the office, let alone alighted the tube.  It is always a sure sign it’s going to be good when you’ve been contemplating and dreaming it up for the four hours prior, yes?

So no need to stand at the fridge and scratch my head in thought tonight.  This came together inside of an hour, in front of Gossip Girl, and with a glass of vino in hand.  The creamy parsnips had a piquancy about them having been blended with a goats cheese reminiscent of Parmesan and a hint of spicy nutmeg.  The caramelized onions lay in slumber over the top, and the roasted brussel sprouts to the side had been loosely tossed in maple syrup and sea salt crystals before plating.  Even Andy with his mouth full, unable to speak, indicated his enjoyment with a thumbs up! A success of the season, for sure.

Parsnip Polenta with Caramelized Onions and Roasted Brussels.

Serves 2

4 medium parsnips

Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

1/8 cup (or thereabouts) crumbled hard goats cheese

1 and 1/2 red onions, cut into half and then sliced into half moons, separated.

2 cups of brussel sprouts

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Sea salt

Coconut oil or olive oil or butter – about 3 tbsp total

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 180/350.

Put your onions in a non stick saucepan in a dab of oil of your choice (I used coconut oil) and place them on the stove on a low heat.  Put the lid on and stir occasionally.

Chop your brussels in half, and lightly cover in oil before placing in the oven for around 30 minutes, turning at half time.

Peel and chop your parsnips so that the pieces are around the same size. Boil until soft. I cut my parsnips in to thirds and kept them on the stove for a good ten minutes.

When the parsnips are soft, but not mushy, transfer to your blender with a few tbsps of the cooking water. Crumble the goats cheese in, grate some nutmeg over the top and add a little fat (around half a teaspoon). You could use butter or coconut oil depending on your preference. Blend until perfectly smooth.

Plate the parsnip puree as though it were polenta, in a big dollop in your bowl.  Top with the onions. Put the brussels in a bowl and toss gently with the maple syrup and salt before serving alongside.

Eat on the couch for the perfect end to an Autumn day.

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The Solution to Obesity, Part Two.

October 27th, 2009

The Observer on Sunday had an interesting article on obesity last Sunday. They were questioning whether obesity is a self inflicted condition, after it arose that a 70 stone (980 lbs / 444kg) man here in Britain  is costing the tax payer a lot of money. People are as upset at paying for obese people’s treatment as they are paying for illnesses relating to drinking and smoking. The article goes on to discuss how obese people are regularly ostracized by society.  Fatima Parker, the founder of International Size Acceptance Association UK, is quoted as saying that you can be healthy at any size. I agree to an extent, but I don’t believe that anyone could suggest that a 70 stone man, such as in this example, could ever be considered healthy.

What do you think? Is there a stage when you pass the threshold of being considered healthy and what size is that? I definitely think there is.  But for me the biggest tell-tale signs indicating unhealthiness are if facial features are drooping, the bags under the eyes are dark and it’s cumbersome to move the body – obese or not.

Finally, The Observer article listed a few “fun” facts:

1,010,000

The number of morbidly obese people in England.

10%

of six-year-olds are clinically obese. The number of obese children has tripled over the past 20 years.

4,619

obesity operations – gastric bands, balloons and stomach stapling – were carried out last year.

£4.2bn

Primary care trusts’ obesity costs in 2007, set to double by 2050.

1 billion

Number of overweight adults in the world. Some 300 million are obese.

One in four

adults is obese; and nine in 10 will be overweight or obese by 2050.

9lbs

Average extra weight that a child carries now, compared with a child 20 years ago.

5,056

The number of people admitted to hospital as a direct result of obesity in 2007-08.

£600m

Size of NHS drug bill for diabetes, the largest in primary care. Rising obesity has caused a sharp rise in type 2 diabetes.

~ Incidentally, the Guardian maintains a whole section on obesity here.

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The Solution to Obesity.

October 20th, 2009

dessert

After taking a rather longer than intended hiatus from blogging due to a multitude of reasons, I find myself inspired to write again after attending a lecture on obesity and the impact it has on the economy.

I scribbled some random figures as the talk went on, such as

  • how 24% of Britons are presently obese
  • it cost the UK’s NHS (National Health Service) some US$5.4m in 2001/2 and the cost is rising every year
  • it cost the UK US$4.25 in loss of earnings through obesity related sick absence in the same period
  • By 2020, if it carries on spreading as it is now, 25% of the UK’s NHS budget will be spent on treating obesity. That figure will be in the billions, not millions.

One thing I noted throughout the whole talk was that obesity was regarded as a disease.  The lecturer spoke about how humans are becoming obese because of our surroundings. My eyebrow raised at both of these suggestions. Is obesity really a disease if it’s (generally) controllable by conscious and deliberate eating? And can we not choose what to eat regardless of where we find ourselves? Where’s the personal responsibility in all of this?

At the end of the lecture there was time for some questions. I had read a few articles relatively recently in the LA Times regarding the fat tax and I asked him for his view on that as a potential solution.  The fat tax idea is to basically add more tax to foods with higher fat contents so that they are not so cheap for the consumer to buy and that if you do buy them, you are contributing to the NHS budget for care you’ll supposedly receive at a later date.  His response was that the consumer should not pay, the manufacturers should.

As I stood on the tube platform afterward, I thought about whether his response and talk as a whole did or did not make sense. Sure, the manufacturers of unhealthy foodstuffs are maybe misguiding consumers with all their health claims but is it not up to the individual to discern what they want in their bodies? Or maybe just because I have the interest and the time to teach myself about nutrition and how the body deals with certain foods, it doesn’t mean everyone else does.

Take the US Food pyramid for one. I think it’s fair to say that most people interested in food and politics are aware that it was put together with a heavy influence from manufacturers and the dairy industry. But so many people guide their lives by it, trusting that their elected government wouldn’t steer them wrong.  If people are eating according to the pyramid and getting some exercise, how can they be getting obese they might well wonder.

I considered the lecturers point on the environment too.  That we are now surrounded by so many foodstuffs it gets harder to make the best decisions for ourselves.  Generally speaking I disagree  on this point.  I believe that if you asked someone what was healthier – vegetables or the ready made shepherds pie, say – they would know the correct answer.  I am not entirely convinced by my own response here though, as I do have a recollection of it being in the news that a young boy somewhere in middle America did not know what a tomato even looked like in it’s whole form.

I also realize what we’re up against when it comes to making our own choices. For example, when we walked in to a a supermarket this weekend, we had to walk all the way to the back of the store to find the vegetables and fruit.  By the entrance were rows of ready meals. It actually felt like a different planet with all the white packaged boxes, on white shelves with the white aisles.  I might well have been on a spaceship! However, I did have a choice. I walked straight past these and found the real food, way down the back.  For about a fiver you can get a cauliflower, a bag of potatoes, a bag of carrots, a savoy cabbage and a bunch of parsnips, which will feed us far more meals than a couple of the sterile packages sitting down the front. And doesn’t it just feel so obvious that the vegetables would be so much better for our human bodies?

After reflecting some more on this talk I began to think that whilst there may be some people out there who can’t or won’t help themselves, there are sure to be some who could use a little support.

The concluding sentiment of the lecturer is one I am in agreement with: to eradicate obesity we need to find the necessary courage and political will to make the overdue changes to our food production system and our environment.

What do you think? Is obesity really a disease or a condition that leads to the onset of disease? Is it a personal responsibility or one that should be shouldered by all of society? How should we go about educating people if the government is not fit or able to do so for political reasons?  It’s a topic I am fascinated with, and one which seems to have a trillion different points of view, emotional reactions and heartfelt individual stories.

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I ♥ Spicy Prawns.

August 26th, 2009

prawn cajun ensalada

With one more week of lodging with some kind and generous people and finding our way in their kitchen, we are coming to an end of the creative use-what-you’ve-got era of 2009.  Soon to move in to our own apartment in London after a long journey, which started in June of this year in New Zealand,  our happy feet are finding their way in a city we are falling in love with all over again.

Tonight though, I remained tasked with creating a meal to share with people who aren’t quite as salad crazy as I am.  I considered what they might find fulfilling in a meal they say usually leaves them hungry.  I’ve come to appreciate that most people like a little heaviness to their salads.  Whether they add scoops of chickpeas, wedges of cheese or some meat to do this, ultimately what they’re hoping to do is create a meal that “touches the sides”.  I usually seek a light salad, especially on an August night, so to make sure we could all happily enjoy the same platter, I made prawns the focal point and ensured much flavor and textural variety was present in the whole dish.

Served on a base of mixed greens and fragrant herbs, the prawns are sweetened with honey and coconut, brightened with lime zest and spiced with a little Cajun seasoning. To add crunch and a flavor to match the prawns intensity, I tossed in some celery, scallions and diced red bell pepper and topped the plate with some fresh Italian basil.  The half a tomato you see nestling to the side was part of the first crop (of two!) tomatoes for the season.

The flavors throughout the meal were bright and pronounced and this will definitely be a meal that becomes part of our regular weeknight rotation in that routine we’re coming to crave and long for.   As it was my body felt satisfied, but I do have a thing for spicy prawns and could easily have eaten double the amount, rather than stretching one packet between the four of us. In fact, seasoned as described here, I could eat a bowl of those prawns, curled up and getting sucked in to a television show any night of the week.

Cajun Prawn Salad

Serves 4… just about.

Ingredients

24 Prawns (or 48!)

1 tbsp dessicated coconut

4 tbsp runny honey

Zest of 1 lime

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 stick of celery

2 Scallions (Spring Onions)

1 Red Bell Pepper

2 Avocados

Mix of greens including arugula (rocket), cilantro (fresh coriander) and chives

Fresh basil leaves

Sea salt and black pepper

And if it so fits, 2 cherry tomatoes from the garden

Method

Mix together the coconut, Cajun seasoning, honey and lime zest in a bowl that will be big enough to hold the prawns once done. Put to the side.

Thinly slice the celery and scallions and dice the red bell pepper.

Divide all the greens, aside from the basil, between the plates. Top with the celery, scallions and bell pepper. Lightly sprinkle sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper over them.

Cube the avocado and place on top of the plated salad mix then drizzle the lime juice over.

Quickly sauté the prawns until they just turn pink, then remove with a slotted spoon to leave any juices behind, and toss in the reserved coconut mixture until covered.

Top the salad with the prawns.  If there is any of the coconut mixture left behind, drizzle in a little olive oil, mix it up and put that on the salad too.

Top with the basil leaves and serve.

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We Went Picking Wild Blackberries.

August 20th, 2009

wildblackberries

Not far from where my parents live in South East England, you will currently find lanes lined with thick, scratchy blackberry bushes. They are sporadically protected by stinging nettles and the odd arm height thistle plant. Undeterred, we took a basin (with some bags for the overflow) and amid the afternoon haze plucked ripe berries from their vines.  As we picked, the air became enriched with their sugar sweet scent.  It’s just the start of the season in this locale with many tight and pale green berries still to grow into maturity.

Like candy when eaten in their fresh raw state they became intense and syrupy when we turned some into a homemade jam.  The recipe we used is from one of my mum’s oldest and most used cookbooks ~ the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book published in 1978.

blackberryjamjarred

Wild Blackberry Jam

Adapted from the Good Housekeeping Cookbook

Ingredients

2kg (4.4lbs) Wild blackberries

Juice of 2 lemons

100ml (1/5 pint) water

2kg (4.4lbs) sugar

Method

Wash the blackberries thoroughly.  A good way to do this is to soak them overnight in lightly salted water. This ensures the little bugs that might be inside all float to the surface for you to skim off.

Rinse them well and add to a large heavy bottomed saucepan with the lemon juice and water.  Simmer very gently until the blackberries are condensed into a thick sauce.

Add the sugar, and as you bring to a boil stir rapidly (and carefully) into the fruit sauce. Keep stirring for the next 8-10 minutes until it sets. A good way to check this is to put some on a spoon and let it chill slightly on a small plate. Then hold the plate up and see how it runs. It should move slowly and stickily.

Pour out into prepared jars. I do this the way I learned from Tessa Kiros:  Fill your sterile jars, put their lids on and turn upside down. Leave them there overnight with a tea towel covering them.  By morning they are ready for breakfast. We used an assortment of jars and filled eight to the brim and left the last one half full.

blackberrypicking

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Avocado Soup with Mango Salsa.

August 13th, 2009

avocado mango soup

So I’m a little obsessed with cold soups. The reason I especially like them right now (for I love them at any time, really) is I feel they create balance as I try to find a natural and pleasing equilibrium whilst I’m without a home of my own. Being that I’m one of those people who finds much comfort and relaxation chop-chop-chopping away, I also find them really easy. Chop, blend and voilà.

Having just returned from a walk on an afternoon so hot that a haze sat low over the fields, this dish was the first thing on my mind. The soup itself is quite earthy with the hints of cilantro, ground coriander and cumin. The salsa invigorated the dish’s range of flavors and contrasted the creaminess with a slight acidic hit.

I made this soup with what I could see in the kitchen. The mango was admittedly a little over ripe and I used a clementine rather than the called for blood orange. Regardless of the lack of perfection, this was still the most satiating supper I could have dreamed of that evening and I relished every mouthful.

Avocado Soup with Mango Salsa

Adapted from Living Raw food by Sarma Melngailis

Serves 2.

Ingredients:

For the soup:

3 small hass avocados or equivalent, peeled and chopped

1 stick of peeled and chopped celery

1 handful of fresh cilantro/coriander leaves

1/2 a telegraph cucumber, roughly chopped

2 cups water

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of 1 lemon

Finely grated zest of one clementine

Few pinches of ground sea salt

Pinch of ground cumin

Pinch of ground coriander

For the salsa:

1 Mango, diced

1 Clementine, each segment peeled and chopped

1 Red bell pepper, diced

Leaves from a few sprigs fresh cilantro/coriander, finely chopped

Method:

Blend all soup ingredients.

Mix salsa ingredients together.

Put the salsa in the center of the bowls, then pour soup around.

avo mango soup prep

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Cucumber, Mint & Jalapeño Gazpacho.

August 8th, 2009

cucumber-mint-gazpacho-11

There comes a time when after a vacation, day to day eating habits need to revert back to the place they were before the break.  There also comes a time when, after an evening out with an old friend and a little bit more wine than I’m used to these days, a hydrating meal becomes of utmost importance.

Enter Living Raw Food. I picked this book up when I was in the US this past July.  Wait. That makes it sound too casual. Truth is, I put this book on my Amazon wishlist months ago, then realized it wouldn’t reach New Zealand before we left for the USA.  Hastily upon arrival in San Diego I cantered on down to the Barnes and Noble to retrieve my copy.  I then read it poolside at a friends house in Tucson and inserted little pieces of ripped paper in between the pages which held the recipes I’d be able to make with little to no equipment (my current predicament). With sections for the every day and family-style (as well as the more complicated ones from the restaurant’s menu), I have plenty of material to get started with.*

living-raw-food

As you know from previous posts, I am a lover of blended raw soups. They’re quick, easy and super satisfying. They’re also a good place to start if creating a raw meal for people who are not entirely convinced they want to eat Raw Food.

This soup was incredibly easy to put together (15 – 20 minutes).  Because I like it spicy I then let it sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to really let the jalapeños start to sing. The result was a soup that was fresh up front but had a soft burn as you neared the last spoonful.

cucumber-mint-gazpacho-2

Cucumber, Mint & Jalapeño Gazpacho

Serves 4.  Adapted from Living Raw Food by Sarma Melngailis.

Ingredients:

4 English Telegraph cucumbers cut into chunks small enough for your food processor to liquidize (leave the skins and seeds intact)

2 Red jalapeños, finely diced

1 Red bell pepper, diced

8 Sprigs of fresh mint, chopped into very thin strips (chiffonade)

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

Method

Liquidize the cucumbers and place into a large glass bowl.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for between 1 – 2 hours prior to serving.

* I’ll do a full review of the book once I’ve tried a few more recipes

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Smoked Salmon & Pea Salad.

August 6th, 2009

salmonpeasaladIn the midst of so much chaos in our lives right now, such as living out of suitcases and perched in someone else’s home, simple food seems the only way to go.  In a kitchen not my own, and ensuring the food suits and satisfies all, I decided upon a salmon salad. Keeping meals simple also helps keep the food budget in tact as well as awakening the pallet to the pure enjoyment of each and every ingredient. It also helps with time. This salad won’t take you more than ten minutes to compile, then all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the balmy summer evening, preferably with a glass of rosé to your side.  It would also be really nice eaten al fresco. As it was I ate mine after my glass of rosé and I also ate it inside as we’d just returned from a four mile walk around the tree lined country lanes of Kent and were looking for a little cooling off time.  It was delicious regardless.

Mix it up: If you want to reduce the fat in this salad, you could make it in a bowl and turn it until the leaves are lightly coated with some avocado and then zest and squeeze the lime juice on afterward. It would also work well with grilled prawns in lieu of the salmon.

Smoked Salmon & Pea Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 package of smoked salmon – enough for a thick fillet each (or double them up, as shown in the picture above)

200g (or a cup and a half) of mixed fresh peas including mange tout and sugar snaps

2 medium hass avocados

1 bunch of fresh dill

2 large handfuls of each of the following: baby red chard, baby spinach, wild rocket

1 stick of celery, peeled and finely chopped (optional, but adds a nice fresh crunch)

Zest and juice of one lime

1 tsp Fresh cracked pepper

Pinch freshly crushed sea salt

1/4 cup peppery tasting cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

Method

To make the dressing: Zest the lime in a measuring cup and squeeze in the juice. Add the pepper and salt, then using scissors, finely chop half the fresh dill in. Stir it up, then slowly stream the olive oil in, whisking until it’s fully combined.

To compile the salad:  Share the leaves evenly between the plates. Chop the peas on the diagonal in to thirds and place on top. If using celery, add that now too. Chop the remaining fresh dill over the plates evenly. Cut your avocados into quaters and peel them. Place one quater on one side of the salad and unfold some smoked salmon across it. Slice another quarter of the avocado and place on the other side of the plate, slices fanned out. Drizzle the salad with the dressing and serve with more cracked pepper to the side for people to help themselves to.

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5 Simple Summer Salads

August 2nd, 2009

salad #5

One of the things I throw caution to the wind with is summer salads. There’s so much fine produce around that I treat myself to all manner of combinations.  Whether we’ve spent the afternoon walking cross country or lazing in a beer garden enjoying some chilled wine, the below salads always hit the spot and leave us fully satisfied. When I put together a salad I like to mix up my textures, as well as use flavors that lend variety to every bite. I think of them as Bowls of Happiness.

#1: To a mound of arugula, add crumbled walnuts, fresh juicy blueberries and a diced avocado. Zest a lime in a separate bowl and squeeze in the juice. Stir in some fruity olive oil and a few drops liquid stevia (or sweetener of your choice). Drizzle the dressing over the salad and enjoy.

#2: Pile some greens on your plate, add a handful of tomberries, some thinly sliced celery and diced red bell pepper. Smash some Roquefort in to some mashed avocado with a tablespoon of finely chopped scallions (spring onions) and a few sprigs of chopped fresh parsley. Dollop this mixture on to the plated salad. Quickly sautee some king prawns in a dab of coconut butter and douse them heartily in Tabasco. Top the salad with the prawns and tuck in.

#3: Put a mound of baby spinach leaves on your plate. Chop some fresh dill over and add half a chopped red bell pepper. Add some halved baby plum tomatoes and a few dried cranberries. Mix it up with some olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper and top with a few crumbled pecan halves.

#4: Place mixed greens, cilantro and a chopped scallion on a plate. Add eight cherry tomato halves and half a diced mango. Lightly toast some almond slivers and add those to the mix.  Stir/mash/whip together some olive oil, avocado, pomegranate juice and chipotle sauce and drizzle over the salad.

#5: Pile some greens on your plate, add a handful of halved and pitted cherries, zest a lemon over the top, squeeze half the juice in and drizzle with some cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. Top with a sprinkle of slivered almonds and a small wedge of blue cheese.  This one is adapted from the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Cookbook, a book that inspires me time and time again.

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Eating On The Road

July 28th, 2009

ensaladadelmar

When we set off for the US back in June, we had the intention of eating as well as we did at home.  We gave it a little thought, but sometimes it’s not until you’re in a specific situation do you know what the best solution would be.  Such as: When you’re in a nowhere town with only a Dennys* in sight, what do you do?

Whilst we certainly tripped up a little on our way around the SW USA, we did manage to maintain a firm base of real food in our diets. In every city we visited, I hopped online to find the closest Whole Foods and once there, we stocked up on items we’d heard about and wanted to try plus an array of the seasonal fresh produce. As we drove off, we had nutritious foods galore encapsulated in a cool box and more bursting out of a bag on the back seat. On the hottest days in Arizona, munching on fat blueberries which burst sweetly across your tongue was the closest we’d come to feeling truly hydrated. Well, that and ironically the occasional icedtallamericano which I looked out for in every sizable town (”They must have a branch here! The map has the town in bold print!”). In towns where only fast food signs glowered above our heads we came up with some of our favorite salad combinations, such as bite sized pieces of romaine topped with blueberries (we were buying them by the kilo), flaked almonds and goats cheese with a little lemon zest folded in.   Some times we just ate plain avocado with citrus juices dribbled over it, and munched on bulbously round raspberries for dessert. They were so fresh they needed no augmentation to be enjoyed, although we did on occasion add a handful of Kashi Cinnamon Harvest to them for breakfast.

raspberries

Over the weeks we were away we did a fair amount of hiking in the national parks, and after a five hour hike in the desert near Tucson with only warming water to hand, we were nothing short of ecstatic to find coconut water available to stock up on in so many supermarkets thereafter.  After various hikes in northern Arizona and southern Utah we’d march as quickly as we could back to the car to rip the cooler open and down one of these.  I was once told that if you get a dehydrated, drink a can of lemonade or similar. This definitely beats that idea! The performance of the coconut water was as such that within minutes we felt bright and happy again. Not to mention it felt good in our stomachs afterward – something a can of refined cane sugared water could never claim.

Last but not least, we also ate at our first raw cafe.  Since we started playing around with raw recipes looking specifically to vary the salads and soups in our repertoire, we were curious as to what a Raw Meal would be like.  We both found our meals to be nut heavy and a little too solid for our personal tastes, but were so grateful for the fresh juices it didn’t seem to matter all that much.  I am still very much looking forward to eating at Pure Food & Wine at some point in the future, having read Sarma’s new book as we drove across the very fine, super sunny, ever fun USA.

foodontheroad

* Whilst Dennys food may not be the be all and end all, I have to give credit where credit is due – their waitresses have never been short of accommodating over the years we’ve somehow found ourselves there, in random small towns countrywide.

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