Flowers For Fathers

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

My Daddy and my husband love flowers.  As does my Step-Father.  So in appreciation of the Fathers in my life, here are some beautiful flowers I hope they will enjoy.

And in memory of the Fathers of some of my most dear friends:

I always think these flowers look like little girls dancing on the stem.  Thinking of Michelle, Lucy and Gini today.

 

Having appreciated the beauty of the flowers in our garden, Harvey and I set off on a walk.  We started at about 8:30am and the sun was shining brightly.

We were early enough to surprise the sheep from the farm over the road who hadn’t managed to get up from their night time slumbers.

We walked past the farmhouse,

and a little woodland stream,

through the forest of farmed trees,

past the free range chicken farm,

in to the dappled shade of the woodland,

through the wildflower meadow.

This really is a green and pleasant land.

We saw some sheep being sheared.

We are so lucky to have all this within walking distance of our home.  I am so thankful to Annette for showing us this lovely walk.

We had a superfood smoothie for breakfast.  I intended to have an orange layer.

Any idea what these are?

Papaya seeds !  So my “orange” layer was papaya, lucuma powder and chia seeds I had soaked in almond milk overnight.

My “purple” layer was carob, maca, acai and buckwheats soaked in water overnight, with a little bit of almond milk, lime juice and avocado.

Another little treat I had bought the other day was this coconut palm sugar, which is amazing!

My smoothie was not as sweet or colourful as I hoped :-(.  So I added some maple syrup to the mix and some coconut sugar on top.

It was lovely, thick and rich and creamy.  A bit beige but delicious.  I will work on the colour.

We then set off to have lunch with my Daddy and it was so good to see him.

James’ choice was a curry at the Indian at the end of the road we used to live in and it was good.  Not my choice of where to spend a lovely sunny day but hey, it is Father’s Day so they get to choose.

We then headed to Epsom, home of the famous races.

I have enjoyed this view from Epsom Downs towards London so many times and it was really clear today.

Look who we found at home – some very dear friends 🙂

Happy Father’s day to all the Daddys,

those who can be with us and those who can not.

 

Posted in Grow Your Own | Tagged , | 6 Comments

A Different View On Life

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

What did we have for breakfast today?

Here’s a clue?  Something green on the outside and an amazing pinky/red on the inside.

Yes, Watermelon.

This is one of Harvey’s favourite foods and when he saw it in the kitchen this morning he woke me up to ask if he could have some.  “Yes of course” I mumbled sleepily.  I lay there for a minute, feeling pleased he was excited about eating fruit and then pictured him actually preparing it.   Seconds later I was up and rushing down the stairs, making sure I got to the huge kitchen knife before he did!  So I had rather an early start to the day.

I had mine with 65 g Feta.  I love that combination of sweet and juicy watermelon with dry and salty Feta.

This was one very sweet and juicy watermelon.  It was quite perfect.

It was fantastic and I wished I had bought a bigger one but I didn’t want to have to carry it home from London.  Mind you, it was so lovely I might do next week.

Harvey and I went to the Wealden Times Summer Fair and I left my camera at home GRRRRRR.  I was really cross. Mind you, without my camera, I couldn’t record all the naughty but wonderful foods we tasted as we wandered round 🙂 😦 .

The dogs enjoyed a rare moment of sunshine.

In their individual ways.

 

We had a snacky lunch that involved asparagus from the lovely Frogs Hole Farm which is just outside my village.  It is an organic arable farm that also grows and sells asparagus and broad beans. They only have a couple of days of asparagus left so I bought 2 bunches and felt a little sad that this will be the last of it until next year.  Eaten simply with butter.

Followed by some of this amazingly full flavoured olive tapenade

on this chewy and tasty walnut sourdough bread from Judges Bakery, which makes organic artisan bread and lots of cakes and biscuits too.  I confess we each had a cookie.

I had half a slice with Tapenade and half a slice with cheddar.  Yummy.

You get a different view on life with a macro lens.  I was oblivious to the greenfly invasion  taking place on the aubergine and pepper plants I am growing on my kitchen window sill. Not happy about those so I will try and get rid of them by dunking the leaves in a detergent solution.  I do not want to use an insecticide.

Harvey and I had some shopping to do in Tunbridge Wells this afternoon.  I wanted a new outfit for a fab day out next Thursday but could not find a shop along the top end of the high street or in the shopping centre that sold my size.  Even my 4 sizes smaller then I once was size.  I also observed how many shops are closed down which gives the area a rather run down and depressing feel to it.  So there I was, with some money burning a hole in my pocket but not one shop there with anything to sell me!  So guess what, I will have to stick to London which is a shame as I would prefer to support my local towns.

Harvey needed new trousers because he has grown so tall recently he literally did not have a pair left that were long enough but we didn’t get on much better for him.  We did at least get him one pair of jeans so he has something to wear out to lunch tomorrow.

I had better luck with a mail order from Detox Your World which arrived today.  Again, if there was a really good health food shop near me, I would have gone to it, but there isn’t so I used this excellent on-line company.

I have used their products before and they are good quality.  Your order is processed quickly and arrives neatly packaged with some extras.  I received some raw food recipe cards and a raw food recipe book too.

I have been struggling with macrobiotic eating.  Not so much because of what macrobiotic  eating includes but because so much of what I like eating is excluded.  I naturally favour a Mediterranean style diet and really enjoy raw food and fresh fruit.  But macrobiotics excludes nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, peppers and aubergine for example), all fruit, eggs, dairy and expects you to live on grains, a restricted range of vegetables, beans and pulses, seaweed and pickles.  The jury is currently out on that one but it may be that yin-yanging across the cosmic universe is not for me.

James cooked us a stir fry for supper.

Brown basmati rice stir fried with carrots, onions, 2 types of mushrooms, kohlrabi leaves, egg, shoyu and spring onion.

Followed by some new dairy free ice-cream we bought earlier today.  It was fabulous and I did have a bowlful with some Goupie.  So I am not counting points today – I don’t have that many fingers!

Posted in Diet Struggles, Keep It Local | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

3 Meals Out

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

No blog yesterday as I had a little drinkie after work in this pub.  Pear cider which was ice cold and so refreshing,

I have walked past Old Thameside Inn loads of times but never been in.  There is a lovely long veranda so you can sit outside and enjoy the view of the river.

Which is easily done as when the tide is high you are looking right down in to the water.

Next to the pub is the Golden Hind.

I see so many school trips here.  Loads of kids, dressed as pirates, walk over the gangway, laughing and all excited, and hear the history of the Golden Hind.   Great school trip.

I had never noticed this plaque before which tells an interesting tale.

I was in work very early today – before 7:30 am as I was awake early and I had a lot to do so I got up and came in.  But by 8:30 I was flagging so I had a little treat.

For a while now I have wanted to have breakfast inside Le Pain Quotidien.  I love being in this building.  I like the high ceiling, the texture and colour of the walls, the light and peaceful ambience.  When I have eaten here (apart from a lovely lunch I had with Julia), i take out.  But today I decided to sit in.  I have put in some long hours this week and felt I deserved half an hour out to relax.

I treated myself to a coffee which I enjoyed with my book,

and happily munched on soft boiled eggs, rye bread and butter.  Simple and delicious and a great Friday treat.

Market day – whoop whoop.  As usual I made a bee line for Turnip to get something yummy for the weekend.  I bought some of these Borlotti beans.

Ever wondered what these mushrooms are?

 I found a picture that explains 🙂

 

Heavenly Halloumi Veggie Burger with hummus.  Yumelicious.

At home we decided to go out for supper to celebrate Harvey managing to play a piece of music on the piano in front of the whole school.  I was gutted I missed him but touched by the kindness of his music teacher who emailed me afterwards to tell me how well he had done.  He does not find performing easy so this was a big achievement for him. So we went off to the stylish Goudhurst Inn.

Harvey was allowed to choose from the adult menu and he started with half a pint of prawns.  I had a Caesar Salad which was good.

Followed by Pork Saltimboca with dauphinoise potatoes and green beans.  The portion was quite small but as it was rich it was perfect.  It was absolutely delicious.

I can’t believe I have eaten out 3 times today.  Admittedly lunch was from a market stall but even so!  And how many points did I consume today?  No idea so please help if you can.  Answers on a postcard…….

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

Macro

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Macro what you may wonder?  What is she going on about today?  Macro biotics?  Not really.  I came close with breakfast but I had raspberries and a banana and fruit is not macrobiotic.  The 50 g soaked overnight and eaten raw buckwheat groats (5 WW points) are macro biotic.

As was the 150 ml almond milk (1) and the 1 tbsp sunflower seed sprouts (1).

The resulting smoothie was thick and smooth thanks to my beast of a blender.  I was never such a fan of buckwheat in a smoothie with my old blender as I could not get it smooth enough but my Vita Mix makes it as smooth as ice-cream :-).

Lunch was delicious but soooo high in points.  I was working in an office on the North side of the river today so I went to the enormous M&S at Moorgate.  I bought an avocado and feta salad which was delicious and had quinoa, edamame and broad beans in it.  And having researched this evening, squillions of points!!!  That came in at 14 or 15 points and is one of the 5 “healthy” salads that has more calories and more salt than a burger.  Oops, but a good lesson learned!

I was hungry so also bought 140 g turkey (4) an apple and some white fleshed nectarines which were perfectly ripe, sweet and very juicy.  I managed to leave 2 for Harvey who adores these.

Macro economics?

Not sure how much economic theory or credible research went in to this statistic.  This ‘Occupy London’ camp has been set up here in the City since last October.  It has played havoc with that lawn!

Supper was a simple stir fry of 100 g cooked brown rice with Arame seaweed (4), 2 tsp sesame oil (3) plus onion, mushroom, broccoli and ‘wok broc’ a broccoli I am growing for the leaves rather then the broccoli.

Delicious and only 7 points.  And macro biotic.

But that is not the macro I am talking about today.  This is.  Can you see what it is?

I have a new toy.

Thanks to my birthday and Christmas money from my Daddy and a lil treat to myself, I am now the proud owner of a brand new macro lens for my camera.  I have wanted one for ages and ages and ages.  There is a plus side to working :-).

So excited.  Unfortunately I was home so late it was nearly dark and I was too impatient to get the tripod out so these are not perfectly in focus but gives an idea of some fab photos to come.  I love this one.  Not bad for hand held at dusk.

Plenty more macro photos to come, of that I can guarantee.

Posted in Grow Your Own | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Back To Counting

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Back to counting points today.  I confess I rather enjoyed it as it gave me a goal and now, at the end of the day, a sense of satisfaction for having stuck to my daily allowance.

Breakfast = 9

30 g porridge (3)
30 g oat bran (3)
150 ml almond milk (1)
1 tbsp sesame seeds (2)
1 tbsp lucuma powder ?
1 banana

Mixed together the night before and eaten at work the next day.

Lunch = 8

I didn’t take any pictures!  I made this last night and then at lunch time the office was so busy I didn’t want to get my camera out.  I feel self conscious in the busy office.  I was inspired by a recipe on Gena’s blog which is called ‘Choosing Raw’.  This site has many raw and vegan recipes which I enjoy eating.  So based on her recipe for Omega Rich Broccoli Hemp Slaw With Tangy Mustard Dressing I made:

Broccoli Slaw with a Sweet and Tangy Dressing

Ingredients (serves 1)

Slaw

  • 1/2  a head of broccoli,  finely chopped
  • 1/2 a small kohlrabi, grated
  • 2 small carrots, grated
  • 1 tbsp raisins
  • 1 tbsp sunflower seed sprouts

Dressing

  • 1 tbsp Shoyu (Soy Sauce)
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp curry powder

Method

  1. Place slaw ingredients in a large bowl
  2. Mix dressing ingredients together in a small pot with a tight fitting lid.
  3. Shake to mix well
  4. Pour dressing over slaw and mix really well so the dressing covers all the vegetables.

Sorry there is no photo to tempt you to make this delicious and healthy lunch.  I really enjoyed it and will definitely be making it again.  It came in at 8 points (raisins (2), sprouts (1), sesame oil (4) and maple syrup (1)).

Dinner = 13

Lovely fresh lettuce from the garden,

still wet from the rain and including crawly things – proves it’s fresh !

With a large sweet and juicy beefsteak tomato, salt and pepper.

1 can of tuna (6) with 1 tbsp mayonnaise (3) plus 100 g brown rice (4) cooked with Arame seaweed.

So the little notebook is back on the kitchen table.

It’s good to be counting again.

 

Posted in Grow Your Own, Recipe | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Caffeine Free Zone

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Tonight I celebrate going 3 days with no caffeine.  Yes, that means no coffee and no tea.  I am giving up because I was gradually having more and more.  What started as the occasional cup on my way in to the office became one on the way in every day, one mid morning, something after lunch and then tea in between.  Not only was I consuming too much caffeine, I was drinking loads of calories in all that milk.  So it has been banished from my life.  It is not easy and I have felt very tired but that is easing.  I have been drinking fruity herbal teas, Rooibos, Genmai Cha (brown rice green tea) and green tea instead.  With no milk at all.

I went to Weight Watchers tonight and I weigh the same as last time I went.  I am pleased I am not going up but I need to go down.  So I am going back to basics and counting points again.  I have 32 points a day and today I had………32 points 🙂

Breakfast – nothing.  Unusual for me I know but I was not hungry first thing and was then too undecided about what to get and then too busy.

Lunch – toasted cheese and ham sandwich (16 points) and Minestrone soup (12 points) from EAT.

Supper – a fruity smoothie totalling 4 points.

Frozen mixed berries.

Strawberries and three types of leaves from the garden: kale, beetroot leaves and spinach.

1 pear and 1 apricot – weird how they are the same colour!

200 g tofu (6 points)

250 ml unsweetened soya milk (2 points)

It was good and I shared it with Harvey, hence my points are half what I am displaying above.  It wasn’t sweet enough for Harvey so after I had served mine I added some Blackstrap Molasses to his which gives it a lovely burnt toffee flavour.

Posted in Diet Struggles, Grow Your Own | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

New Pleasures

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

I made several new foodie things today but started with an old favourite, oats with cinnamon, raisins and apple.

Porridge made with 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup soya milk, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp raisins, 1 tsp sesame seeds and 1/2 a grated apple.  Yummy.

I haven’t cooked much lately and felt like baking today so I went for a browse around the supermarket.  It was good to bump in to Rachel and hear about how much fun Waddfest was.  Hi Rachel :-).

So lunch was rather unusual.

I cooked up the 3 globe artichokes I bought in Borough Market on Friday.  I brought a saucepan of water to the boil, added lemon juice and sea salt then added the globe artichokes and simmered with the lid on for 30 minutes.  Served with butter or French style mayonnaise which had Dijon mustard in it.

I really enjoyed mine but it is perhaps something to share with a girlfriend along side a glass of something cold, white and crisp.  2 hungry boys didn’t really get it.   They did both eat it but I don’t think I will serve it to them again.

Next on our unusual lunch menu were 2 prawn cocktails to compare:

The Waitrose one was a unanimous victory.  Hestons had vodka and vanilla in it – not great!  These were served with the little kohlrabi.  I had read that the best kohlrabi, particularly for eating raw, are the small ones.

I grated it with 2 carrots and stirred through some black sesame seeds.  No dressing required because the prawn cocktails had dressing on.

We all liked it and I loved it.  Raw kohlrabi tastes a bit like a cross between an apple and white cabbage and has a texture a little bit like a cross between an apple and a water chestnut.  The resulting grated vegetable mix was fresh and crunchy and delicious and went really well with the prawn cocktail.

By the time we had eaten our first 2 courses the cornbread was ready.  I haven’t had cornbread for years but a blog I regularly read had a recipe for cornbread with blueberries and pecans.  So thank you to Ashley at Edible Perspective for this lovely recipe for Blueberry and Pecan Cornbread.

Blueberry and Pecan Cornbread

Ingredients (serves 8)

  • 3/4 cup medium ground cornmeal/polenta
  • 3/4 cup fine ground corn flour
  • 1/2 cup oat flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup unsweetened milk
  • 5 Tbsp honey [brown rice syrup or maple syrup]
  • 1 large egg
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp + 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans

Method
  1. Preheat your oven to 200 º C and take out a 9” square or circular baking dish or cast iron pan.
  2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the cornmeal, corn flour, oat flour, baking powder, and salt until combined.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, egg, vanilla extract and 1 tbsp melted butter, until combined.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, until just combined.  Make sure the large lumps are mixed up, but the batter will not be completely smooth.
  5. Fold in 3/4 cup of the blueberries
  6. Let sit for 5 min to thicken, and while that is sitting add 2 tbsp of butter to the baking dish or cast iron pan.
  7. Place the pan in the oven for 5 min.  Remove from the oven, and carefully tilt the pan to grease the edges + bottom with the melted butter.
  8. Pour the batter in and gently spread it around the pan.  It should be thick.
  9. Add 1/2 cup of the blueberries to the top and sprinkle the pecans on top as well.  Press them into the batter slightly if needed.
  10. Place in the oven and bake for 25-30min, varying slightly with pan size.  Toothpick test for doneness.  You want a moist, but not gooey toothpick.  The edges will be golden brown and the top will be cracked.
  11. Let cool for 10min, then slice with a sharp knife + serve with butter and honey.

I used polenta and a fine cornmeal.

I couldn’t find any oat flour so I used finely ground oat bran instead.

This came out really well.

I would have preferred it moister and having written out the recipe I realise I didn’t use enough blueberries in the recipe.  Despite that it was lovely.  I tried to resist the temptation to serve it as Ashley suggested with butter and honey, but failed.  It was even better with butter and runny honey 🙂 .

I had 2 slices so we set off for a walk this afternoon.  Despite the rain we walked for an hour and a half and it was good to be out in the fresh air.

Supper was simple.  Homemade ratatouille with salmon and goat’s cheese.

 

I only had half a small fillet as I misjudged how many fillets were in the packet – d’oh.  I thought I was buying 4 but instead it was only 2 so James and I shared one and added goat’s cheese.  Harvey had a whole one as he can not eat cheese.

I have really cut down on my dairy consumption recently.  I have cut cheese down to once or twice a week and usually have my hot drinks with no milk so I really enjoyed the little bit of cheese I had tonight.

Today’s eating would not win any diet awards but it was mainly really healthy and nutritious.  I enjoyed cooking and eating something new and different.

Posted in Recipe | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Nurturing Vegetables

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

“Mummy, you must have been tired when you went to bed last night” were the first words I heard uttered this morning by my youngest.  He was so shocked to see my clothes strewn across the floor he assumed I was to tired to sort them out like I usually do.  How sweet 🙂  Thank goodness he didn’t witness me trying to extricate myself from my trousers late last night!  Was it immoral of me to ask him to get me a headache tablet and a glass of water?  Yes, I survived a very enjoyable night over the road, just.

I needed something rehydrating and nutritious to get me going.

Plus something to help settle my stomach.

Whizzed up with lots of almond milk and ice.

This made a very long and refreshing drink.  Just what I needed.

James cooked up some rice, veggies, egg and pumpkin seeds for lunch which was lovely.

 

In macrobiotic eating you are supposed to eat seaweed regularly and today I tried Wakame which is more commonly used in Miso soup.  I decided to add some to my vegetable dish.

Not very inspiring to look at is it?

For supper I tried a macrobiotic recipe called Nishime vegetables.  The recipe I looked at said to use a heavy pot and cook them on the stove but I used the slow cooker.

I added 1 purple carrot, 2 small orange carrots, about 1/3 head of cauliflower, 2 leeks, the kernels from 1 corn cob, 1 parsnip and some wakame.

The veggies do look really pretty all cut up.

The recipe said to add 1 inch of spring water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.  But instead I added boiling water to the slow cooker and left it on high for about an hour. It is really just some slow cooked vegetables in an inch of water so they end up partly boiled and partly steamed.  No seasonings added.  Just vegetables.  Which went purple because of the purple carrot.  Look at how that wakame swelled up!

I added some almond butter to provide protein and fat which was delicious.  The vegetables tasted OK.  Not very exciting  but alright and certainly healing.

I found the seaweed quite hard going.  It smelt, of seaweed funnily enough and I was not a massive fan of the flavour but I persevered with it.  I prefer the Arame so far, in my dabbling with sea vegetables.

So, I think I ate well today and that will help my liver recover from a very busy nights work.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Enoki Phenoki

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Flat white Friday treat from Monmouth :-).

For some bizarre reason, I also bought an almond croissant.  Why?  I was feeling so good about my healthy eating of the past 2 days but then a fleeting moments stupidity and there it was, in its brown paper bag, being carried hastily to my desk where I enjoyed it with my coffee.  It was really good!

I also ate the breakfast I was supposed to eat which was lovely.  1/3 cup oats, 1 tbsp sesame seeds, several strawberries, one left over (bit hard but tasted good) pistachio and cranberry truffle and some almond milk, made the night before so it was all soft and lovely.

Boy was it raining hard at lunch time.  I braved the outdoors but only made it to the indoor market and decided to try somewhere new.

Inspired by yesterdays amazing vegan burger, I tried a chicken burger from Wyndham House Poultry.

It was OK and I know Harvey would have loved it as a chicken burger is one of his favourite meals.  But for me, the white roll was yuck and the meat was too processed and reconstituted.  I fancied some real chicken.  So not a lunch for me but many others would enjoy it.  Thank goodness for the fresh salsa and vegetation it came with.

On the way back I was dragged by some invisible force in to Konditor & Cook and compelled to buy a banana and walnut cake with a latte.   Massive fail! It was really good though.

Back at the ranch I decided a healthy supper was very much needed.  Those boys have been left to their own devices this week hence we have a bin filled with Pot Noodle pots, a steak and kidney pie from a tin (GROSS!!!!!!) and they fitted in a trip to McDonalds.  Harvey is the human equivalent of a Labrador and will eat practically anything.  So he is very happy eating the garbage his Father feeds him and but he also eats what I provide.  Just as well I do most of the cooking!

During supper, Harvey was about to declare his Father the best cook in the house when he managed, just in time, to hold back that statement and instead declared we were equally good.  “But Harvey” I said, feeling very hurt, “Daddy only cooks once or twice a month so how can you compare us”?  Apparently he can so I remain hurt and in a huff.

Anyway, we had 2 types of leftover rice.  On the left is the last of the sweetcorn risotto and on the right is some brown Basmati rice I cooked with Arame seaweed.

We also had some carrots, asparagus, red pepper and onion.

Plus this little treat from the market I picked up today.

Hello Enoki, oh golden one.

You look almost too good to eat, but I am willing to have a go.

Le voila.

One amazing stir fry which was topped with egg I cooked with some Shoyu and sesame oil and garnished with spring onions.

The steam made this hard to photograph.

But not impossible.  It was delicious and thank goodness those boys have ended the week with some nutrition in their bellies.

I am kicking back with a splendid glass of Drambuie to fortify me so I can walk up that hill to Marion’s.  I haven’t seen her for ages and am really looking forward to catching up with her.  Those of you who know and love how teetotal Marion is (not), wish me luck 🙂 .

Posted in Diet Struggles | Tagged | Leave a comment

Kohlrabi Quest

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Lose Weight and Gain Health

Apart from the apricot I had a very macrobiotic breakfast of brown rice which I cooked with arame seaweed last night, plus 2 chopped up fresh apricots, some raisins and pumpkin seeds.  Surprisingly tasty.

I was hungry at lunch time so I went for an organic juice while I wandered round the market.

Pronounced A – sigh – ee it was delicious.

Love those mushrooms.

Popped 3 of these babies in my shopping basket.

Tried a nut roast for the first time – ok but probably won’t buy again.

This was amazing and I will have it again.  The vegan burger with hummus from Veggie Table is fabulous.  As is their Heavenly Halloumi burger which I resisted as I am trying to cut down on dairy.  The vegan burger is full of flavour, it comes with salad and salsa, the hummus is an extra addition and the bread.  Wow.  Probably my favourite roll ever.  Chewy, full of flavour and coated in seeds.  Every single mouthful was a complete pleasure. YUM!

Leftovers for supper of aduki bean and vegetable soup and braised kohlrabi.  All I had to do was pop them in the oven for half an hour and dinner was served.  It was lovely.  I out the soup in a bowl and placed the kohlrabi on top.  So good to come home to a home cooked meal 🙂

I didn’t share the kohlrabi recipe I made the other day when I made it fresh so here it is today instead.  I am on a quest to try every vegetable in Turnip and last Friday I bought my first ever kohlrabi.

A curious creature with a corm (the swollen stem of a cabbage apparently) stems and leaves.

I chopped it up in to its 3 parts

and used it to make a recipe from Sophie Grigson’s fantastic book Vegetables.

Antonio Carluccio’s Braised Kohlrabi

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 40 g unsalted butter
  • 30 g caster sugar
  • 800 g kohlrabi, peeled and cut in to fingers (I used the leaves too)
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp plain white flour
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 250 ml chicken stock
  • salt and pepper

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat.
Add the sugar and cook until the butter begins to turn golden brown.

Add the kohlrabi and the vinegar and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the flour and cumin and gradually stir in the stock.

Continue cooking until the kohlrabi is cooked (mine took about 20 minutes slowly simmering with the lid on).
Season to taste and enjoy.

I really liked it and want to try it raw as apparently it is lovely raw as long as you buy a small one.  So today I did just that.  I chose the smallest one in the shop and as a size comparison put it next to a tea light.  I find them slightly strange but also curiously lovely to look at.

I am thinking of a kohlrabi coleslaw.  Watch this space 🙂

Posted in Recipe | Tagged , | 4 Comments