Monthly Archives: July 2012

Resetting the body-clock

30 July 2012

19 Comments

A whole week on plant-based foods! Plant-wild week check it out here

  • I feel  full of energy
  • I lost 2 1/2 kg
  • my skin feels healthy
  • my eyes are clear
  • I feel in balance/content
  • my runs are easier – I run for longer without feeling the need to stop
  • cravings for unhealthy foods ceased

2 years ago I would never have believed that food matters so much! I knew that I had to eat fruits and vegetables and that it was supposed to be good for me, but I had no idea it could change my life the way it has!

For those, who are new to this blog  – I was suffering desperately from Meniere’s disease, I had terribly high cholesterol and I had put on 17 kg! I felt dreadful and did not have the will-power to do anything about it, I felt stuck!

Food changed all of that! I added green smoothies to my diet and got more energy, started to crave more green food and craved less of all the things that were not good for me. I started to run and I started to exchange some of my meals for plant-based meals. Sometimes, I would do whole days on plant-based foods – eventually eating only plant-based food from Monday to Friday, every now and then. I changed the balance of what I ate, so that I had much more fruits and vegetables, nuts, and grains, than meat and dairy. Nourishing and feeding my body – rather than filling myself up. This past week I tried an only-plant-based week and it was great.

Eating more plant-based has been like resetting my clock. Now I don’t feel hungry all the time, I feel nourished and satisfied. I no longer feel the need to fill my plate 3 times, at every meal.

I used to live to eat and I still do, but not in the same way!

I am mostly plant-based and I enjoy adding delicious fish or meat to my meals, but not with every meal. I also enjoy creme brulee and fabulous cheeses, but not with every meal.

I believe that the high cholesterol, Meniere’s disease and the 17 kg over-weight, was my body’s way of “telling” me, there was an imbalance  – something needed to change.

Today my Meniere’s disease is gone, my cholesterol is normal without medication,  I have lost 19 kg, I feel better and fitter than ever before!

This week has been like giving my body a holiday, spoiling it with foods that supports it, feeds it, and nourishes every cell.

My family supported me all the way – not everyone was plant-based all week, but I am proud of them for what they did! Loving that they tried, exchanging the majority of their meals with plant-based foods and for being so open to try. Changes do not happen over night – it happens by taking one healthy step at a time.

Plant-wild week-day 7

29 July 2012

3 Comments

What is better than a weekend in the summertime – they fit perfectly.  Time to relax and rejuvenate. Talking about feeling rejuvenated – that is exactly how I feel after a week on plant food!

We are taking it slow this morning, sleeping in and then a good run. Later, I potted about in the kitchen preparing brunch, while the rest of the house slowly got going.

Today’s brunch is inspired by one that I had in one of my favorite restaurants in Vancouver, Cafe Medina. I love having brunch there, while slow jazz fills the room and sunshine beams through the windows. Service is fabulous and the food is divine!!

They do a great brunch and one of them is a plate of Baba Ganoush, Tabouli and tzatziki – served with little crisp breads. I love this combination!

So, for brunch this morning in the garden with the family under the parasol, we enjoyed Baba Ganoush, Tabouli, fennel marinated cucumber and a little hot pomme rosti with mushrooms and thyme.

Brunch

Baba Ganoush, tabouli,  fennel marinated cucumber salad served with a little hot pomme rosti with mushrooms and thyme

Baba Ganoush:

2 medium-sized eggplants

2 tablespoons of tahini

lemon juice

sea salt

1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

Bake the eggplants in the oven till they are completely soft – leave them to cool. When they are cool cut them in half and scrape out the soft middle and put it in the blender. Add tahini, olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sea salt and cumin. Blend into smooth consistency. Keep it cool while preparing the other dishes.

Pomme Rosti with mushrooms and Thyme:

5 medium size potatoes – I used yellow potatoes

15 brown mushrooms

one onion

fresh thyme

salt and pepper

Clean and chop the mushrooms. Fry them until they are golden brown, season with salt and pepper. Put them in a bowl and then chop the onions and fry them till they are slightly brown, season with salt and pepper.

Peel the potatoes and grate them roughly – add the grated potatoes to the bowl of onions and fried mushrooms – mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper then add some finely chopped fresh thyme.

Mix it all really well – now take a handful of the wet mixture and squeeze out water forming a little “cake” – you have to squeeze hard, but gently while you are forming the potato rosti. Put them carefully on a board – when you have formed all the rosti – heat the frying pan with olive oil and brown them gently on either side. They are quite fragile while raw so be gentle with them. Put them in a baking tray and finish them off in the oven at 350F for about 45min -1 hr

Tabouli

1/2 cup of cooked bulgur

4 tomatoes

1/2 red onion

one bunch of big leafed parsley

one bunch of fresh mint

freshly squeezed lemon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper

In a bowl mix the cooked bulgur with finely chopped tomatoes, finely chopped red onion, finely chopped parsley and mint. Mix well and pour over a marinade made from the olive oil and the lemon juice. Mix and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Fennel marinated cucumber

1/2- 1 whole cucumber

sea salt

fennel seeds

Finely dice the cucumber, add sea salt and sprinkle with a little fennel seeds – I used about 1/2 teaspoon for 1/2 cucumber

Enjoy!

A shot of greens

Delicious cool juice made from a bunch of red chard from the garden, 5 apples and 1 lemon

Dinner

This dinner is from a previous post – a raw food lasagne – It has become a favorite of ours and I think it makes a perfect end to the Plant-wild week.

Lively lovely Lasagne

I LOVE lasagne – just like Garfield! I love it!

However, this version is 100% plant based, raw and delicious – full of goodness but as it has not been cooked, the nutrients and enzymes have not been destroyed.  It is so healthy you feel satisfied and totally energized after eating it – AND no greasy pans to wash afterwards!

You know when you eat regular lasagne all you want to do afterwards is get the dishwasher started and head for the couch – heavy and tired. After eating this version, you want to go and play soccer with the kids in the garden 🙂 or go for an evening run. You can really feel the difference! This has now become our favorite and we love it so much we actually prefer it over the traditional lasagne.

Now to the recipe:

The “pasta” is zucchini thinly sliced  lengthwise.

The pasta sauce is made from fresh ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs and sun dried tomatoes, like this:

4 big ripe tomatoes.

6 sun dried tomatoes

A small bunch of fresh basil

1 clove of garlic

1/4 red pepper

Oregano fresh if you have it, otherwise dried

Sea salt

Freshly grounded pepper

Add it all to the blender and blend well. This sauce is so fresh and tasty that it beats any cooked tomato sauce!

“Cheese” Sauce

Soak 1 cup of raw natural cashew nuts in water for at least a couple of hours

Drain and blend it smoothe with

3/4 cup filtered water

2 table spoons of olive oil

1 table spoon nutritional yeast

1 clove of garlic

Sea salt

Marinate brown mushrooms with a couple of tablespoons Braggs and a dash of olive oil.

On top of the sliced zucchini add some fresh spinach

then mushrooms

and tomato sauce and “cheese” sauce like this

On top of this, you should add some more slices of “pasta” zucchini, a bit more spinach and slices of avocado. Finish the dish of with “cheese” sauce and tomato sauce.

ENJOY 🙂

Plant-wild week-day 6

28 July 2012

10 Comments

This morning I made yumilicious pancakes without milk and without eggs and without butter – sounds terrible? Well, we were surprised – they were the fluffiest, tastiest pancakes ever!  I used homemade almond milk, vanilla, banana and fresh blueberries…………………

We started the day by drinking a big glass of cool freshly pressed watermelon juice, with lime and lots of fresh mint from the garden. So refreshing!!

Breakfast

Banana, blueberry pancakes

Almond milk:

1 cup of raw almonds

3 cups of water

vanilla

Put the ingredients in the blender and blend into a really tasty delicious milk – you can add dates to make it sweet. If you don’t have a high power blender, it is a good idea to soak the almonds in water first, to make them soft and easier to blend. This milk is so, so, so delicious.

Pancakes:

1 cup of organic unbleached flour

1 1/2 cup of almond milk

2 teaspoons of baking powder

a pinch of sea salt

2 tablespoons of raw sugar

1 ripe banana

a good handful of fresh blueberries

Add the flower, the baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl – mash the banana and mix it with the almond milk. Now mix the banana and almond milk with the dry ingredients – add the blueberries.

Fry in either olive oil or coconut oil.

Enjoy with extra blueberries, maple syrup and your favorite cup of tea – or coffee!

Snack

Mango/raspberry smoothie with almond milk and hemp hearts

1 mango

3 cups of fresh raspberries

2 cups of almond milk

ice

2 tablespoons of hemp hearts

Blend in to a delicious smoothie

Lunch

Guacamole with grilled tomato bread

4 ripe avocado

1/2 small red onion

1 clove of garlic

freshly squeezed juice of one lime

freshly squeezed juice of one lemon

1/2 red chilli

one bunch of fresh cilantro

sea salt

pepper

Mash the avocado, add lime and lemon juice, add freshly squeezed garlic, add the finely chopped red onion and some finely chopped fresh cilantro. Add the finely chopped red chili.  Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cut slices of good stale bread – put them on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and cut thin slices of tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with sea salt and put them in an 350F oven and bake till they are golden or grill them first on one side – then add the tomato and the sea salt and grill again.

These little breads are perfect with the guacamole!

Dinner

chickpeas and lentil curry with cauliflower, spinach and cilantro,  served with mango chutney and naan bread

1 cup of chick peas

1/2 cup of green lentils

2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh ginger

4 shallots

3 cloves of garlic

600g of tomatoes

olive oil

2-3 teaspoons of good curry

2 teaspoons of tomato paste

1 l of vegetable stock

one bunch of fresh spinach

one head of cauliflower

one big bunch of fresh coriander

Bunch of spring onions

Soak the chick peas ahead of time, for at least 4 hours, rinse and drain them.

Chop the tomatoes. Finely chop the shallots and the garlic and saute in a big pot, add the ginger then the curry and saute for a minute.  Add the tomato paste and the fresh tomatoes and then the chickpeas. Saute with all the spices and then add the vegetable stock. Cook for about 10 min. then add the green lentils. Cut the cauliflower head into smaller pieces. When the chickpeas and the lentils are almost ready, add the cauliflower. Cook for 5-8 min then add the spinach, cook for a min. and add the finely chopped fresh coriander.

Serve the dish with fresh lime on the side, chopped spring onions on top, some mango chutney and a piece of whole wheat naan bread.

Plant-wild week-day 5

27 July 2012

4 Comments

Wow – this is one effective diet! I wasn’t trying to loose weight, all I wanted was to boost my health – give myself a serious health kick. That has happened in a big way, but on top of it, I have lost 2kg!!!

I’m feeling great, so great, that I’m excited about continuing this plant-wild adventure another day!

Here’s today’s breakfast

Slices of fresh watermelon and a delicious fruit smoothie made from summer berries – strawberries, raspberries, almonds, ice and filtered water.

Lunch

Baked tomatoes and red pepper fattoush – one of my absolute favorites – full blown taste of summer!

6 big ripe tomatoes

4 red peppers

1/2 cucumber

fresh mint

large-leaved parsley

1/2 red onion

some black olives

olive oil

4 pita bread

Cut the tomatoes into quarters, half the peppers and take out the seeds – put them on a baking tray (on baking paper), drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt – and bake slowly in a 300C oven for about an hour – checking so see that they don’t burn. Once they are done, take them out and leave them to cool.

Cut the pita breads in half and then separate them – put them on a baking tray in an 400F oven – bake till they are slightly brown and crisp. Put aside to cool.

Cut the cucumber in half length-wise and then cut into bite sized slices. Wash and roughly chop the parsley and the fresh mint, cut the red onion in half and slice it. Remove any skin of the red peppers that is burnt. Cut the red pepper into smaller pieces. In a bowl put the cucumber, the herbs, the baked tomatoes and pepper and the olives. Mix carefully, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar,

Serve with pieces of the crispy pita bread on top – and enjoy, preferably outside in the shade with a cool drink!

Dinner

Pasta with sun dried tomatoes and olive pesto – topped with garlic, chili and herb bread crumbs and served with summer salad

Spaghetti 75 g pr person

Pesto

Big bunch of fresh basil

100g of sun dried tomatoes ( I used about half a small glass)

15 black pitted olives

1 big clove of garlic

1/2 olive oil

2 table spoons of nutritional yeast

2 table spoons of pine nuts

Add all the ingredients in to the blender and blend into a perfect pesto sauce

Bread crumbs

1 cup of bread crumbs

a bunch of basil

a bunch of fresh oregano

2 cloves of garlic

some red fresh chili ( depending on how hot you like it baby)

grated lemon peel

sea salt

I used some of the good, but now stale, bread and chopped it into tiny bread crumbs. Finely chop the herbs along with the garlic and the chili, grate some lemon peel and mix everything all together.

In a frying pan – add some olive oil and heat – add the bread crumbs, stirring and tossing all the time to prevent them from burning, fry until they are slightly golden, then add the herb mixture and mix well. Leave on the heat for another minute still mixing. Take off the heat.

Cook the pasta – detente – drain and mix with the pesto sauce, serve on big plates with the bread crumbs. Serve with a summer salad, with tomatoes, of course.

Plant-wild week-day 4

25 July 2012

12 Comments

Day 4 – This morning I went for an early morning run along the beach while the sun was rising, thinking, I can do another day of this! Another day eating greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains – everything that supports my body and fills me with this zippy wonderful energy!

 

Breakfast

Rawfood musli with blueberries

This has become a breakfast stable in our family – we eat it almost every day. It is so tasty and creamy. I came up with this recipe because I wanted to make a healthy version of an old favorite that had both full fat yoghurt and cream in it!! This tastes just as good and just as creamy and sweet as the original, but without the guilt!

In the blender/food processor add:

1 cup of raw oats,
2 good handfuls of raw almonds
1 big apple cut into chunks
6-8 Medjool dates ( more or less depending on how sweet your tooth is)
1 cup of filtered water
Blend it all – not too much because it is nice if it keeps it’s crunchiness

Enjoy with either fresh berries, banana or dried fruit in the winter – today I served it with fresh blueberries from the garden.

The Good-Morning Smoothie is made from fresh raspberries and pineapple today.

Variations.
You can add a little less water and add an orange – orange and dates are a perfect match. You can also add a bit of cinnamon or cardamom

Morning snack

A delicious green smoothie made from fresh kale out of the garden, peaches, pineapple, lemon, ice and 2 cups of water

Lunch

Delicious vegetable wraps with garlic/ginger dipping sauce

Rice paper

1 avocado

1 red pepper

fresh spinach

2 carrots

1 zucchini

1/2 cucumber

3 spring onions

Fresh basil

fresh coriander

fresh basil

fresh mint

Rinse and cut everything into strips of julienne.

Prepare the rice paper – one at a time. Take a clean tea towel and make it wet, place one rice paper on the wet tea towel and fold so it is completely covered with the wet cloth. Leave for about a min. Over the sink, wring out the water and carefully place the soft rice paper so you can fill it and roll it. Fill it with spinach leaves, a little avocado, carrot, red pepper, zucchini, spring onions and alfalfa sprouts, add some fresh basil leaves, some coriander leaves and some fresh mint. Roll them together and cut them in halves and arrange them on a plate along with the garlic/ginger dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce

juice of 1/2 lime

4 small lime leaves

thin slice of fresh ginger

1 clove of garlic

2 spoons of hoisin

1//3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup water

4 spoons of braggs

Blend it all together and serve with the vegetable rolls

Dinner

Baked zucchini and eggplants- served with new potatoes and green salad with fennel

I found these gorgeous looking green and yellow zucchini and some beautiful eggplants. I decided to make a really tasty dish that i think is perfect for summer with ripe tomatoes, fresh herbs and all you need to make this dish amazing. So this is my take on the Turkish specialty, Imam Bayildi – baked zucchini and eggplant topped with a spicy fresh tomato sauce, served with little new potatoes gently baked with herbs and garlic and a green salad with fennel.

2 eggplants

2 zucchini

600 g fresh ripe and chopped fresh tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic

4 shallots

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

2 tablespoon of chopped fresh oregano

2 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme

3 table spoons of chopped big leaved parsley

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1/2 cup of water

Finely chop the shallots and the garlic, gently saute them in oil til they are soft, add tomato paste,the herbs and the cumin. Add the tomatoes and the water. Cook for about 15 min. Season with sea salt and pepper, set aside. Add the parsley.

Cut the zucchini and the eggplant in halves on the length wise. Gently brown them in a bit of olive oil – on the inside. Place them in a baking dish on some baking paper and add the sauce on top.

Bake in an 350F oven for about 45 min

You can eat them right out of the oven but they taste amazing at room temperature too.

Potatoes

It is season for new and delicious potatoes – I love new potatoes!!

I prepared them like this

I washed them and cut them in to quarters and put them onto a piece of baking paper, drizzled with olive oil, sea salt and pepper, added some fresh thyme and some fresh rosemary – packed them in to little parcels and baked them in the 350F oven for about 45 min. They tasted so good!!

I served everything with a green salad with some fresh fennel

The dressing is a classic that has been in my family forever – we use it, let me just say, a lot
The trick is to use the best ingredients – the better the ingredients the better the dressing. So in other words don’t use the cheapest hot dog mustard.

2 spoons of good balsamic vinegar
a teaspoon of good Dijon Mustard
a pinch of sea salt
one clove of freshly squeezed garlic

Mix this – then add a little olive oil while you constantly stir, add more olive oil while stirring – continue doing this till you have a thick, dark yummy dressing. You can add a little maple syrup for a sweetness if you like. This salad dressing is so good and so easy to make.

Plant-wild week-day 3

24 July 2012

9 Comments

I’m well into this adventure and feeling amazing, vibrant and full of energy – it does make a difference, whether I fill myself or nourish myself. I run better on plants than on spareribs and ice cream!

Another thing I think is really cool, is that it is so easy to go shopping, I just head for the vegetable section of the grocery store, stock up on veggies and fruits, and away I go.

Okay, so last night’s dinner had some bread dough left over – which I had covered with a very wet cloth and left on the kitchen counter for the night. This morning I turned on the oven to 415 F, and before having my shower I scooped out the dough onto a baking sheet and put it in the oven. When I finished the shower, the bread was ready – about 20-25 min later – hot yummy bread.

Today’s breakfast-  slices of bread served with coconut butter, honey, walnuts and fresh blueberries – and a glass of smoothie made from fresh blueberries, raspberries, a good chunk of fresh juicy pineapple, some frozen summer berries and a handful of almonds. The almonds make the smoothie creamy and filling, the berries makes it irresistibly delicious.

Snack

Green juice and fresh peach

One bunch of collard greens

5 sweet apples

a slice of fresh ginger

1 lemon

Run it through the juicer and serve  on ice with slices of fresh peach.

Lunch

Warm kale Salad with tahini, lemon/garlic dressing, pine nuts and red pepper

Ingredients

2 big bunches of kale

one red pepper

2 spoons of pine nuts

For the dressing:

2 small tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons of tahini

1 clove of garlic

2 teaspoons of agave sirup/maple sirup

2 teaspoons  tamari

4 tablespoons of olive oil

1/3 cup water

a good squeeze of lemon

sea salt

Put everything into the blender and blend it into a creamy tasty dressing.

Wash the kale and take the leaves off of the stem. Roll up a couple of leaves at a time and cut thinly. Slice the red pepper into strips. In a frying pan, add some olive oil and saute the red pepper, add the kale – saute for a couple of minutes and add sea salt. Serve warm with the tahini dressing, pine nuts on top and some extra lemon for those who like.

Dinner

Summer Paella with vegetable served with baked cherry tomatoes on the wine

One favorite recipe in our family is paella with seafood, chicken and with intense flavors of fresh herbs, saffron,tomatoes, garlic and wine. Today I have left out the seafood and the chicken and made a delicious version with only vegetables. I was anticipating that there would be some complaints, about the missing seafood and chicken, but no, everyone ate and enjoyed.

I served it with a simple green salad with a oil/vinaigrette dressing

I used:

4 shallots

3 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of tomato pure

200g of fresh ripe tomatoes

200g of sweet cherry tomatoes on the vine

300g of green beans

1 bunch of green asparagus

1 red pepper

lemon

1 teaspoon of paprika

fresh oregano

fresh thyme

1 1/2 cup of long grained rice

1 l. of vegetable stock

a dash of white wine

Prepare the vegetable so that they are ready to go in the paella. Wash and cut the red pepper into bite size, wash the asparagus and green beans and cut into smaller pieces,

Finely chop the shallots – (Shallots have a more intense flavor than regular onions, the limo of onions), garlic, fresh thyme and oregano. In a saute pan add some olive oil and gently saute the shallots, garlic, fresh herbs, add a spoon full of tomato paste and the paprika, add the rice and mix it with all the ingredients, add a good pinch of saffron, stir, add a dash of wine – let it reduce, while stirring.

Now add the vegetable stock and cook gently with a lid, stir the dish every now and them. Depending on how you like your vegetables done you can start adding them in at this time. I like my vegetables just crunchy so I put in the green beans already when the rice has cooked about 3/4 of it time and then wait a couple of minutes before putting in the red pepper. In the meantime, put the cherry  tomatoes in the oven – see below. Stir the rice dish again and again to prevent it from sticking and burning on the bottom, and now add the red peppers, wait a couple of minutes and finally add the asparagus, put the lid back on and cook another 3-4 min.

Cherry tomatoes – Turn the oven on at 350F. Place the sweet cherry tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and sea salt, bake and keep and eye on them – for about 15 min keep them warm.

When the dish is ready and the vegetables are done to your liking – season with sea-salt, fresh pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Serve the dish with the baked cherry tomatoes on top!

I must admit I was dreaming of seafood while I was making this dish – but it tasted so good I completely forgot all about the seafood and thouroughly enjoyed every bite!

Plant-wild week-day 2

24 July 2012

9 Comments

Day 2 of our plant-wild week. I slept like a log and woke up full of energy – I can feel how I am actually fueling my body with everything good.

I am excited about today – I love this, creating new healthy recipes – and as you may know, I don’t compromise on taste …………

Breakfast

Breakfast today is quinoa cooked in coconut milk and cardamom, served with chopped dates, walnuts and fresh peaches.

I used:

1 cup of quinoa

1 can of coconut milk

5 green cardamom pods

1/2 cup of water

Put all the ingredients in a pan and cook over gentle heat till all the coconut milk is absorbed. The cardamon gives an awesome taste but they’re a bit chewy for most, so please see if you can fish out the 5 pods before serving.

Serve with chopped walnuts, dates and fresh peaches

Morning smoothie

Morning smoothie:

2 slices of fresh pineapple

one peach

one mango

a handful of grapes

some frozen summer berries

a handful of almonds

Blend into a smooth and delicious morning smoothie. This is a family hit.

Lunch

Salad with pomegranate, apples, pineapple and walnuts in a pomegranate marinade:

Arugula lettuce

A mix of your favorite lettuces

1/2 pomegranate

a slice of pineapple

a handful of walnuts

1 apple

2 spring onions

Marinade

1/2 pomegranate

2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons of agave or maple sirup

1 clove of garlic

pinch of sea salt

Put all ingredients for the marinade, except for the olive oil, into the blender – blend, add the olive oil slowly only a little at a time.

Arrange the salad, add the marinade, the apple, some finely chopped pineapple, the pomegranate seeds and sprinkle on top with the walnuts.

By the way – wear your bathing suit or an apron while making this – I ruined a T-shirt, because the little red juicy pomegranate seeds were wildly uncontrollable and went all over the place.

The taste of this salad was so intense and full of flavors – I will be making this again soon!

Dinner

We love to BBQ – and as we don’t care too much about the weather, we try to BBQ all year round, but I must admit the best time to BBQ is now, on a warm summer night, while the hummingbirds are flitting about and the long rays of sun setting give such a relaxing colour to everything.

So BBQ dinner: Tonight’s  dinner is BBQ Portobello mushrooms with slices of marinated eggplant and served on grilled bread with homemade pesto sauce!

The bread

3 cups of water

1 teaspoon of yeast

2 tablespoons of olive oil – season with a clove or two of garlic

5 cups of organic wheat flour

1 cup of organic whole wheat

Salt

Put the (lukewarm) water and yeast into a big bow and stir until the yeast is dissolved, then add the olive oil and a spoonful of salt. Stir in the flour a little at a time until you have used all flour. When the dough has absorbed all the flour and does not seem to want more put it on the counter for a couple of hours to raise. Cover it with a clean wet (damp) cloth.

Scoop out the dough on the kitchen counter – onto a bit of extra flour – to keep it from sticking. Tear off a small amount, about the size of a tennis ball and roll it out to a fairly thin bread (like a pizza). Put it on a piece of baking paper on a plate and add another sheet of baking paper on top for the next bread. Make the amount you need – we usually have one per person.

Heat up the BBQ and brush each bread with some of garlic olive oil and carefully place the oiled breads oily side down on the BBQ – brush the upper side with the garlic oil. Turn them until they are slightly browned on both sides and ready.

BBQ

4 Portobello mushrooms

4 thick slices of eggplant

fresh rosemary

olive oil

Lemon juice

Marinate the eggplant slices with a bit of olive oil, some fresh rosemary, some sea salt and some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Take the stalks out of the Portobello mushrooms and put them and the slices of eggplant on the BBQ. Grill gently til everything is ready – turning every now and then, sprinkle with some sea salt.

Homemade Pesto

I love the fresh basil in the garden right now – it is so intense and deep in flavor.

a big bunch of fresh basil

1 clove of garlic

2 spoonfuls of pine nuts

sea salt

one tablespoon of nutritional yeast

1/3 cup of olive oil

Blend it all together in to a great sauce.


To assemble the dinner, slice some tomatoes and some red onions and some lettuce. This goes wonderfully along with the grilled bread, the pesto and the grilled eggplant and Portobellos.

Too serve put a grilled bread on a plate, add some pesto, a grilled Portobello, a grilled slice of eggplant, some slices of tomatoes, onions and some lettuce –

Enjoy!

Plant-wild week-day 1

23 July 2012

12 Comments

I am excited! This is the first day of our 7-day plant-wild adventure.  I am really looking forward to eating plant-based for a week! It will be awesome, and  I can actually feel how every cell in my body is shouting harray and  jumping with joy!!

I’m also hugely grateful to my family for being in on this too – what a great thing to do together.

I am excited to see how we feel after a week, tanking up on heaps of greens, fresh summer fruits, nuts, grains and delicious vegetables.

So lets get started  – Here’s the first day’s goodies. I can hardly wait!!

Breakfast

Green good-morning smoothie:

2 apples

big handful of fresh spinach

1/2 cucumber

big handful of green grapes

1/2 an avocado

2 cups of water

a handful of crushed ice

Blend it all into a smooth delicious morning drink

Mango “yoghurt”

A while ago I made a raw food yoghurt with banana and avocado it tasted so good! This morning I am making a mango version of that. It is so simple and it taste so fresh and good!

1 big mango

2 avocado

a fresh squeeze of lemon

Add all ingredients in to the blender and blend into a smooth and beautiful, creamy breakfast treat

Serve with chopped dates, chopped walnuts and some fresh berries

Lunch

What is better than soup, made from the ripest local tomatoes and with basil from the garden?

It is really easy to make too, which adds to the joy of making it.

Tomato soup:

6 very ripe big tomatoes

4 shallots

2 cloves of garlic

1 l of vegetable broth

1/2 cup of cashews soaked in water

Lots of fresh basil

2 sun dried tomatoes

one bay leaf

Chop the onions and garlic and saute them in a pot with some olive oil – saute til they are soft and clear. Chop the tomatoes and add them to the sauteed onions and garlic. Add the bay leaf and cook till the tomatoes are soft. Add the vegetable broth and cook for about 10 min at low heat.

Blend in the blender with 3/4 of the fresh basil, the sun dried tomatoes, and the soft cashews to make it creamy.

Savour with salt and pepper and serve with a chunk of great bread, with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in

Dinner

Wok fried vegetable served with cardamon rice:

I love everything Asian – Serve me Asian fusion and I am in heaven.

Marinade:

3/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup sweet chili sauce

2 tbs sesame oil

2 1/2 inch of fresh ginger

4 cloves of garlic

one bunch of spring onions

2 tbs of white wine

Finely chop the fresh ginger, the garlic and the spring onions – in a bowl mix the soy sauce, the sweet chili sauce, sesame oil and white wine – mix well and add the chopped garlic, spring onions and ginger.

For the stir fry – use any of your favorite vegetables

I used:

one bunch of green asparagus

1 red pepper

4 shallots

400 g of brown mushrooms

big head of broccoli

Fry everything separately in a wok, drizzle the marinade over the portion just before each sort of vegetable is almost ready. Put it aside and stir fry the next vegetable, making sure they all stay crisp and colorful. When all the different kinds of vegetables have been stir-fried to perfection and the marinade has been added – mix all vegetables together.

Serve with Jasmin rice cooked with some green cardamom pods and sea salt.

I got lots of great feedback from the family – no one turned their nose up, no one pushed the plate away – someone even said, while eating the tomato soup: “did you put cream in this”?

I feel nourished and full of energy & looking forward to tomorrow & another day of plant food!!

Go to Plant-wild day 2 here

High cholesterol? Join us when we go plant-wild

20 July 2012

12 Comments

14 years ago I was diagnosed with high cholesterol – actually sky-high cholesterol. It was the end of my world. I hated hearing that from my doctor. “You have to live with it” he said, as though that would be the easiest thing in the world. Was he crazy?? How dared he just say that in the most nonchalant way?? I was furious!! Did he not understand that I needed my steak and would die without cheese?  “You’ve inherited it – the generic kind” he continued, “and medication is the only way, I am sorry.”

So for almost 14 years now I have been using medication and never believing for one minute that it could be any different.

Today, I am proud to say that I have normal Cholesterol levels and I no longer need medication.

I still eat steak and cheese – but not 3-4 times a day, like I did before. I have changed my ratio from 80:20 ( 80% dairy, cheese, eggs, meat and not to forget cakes – 20% grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables to a 20:80 so that today I eat 80% plant food/vegan and 20% whatever.

And one of the great things is – I didn’t change my diet! It changed me! When I started drinking green smoothies every day I just naturally started craving more green food! It happened painlessly and automatically without my intention ever to change a thing. No challenges, no strict this and that, because of the green smoothies I just all of a sudden fancied more green food. I changed some of my traditional meals with plant food, first for breakfast, then for lunch as well –   I got more energy, started to jog, continued eating more green and feeling better for it all the time.

And one day when I didn’t have any more cholesterol medication – I went to my doctor and I told him: “My life has changed since I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. I now eat 80% plant-based food and I have started jogging. I would like to check and see what my cholesterol is like without medication and with this new way of living?'” He looked at me in disbelief, but he honored my request saying. ” Okay, but this means 2 months without medication before we can take the blood test.”

2 months went by – including 5 weeks traveling and eating out, but I continued jogging, drinking as many green smoothies as I could find (not always easy) and trying to take some of my meals as plant-based. After 2 months I had my blood test, thinking that my cholesterol would probably be too high and I was ready to go back on medication. To my surprise and that of my doctor, he called me and said “your cholesterol level is normal. I see no need for medication – if you continue like this. But, we need to monitor and see”. Subsequent tests have all been positive and I have been free from medication for a whole year now.

Many diseases are directly caused by the way we eat – high levels of cholesterol is just one of them; there is also diabetes 2, heart disease, obesity, etc. By taking ownership of our own health, we can do amazing things. I would not go so far as to say that you can cure anything with lifestyle changes, and I am not suggesting you stop your medication without consulting a doctor! But I do want to flag that we have the power to change! One meal at the time –  a jog, a nice walk – it all makes a difference and adds to improve our health. Every little bit adds to your health!

The whole family is on-board – and that did not happen overnight – however the green smoothies seem to influence everyone. A milestone is approaching as the other day my daughter said: “Mom, I want to go completely vegan for a week” and my son said “Okay, I’ll be a weekend-vegan”  🙂

So next week we go plant-wild for a week – I hope you will join us for a week of fun and great recipes. And there is no need to be 120% – maybe you may just want to change a meal a day, maybe two, maybe you just want to follow us and see how we do – no matter what, you are welcome!!

Aren’t these peaches & blueberries lovely? – it’s a great time of the year to go plant-wild! Next week, there will be more of this:

There’ll be lots of green smoothies and juice – leafy greens and sweet summer fruit, blended and juiced like this

Breakfast may look like this

lunch like this

perhaps a homemade healthy popsicle

Dinner may look like this

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Credit:

The beautiful ceramic dish with the peaches, are made by my friend Malene Foyd.

Click here to go to Plant-wild day 1

Red quinoa salad with cherry dressing, walnuts, goat cheese and basil

17 July 2012

19 Comments

We are now getting gorgeous cherries, the deepest red, sweet, tasty and succulent – beautiful in a salad.

The other day I had quinoa cooked in coconut milk for breakfast, with cherries. It was an idea from one of my favorite blogs,  In pursuit of more , and it was so delicious!

Quinoa is a nutritional powerhouse – its protein content is higher than in any other grain , it is also a perfect source of dietary fiber and ion.

To develop more of this good stuff I decided to make a salad – cherries with quinoa!

I made a red quinoa salad tossed in a cherry/garlic dressing, served with walnuts, more cherries and crumbled creamy goat cheese on top – it turned out to be so good that we made it 3 days in a row!

Here’s the recipe:

Cook 2 cups of red quinoa according to package. Put it aside to cool.

For the dressing:

15 fresh cherries, pitted

2 spoons of good balsamic vinegar

6 -8 spoons of olive oil

1 clove of garlic

sea salt

Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend to a smooth dressing consistency.

Add the dressing to the quinoa – stir it and arrange it in a serving dish. On top add 15 pitted cherries chopped coarsely, add coarsely chopped walnuts and sprinkle with some crumbled creamy goat cheese and some fresh basil leaves.

Cherries are known as a true super fruit –  cherries are high in pectin, a soluble fiber that helps to prevent heart disease by lowering the “bad” cholesterol. Scientists have identified a group of naturally occurring chemicals abundant in cherries that helps lower blood sugar in people with diabetes, the berries have anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce joint pain and arthritis. They are also high in antioxidants helping to prevent heart disease and cancer, they contain melatonin which helps regulate heart rhythm and improve sleep – they are packed with vitamin A, C and E !!  So — mixed with the marvelous quinoa this dish becomes a potent and delicious dish, boosting your health with every bite.

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” Hippocrates, father of medicine, 413 B.C.

Enjoy!