Raw colourful salad yum number1

Mash up an avocado with some feta cheese, lemon juice salt and pepper. make a vinaigrette. Chop up - small - the following : (obviously you can bung in any veg you have in the cupboard/fridge) a couple of sprigs of spring onion some french beans (don't steam, leave raw) a pepper - red or yellow grate a carrot maybe some home grown sprouted seeds Throw on a handful of mixed nuts, sunflower seeds - and a few raisins. Mix the vinaigrette in and put some dollops of the avocado cheese on top. and feel virtuous!

Rainbow cake???

I found this on another blog and I just HAVE to try it one day, even though it could be disgusting! Maybe I'll do it with merangues instead.. Here's the link: http://whisk-kid.blogspot.com/2009/08/say-it-with-cake.html
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Tagged Foodie cake colour

The Falafel King

For many years I have been addicted to the falafels of a small outlet called Falafel King, just near the bridge on Portobello Road. They put cabbage and tahini in the pitta with their falafels but the best thing is their chilli sauce - delightfully, juicily GREEN and runny I was always ask for triple the amount anyone else has. I've asked a couple of times over the years what's in it, but they kept it a closely guarded secret. However, I'm pleased to say I can now tell you, having worked it out. It's just coriander (masses) , vegetable oil, and green chillis. Radical man. Maybe some lemon.Whizzed in a whizzer-upper.
Tagged Foodie

Coconut water - miracle food number 1

Our miracle food for the week is: Coconut Water ! The natural electrolyte! Coconut water happens to be one of the purest liquids known to man, and the health benefits of coconut water are numerous. Don't bother with those sachets of manmade electrolytes when you have a runny tummy; this is what you should be drinking as it's packed with organic electrolytes, sodium, potassium, magnesium. When you need rehydrating, or a sports drink - THIS is the one to pick, don't let any of that fake artificial Lucozade stuff go near you. Drinking coconut water helps in breaking down and eliminating all forms of kidney and bladder stones. It is also known to calm nervous and emotional imbalances. Coconut water aids in flushing the liver, since it contains lauric acid, which gives it anti-microbial properties and makes it suitable for treatment of some liver ailments like hepatitis. And it contains glucose, which acts as sugar for energy in the body when taken, vitamin B's, for  replenishment of worn out cells and tissues, and vitamin c, for the immune system
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etc. Of course, Polynesians, Asians, Brasilians, etc have known this for centuries. And now Madonna & Demi Moore and co are investing in the Vita Coco brand. If I had any money and knew how to invest, I would too! Although - I have to say - it's far nicer out of  a chilled and freshly macheted coconut on the beach than out of my fridge in freezing London. see more on electrolytes and why they could be the key to understanding your body under the tag "electrolyte" .

Thai snake head fish recipe

I'm not sure you'll find snake head fish here, so we'll have to try this with any white fleshy fish I reckon. It's the typically Thai flavours of the sauce that are so important and the crispy fried skin of the fish that gives the deliciously satisfying texture on the tongue. Ooh - and if you can find half a thing of bamboo you could use it as a plate! [caption id="attachment_664" align="alignleft" width="600" caption="Snake-head fish"]
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[/caption] Fry the fish - veg oil - or why not try coconut oil if you have some - much healthier. Or olive oil. Make sure the oil's really hot before putting the fish in and be careful to not let the skin stick to the pan. When it's fried, put it to one side. Now chop up: 1 tblespn of galangal and another tblespn of ginger, or 2 of ginger (grated) 1 tblespn of lemongrass 2 shallots, chopped finely 2 red chillis, small - sliced then crushed in a pestle & mortar 2 tblespns of coconut milk Then put a little more oil in a wok, and put in the mixture and fry until the wafting of lovely flavours begins. Then add 1 tblespn of soya sauce and a spoon of sugar. Then the Thais add monosodiumglutamate MSG) but we're not going to do that, we'll just add a bit of a crumbled stock cube instead. Not too much. Simmer all this for a bit then pour over the fish!

Amazing dairy-free milk

Hurray! I've finally discovered a non-dairy milk I actually like the taste of! Kara Coconut milk - it's drinking milk, not the coconut milk you'd use for Thai curries. And, it's better than soya and rice milk as it's even healthier. It only got released on the market recently - it's cholesterol and lactose free, and contains the richest source of Lauric Acid of any kind of milk. Lauric Acid is a medium chain fatty acid, which is healthier than saturated animal fats and also helps control cholesterol. http://karadairyfree.com/ Coconut milk is from the coconut flesh, not the same as the coconut water, which sits in the middle of the fruit, which is also full of electrolytes - a natural isotonic beverage. (see other posts) http://www.talkingretail.com/products/product-news/14219-kara-dairy-free-the-...

Sprouting - the joys of

I've given up using the 3 tiered sprouter from Planet Organic as it didn't work - seeds went mouldy, water went stagnant, seeds all clumped up, etc. Turns out you just need a large jar anyway. 1) wash the seeds. Lentil, mung bean, alfafa, chickpea, fenugreek, try 'em all. Bigger ones take longer to sprout. 2) Fill the jar with an inch or 2 of water and leave the seeds in there for 24 hours. 3) Rinse out the water and leave the jar on its side with the seeds spread out. Cover with a teatowel - they have to germinate in the dark.Don't screw the jar lid on too tightly so a bit of air can escape. 4) Every 24 hours or so, rinse the seeds. 5) after 3 days, check to see if you can harvest them.... It's absolutely worth getting into the habit of doing this because they're so yummy in salads - and they are the healthiest food you can eat, full of living enzymes. See these for inspiration: http://www.sproutpeople.com/cookery.html https://www.livingfood.co.uk/

Khmer Chicken from Cambodia

Khmer Chicken with Bok Choi (serves 2, or 1 hungry man) Chop these thinly and keep separately in piles: 2 cloves garlic 1 shallot (Onion if you can’t be bothered to buy shallots, but only a very small amount (1/5 th of an onion) 3 small lemon grass stalks but exclude the outer skin first – chop these as finely as you can! 2 pieces of fresh turmeric (hard to get it fresh in the UK?) 1 and a half kaffir lime leaves – roll them up first then chop thinly Galangal 1 inch square, or ginger if no galangal
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Mix and smash these in a pestle and mortar (or cheat with a blender) But they must go into it in the following order.. lemon grass, kaffir, galangal/ginger : smash a LOT to a pulp THEN the rest except shallots; smash smash smash, and the shallots must go in last, more smashing.
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Now you're ready to spread this mixture onto the chicken - a large organic piece of deboned thigh preferably. On to the chicken, which you have slathered in this yummy bright yellow spicy mixture, add 2 tablespoons of coconut milk, half a teaspoon of chicken stock. Here you are supposed to add 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, but I say either add 1 only or none at all - I am suspicious that this is the Cambodians over-doing it a bit, making it far too salty. Over this add a couple of tablespoons of crushed peanuts - you should seriously think about keeping a jar of these in your larder - crushed to the point where some are powdery and none are left whole. (beware of using salted, but roasted should be ok) Now, heat some oil in a pan - by the way, the healthiest oil to cook with is coconut oil - if not, then olive oil, but you do not need any other oil in your kitchen - and make sure the pan has a lid or at least something you can improvise as a lid. When the oil's hot, fry the chicky with all of its yellow mixture  but don't toss it around too much, you want it to go a bit crispy so leave it in place, turning it over once or twice. When it's gone much browner, possibly 10 minutes, it's ready!
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You can serve with steamed rice and bok choi. The bok choi can be literally steamed with a bit of water, lemon juice and oil in the bottom of a pan or wok. Remember the lid!! If you want to be more elaborate, you can toss over it a bit of crushed garlic, palm sugar, fish sauce, a ladle of vegetable stock and some black pepper. The Cambodians like to add cornflower mixed with water at this point too but I thing this makes it look gloopy, you want it fresh and green. Don't oversteam, you don't want it to lose colour.
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Thai green papaya salad (Som Tam or Pok Pok)

One of my favourite Thai dishes of all time, but to make it in the UK you've got to find where they might sell green papaya and dried shrimps. Asian supermarkets will, but charging 10 times the few baht you'd buy them for in South East Asia - I just bought one green papaya for £4.80!  AND it's flown by air so food miles and carbon footprint are huge, but just once in a while it's nice to have a treat. I guess you could replace the green papaya with rice noodles and prawns, but that makes it a different salad.. I learned this in Cambodia but I've changed the recipe since the Thais make it better I think. (The Cambodians were getting carried away adding oyster sauce and tomato ketchup into the mix, sorry but yuk!) There are loads of variations on this recipe, just fiddle around with the ingredients till it tastes how you like it. You need a pestle and mortar if you want to do this properly really! Everything, even the shredded papaya, needs bruising in it. You'll also need a julienne stripper to shred the papaya, and v useful for other veg like carrot too.

Ingredients (serving 1)

A large handful of shredded green papaya A small handful of dried shrimps, chopped 1 small Thai red chilli, chopped Some green beans, chopped into 2cm lengths - can be lightly steamed or raw, in fact if you have a tendency to over-boil veg then don't go anywhere NEAR the saucepan with these! Half a clove of garlic, peeled and chopped 1 large handful of cherry tomatoes, halved 2 small handfuls of roasted peanuts (it’s fine if they’re salted) 1 tablespoon of palm sugar - ordinary sugar if you have none, but try and always buy unrefined 1 tablespoon of fish sauce lime juice - at least 1 lime if not two or 3 Thai basil

Method

peel the papaya, and shred with a julienne shredder into thin strips. Pound the green beans, red chilli and garlic in the mortar. Throw in the peanuts and dried shrimp and pound again, then add the palm sugar and tomatoes and pound again, lightly. Now introduce the lime juice, fish sauce and a large handful of shredded papaya. Give one last quick bruise and mix.
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