I was going to bring you a slow cooked Vegetable French Cassoulet this week for my second contribution to The Suma Blogger's Network but when I reached into the cupboard and brought out my casserole dish I noticed it was cracked so I decided to prepare it on the stove top instead. All is not lost though since one legend of this historical French dish states that it was originally cooked in a cauldron on top of an open fire so perhaps this stove top version has turned out to be authentic after all.
I've been making this awesome nut roast regularly throughout the Summer. Quick and easy to prepare, it's packed full of protein from the quinoa and the nuts and the butternut squash and carrots give it a subtle sweetness as well as a lovely warm, orangey tinge.
It's St Patrick's Day tomorrow and this is my contribution to the celebrations. Jam packed full of green veggies and served with an avocado and mint dressing, this salad is the ultimate green salad.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! Hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas break. My eldest son and his gorgeous family landed safely back in Toronto early yesterday morning and life is now slowly getting back to normal. The last three weeks have been jam packed full of wonderful, precious moments which will stay with me for ever. How lovely it's been to have my whole family back together and how extra special for all of us that we were able to spend so much time with the latest addition to the family, it was just perfect!
I've never used harissa before in cooking but that is definitely going to change from now on, what an awesome ingredient!! Harissa is a fiery, aromatic paste used widely in many North African and Middle Eastern cuisines as a condiment, in stews or even mixed with olive oil as a dipping sauce and the exact ingredients vary depending on the country, region or family tradition.
I'm a huge fan of Indian food and I particularly adore onion bhajis. My favourite vegetarian Indian restaurant is Prashad's near Bradford and their bhajis are absolutely wonderful. After I created my almond and butternut squash bites, I wondered if I could create a bhaji spiced version of them and these are the result. Flavoured with cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala and red chilli these little flavour packed bites truly are awesome!
Did you know that almonds are one of the world's healthiest foods? For years I avoided them like the plague, that first taste of marzipan was enough to put me off eating almonds forever. When I first started to cook with almond flour I expected everything to come out tasting of commercially made marzipan but no, I was quite taken by surprise!
When Sainsbury's sent me an organic hamper this month in support of Organic September, I was so pleased to find a pack of organic almonds in the box. A fantastic source of Vitamin E, almonds are also rich in essential minerals including phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron. I eat almonds virtually every day. I adore almond milk and love roasting almonds with salt and as you know, I use them to bake cookies and cakes. AND have you tried almond butter? If you haven't then you're definitely missing out!
I stopped picking the mint from the garden a couple of years ago because whenever I glanced out of the window the local black tomcat was sitting on it. Moving it into a pot didn't help but this year, I've had a plentiful supply from my Mother's garden and we're loving the wonderful fragrance in the kitchen.
We consume pounds of onions in one week, at least two a day not including all the red onions and shallots we like to roast as well. They are extremely high in flavonoids which tend to be at their highest in the outer skins. One which is worth a mention is quercetin, a potent natural anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory. This can be found in yellow and red onions and is believed to help hay fever sufferers, something some of you may find interesting as we approach the Summer months! High in Vitamin C, onions are also a good source of chromium, copper and manganese.
A week or so ago, I was delighted to find out that my blog is now part of the Sainsbury's Blogger Network so when I was asked to write about my signature dish, I was more than happy to say "yes". But what is my signature dish? I asked the family for some ideas. My husband thought it was my lemon pie recipe. My eldest remembers his favourites from the past and thought it was "square pizza" - I used to make a fantastic home-made pizza.
These vibrant peppers are stuffed with a selection of vegetables and beans which are flavoured with a delicious Moroccan spice blend. As you can see, it's a very fiery red dish, rich in carotenoids and vitamins and is perfect to eat as a main or as a side dish or starter. It's easy to adapt for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet by altering the vegetables used. I've made it with butternut squash, with sweet potato and with both. I've also made it with and without the beans added so I've made them an optional extra. This recipe makes enough for 4 medium sized peppers.
This week my daughter made a wonderful bean stew that's perfect for the blustery, cold and wet weather we're experiencing at the moment. Made with a selection of nourishing, sweet, seasonal root vegetables, this stew is very delicately spiced and yet very warming. There's nothing more satisfying than stews and soups in the Winter months.
Courgettes or zucchini to my friends across the pond, have only really become popular in the UK over the past ten years. The first time I discovered them though was about twenty years ago when a French teenager came to stay for a few weeks one Summer, he sliced a couple and fried them in a pan, YUM!!!!
Though very similar to the last zucchini noodle recipe I posted, this was much quicker to put together and surprisingly tasty and the warm golden colour looked lovely on the plate! I do think though that courgette noodles resemble bean sprouts more than they do pasta and could quite nicely be added to any stir fry to make it SCD legal.
Kidney beans originated in Peru and were introduced to Southern and Central America by migrating Indian traders. They were brought back to Europe in the late 15th Century by explorers on their return from The New World. I love their deep red colour, so attractive in bean salads and hot dishes.
I love anything with a Mediterranean flavour and this recipe is grain free and suitable for the SCD.
You might think that nut roast is very '70s but it's something we've been eating regularly for many years. Sunday dinners and Christmas Day just wouldn't be the same without one! The recipe I'm posting is a pretty basic recipe but feel free to vary it by adding different veggies, herbs and spices.
This curry is a lightly spiced dish which is delicious with Cauliflower Rice and perfect for a quick supper. If you're following the SCD then you may wish to prepare your own garam masala spice here to ensure that it is free from additives.
In the '60's and 70's, Valentine's Day wasn't commercialised. It was the day when someone anonymously declared their love for another by sending unsigned cards or gifts and the fun part was trying to guess who had sent them!
