Lunch/Dinner Recipe 13: Leek and Feta Pancakes

Hashbrowns in concept but naturally the detox version has had to ditch the potatoes. I personally think these have more taste than a traditional hashbrown and they are great both for dinner, served with a salad and/or steamed vegetables, or as a snack.

Pancake Ingredients (makes 12-14 pancakes)
½ kg chopped leeks
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
2 tblsp chopped mint
½ cup crumbled feta cheese

¼ cup brown rice flour

Salt and pepper for seasoning
Optional: ½ cup boiled white quinoa (this adds a bit of 'weight' to the pancakes so in case you have some boiled quinoa in the refrigerator it is a nice ingredient to add)
4 tblsp vegetable oil (for pan-frying)

Sautee the leeks and onion in a non-stick frying pan for a couple of minutes (you don't want to brown them; simply look for them to soften up a bit). In a separate bowl mix the eggs, mint, feta cheese and brown rice flour (and quinoa if you plan to include it) and season with salt and pepper. Drain the leek/onion mix in a sift and mix into the egg mixture.

Heat about 1 tblsp of oil in a non-tick frying pan and add ¼ cup of mixture per pancake to the pan and squash to make it flat (app. 8cm/3" in diameter). Cook on both sides until golden brown.

Dressing
2-3 tblsp half fat creme fraiche
2-3 tblsp Greek yogurt
A small handful of flat leafed parsley
A small handful of fresh mint
Salt, pepper and a small squeeze of lemon juice

Chuck it all in the food processor/blender and whizz together. Taste and season appropriately with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Serve with the dressing and a salad and/or steamed vegetables. If you want to make it an ever larger meal, some grilled chicken breast will also go well.

Lunch/Dinner Recipe 12: Quinoa Paddies

These paddies have a lot of taste and go well with a simple salad and/or some steamed vegetables. You can also make the smaller and have them as a bite size snack on their own. They are delicious both warm and cold so this is also a great lunch option. The below ingredients is a mix I have found to be very tasty, but you can add other ingredients to the mixture such as mushrooms, pine nuts, chopped spinach etc.

Ingredients (making app. 16 paddies)
1 cup of red quinoa, boiled as per instruction on the pack (add a bit of vegetable bouillon granulate to the water for extra taste). While I normally am very happy to substitute freely between red and white quinoa, for this recipe it is quite important to use red quinoa. You could mix a bit of white quinoa in, but white quinoa does not have quite enough 'bind' for the paddies to hold together.
100 g feta cheese, crumbled
½ medium red onion, finely chopped
2 handfulls of fresh herbs, finely chopped (I used flat-leafed parsley and mint)
2 tblsp capers, chopped
1-2 tblsp lemon juice
2-3 tblsp gram flour (this is chickpea flour which I use to 'bind' the mixture in order to make the paddies)
Season with salt and pepper
Vegetable or olive oil

While boiling the quinoa, prepare and mix the feta cheese, red onion, herbs and capers in a bowl. Add the boiled quinoa when it has cooled down a bit and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper until you are happy with the taste. Thereafter add 2-3 tblsp of gram flour to make the mixture more sticky so that you can form paddies.

Heat up a non-stick frying pan with a bit of vegetable or olive oil. Scoop a large 'packed' tablespoon of mixture onto the pan and flatten/form it into a paddie - don't make them too thick or too big as they will not cook as well and if you make them too big, they easily fall apart. They tend to feel quite 'fragile' but once cooked for a couple of minutes on each side and cooled down a bit, they firm up.

Serve with a salad and/or steamed vegetables.

Detox Crispbread

My mother makes these lovely homemade crispbreads and kindly tested the recipe with detox friendly ingredients - luckily they turned out just as delicious as the normal, gluten-containing, ones she usually makes. 

These are great for a quick snack (especially if you have gotten sick of corn/rice crisps at this point) topped with a bit of goats cheese, ricotta cheese, hummus etc. They can last a long time as long as you keep them in an airtight container so if you were to make a portion at the beginning of your detox it could in fact last you the whole three weeks.

You can make them more savory by adding fresh herbs (I would recommend some finely chopped rosemary) and maybe a little pepper to the base mixture below.

Ingredients
½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup whole flaxseeds or linseeds

½ cup sesame seeds (white or black)

½ cup quinoa flakes or gluten free rolled oats

250 g gluten free flour

1 heaped tsp baking powder

1 heaped tsp salt

½ cup rape seed oil

1 cup water

Mix all ingredients together - it should be a slightly wet mixture but in case it is too wet to handle without it sticking to your fingers, add a little more gluten free flour.

Split into two portions. Between 2 pieces of baking paper roll it out thinly (so that it is about 2-3mm thick) into a square of approximately 35X30 cm. Cut each square into app. 20 pieces (or whichever size you find appropriate for each individual piece of crispbread) and transfer the sheet with the unbaked crispbread onto a baking tray.

Bake at 200C for 12-14 minutes. When they come out of the oven put them on a wire-rack to cool. Store in a airtight container and they will stay fresh for at least a month.

Side-dish Recipe 2: Butterbean and Fennel Salad

You can have this as a meal on it's own but I suspect most people would prefer serving it with something else. As always with beans, they are best if you have soaked them yourself overnight but in the event you haven't had time to prepare, the canned beans will do just fine.

Ingredients
250 g or 1 can of butter beans
1 small fennel, finely sliced
A handful of dill, finely chopped
Olive oil, lemon juice and Herbamare for seasoning

Boil the butter beans as per instructions on the pack (make sure you don't overcook them as they easily become quite 'floury'). Drain and let them slightly cool (you can do this under cold water). Add dill and fennel and season with olive oil, lemon juice and Herbamare as per your preference.

Enjoy!

Side-dish Recipe 1: Stuffed Mushrooms

These are delicious as a snack on their own or served with a bigger meal and they are relatively quick and easy to make.

Ingredients
250 g medium sized chestnut mushrooms
2 medium sized shallots, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
150 g soft goats cheese
A handful of gently roasted pine nuts, roughly chopped
1 tblsp finely chopped rosemary
1 tblsp olive oil
Pepper and salt for seasoning
Rosemary sprigs to decorate

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely - you can also add any whole mushroom that you think is too small to stuff. In a non-stick frying pan, heat up the oil. Add the shallot and garlic and roast it gently for a few minutes (don't let it get brown). Add the mushroom and let it cook while stirring occasionally for 4-5 minutes. Season with the rosemary, salt and pepper. Put in a bowl to cool.

At this time you can pre-heat the oven to 180C.

When the mixture is relatively cold (it doesn't have to be room-temperature, but you don't want it very hot as the goats cheese will become very runny), add the goats cheese and the pine nuts and stir. Fill the mushroom generously with the mixture and top each with a few rosemary sprigs for decoration. Bake in the oven for app. 15 minutes or until they are slightly browned on top and you can see the mushrooms are cooked.

Banana Bread

My friend, "Chef Erika", makes the most wonderful banana bread, which I have done my best to adapt to fit within the detox rules. So while it may surprise you that this would be detox friendly, this recipe is, and it is actually quite nice (though of course it will never be as sumptous as non-detox banana bread). Naturally, I would not recommend that you eat this daily through the detox period; rather consider it more of a treat for the weekend maybe!

If you find it a bit dry, I recommend having it with a bit of ricotta cheese spread over it. When it is a few days old you can toast it and that will 'freshen it up' a bit.

As with all baking, I recommend following the measurements and the process steps quite closely as it often tends to go wrong if one does not.

Ingredients
1½ cups buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½  teaspoon ground cinnamon and a dash of ground nutmeg
¼ cup honey (or other PH neutral sweetener such as Stevia - which is not available in the UK - or Xylitol)
2 tblsp hazelnut oil
1 large egg white
1 large egg, at room temperature
4 very ripe large-sized bananas, pureed (you should end up with a little more than a cup of puree)
½ cup half-fat crème fraicheSeeds from ½-1 vanilla-pod. You can also use ½-1 tsp vanilla extract but some of these do have a bit of alcohol in them so if you want to be 100% pure use vanilla pod instead
Zest of one lemon½ cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts but you can use whichever nut your prefer - pecans are also very nice because they are soft)

Process
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. 
2. Sift together in a bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. If you use stevia or xylitol as sweetener, mix that into this mixture as well.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the hazelnut oil, egg white, egg, banana puree, sour cream and vanilla. If you use honey as sweetener, mix that into this mixture as well.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and stir in the wet ingredients with a spatula until almost mixed. Add in the nuts and stir until just combined, but don't over-stir: stop when any traces of flour disappear.
5. Scrape the mixture into an oiled bread-form (I use hazelnut oil) and bake for 35-45 minutes (until the center feels lightly-springy and just done). 
6. When done, remove from the form and leave to cool on a wire rack. 
 

Lunch/Dinner Recipe 11: Fragrant Quinoa with Salad

This recipe is quite light, yet filling and very tasty. The quinoa is quick to make - even quicker if you already have some boiled quinoa in the fridge. In case you don't, then you can make the salad and prepare the 'Fragrant Quinoa' ingredients while you boil the quinoa and overall it should be a fairly quick recipe to make.

Fragrant Quinoa (serving 4)
1 cup quinoa, boiled as per instructions on the pack (or see my previous blog about quinoa: http://alkalinefoods-ahealthierlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/quinoa.html)
6 spring onion, cut into small pieces (I use the white part and maybe an inch of the green part)
A handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
A handful of flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
App. 100 g spinach, roughly chopped
Juice of 1/2-1 lemon
Olive oil
Pepper and Herbamare for additional seasoning

Drizzle some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan; once it has heated a bit add the spring onion. Stir for 1-2 minutes and add the boiled quinoa. At this point I also add another swig of olive oil. Stir a bit and add the herbs and lemon zest. Season with lemon juice, Herbamare and pepper. Just before you are ready to serve, put in the spinach and stir until it is wilted (1-3 minutes depending on how high you have the heat).

Salad
Lambsleaf lettuce
Rocket
Avocado
Buffalo Mozzarella
Grilled, marinated artichokes
A handful of slightly roasted pine nuts
A sprinkle of shelled hemp seeds (I use the Virginia Harvest brand which is delicious - http://virginiafoods.net/health/index.php/ourproducts/virginia-harvest-shelled-hemp-seeds.html. Very rich in Omega 3).
Fresh sprouts
Season with a bit of Herbamare and a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice

The quinoa almost ready to serve...

Dinner Recipe 10: Sushi Rolls - with a twist

Most people I know, love sushi! Sadly, it is not super friendly towards a detox diet as the rice is white and is mixed with vinegar and sugar and soy sauce contains wheat. Whole Foods, both in the US and the UK make brown rice sushi, which is definitely a step in the right direction but if you are to be completely pure you'll need to stick with sashimi without soy sauce!

Now, I call this sushi but truth is that the only thing these rolls have in common with real sushi is that they are rolled in Sushi Nori (seaweed)!!

Preparation time for this is slightly long which is why I 'labeled' it as a 'Dinner Recipe'. It is a social way to have dinner with friends and reminds me of having fondue where people sit around the table and cook their own food - so plan it for a night when you have time to prepare and time to sit around the table for more than the average 10 minutes. To speed up the preparation time, I use my food-processor for grating the vegetables.

You can get creative about the ingredients yourself, but below I have listed 9 'ingredients' which I think make a wonderful combination. I have left the ingredients vegetarian and all raw (except the hummus - the raw food gurus will be thrilled) but you can of course add some sashimi quality fish or some brown rice or quinoa. At a minimum, I think you need 6-8 different items to fill your Sushi Nori.

Carrots, grated
Beetroot, grated
Avocado, cut into long slices/boats
Spring onion, sliced on the long side
Rocket
Sprouts - I chose two types this time (alfalfa and china rose radish sprouts - the latter one is a bit spicy)
Furikake Japanese seasoning
Hummus and/or tahini
Herb dressing (Creme Fraiche and Greek yogurt mixed in a food processor with fresh herbs, fresh garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper)
And finally, Sushi Nori for wrapping it all together in a nice roll.

Have fun!

All ingredients ready to be served

Ready to roll!

Alkaline Food and Pregnancy

My friend and reflexologist, Adriana, recently gave me a book by Dr. Gowri Motha called 'Gentle Birth Method' (http://www.gentlebirthmethod.com/). It was an interesting read for me, especially since one of Dr. Motha's three 'pillars' that she emphasizes for a better, easier pregnancy and birth is your diet, which on many accounts comes very close to the detox diet.

Very briefly, what Dr. Motha argues is that the Western diet and lifestyle leaves pregnant women's internal organs bloated/swollen and with more water retention than what would be natural and that this leads to more and more difficult births. During her 15 years as an obstetrician in the NHS, she found that too many births had complications due to tissues being congested and swollen and her only option was to apply forceps to drag the babies out. This trend has been very similar in Asia where births used to be quite smooth due to their bodies being clear of toxins due to a healthy diet and supple from working in rice-fields.  As the society has adjusted to a more Western diet/lifestyle they are sadly experiencing a sharp rise in the number of difficult births leading to caesareans and medically assisted births.

I do not suggest that one should follow the detox 100% while pregnant. For instance, while the only fruit you can have during detox is banana, this is in fact one fruit that Dr. Motha argues one should not have! But Dr. Motha promotes a gluten-free and sugar-free diet and this is where the detox recipes will be very helpful.

If you are pregnant, I recommend reading Dr. Motha's book. From my reading however, my take-away is that a diet consisting of a breakfast of for instance fruit salad with a bit of bio-live yogurt and some cold-milled flax seeds combined with lunches and dinners from the detox recipes should leave you feeling lighter, more energized, less constipated and in the end hopefully help you have an easier birth.

Good luck!

Lunch/Dinner Recipe 9: Red Lentil Dal served with Sea Bass and Green Salad

Many people consider Indian food to be very spicy and quite heavy (due to the use of large quantities of ghee and cream). This dal is none of that. It serves as a wonderful meal on it's own or can be an accompaniment to a number of different foods. Also, it is quite easy and relatively quick to make - I don't think you will be disappointed as the outcome is tasty, hearty and very healthy. Simply delicious - and a good source of protein!! 

Ingredients for the dal (serving 4)
1 cup of red lentils (you can also use puy lentils, which will take 5-10 mins longer to cook)
1-2 limes
1 medium red onion, very finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tblsp ground cumin
1 heaped tblsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tblsp vegetable oil
Optional spices: Turmeric, cayenne pepper, chili (not strictly detox) or any other spice you may find suitable

Put the red onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, salt, oil and other spices into a pot and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes. One of the tricks with Indian cooking is finely chopping the onion - the finer it is, the yummier the dal. Obviously chop as much as your time permits (and your eyes can handle) - I was taught in an Indian cooking class that one should however chop the onion with a knife rather than the food processor when chopping onion for dal!!

After 10 minutes, add the lentils. A little trick to add extra flavor is to mix the dry lentils with the base in the pot for a minute or so before you add the water. Add about 3 cups of water, stir occasionally and it will take about 15-20 minutes to cook the lentils. Red lentils are the fastest cooking lentils, puy will add another 5-10mins.

Once the lentils are cooked, add juice from one or two limes (depending on your preference).

I served the dal with some sea bass quickly steamed with a bit of chopped garlic, chopped ginger, cut spring onion, lemon juice, salt and a bit of toasted sesame seed oil and a green salad. The options are endless though - as I mentioned above, it is a delicious meal on it's own or you can serve it with fish, chicken, steamed vegetables, a big salad, tofu etc.

Enjoy!

Refreshing Vegetable Juice

I previously wrote about the benefits of having vegetables juices (see post: http://alkalinefoods-ahealthierlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/vegetable-juices.html) and in that post provided you one mixture I have found very nice.

Another, slightly 'lighter', mixture which I can recommend is (the measurements below made 2 glasses in a masticating juicer):
Carrots - 500 g
Spinach - 100-150 g
Ginger - a small knob - add as little or as much as you like depending on how much 'heat' you like
Lime - 1 (peeled)

As per N. W. Walker's "Raw Vegetable Juices":
"Carrot juice among many benefits, helps normalize the entire system and can aid digestion, improvement and maintenance of the bone structure of the teeth and is a resistant to infections. It is the richest source of vitamin A as well as containing ample supply of vitamins B, C, D, E, G and K.

Spinach juice is the finest organic material for the cleansing, reconstruction and regeneration of the intestinal tract".

Enjoy!

Lunch/Dinner Recipe 8: Buckwheat Pasta with Mushroom and Spinach Sauce

This is what I would consider a real 'comfort' meal - a healthier version of the creamy mushroom sauce you would normally have with pasta and wonderful on a cold winter's night. If you are looking for a slightly bigger meal you can accompany the pasta dish with either some grilled chicken breast or a nice salad.

Serving 4
400 g pasta (I used buckwheat because I had some in my pantry, but corn or any other glutenfree pasta will work)
400 g mixed mushrooms (I used chestnut and shitake but any type of mushroom will do)
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or crushed
3-4 spring onion, finely chopped
200 g fresh ricotta cheese
80-100 g fresh spinach, roughly chopped
A handful of flat leafed parsley, chopped
Season with salt, pepper and a small squeeze of lemon juice
Olive oil 

Mushroom and Spinach Sauce
Wash and cut the mushroom into smaller pieces. Heat up about a tblsp of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the garlic and spring onion and sautee briefly. Before the onion turns brown add the mushroom. Cook for 5-7 minutes at medium heat after which you add the ricotta cheese. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and a little bit of lemon juice (don't overdo the lemon juice as you risk that the ricotta cheese splits and gets really grainy - it is already a bit grainier than what a normal cream would be). Once you are happy with the taste add flat leafed parsley and just before the pasta is cooked, add in the spinach so that it is only in there for 1-2 minutes and gently wilts.

Mix the pasta and sauce and serve.