Pumpkin Hummus

I could eat hummus every day, I love it so much. I have always enjoyed hummus, ever since I first tasted it when I was really young. I used to beg my mum to buy it but she insisted on making it herself. My mum makes everything from scratch but I always wanted ready-made supermarket food! I didn’t realise how lucky I was. History repeats itself and I would never buy hummus from the supermarket now unless really pushed for time. Not that ready made hummus isn’t good, some of it tastes excellent, but I like to have control over what I’m eating and know exactly what is in my food i.e. salt and oil content. I also like the variations of homemade hummus, such as this one with pumpkin. Hummus is a brilliant source of vegetarian protein and fibre making it a great snack or accompaniment to any meal. The tahini also provides essential fatty acids and minerals. I’m currently using unhulled tahini. It has a slightly bitter taste in comparison to hulled but being less processed, unhulled is higher in nutrients.

• 400 g cooked organic chickpeas
• 300g of cooked organic pumpkin
• 1 clove of garlic (or more if you like)
• 2 tbsp of organic tahini
• ½ lemon juiced
• ½ tsp of ground cumin
• Sea salt to taste (Himalayan is good)
• 1 tbsp of olive oil/flaxseed oil
• Water depending on how thick you like it
• Sweet Paprika

Chuck chickpeas, pumpkin, garlic, tahini and lemon juice into a blender and add water if it needs to be thinned down. Once blended, stir in the oil and cumin and add salt to taste. Spoon into a bowl and sprinkle paprika over the top. Yummy.

Innocent Fish Pie

This is a delicious fish pie that can be eaten without the fear of loading up on excessive calories. There are some beautiful fish pie recipes out there but all are considerably high in fat listing ingredients such as puff pastry, double cream and cheddar cheese. There is no doubt that these elements create a luxurious and great tasting pie, however, this type of meal should be the exception not the rule.

If you want to eat fish pie more frequently than a treat, this recipe cuts down dramatically on the saturated fat content and still tastes good. It is suitable for wheat free diets and dairy free diets where yoghurt and goats cheese is tolerated and is also nutrition rich with lots of veggies and protein. I have a weakness for truffles so I add a small amount of truffle oil but this is optional. Serve the fish pie with steamed organic broccoli dressed with organic unrefined linseed oil.

· ½ - ¾ pumpkin, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes
· 2 organic eggs
· 2 large handfuls spinach
· 1 onion, finely chopped
· 1 carrot, finely chopped
· Olive oil
· 1 cup fat free organic yoghurt
· 150-200ml Bonsoy milk
· 50g of goats fetta cheese
· 1 lemon, juiced
· 1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
· 1 large handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
· 2 tsp of truffle infused oil (optional)
· 500g of white fish (such as blue eye cod, barramundi etc) chopped into strips
· Macrobiotic sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
· Nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Steam the pumpkin until soft and then mash with 50ml of soy milk, some grated nutmeg, salt and pepper.Add the eggs to a pan of boiling water and cook for 8 minutes until hard boiled. Steam the spinach in a colander above the pan for a minute and then squeeze out moisture. Remove the eggs, cool under cold water, then peel and quarter them and put in bowl with spinach and fish.

In a separate pan slowly fry the onion and carrot in a little olive oil for about 5-10 minutes, then add the yoghurt and remaining soy milk and bring to the boil for about a minute. Remove from the heat and add the goats cheese, lemon juice, mustard, parsley and truffle oil if using. Pour the vegetable sauce over the eggs, fish and spinach and mix together carefully. Put into an ovenproof and spread the pumpkin mash on top of the fish. Cook for about 30 minutes or until cooked through.

Quick Quinoa Risotto

I love risotto but eat it fairly infrequently because it’s high in simple carbohydrates and often low in protein content. I think of risotto as a treat rather than a staple of my everyday diet. Of course you can make a healthier risotto with brown rice, however, whether you are using white arborio or brown rice, risotto needs lots of time, love and attention. I’m often too busy to offer these cooking qualities in the week so instead I opt for a more protein rich, lower fat and less time consuming quinoa risotto.

Quinoa has a low glycaemic index and is high in fibre and protein (approx 15%). Unusually for a plant, it contains a balanced set of amino acids making it a complete protein and thus a perfect food source for vegetarians.

You can increase the protein content of this meal by serving alongside a piece of poached salmon, trout, white fish or chicken. This protein rich, low fat, complex carbohydrate meal is great for week nights when you are short of time and ingredients. Feel free to substitute for any veggies you have available. I don’t see why this risotto can’t be part of everyday life. Serves around 4 as a side.

· 1 bulb of fennel sliced
· Handful of mushrooms sliced
· Couple of handfuls of spinach
· 2 cloves of garlic chopped
· Fresh chilli – chopped
· 1-2 cups of quinoa
· Chicken stock
· ½ lemon juiced
· 1 tbsp Olive oil
· Salt and pepper
· Parsley

· Optional: drizzle of unrefined brown flaxseed oil to serve

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and fry garlic and chilli for 1 minute. Add fennel, coat with the oil and sauté for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for further 5-10 mins. Add quinoa and mix well. Add a couple of cups of chicken stock and simmer. Stir occasionally and if it becomes dry, add more chicken stock. The quinoa should cook in about 15 minutes and the germ ring will become visible. A few minutes before serving, stir the spinach through the quinoa until cooked. Add lemon juice and seasoning to taste and top with chopped fresh parsley and a drizzle of flaxseed oil.

Back to balance chicken soup

Eating out frequently, together with desserts and glasses of wine and not enough healthy home cooked food often leads to weight gain, lethargy and the need to bring balance back into your life. At times like this, I try to take back control of my diet and weight with a mini detox. By mini detox, I mean giving my body a rest for a few days from fats, sugar and alcohol. This takes stress off the liver and pancreas and helps to shed the recently gained extra kilos.

The problem with detoxing is that you really need to make all meals yourself to ensure you eat a low fat, low sugar and highly nutritious diet. We don’t all have time to make breakfast, lunch and dinner and so at these feeling out of kilter periods, I make chicken soup. Lots of it.

The great thing about this soup is that it has lots of veggies, lots of protein and is low in fat and sugar. The stock also contains silica which improves the structure and function of connective tissue such as skin, hair and nails. It’s easy to make and can be used for lunch or dinner for up to a week.

For variation at each meal, it can be served over different cooked grains/legumes such as lentils, cannellini beans, quinoa, brown rice or pearl barley. Green leafy veggies are great for detoxing the liver but feel free to vary. Instead of adding extra salt to taste, top your soup bowl with a teaspoon of Umeboshi paste. Umeboshi helps to stimulate the liver and kidneys and detoxify the body of toxins.

Try to use organic meat and veg whenever possible.

Stock
· 1 whole organic chicken
· Carrot
· Onion (halved)
· Bay leaf
· 6 peppercorns

Soup
· Tbsp of olive oil
· 2 or 3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
· 2 carrots (finely chopped)
· 2 celery sticks (finely chopped)
· 2 onions (finely chopped)
· 2 leeks (roughly chopped)
· Mixture of other green veg/cruciferous veg such as broccoli, kale, spinach, silverbeet, cavalo nero
· 2 x bay leaves
· Oregano
· Macrobiotic salt/unrefined sea salt
· Optional: drizzle of unrefined brown flaxseed oil to serve

In large saucepan, submerge chicken in water (enough water to cover chicken) and add onion, carrot, bay leaf and peppercorns. Bring to boil and then simmer for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Pour chicken stock into separate saucepan and skim fat off the top. Separate chicken meat from the bone removing the fat, chop roughly and set aside.

Heat the oil and throw in the chopped carrot, celery, onion and garlic and sweat on a low heat for 25 minutes. Then throw in rest of vegetables and oregano and stir for few minutes. Add the chicken meat, stock and bay leaves, bring to the boil and then simmer for 45 minutes or less if you can’t wait. Season to taste and add chopped parsley. Serve over choice grains or legumes.

Healing protein smoothie

This smoothie is great for healing the gut of those with IBS or dysbiosis or just for the morning after a big night out. It’s also a great breakfast or post workout snack and can be boosted with a good quality protein powder. You can of course forgo the slippery elm and aloe vera if you don’t feel your gut is compromised.

The fruits can be varied, try to use those in season. I always try to add berries because they contain lots of antioxidants and fibre and have a low glycaemic index. And they taste good! The addition of aloe vera juice and slippery elm powder have a soothing and healing effect on inflamed gut linings. You can make this dairy free by taking out the yoghurt or adding goat/sheeps yoghurt. You can also use oat or almond milk in the place of soy.

· 150ml of Bonsoy milk
· 2 tbsp of low fat organic yoghurt
· Handful of oats (soaked if possible)
· Tsp/tbsp of slippery elm (depending on what you feel works for you)
· 50ml aloe vera juice
· Tbsp linseed meal/LSA/flaxseed oil
· Ground cinnamon
· Optional scoop of good quality protein powder

Combination of two or more of below fruits (depending on what is in season):

· Strawberries
· Blueberries
· Banana to thicken
· Mango
· Pomegranate

Chuck all ingredients into a blender and voila