cooking with nothing

Salmon macaroni and ‘cheese’

I’ve kept the cravings at bay after giving up dairy – mainly because I know exactly how crap I’ll feel after eating it. That doesn’t, however, curb the cravings for specific dishes. Macaroni cheese was one of the first things my mum taught me to make, and I quickly became quite the MC whizz, testing out different variations on the theme.

Last weekend my boyfriend was away, it’s getting cold and I felt like curling up under a blanket with a DVD and a heart-warming dish. This is where my craving for MC came in – with a vengeance.

I decided to give a dairy- and gluten-free version a whirl, so I picked up some nutritional yeast (which gives the cheesy flavour) and tested out the thickening capabilities of arrowroot. Vegetarians and vegans can sub in some mushrooms for the salmon.

• 2 TBSP x arrowroot powder
• 2 cups x unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup x savoury yeast flakes, plus more to sprinkle on top
• 1 tsp x Dijon mustard
• 2 x garlic cloves, crushed
• A squeeze of lemon juice
• 1 x salmon fillet, cooked through and flaked into bite-size pieces
• A handful of baby asparagus spears, cut in half
• 2 x spring onions, diced
• 2 cups x rice pasta

Boil some water in a saucepan and add the pasta. Cook according to packet instructions until al dente.

Mix the arrowroot with 2 TBSP of almond milk and stir until you have a thick paste. Put the rest of the milk into a pan on a low-med heat. Warm slowly and add the paste, lemon juice, garlic and mustard. Stir until well combined, then add the yeast. Cook the mixture until it thickens, whisking often. It should take about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Combine the pasta, thickened sauce, salmon, and asparagus. Season well and sprinkle savoury yeast over the top. Bake at 200C for 25 minutes, or until the top is crunchy and golden. Leave to cool slightly, then serve. 

Warm soba and mushroom salad

Things have been pretty crazy around Casa de Cooking with Nothing lately. With very little time on my hands, I’ve been whipping up quick dishes like steamed fish and veges with a delicious, healthy sauce, or throwing together an easy stirfry in a matter of minutes. Here’s a mushroom salad-meets-stirfry that (hopefully) takes less than 20 minutes to make! You can also add in any other stirfry veges you like, such as bok choy, broccoli or cabbage. 

Serves two

• 3 cups x mixed mushrooms, sliced
• 4 x garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 x spring onions, thinly sliced 
• 1 x red capsicum, thinly sliced
  
• 1 x lemongrass stalk, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp x coconut oil
• 200g x soba (buckwheat) noodles
• 2 tsp x sesame oil
• 1 TBSP x tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) 
• 2 TBSP x brown rice vinegar
• About 3-cm fresh ginger, crushed
• 1/2 cup x coriander leaves 
• Sesame seeds to garnish (optional) 

Heat a wok over a medium heat and add the coconut oil. Cook the mushrooms, garlic, capsicum and lemongrass for a few minutes until soft. Set aside and keep warm. 

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the soba noodles for 4 minutes, until soft but still tender. Drain well, then return to the saucepan with the sesame oil. Toss to combine. 

Combine the tamari, brown rice vinegar and ginger in a small jug/bowl and mix together. Add the spring onions and soba noodles to the mushroom misture. Pour dressing over and toss gently until well combined.

Sprinkle with coriander leaves and sesame seeds (if using) and serve warm. 

Change it up!

It sounds like an oxymoron: reduce your food reactions by eating a wider range. Granted, I was helped along this journey by following the Hypoallergenic Diet, during which I had to restrict my food intake quite substantially. Well, so I thought, at least. The diet also opened my eyes to a plethora of nutritious grains and alternative foods that had remained under my radar (probably because they’re out of my comfort zone!) until I began the auspicious diet. Amaranth, buckwheat and teff replaced oats, and I trawled the food markets for vegetables I’d never tried, nor encountered. I also discovered the abundance of herbal tea varieties, each claiming to help cure different ails. Why would I just choose a relaxing chamomile each night when I could be targeting other issues, too? 

When you have food intolerances, it’s easy to start reducing your diet down to a list of seemingly safe foods that don’t seem to cause you grief. The problem is that too much of initially harmless foods, such as oats, can spark intolerances over time. I thought I had a relatively broad diet, but realised I’d been relying on the same porridge for brekkie for a long, long time and ignoring the other aforemetioned nutritious grains out there! In You Are What You Eat, Gillian McKeith recommends rotating foods every three to four days; oat porridge twice a week, for example, and different grains and fruit on other days. Amaranth and buckwheat make great-tasting porridges, once you get your tastebuds on board, and each carries different nutritional benefits. 

Each time I take a trip to the market, I try and find a fruit or vege that I’d normally skip over and buy that for a change. I mean, how often do you cook with turnips, celeriac or silverbeet? They certainly weren’t commonly used in my kitchen. If you’re unsure how to use something new, just do a Google search and find the most interesting-looking recipe. With access to billions of recipes online, we can’t use the excuse that we don’t know what to do with something anymore! 

If you do find you’re intolerant to something (dairy, amongst other things, in my case) find out what others with similar issues are using for substitutes. I’ve found some amazing-looking vegan recipes for things often reserved for cheese fiends, which require a bit of creative thinking and ingredient use. I, for one, am inspired to think of clever ways to rejig my favourites for my tummy; my peppermint choc-chip ice-cream is a prime example!

Spicy roasted chickpeas

I’ve most definitely overdone hummus, so I searched for a different way to use chickpeas as more of a snacky thing (which I  have limited options for). I’ve already tested paprika and chilli on the hypoallergenic diet, but those who haven’t can easily substitute in some diet-friendly options, like coriander powder.

Here’s a great chickpea-as-a-snack option from Anja’s Food 4 Thought.

Serves 6

• 2 cups x cooked chickpeas
• 1 TBSP x olive oil
• 1 tsp x salt
• 1 tsp x ground cumin
• 1 tsp x ground paprika
• 1/2 tsp x cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 180C/375F.

Spread the cooked chickpeas on a kitchen or paper towel and pat dry.
Combine spices and salt in a small bowl. Coat chickpeas with olive oil, then sprinkle spice mix over them. Toss until evenly coated.

Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for about 45 minutes, or until crunchy and no longer soft inside. Let cool. Ready to serve.

Mushroom and spinach millet risotto

I must admit some things got in the way of my eating regime last month – a lot of things, actually. With exciting events like travel, visitors and birthdays at the forefront, I don’t regret the moments of indulgence, even if my tummy does. But October is a new month and I’m starting it out by revisiting the Hypoallergenic Diet. I know that while I was following this plan, my stomach was the best it’s ever been (even if that’s not quite perfect just yet) so I’m eager to get my system back in order. 

To kick things off, here’s a risotto-style recipe using an underrated grain: millet. Well, technically it’s a seed, not a grain. Most risottos are made with short-grain white rice that is stripped of most its nutritional value, but this one utilises the health benefits of millet. It’s high in magnesium, calcium, manganese, tryptophan, phosphorus, fibre, B vitamins and antioxidants. Sounds great to me! Mushrooms aren’t allowed on the base Hypoallergenic Diet but I have already tested them with no returned symptoms. Those on the strict base diet can substitute with an allowed vegetable such as courgette. 

Serves two (with a bit leftover for lunch the next day)

• 1 cup x millet
• 1 x onion, diced
• A dash of apple cider vinegar 
• 2 x garlic cloves, crushed
• 400g x mushrooms, brushed and sliced
• 4 x thyme sprigs, leaves removed from stems
• About 1 litre x hypoallergenic stock (or water) 
• A bunch of baby spinach, well rinsed
• 1/4 cup x pine nuts, toasted if desired 
• A dash of olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to season

If using stock, warm it in a pot on the stove. Otherwise have some boiling water on hand.

Add the olive oil to a large pan on a med-low heat. Throw in the onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Pour in the millet and stir continuously for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and thyme, stir again for a few minutes, then cover with stock or boiling water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. 

Check the pot every now and then, stirring to make sure the millet doesn’t stick to the bottom and adding more water as it absorbs. When the water is absorbed and the grain is fluffy and tender, stir in the spinach, top with pinenuts, season with salt and pepper and serve! 

Peppermint choc-chip ice-cream

Since giving up dairy, ice-cream has obviously been off the cards. I used to enjoy the occasional treat of creamy goodness ­– my absolute fave being peppermint choc-chip flavour. On my last visit to Cheddar in the UK, my sister and I devoured a scoop of the stuff – it’s her favourite too – and her impending visit spurred me to find an alternative recipe that ticks all the right tummy-friendly boxes. Was it possible to make ice-cream that’s sugar- and dairy-free? Here are the results!

Makes about 1 litre (or just less than…)

• 800ml x rice milk
• 1 x avocado
• 6 x medjool dates, pitted
• ½ tsp x pure peppermint extract
• ½ tsp x pure vanilla extract
• ¼ cup x cacao nibs

Combine all ingredients, except for the cacao nibs, in a blender and process until smooth.

If you have an ice-cream maker (which I don’t), add the mixture then drop the cacao nibs in and let it churn until you get a creamy consistency. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and leave for 1-2 hours, then serve.

Otherwise, pour into a freezer-safe container and stir in the cacao nibs. Place in the freezer for a few hours, removing every half an hour to whisk; otherwise it’ll freeze into a block. Wait until it reaches desired consistency, then serve. The time this takes will depend on the coldness of the freezer and the size of your container (using two containers instead of one will speed up the process).

I state cacao nibs in the recipe as I’d prefer to use them but couldn’t get them in time to make this round. Instead, I used a good-quality dark chocolate (with no added milk powder etc.) so there was a touch of sugar but nowhere near the quantity in normal ice-cream!

Because of the use of avocado, the colour doesn’t turn out as vibrantly green as you may be used to. I found this recipe online that uses spinach (don’t be afraid!) to achieve the bright, fresh colour I normally associate with this ice-cream flavour. Perhaps a combo of avocado and spinach might add creaminess and colour to my next attempt! Using this as a base, you can easily play around and come up with your own delicious flavour combos. Or try switching the rice milk to coconut milk for some tropical-inspired concoctions. Mango/coconut/papaya anyone?

Pan-roasted salmon with anchovy-rosemary sauce

Here’s a delicious recipe from the hand of Jamie Oliver. It’s quick and easy; in fact, my boyfriend whipped this one up for dinner and gave me the night off!

Serves four

For the anchovy-rosemary sauce:

• a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and very finely chopped
• 10 x MSC-certified anchovy fillets in oil, drained and roughly chopped
• 1 x lemon, juiced
• extra virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper

• 4 x 200g MSC-certified salmon fillets, pinboned
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 500g x purple sprouting broccoli

Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6, then make your anchovy-rosemary sauce. Pound the rosemary in a pestle and mortar until you have a paste. Add the anchovy fillets and pound again until the paste is dark green. Now add the lemon juice, a couple of glugs of olive oil and some pepper, and mix together until you have a sauce with a good drizzling consistency.

Get a large, ovenproof, non-stick frying pan hot. Pat the salmon fillets with a little olive oil, season them with salt and pepper and cook them in the pan, skin-side down, for 2 minutes. Flip them over, then place the pan in the preheated oven for another 3 to 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets and the way they’ve been sliced.

Just after the salmon goes into the oven, put your broccoli into some boiling, salted water for 3 to 4 minutes until perfectly cooked.

To check if the fish is cooked all the way through, you can pull the fillets apart a little bit and look inside. Salmon goes from being an orangey colour to an opaque pink, so that’s what you’re looking for. Please do not overcook them, because, as simple as this dish sounds, it’s your mission to ‘just’ cook the fish so you’re rewarded with a soft inside and a slightly crispy outside – heaven!

When the broccoli’s perfectly done, drain it, toss it in a little of the anchovy-rosemary sauce and divide it between your plates. Place a salmon fillet on top of each and drizzle with some more sauce.

Banana chocolate cupcakes

My diet has changed dramatically in the last year. I’ve radically reduced my intake of refined products such as sugar, wheat and other processed foods. This couldn’t be more apparent when I flick through earlier posts on this blog, where I freely used sugar in my baking (now I use honey, maple syrup or brown rice syrup). Using dark chocolate in this recipe means it still obviously contains some sugar, so replace the chocolate with walnuts to make it refined sugar-free. 

It’s tradition in Amsterdam to bring baking to your workmates on your birthday so I decided it was about time I could eat the baking, too! I whipped up these little banana and chocolate cupcakes, inspired by this recipe… hopefully the others enjoy them as much as I do! 

Makes 12 cupcakes 

• 2 cups x rolled oats, processed into a flour
• 1/2 cup x regular rolled oats (unprocessed)
• 1/2 to 1 cup x spelt flour
• 1/2 cup x brown rice syrup
• 1/2 tsp x ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp x ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp x baking soda
• 1/2 tsp x ground sea salt
• 2 TBSP x coconut oil, melted (or another mild oil) 
• 2 x ripe bananas, peeled 
• 1/3 cup x pureed apple
• 1/4 cup x almond or rice milk
• 1 tsp x pure vanilla extract 
• To fold in: 1/2 cup x dark chocolate chips, 1 x ripe banana, sliced 
• 12 x dark chocolate squares to garnish (optional) 

Preheat oven to 175C and line a muffin tin with cupcake cases. Take the 2 cups of processed oats (make sure they’re a flour-like consistency) and add them to a bowl with the other dry ingredients (regular oats, spices, baking soda, salt). 

In another bowl, mix together the oil, brown rice syrup, apple puree, milk and vanilla. Add in the two peeled bananas and smash into the wet ingredients until smooth. 

Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined. Now fold in the chips and chopped banana. 

Place a few tablespoons of mixture into each cupcake casing and garnish with a square of dark chocolate if desired. The squares will melt during cooking and create a hard chocolate layer on top. 

Cook for 20 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when pressed. Allow to cool for at least 15-20 minutes before removing.

Sprout salad with oil-free red pepper dressing

I’ve really been embracing the awesomeness of sprouts lately. They’re literally alive, so imagine what happens when we eat them! Sprouts are also much easier to digest than regular seeds and legumes - a real bonus for those with digestive issues, like yours truly! I substituted basil for coriander in the dressing as I’ve got a huge plant that needs clipping; coriander would work just as well though!

Serves four

• 450g x mixed sprouts (mung beans, chickpeas, aduki beans, lentils etc.) 
• A bunch of radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 x large carrots, peeled into ribbons
  
• 20g x parsley leaves, roughly chopped
• 300g x roma tomatoes, cut in half lengthways
  
• 1 x avocado, diced
  
• 80g x rocket leaves

For the dressing (adapted from Kimberly Snyder’s oil-free red pepper and cilantro dressing in The Beauty Detox Solution):

• 1/2 red pepper/capsicum, seeded and cored
• 3/4 cup x fresh basil leaves
• 1 x small tomato (or a few more roma tomatoes)
  
• 1 x garlic clove
• 1 1/2 TBSP x fresh lemon juice
  
• 1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
  
• 1 TBSP x filtered water
• 1/4 tsp x black pepper
  
• 1/2 tsp x organic, unpasteurised miso paste
• 1 tsp x raw apple cider vinegar
  
• 2 x garlic cloves, crushed

Put the sprouts, radish and carrot in a large bowl.

Blend all the dressing ingredients until smooth.

Add your desired amount of the dressing (it should make about 1 cup) to the sprouts mix. The rest can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Stir, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Add the tomatoes, avocado and rocket, toss gently and serve.

Lentil stew with fresh greens

I’m transitioning into food combining at the moment, which requires a complete mental shift. Luckily I’m well and truly used to major mental shifts after undertaking years of elimination diets to try and rid myself of digestive issues. Everything we (or at least, I) ever became accustomed to while growing up is out the window. Eggs on toast? Wrong combo. Roast chicken and spuds? Nope. It’s all about separating out your carbohydrates/starches and proteins, which is what I’m trying to get used to.

While the eggs on toast and chicken and spuds combos are the least of my worries as I’m shifting more and more into an easier-to-digest, vegan-based diet (with a few occasional eggs and MSC-certified fish fillets thrown in for good measure), it’s the daily when-to-eat-what scenario that takes some getting used to. Don’t reach for the roast spuds before you munch down a salad, for example (but the other way around is perfectly okay!).

As a simple rule, things should be eaten light to heavy. This makes complete sense to me, but I debated this topic recently in relation to IBS sufferers here and here. I’m in the process of giving food order and combining a go and my issues certainly haven’t gotten any worse. If anything, they’re improving – even though I’m supposed to prepare myself for a few upsets while my tummy gets used to this new system.

More information about the order in which to eat your foods for optimal digestion and nutrition can be found in Kimberly Snyder’s The Beauty Detox Solution.

Kimberly stresses the importance of raw foods, which I’ve definitely upped the quantity of in my diet recently. There are times, however, when a warming, easy-to-digest meal is most definitely called for. Following Kimberly’s advice, I had something raw beforehand. She recommends a green salad or chewing on some celery sticks. Since this recipe already has celery in it, why not chomp on a few while you’re cooking?

Here’s dairy- and gluten-free, vegan autumn-inspired dish. Leftovers can be blended to make a soup.

Serves two  

• 1/2 cup x lentils
• 1 x bay leaf
• 1 tsp x turmeric
• 1/2 x onion, chopped
• 1 x sweet potato, diced into 2-cm cubes
• 1 x cup of diced (2-cm cubes) butternut squash
• 1 x carrot, diced same as above
• 1/2 x celery stalk 
• 1 TBSP x tamari
• 2 cups x water (or stock, if you prefer) 
• Fresh greens, to garnish

Put the water, lentils and bay leaf in a pot and bring to the boil. Cook for about 15 minutes until the lentils start to soften (but they should still be firm). Add the sweet potato, butternut squash and turmeric and cook for a further 10 minutes. Lastly, add the carrot and celery then cook until tender (another 10 or so minutes). Stir in the tamari to finish and garnish with some fresh greens.