AUTUMN FRUIT SALAD

Fruit salad is such a simple, yet delicious breakfast that I am surprised I have never made it before. After a long, albeit leisurely walk with my puppy this morning, I was feeling extra fresh and wanted to nourish my body with natural food. The very best thing about this salad is the beautiful, vibrant colours. Whilst I used whatever I had in the fridge/freezer, you could mix up the ingredients and add blueberries, figs, apricots, nectarines, fresh mint etc. As we are in the season of autumn at the moment, I opted for mostly fresh fruit (the exception being the raspberries- I am waiting for the day when I am able to afford to spend $10 a punnet on them). If you use lots of fresh orange juice, you may find that you only require a small amount of honey. If you pre-cut the apples or peaches, place them in a lemon water solution (the juice of one lemon and around 5 cups of water) as this will prevent them from browning. Before serving drain the pre soaked fruit well. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 handfuls of fresh or frozen raspberries (if frozen, thaw first)
• 1/2 a small rock melon, cut into cubes and skin & seeds removed 
• 2 small apples, cut into cubes and core removed
• 1 large peach, cut into cubes and core removed 
• the juice of 1/2 an orange
• a generous drizzle of honey 

COOKING 

1. Combine the raspberries, rock melon, apples, and peach in a medium serving bowl. Drizzle the orange juice and honey on top and serve immediately. 

Serves / 2 

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GREEN SPLIT PEA/LENTIL SOUP

As the evening wind becomes more persistent, a slight chill appears in the air. I embrace this change of seasons, as it means that soups are able to be eaten without sweating or wilting. I adore this time of year, when the sweltering Brisbane summer has passed and the sun shines brightly without melting you. I had a strong desire to make soup last night and turned to one of my Natural Cooking cookbooks by Heidi Swanson. Heidi always includes a decent amount of soup recipes in her books, however the Green Lentil Soup caught my eye as the colour looked both unusual and extremely appetizing at the same time. My partner despises soups as he seems to think they are basically water or thin stock with boring vegetables in them, therefore when he saw me preparing dinner he let out more than a few sighs. However, when the soup was served to him with warm toasted gluten-free bread, he polished it off within 3 minutes and told me it was ‘really yummy’ 4 times. I wholeheartedly agreed. This is the soup to change anyone’s previous conceptions about soup being boring, unsatisfying or bland. 


INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, ghee or coconut oil
• 1 1/3 cup of green lentils or green split peas, rinsed (I used green split peas but I imagine using green lentils may result in a very similar taste but a slightly more green colour of the soup)
• 1 medium brown onion (100-120g), finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 
• 5 cups vegetable stock or water (I used Massel vegetable stock)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee 
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• Optional- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 
• 1/2 cup (125ml) light coconut milk
• 1/4 cup fresh chives, finely chopped

COOKING 

1. Place the 2 tablespoons unsalted butter/ghee/coconut oil, onion, garlic, chilli flakes and sea salt in a large saucepan over medium heat and stir often, until the onion is soft and transparent. This should take 2-3 minutes. Add the 5 cups vegetable stock or water and reduce to a simmer, covering, until the lentils/peas are tender. This can take anywhere from 20-50 minutes depending on your lentils/peas and your saucepan. In the case of my cooking, it took 35-40 minutes for the peas to become tend.

2. Whilst the lentils/peas are cooking, melt 2 tablespoons butter/ghee in a small saucepan over medium heat and let it lightly brown. Add the curry powder and smoked paprika (if you wish, as paprika will give the soup a smoky, woody quality that some love and some despise) and stir constantly. When the butter mixture starts to smell fragrant, remove the pan from the heat. 

3. Remove the lentils/peas from the heat when tender and stir in the coconut milk. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor. If you want the consistency of the soup to be a little chunky, only puree for a short while. I pureed the soup until it was smooth, and this only took around 30 seconds. Pour into individual bowls, and drizzle the spiced butter on top, stirring into the soup. If you made the soup with water instead of vegetable stock, you may need to add more salt. Sprinkle the chives on top and serve with warm toasted bread, if you desire.  

Serves / 4 as a main meal, 6 as a side 

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SUPER GREEN STIR-FRY

A super, natural green-packed stir fry was on the cards for lunch and dinner tonight. As the seasons slightly change in Brisbane (if you can even tell the difference between the end of summer and the arrival of autumn in my adopted hometown) I find myself getting a little rundown and somewhat sick. Whenever I feel my immune system lapsing a little, I try to feed myself with as many vegetables as I can, as my dear mother always used to do by combining a minimum of 10 vegetables in a soup or stir-fry. Hence the recipe below was born. The inspiration came from Heidi Swanson’s cookbook, ‘Super Natural Cooking’, my new obsession, as frequent readers may attest. Whilst I am a cook who likes to chop, dice, grate and slice as she goes, I highly recommend that you get all the mundane chopping over and done with before you start the actual cooking process in the wok. It makes the stir-frying process so much easier and you will have a much smaller chance of overcooking any ingredients. More fresh herbs can be used, such as coriander, mint and/or chives and vegetables can be added, such as green capsicum, green onion, asparagus etc.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g chicken breast, cut into even strips
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into even sized florets
• 150g snow peas, trimmed and washed
• 150g green beans, trimmed and washed
• 3cm piece fresh ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 cup brown rice 
• 2 tablespoons cashews, roughly chopped
• 100g green spinach leaves, washed 
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons plum sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes 
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil 
• Optional - 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, shredded

COOKING 

1. Pour 1 cup brown rice into a medium saucepan, add 2 cups water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covering, for around 15-20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. 

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon of sesame oil in a wok and swirl to coat. Add chicken strips and stir constantly, until chicken is white in colour and no pink flesh remains. Remove chicken from the wok and place in a bowl. 

3. Heat 1 teaspoon sesame oil in the wok and again swirl to coat. Add broccoli florets, snow peas, green beans, chilli flakes, ginger and garlic and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add cashews and spinach leaves and stir for 2 minutes, until the spinach wilts. Return the cooked chicken to the wok, add the lime juice and plum sauce and stir well for 1 minute, tossing the liquid among the vegetables and chicken. 

4. Remove from wok and place cooked green vegetables & chicken on a bed of brown rice. Stir in fresh  basil if desired. 

Serves / 4 

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BLACK BEANS WITH TOMATO, CHIVES & LEMON

Another natural cooking blog post, this time tackling how to cook beans from scratch. I experimented with black beans the other day, but the recipe below can be used for chickpeas, red kidney beans, pinto beans and the list goes on. I have tried to make the cooking explanation as simple as possible. Whilst I anticipate that some of the readers may glance at it and think no way do I have time to do that, I can personally attest that the difference in taste between cooked and tinned beans is incredible. You won't know how natural beans can taste until you cook them from scratch. If you decide to cook a large quantity of beans, you can freeze them in freezer bags for a later use.

INGREDIENTS

• 250g black beans (or any amount up to 450g)
• 2 tomatoes, sliced into thin wedges
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
• the juice of 1/4 of a fresh lemon  

COOKING 

1. Step 1 can be very simple - to buy tinned black beans in an organic store and rinse & drain them. I stress that you certainly do this, however for really delicious beans, you need to cook them from scratch. 

How to do this: Buy your beans at an organic store, between 250 to 450grams. Rinse thoroughly at home twice. If you have time to soak the beans, do so. You can either soak them overnight or for at least 4 hours during the day. Pour the hard beans into a large, heavy pot/saucepan and pour in enough water to cover the beans by around 5-7cm. Leave at room temperature. 

After soaking, drain the beans well. Pour fresh water into a medium to large saucepan and add the beans, making sure that the amount of fresh water is double or triple times the volume of beans. At this point, you can add in some chopped vegetables if you desire, such as onion, carrots, celery. (I opted for just red onion). Keep the saucepan at a simmer and cook the beans, uncovered, until tender. Depending on the size of your pan, the power of your stove and the freshness of your beans, the cooking time will vary from 35 minutes to over one hour. It took me approximately 40 minutes to cook 250g of black beans. Sample the beans often during the cooking process to check their tenderness. Make sure that you taste 4-5 beans if you believe the first taste was tender, as this may not be the case with the rest of the beans. Season with salt in the remaining 10-15 minutes of cooking, so when you start to notice the beans becoming a little tender. When tender, drain the beans well. 

2. Place the cooked beans in a serving bowl and add chopped tomatoes and chives. Drizzle fresh lemon juice on top and serve. 

250g serves 4 comfortably as a side 

450g serves 6- 8 as a side 

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QUINOA PATTIES

One of my best friends, Rosie, introduced me to Heidi Swanson’s first cookbook,‘Super Natural Cooking’, late last year. As I do with every cookbook I purchase or are given, I skim it, looking only at the pictures and then put it away with my other 79 cookbooks. Recently I have been missing Rosie terribly (she is living in New York City being amazing) so I do what I do whenever I feel a little low- go to a bookstore. And what did I see on the first shelf I looked at but Heidi Swanson’s 2^nd cookbook, ‘Super Natural Every Day’. I purchased it without even looking inside and was hidden behind it all weekend. Both her cookbooks are unique, as Heidi takes a whole foods and natural cooking approach that would make a dietitian question how healthy he/she is. Heidi introduces her readers to a non-processed, completely natural and earthy method of cooking that teaches you how to expand your pantry and create masterpieces in a common kitchen. I cannot get enough of her cookbooks, as each recipe is innovative, colourful, nutritious and vegetarian. I could browse the photographs in Swanson’s cookbook (taken by herself) for hours at a time, as a reader you feel transported to another world, to a more natural, unrefined and organic earth. 

Below is one of Heidi's scrumptious recipes, using the grain of the moment, quinoa. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cooked white grain quinoa (see step 1 for how to cook). 
• 4 eggs, preferably free range, beaten 
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup (15g) fresh chives, finely chopped
• 1 medium brown onion (80-100g), finely chopped
• 2-3 large garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1/4 reduced-fat cheese (I used a combination of Parmesan & Cheddar cheese but Gruyere would also work)
• 1 cup bread crumbs, either whole grain or gluten-free (I used 2 slices of gluten-free bread, processed in a blender/food processor for 10 seconds and voila, 1 cup of breadcrumbs). 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• Optional- serve with a salad or use lettuce to garnish 

COOKING 

1. How to cook quinoa: Make sure that it has been thoroughly rinsed first. A sieve is best to use, as quinoa grains will just fall through a colander. Place the rinsed 2 cups of quinoa in a medium saucepan with 3 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon sea salt. Bring to the boil and then simmer, covering the saucepan, for around 20-25 minutes or until the quinoa is tender to taste and you are able to see the little quinoa curlicues- the little white curls in the individual grains. I know that this sounds unbelievable, but trust me, you will be able to see them. 

2. Once the quinoa is cooked, place it in a large bowl and add the beaten eggs and a pinch of salt. Mix in the chives, onion, cheese and garlic, stirring well to combine. Stir the breadcrumbs in with the mixture, then leave the mixture for a few minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. After letting it sit, you should be left with a mixture you can quite easily make into patties. If you feel that the mixture is too moist, add some breadcrumbs, or if you feel it is too dry, add some water or beaten egg. Remember that you do not want the mixture to be dry as it will be very hard to form your thick patties. 

3. Shape 12 2.5cm thick patties. Heat half the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Try to place 6 patties in the pan, but make sure that there is room between each one or you will make your life much harder when it comes to flipping them. Leave the patties to brown for 7 to 10 minutes, and only flip them over when they are very brown on one side. Turn up the heat if the patties are not browning after 10 minutes. Flip the patties over and repeat on the other side until golden brown (see picture). Remove from the heat and repeat with the next 12 patties. Serve with a salad or alone, as they are quite filling. 

Serves / 4

Makes / 12 2.5cm patties

**You can find Heidi Swanson's cookbooks at independent bookstores such as Riverbend Bookstore at 193 Oxford St, Hawthorne, Brisbane**

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