tabbouleh with quinoa

In celebration of the return of my kitchen mojo I finally got around to concocting a gluten-free version of this Middle Eastern classic. Tabbouleh is a salad best eaten freshly made, with green herbs straight from the garden. It really zings!


Tabbouleh with quinoa

2 cups cooked quinoa*
2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoon finely chopped mint
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 Lebanese cucumber, finely diced
2 tomatoes, finely diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
juice of 1-2 lemons
a pinch of salt, pepper and Zataar (optional) – to taste

Combine ingredients and then adjust flavours to taste. I prefer a tabouleh a little heavy on the lemon juice and light on the spring onion.

Makes a great salad or side dish that ticks all the good health boxes – vegan, gluten-free and a total detox dish.



*To cook quinoa
Rinse 1 cup of quinoa well in a fine seize and bring to the boil with 1.5 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Simmer covered for 12 minutes, then leave to steam off the heat with the lid firmly on for 5 minutes.

Cool before using in salads.

a nettle delight that you won't find on masterchef

Masterchef is over and hopefully we won’t have to hear the word “journey” (unless it’s in conjunction with some mode of transport) for a very long time.

I neither loved nor loathed the series, was not so secretly pleased that the finale was duked out between two grown up women (rather than an over confident bloke or a darling young 20 year old) but was saddened to hear that it really hasn’t inspired a generation of children to cook. According to a tweet by Stephanie Alexander, a formidable authority on all things to do with healthy food and young people, kids were more inspired to cook by the ads than the show itself.

@GrowCookEat: Masterchef claim that kids turned onto real food. From a class of 22, 8 told me they cooked chocolate cupcakes inspired by Betty Crocker ad.

I would have liked to see more cutting edge cookery, especially in the last week. So I present for you the key ingredient I would have selected for a mystery box challenge – nettles! And lets add a twist; the dish needs to be vegan as well. Come on, it’s the final week lets up the ante a bit more – lets make sure its is gluten-free to boot.

This is my humble offering, harvesting my only current backyard crop of abundance. Having earmarked small footprint family’s intriguing nettle pate, I had a flashback to another herb and avocado spread that I had earlier concocted. What I whipped up is a hybrid of the pate and my detox parsley pesto.

Nettle, nut and avocado dip

5 cups (approx) fresh, or 2 cups steamed, nettles
1/2 cup pistachio nuts (soaked and dried if you want to release extra goodness)
1/2 cup walnuts (optionally soaked as above)
1 large avocado
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp coriander (cilantro) seeds, roasted and ground
1/2-1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground
pinch of salt
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon young (shiro) miso

Carefully harvest your nettles, choosing the young tops if you can. Wash well and shake dry. Place in a large pot on low heat with no extra water. Keep lid on and shake every few minutes. It should take about 10 minutes to steam the nettles in this manner. Once cooked drain off any excess water.

Roast and grind the cumin and coriander seeds with a pinch of salt.

Pulse nuts in a food processor til semi crushed. If you go to far they will become nut butter. Add the garlic, ground spices, avocado, and lemon juice process some more. Now throw in the drained nettles and miso paste. Blend to the desired consistency, I like my nuts to still have some texture but its up to you. Season with additional salt and lemon juice, to taste if needed.

The dip goes well with crudités or rice crackers. There is a hint of the green grassy taste of nettles but be assured there is no sting.

Who knows, maybe next year nettles rather than tonka beans will be the must have herb of the season.



If you have no nettles consider using some steamed spinach, radiccio, rocket a bunch of your favourite fresh green herbs.

spring at last

I have four posts jangling around my cranium. Back from NZ for 36 hours this is the first moment that I have had in front of the keyboard without work or domestics pulling me away. Though now I sit comfortably, the glorious warm spring air blowing through the open doors, I know that although I feign relaxation there are at least fifty other things I feel I should be doing right now.

But I’ll knock the top off the first post by saying this will not be the weekend that I start my spring detox.

Not just because I have a fresh source of Schoc.



Or because this was the first thing I bought at the market this morning



zucchini and carrot fritters straight out of the fryer, hot and crispy

Possibly not even because of the duty-free purchases.

But because there is a detox I need to do first on an entirely different level.

The relationship between what we eat and how we feel is not exactly rocket science. Although outwardly I am calm, somewhere near the intersection of sub and full consciousness there is an iceberg bobbing on the surface. The SE put it best when he said on the way to the airport last night (it’s his turn to go away this time) “If you knock off both bottles of brandy and all the chocolate this weekend I wouldn’t blame you after the week you’ve had”.

I’ve found there are a couple of things that determine whether my full on Spring Clean is going to flow freely. Firstly, timing is crucial. Last year's was cut short a day or two early with the unexpected arrival of a friend I hadn’t seen for over a year. The way you come out of a detox is as important as all the good organic fruits and vegetables that fuel it. This weekend was the perfect window to commence my annual ritual, I’m not sure now if I can find two weeks without major social distractions from here on in.

The second is preparation. For someone who is food oriented to switch off from oral gratification involves some psyching. Not best to start amidst the ravages of PMS, during exams or at a time of emotional lability. I’ve had a week with my family taking care of my mum who has slipped another notch into the dance with Alzheimer’s. It’s not fun. There were tears. But some laughter too. I need to sit with this latest experience for a while. Not starve myself of comfort.

I certainly hope I can find a space this spring to give my body a rest. While I am actually a little sceptical about claims that the so called toxins can be eliminated from a body of this age in a mere week or two on basic, unadulterated whole foods diet, I do know that by the end of the first week my energy picks up (even without the coffee) and my focus changes. I enjoy the detour from my usual daily diet of reading food blogs and being sedentary, to savouring the unexpected sweetness of vegetables and moving my body more.

The good news is the garden is providing the bulk of our green vegetables at the moment and you can’t get fresher than that. The season has taken a delightful shift. The air is scented with jasmine and the parrots were courting loudly this morning when I parked my car on the fringes of the CBD. This is such a sensual time of year so that if nothing else, I can at least indulge smell, sound, touch and sight with equal fervour as last winter's over reliance on taste.



The snow capped mountains of the South Island from across the Cook Straight

final reflections from the week that was

The Significant Eater was doing it tougher. Is it a macho thing, the “anything you can do I can do better’ credo? While I did a spring clean, he actually fasted. One friend quipped that he was getting into the spirit of Ramadan. I nibbled on apples and focused my ‘fast’ on a week or so away from being food obsessed. He, on the other hand, sipped water and poured over cookbooks. Masses of them, all meaty and hearty. The antithesis of his current diet.

While new posts of my favourite food blogs piled up to be read in bloglines, I tried (though failed) to avoid reading epicure and I did not read a single recipe. On my trip to the library I followed my regular path: return books, cruise the books and DVDs waiting to be shelved, then straight to the culinary part of non-fiction. Ah! Then I averted my eyes, detoured to design and art and completed the u-turn towards fiction.

I found that food, or to be precise, thinking about food takes up more of my day than I had previously realised. How often had I started the working day wondering where I would have lunch? And after lunch, how soon did I contemplate what would be for dinner? On Wednesday’s it was always a rush to be home before “The Cook and The Chef” started. All little things that added up.

While these small routines in themselves may not amount to a full-blown obsession, when you add a blog dedicated to thoughts on cooking, eating and occasionally drinking – it did get me thinking.

For me the spring detox is as much about giving my mind a break as it is to ‘cleanse’ the body before the onslaught of the more social end of the year. It isn’t til we break a habit, change the route we wander through life – that we can really understand how we operate.

more tales from the spring clean

Nature has a way of giving our body just what we need, exactly when we need it. In summer all that sweet, juicy fruit cools us down. Autumn gives us delicious stores of energy by way of nuts and grains. Winter vegetables come from the ground with starches to keep us going. Spring wakes us up and gives the liver a kick.

It is no accident that I choose this season to do a little detoxing. Leading me into this phase has been some great cleansing foods, fresh herbs like turmeric and nettles. Now as I pull out the other side of a week of mainly fruits and vegetables – it is time for one of my fast becoming favourite medicinal foods: artichokes.

This edible thistle is not only a flavoursome treat but a nifty way to lower cholesterol, encourage healthy liver function and a whole lot more. As Melbourne commences it’s down hill run – from grand final day today (aha, that’s why I can here people screaming outside!), through the spring racing carnival, then into the Christmas/New Year sprint – this liver assistance could not come at a better time.

While you can simply steam artichokes and dip the leaves in something luxuriously fatty, like olive oil or melted butter, I prefer to turn them into a complete meal. This is another variation on the Significant Eater’s stuffed artichokes. Befitting the upside of the end of my detox I whipped up this vegan, gluten-free version for lunch.

Vegan stuffed artichokes

nut mix
raw pistachio nuts (we were out of pine nuts)
1 cloves of garlic/per artichoke
a handful of parsley
1 sun dried tomato/per artichoke
(or a dash of salt and pepper)

Grind together in a food processor

Combine 1 part nut mix with 1 part rinsed, uncooked quinoa. I’m always amazed at how much stuffing can fit into the nooks and crannies of an artichoke. Depending on the size, you can squeeze in up to 1 cup.

Trim the top off the artichoke and rub with a little lemon juice to stop discoloration. Discard any outer leaves that are tough. Cut off the stalk and set aside to steam. Now start stuffing. Starting on the outside, ease apart the leaves and push in the mixture. It is easiest to use your hands. I tend to do it over the bowl holding the stuffing mix. Ease your way around, to fill in as many layers as you can be bothered with. I’ve often thought of Shirley Conran when I do this and mutter “and you thought life was too short to stuff mushrooms – try artichokes sometime!”

Place the stuffed artichokes in a steamer, along with the stalks and cook for 45-60 minutes. The leaves should be tender and the quinoa all light and fluffy.

To eat, peel off a leaf and scrape the stuffing off with your teeth.

Definitely not a dish for knives and forks.

detox discovery #1

I've realised I really don't like sprouted mung beans. I've always loathed peas and now with tastebuds so acute I've decided they are too pealike to enjoy. They've spoiled 2 salads so far til I realised what it was.

This confirms it - I never was, nor never will be, a hippy!

Phew.

spring clean

Fresh peppermint from the garden, straight to the pot for tea.

Apples, about 5 or 6, thinly sliced and munched through the day.

A few pots of ginger, cinnamon and lemon tea.


This is not the most exciting tale to tell on a food blog but this is all I consumed yesterday. The previous weeks have been littered with celebrations – bottles of sparkling and cool sauv blancs on sunny days, seafood and salads, the morning hit of espresso to fuel the writing.

All this is gone for a short hiatus. So too is reading other peoples accounts of food or watching gastroporn on TV.

I documented my spring clean detox last September, so scroll back to the beginning of the month to catch up on the highlights. So as not to repeat myself, I’m taking this week off – til normal eating resumes!

My parting thoughts are – remember it is just food, nothing more, nothing less. It is always good to take a break from our obsessions.

McKeith’s balls

The day had arrived. It had been an age since I first said “I must make those smoked tofu and kidney bean burgers!”. I checked off the ingredients – all present and correct.

Doing my best to follow a real recipe I reached for the “You are what you eat cookbook” and flicked to an earmarked page. Did I follow Dr McKeith’s recipe to the letter? This is a close representation but as always I made a few twists and turns to put my stamp on it. A food processor is an essential piece of kitchen gadgetry for this one, don’t even think about using a mortar and pestle!

Smoked tofu burgers

Heat the oven to 200c.

1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic
2/3 – 1 cup of your favourite nuts and/or seeds (I used almond and pistachio)
1 carrot, grated
1 can organic kidney beans, well rinsed
200 gm smoked tofu, roughly cubed
1 “small bunch” of parsley (I used half a large bunch), chopped
2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder (the wonderful imported Marigold, if you can’t get extremely good, not too salty vegetable stock powder, maybe use a dash of tamari instead)
2-3 tsp roasted sesame oil

Start at the top of the list by giving the onions a blast in the food processor, then add garlic and nuts. Throw in the carrot and give it 1-2 pulses, then the beans - enough to break them down a bit without turning them into mush. Now add the tofu, parsley and bouillon powder. Whiz it about til the ingredients have blended without being totally smooth. (McKeiths way is to throw all ingredients in at once and process for 7-8 minutes – that seemed excessive to me, especially as the tofu I was using already had a creamy consistency.)

Now taste the mixture. At this point I added a touch of sesame oii. Does it need anything else? The mixture should hold together well, so you can form balls easily.

Cover a tray with baking paper. Now form your burgers (or balls if you’d prefer little bite sized cocktail numbers). I made 11 medium sized burgers but its up to you what size and thickness you make. These took about 20 minutes at 200c to turn a nut brown colour, larger versions might take longer.

Once cooked the burgers were on the soft side but held together ok. They were neither crispy or chewy. If you want a more robust burger add cooked brown rice or substitute it for the kidney beans. I had flash backs to making tofu balls in my shared house days!



For nostalgia’s sake – heres a basic template for making tofu balls

Tofu balls

I always made these by hand, which is a very sensual process, but a short whiz in the food processor would speed it up if you prefer.

Equal quantaties plain tofu and cooked brown rice (brown has a nuttiness and a texture that white doesn’t have so don’t substitute). The vegetables as above (carrot, onion, parsley) are optional. A slurp of tamari (soy sauce) and a little sesame oil. Roll into balls, up to the size of a tennis ball (this will take longer to bake) and roll in sesame seeds. Bake in a moderate oven.

These go well with peanut sauce!


If you liked these recipes: try my nut roast.

a simple little fish dish

Kitchen hand made a casual mention about things he likes to do with root vegetables in a recent post. Tucked away in a prelude for a recipe for Swedes was a throw away remark about a nice dish involving parsnips and fish. I’d run my eyes over it before a trip to the market on Thursday, aware we had one vital ingredient - the remains of a good bottle of white wine too good to be discarded, so I hastily added parsnips and some fillets of fish to the shopping list.

His original recipe used carrots, but was open to the inclusion any root vegetables. As usual I made a few twists and turns. From his couple of lines, I’ll attempt to fashion a recipe. Maybe your interpretation will be even better!

Braised vegetables with snapper

Heat the oven to 200-220c. Layer the vegetables in a casserole dish, or use a deep baking tray and cover with foil.

1-2 parsnips, peeled and thinly sliced longways
1-2 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, sliced in rings
1-3 cloves of garlic, peeled
Some white wine and vegetable stock (or water) – about enough to cover the first layer of vegetables
Season with a little sea salt and black pepper

Cover and bake til the vegetables are almost cooked (20-40 minutes depending on the amount of vegetables, how thick they are cut and the heat of your oven).

Now lay some fillets of fish over the top. Cover and continue cooking. I used snapper and it took about 12 minutes.

Unlike Kitchen hand, I didn’t’ add any butter. The fish was perfectly steamed and fragrant. The Significant Eater, a man who generously seasons all that he cooks, was amazed at the flavours in such a simple dish. The sweetness of the vegetables, mixed with the wine and stock, made such delightful juice. It didn’t need any further herbs or spices.

Verdict: extremely healthy, easy and delicious. Of course you could always use this as an excuse to open a bottle of wine and sip while it cooks….

balance

Though the recent holiday was light on chocolate (that was to come later, when the Significant Eater returned from Sydney with a huge box of favourites from Adora) and buns (I’d been eating them all week!) I still felt the need for something vegan and healthy before the weekend was over. Just being around so much sugar and flour made my body cry out for culinary balance

The brunch delight left me hankering for more of the same flavours and the following vegan delight unfolded

Fragrant vegetable and bean stew

In a pot I sautéed some cumin, chilli, garlic, onion and a nice big chunk of young ginger. The fridge held a good array of vegetables just waiting to be cooked, so in went some fennel bulb, carrots and zucchini bursting with organic goodness. For some good quality complex carbs I added a tin of kidney beans. To provide enough liquid so the vegetables could bubble away happily together I used the left over tomatoes from the eggs, about 2/3 of a can and the about a cup of good quality vegetable stock. I wanted the tomatoes to be a background flavour, rather than dominate the combo. For a salt hit I added a handful of green olives.

The stew simmered happily for about half an hour before I could no longer resisted the tempting aroma.

This is a simple template of flavours – add the vegetables and beans of your choice. As always the longer you cook them, the better it is. So make sure there are leftovers for lunch. If you prefer a soup, add more stock. Preparation took less than 10 minutes and the healthy factor is through the roof. What could be simpler?

pumpkin and chickpea salad

About time for a recipe don’t you think?

Earlier in the week a made a version of Heidi’s wonderful lemon-scented quinoa salad from 101 cookbooks. I love tahini and lemon juice so any dish including those elements is a winner for me.

Last night I used a similar dressing (no olive oil, extra garlic and lemon) for this delightful vegan concoction. It was a winner.

Pumpkin and chickpea salad with tahini dressing

1/2 medium sized pumpkin
1 can organic chickpeas, drained and well rinsed
1 medium sized red onion, finely sliced
a generous handful (or a whole bunch), coriander, ripped or chopped

Cook the pumpkin by your preferred method. I was lazy so I put the oven on high, cut it into a few large chunks and let it bake with no oil for about 30 minutes - til tender without being too soft. Once cool enough to handle, remove skin and cut into bite sized cubes.

Add the remaining ingredients and toss with the dressing below.

Tahini, lemon and garlic dressing

1-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons hot water
pinch of sea salt

Combine in a bowl or jug.

What can I say? It was fabulous! Almost enough to make me want to be a full-time vegan.



Undressed


Not so naked!

healing soup

I went to the accupuncturist yesterday. A very softly spoken man who gently punctured my body with fine needles.

"You need building up" he told me. "Try steamed fish and sweet vegetables"

In the fridge I had flathead fillets fresh from the market. They had given me the bones as well for soup. Four pairs of eyes watched me ast I skinned the flesh from the skin and rather vocally requested some tidbits. Life really was so much easier with only one cat!

Flathead 'tails' are really not the best shape for steaming, so despite the 30c evening I made the gentlest and freshest of soups.

Healing soup

First simmer the bones in water to make stock: Really this is very easy, use the head too if you have it, cover with an ample amount of cold water, bring to the boil then simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain to use the stock.

Fish stock
Ginger root, finely sliced
A little garlic, crushed or sliced
1 chilli, finely sliced (go easy, to be medicinal the soup needs not to be "too stimulating"
Fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced (or dried and reconstituted, adding the soaking water to the stock)
Carrots, sliced
Zucchini, sliced
Chinese brocolli, or other dark greens, chopped

Simmer ingredients in stock til tender.

Add:
Small pieces of fish
Some fresh corriander, roughly chopped

Cook for another 3-5 minutes til fish just cooked.

Then add a dash or 2 of fish sauce to season.


The stock was rich and full of goodness. I slightly under cooked the vegetables, due to the weather, dubbing it "salad soup". It was delcious and I certainly hope had built some inner resources for the days ahead.

Variations: The Significant Eater added more chilli and some fresh lime to his.

snack attack

Almost too ridiculously healthy AND scrumptuous for words, my latest favourite snack combo:

Take a slice or two of the best bread in the world - Natural Tucker's Schwartzbrot. This is 100% rye, with that sourdough tang and a hint of caraway seeds. Its chewy, filling and am guessing it must put those other loaves to shame that have the odd grain in them and claim to be 'low GI'. Nothing beats it.

Spread with a hefy amount of some freshly made parsley pesto. The avocado makes it creamy, the lemon rind and garlic gives it some zest and the pistachios contrast the green with vibrant purple.

Lessons from the Detox

Easing in and out of the detox gently worked very well and the fruit fast weekend was much easier this way. After 10 days I have succumbed to 1 glass of champagne, to celebrate a joyous event and gone out for breakfast. I will keep eating whole grain/legume based meals as the major part of my diet for the near future. When coffee will return is undecided, but I get an inkling that it will be in the near future.

I have enjoyed reacquainting myself with quinoa and tempeh. As I play with them more I’ll post some recipes as they develop. It has also been a good excuse to pull out the healthiest cookbooks on the shelf: Dr Gillian McKeith, The Golden Door and recipes from a macrobiotic workshop weekend.

What I missed most wasn’t the food or drink but the rituals around them. It can be quite lonely studiously making your own breakfast, lunch and dinner – every day. There is so much more to food than actually eating.

I do feel bright eyed and bushy tailed, despite the glass of bubbly. My head is clear and my skin is radiant. My jeans fit looser and there’s barely a “muffin top” happening anymore!

Some things to keep in mind:

Drink lots of pure water – aim for 3 litres a day.

Even a 1 cup of caffeine a day habit will give you a withdrawal headache!

Buy organic. What’s the point of getting the toxins out if you are chucking back in all the agricultural poisons?

Plan your meals as much as possible. Shop ahead so the ingredients are at hand so you can’t wimp out.

Find a stretch of 10 days with no big commitments during the time to tease/deprive you.

Enjoy each mouthful.

…at the end of the day it’s only food.

"Any fool can fast, but it takes a wise man to break it” George Bernard Shaw

What are your detox tips?

Detox Diaries - day 7

I’ve hit the 1 week mark!

Awake all zippy just before the alarm. My head catalogues all the things I have to do before I leave the house. It’ll be a tough call but I can jump out of bed and get it done in time. Optimism is a great detox side effect.

In the shower 7.30, the phone rings. A call at this time of the day you just know it is never going to be good news. It’s not. My neighbour asks me hesitantly if I have seen my car today.? Oh dear, what? How bad? Standing in the rain cataloguing the wilful damage to your 2 year old car takes a bit more than a pure diet and optimism to endure.

The morning goes to custard, but fortunately I don’t. I am a bit wobbly by the time I get to head into work. A combo of shock and only having a piece or two of fruit to eat on the way. Breakfast, for me, is NEVER skimpy or on the run. I admit to feeling a bit miserable, but it’s not comfort food I am after, it is the ritual of eating that I am craving.

I’ve managed to at least heat and grab the soup made the night before, in lieu of some time consuming salad for lunch that I couldn’t prepare. The red lentil soup is strangely sweet without salt. Salt really, really is essential in soup! I had grabbed the last dregs of the pesto to throw in and the rush of raw garlic saves the day.

Dinner, and yes it’s 7pm after a long day at work and I have crashed again, is soup once more. Boring but sustaining. Craving more intense flavour I finish with some babaganoush and raw vegetables.

The day's other snacks – raw nuts and an afternoon fruit salad from David Jones. Lots of water.

The detox is going ok. I’m not hungry but rather wanting my food to comfort me, especially on a day like today. It’s becoming a great exercise in awareness.

Tomorrow it is reintegration time. The plan is a diverse vegan diet, still without stimulants, sugars and processed grains but being less pedantic about oil and salt (in moderation at least).

Detox Diaries - day 6

Dreams returned to their usual meld of non-food related items. Wake up feeling AOK.

Juice for a change to help face the new day.

Pear Zinger Juice
1 pear
1 apple
1 lemon, skin removed
ginger root, 1/2-1 inch, depending on your zing tolerance!


Parts 1 and 2 of breakfast were taken around a dentist appointment. I have to say that in the 20 odd years since I stopped eating meat I’ve never had a new cavity.

The reward for the never entirely relaxing visit to the dentist was a punnet of blueberries. I know they are “good” for you but most I have tasted have been ho-hum. However spurred on by the euphoria of the big organic grocery store (which lacked any other fruit that excited me) I parted with the big bucks for a cupful of organic berries. I am now a convert. They are sensational! Sometimes you really do pay for what you get.



Having started the working day late I didn’t have a lot of time to face the lunchbox challenge. I always buy my lunch, but I knew without the one saving grace in the city being open I’d have to pack my own today. I’d bought some good quality babaganoush, fresh with no additives and scooped some into a small container and hastily chopped up some veggie sticks. In a ziploc bag I threw in some ice to keep it from going off. Some almonds and a big bottle of filtered water completed the preparations. Oh yes, am still downing 2-3 litres a day of that precious fluid in various forms!



Lunch tasted great, but I still like the ritual of eating outside of the office. There is always the threat of the phone ringing or someone coming in, to upset the digestion. I’ve got to say I’m looking forward to going out to eat other people’s food next week.

The other downside is that although the detox is less extreme since the weekend’s fruit fast, I hadn’t really tested myself. Energy was better than expected and I hadn’t suffered any big crashes, but in reality I had done very little for 3 days. But today all that changed. By 5pm, despite nibbling on a few almonds, my brain shut down. Blood sugar had plummeted and I couldn’t add up numbers. Fortunately I’m not an accountant, but I feel like an idiot stumbling over simple sums in front of clients. By the time I got home I was literally running in circles, knowing I needed to eat (some blueberries helped, but not enough) but not being able to decide on what. The plan was to make veggie stock for some lentil soup. Dumb plan when it is 6pm, you’re hypoglycaemic and dinner will take 2 hours to cook! I chased my tail for a while and after reading lots of recipes took ideas from 3 different ones to come up with my own.

Bean salad with parsley pesto

The pesto bit
Combine: parsley, pistachios, 1-3 cloves of garlic, a little grated lemon zest and some lemon juice in a food processor and blitz til smooth. Then add 1-2 avocado and blend briefly. (Non-detoxers could add a slurp or 2 of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.)

The bean salad bit
White beans (cooked from dried would have been better but a can of well rinsed organic beans can be a lifesaver sometimes) and diced salad vegetables..

Mix the pesto through the salad and you have a well balanced, 10 minute meal!

The pesto in particular was fabulous – thanks to Flip Shelton’s idea to use pistachios. I’m still waiting for her recipe to go up on the RRR’s Breakfasters site, but I know it also had mint and basil. The avocado came from a Golden Door recipe book, it extended it and gave a little creaminess. It would be great on steamed greens or a chunk on top of a vegetable soup, as it is half way between a pesto and gramalata.

Planning is the key to a successful detox I reckon. To avoid tonight's problems, instead of resting I spent the night making vegetable stock (from all those dag ends of celery etc that I have been gathering) and eventually a no-fry, red lentil and vegetable soup - so there is something for dinner when I get home late from work tomorrow.

Tomorrow – and I thought today was tough! How life’s little crises can threaten a detox, will she make it or won’t she?

Detox Diaries - day 5

More dreams, not eating but bringing 1 metre long vanilla pods and other spices back into the country and deciding to declare it as my bag is stuffed with food from some kind of overseas buy up. Hmm, we’ll leave that to the Jungian Psychologists.

Still feel empty versus hungry but kind of excited that new foods can be bought into my diet. I am playing it by ear for now – a raw food element, largely unprocessed, organic and vegan

Begin the day with – you guessed it - lemon juice in warm water. Today I add a small fruit salad. Simple – a kiwi, an apple and a tamarillo mixed with the juice of a mandarin. The tamarillo (aka “tree tomato”) while relatively exotic in Melbourne was a staple in my New Zealand childhood. It sat on top of the other fruit, greeting me cheerily. Though a very modest serve, it was still at least double the meal sizes from the past few days. I actually felt full before I finished it, but an hour later it’s effects had diminished.



Lunch:
Organic Salad Supreme in Cos leaves

Avocado, diced
Celery, diced
Spring onion, thinly sliced
Parsley, chopped
Carrot, grated
Alfalfa sprouts
Raw pistachio nuts, shelled
Lemon juice

Combine the above ingredients, dressing to taste with fresh lemon juice.

Place about 1 tablespoon of salad in the centre of a Cos lettuce leaves. This is a bit like an open sandwich but the sides can be closed or rolled to make a wrap if preferred.

This salad was inspired by a trip to an organic grocery store. I don’t find sprouts that interesting as a food, but they are usually an essential on all detox lists. After a few days of only fruit this combo was most delicious. The lemon brings the flavours together, the avocado gives it some softness and the pistachios lend both sweetness as well as providing a different texture to the crisp vegetables.



Sprout tip: The key to goodness is freshness. In fact a few days past their peak, I’ve been told, their good phytochemicals turn into dubious ones – so if not spouting your own make sure to get the ones with a long ‘use by’.


Dinner:
Steamed vegetables with a simple tahini/miso sauce

Tahini and miso sauce
Per person: combine the following in a bowl or jug

1 tablespoon of miso paste
1 tablespoon of tahini (preferably unhulled for extra goodness)
I small clove of garlic, crushed (optional)
A small knob of ginger, grated or finely chopped (optional)
1-3 tablespoons of hot water

Start adding a small amount of water to melt the miso paste and gradually combine the mixture with more water til you reach your desired consistency.

This is a delightful, simple dressing for steamed vegetables.

Detox Diaries - day 4

Kiwi



Still empty and dreaming. Last night they were more humourous, a series of scenarios and in each I unthinkingly ate some delicious morsel of food and a short while later thought “Oh bugger, I was meant to eat only fruit today!” Perhaps I’m just reminding myself how unconscious I am of what and how I eat most of the time.

Energy on low-ish power, doing things seems to take me longer. Breakfast is one kiwi fruit sliced into 5ths, on a nice china plate, eaten with a fork. It was the best kiwi fruit I have ever eaten! The cool slivers initially smooth on the tongue, with a honeyed sweetness followed by a gritty tang.




As much as I enjoyed every bite, I am not craving food. Yesterday I read Mel’s blog about the hot jam donuts at Vic Market. I have walked past that van for the past 20 years while shopping and only ever vaguely been tempted but never enough to commit to the experience (ah it’s that inner food nazi’s fault again!). But on reading her post I wanted one. Now. Maybe two. I didn’t know how I used to be able to walk past without stopping.

Today, it doesn’t register.

I flow through the rest of the day, go to a movie for distraction (“Friends With Money” – fortunately not highly food focused) and would sum up my mood as ‘bored’. Not eating, not cooking, not dining – can be very, very boring. But the upside is there’s very little washing up to do!

Today’s tips to all potential detoxers - some things to avoid in the first few days of the challenge are:

1. Stick to non-food blog browsing. In fact cleanse your mind and don’t touch the computer or tv for a couple of days.
2. Resist reading the brand new “Good Food Guide” and planning your eating out forays.
3. Even if you have just bought the delicious Nigel Slater cookbook, don’t lay a finger on it.
4. Now is not the best time to catch up on your backlog of “Eat Feed” and KCRW’s “Good Food” podcasts.

Tomorrow – the vegetables return!

The Detox Diaries - day 3

Apples



Awake to a catfight at 7.30am but at least I had 8 unbroken hours of sleep. I was dreaming that I was running massive distances up and down the hills in my hometown. I wasn’t puffed or in pain. In fact I had masses of energy. Strange, as I never run.

Head clear-ish. Mood, OK. But start thinking about food. Or rather the denial of food. Restricting your diet can shake the core of who you are. I want the ritual of a cup of coffee in bed while I write my journal, or over a long perusal of the Saturday paper. I think of the big vegetarian breakfast at my favourite café.

Instead I have my lemon juice in warm water and start blogging.

Time passes very slowly when your tummy keeps shouting “feed me”. Technically I could gorge myself on apples – the fruit du jour, but I know the more I eat, the hungrier I will ultimately feel. By 1pm I have only got through 2 Pink Ladies, cored and cut into 8ths. Lots of water.

Mineral water becomes an exciting deviation, or the way the fruit is sliced. But by mid afternoon the preoccupation with hunger recedes and by bedtime there is more a sense of emptiness, a rather neutral kind of sensation. Instead of feeling flat and irritated I am quite peaceful and, if not exactly jumping out of my skin, mildly energised

When did you last feel empty? We all scan these blogs because we are worshippers of food. Satiety is usually the goal, but without the opposite, sometimes we can’t fully appreciate it. When your palate is bombarded with so many different flavours and textures, most of the time we forget to taste. I can tell you a crisp apple has crunch, sweetness and an enticing aroma – but perhaps you have to be focused, calm and empty to appreciate it. Go on, give it a try!

The Detox Diaries - days 1-2

It’s Spring Clean time.

Some years it’s as simple as giving up coffee for a while, arguing that my base diet is better than most. You can still get that small buzz of virtue saying “no” to caffeine or alcohol, without doing the really tough work. Once, in London, it was a full on fast for 5 days of just water and herb tea.

Last year was a modified, stricter version of the original Leslie Kenton 10 Day clean up - a 2 day fruit fast and another week of very strict eating, mainly raw fruit and veg with a few nuts, seeds, real grains and beans thrown in at the end. Squeaky clean! But although I had no caffeine cursing through my system to withdraw from, I felt achy, cold and lethargic for the duration

So this year’s plan is a flexible week to 10 days of good clean food, with more lead in time and only a couple of totally raw food days.

Day 1
Yesterday I farewelled coffee, chocolate and alcohol. At this point it’s more psyching myself into the whole thing. The pre-marathon pep talk. As I know that these little joys will only be gone for a week or two, it’s no big stress.

Start the day with lemon juice in warm water, move onto a peppermint tea. Have some porridge for breakfast, some salad and carbs for lunch and steamed fish and vegetables for dinner. Some rice too, which was almost brown. A packet of dirty looking basmati labelled “brown basmati” that looked pretty white and huskless on cooking.

I notice people drinking coffee at the market and feel a little wistful. I shop up large at my favourite organic stall – finding the best fruit and veg to get the whole shebang under way.

Day 2
Awake grumpy and blame it on the Significant Eater breaking my sleep for the second night in a row. He is heading away for the weekend and jokes (?) about seeing me at the end of next week when I am in a better mood.

I discover that when people are detoxing their sense of humour can also go down the toilet.

Have a headache in 2 different parts of my head that I deny has anything to do with a 2nd day without coffee. My neck must be out.

Start the day with the lemon juice, some ginger and spice ‘tea’ and eat some soaked oats and an apple. At lunch I head off to the wonderful organic café in Degraves Street only to discover it is closed for the next couple of weeks! Mild panic ensues about what I will do next week when I am in the tougher stage of the detox. Go to some other healthy-ish food shop that has ok salads, avoiding all the noodle and couscous ones. Food alright, but would prefer organic with more leafy greens.

Today is officially the first day of summer and the barometer has hit an amazing 25c. The air is thick with warmth and everyone is happy. On the way home my mind wanders to the perfectness of sipping a cool drink at an outdoor bar on such an evening.

Another twist to detox diets is they suggest you have your evening meal at a ridiculously early hour. Manage to make and consume a salad by 6.45pm and settle in for a night on the couch with the ABC. Tummy rumbles a couple of hours later with strong sweet cravings. Eat 4 sultanas then discover a couple of passionfruit. Am sated at last.

Detox recipe from Day 2

An impromptu ‘whatever is in the fridge’ Salad
Cauliflower – florets blanched in boiling water for 1 minute then refreshed in ice water
Celery – stalks and leaves, diced
Radish – sliced
Carrot – cut into sticks
Spring onion – thinly sliced on the diagonal

Dressing
2 cloves of garlic – blanched (raw ok)
half an avocado - mashed
1 tablespoon tahini
lemon juice – about half a lemon, to taste

Combine the ingredients in a bowl til smooth. If you want to make a thinner dressing add a little hot water til you get the desired consistency.

Tip: Eat the salad in a small bowl. Chew well. Now you can have a second bowlful!



The next 2 days will be tough – just one type of fruit a day for the weekend. Now I have had my gentle intro to the detox – the real cleanse begins!