Hello eKa Circle,
Well I have to admit it has been AGES since I posted here…thought it due time for some recipes. Turn that sad plate into a happy, healthy smiley face and body.
I have been a little distracted, enjoying making content for the new eKa Circle App launching on the 11/1/2022 you can keep up to date here at http://ekacircle.passion.io I will be excited to hear what you think! Yippee!!!!! Apologies for getting a bit slow on the blog posts as a result.
Back to what I am eating this week….I have fond memories of learning to cook Javanese cuisine while living in Indonesia- everytime I would ask someone how much of this or how much of that they would respond with the exact same answer “add just enough!” That used to infuriate me as a young trained cook. I needed exact measures and controlled amounts to replicate, these days I am a little more relaxed. Time and practise have taught me how to mimic the divine Indonesian flavours and yes they were right, I then adapted the complex recipes to my families taste. I now believe this is how we SHOULD cook! Use your intuition and practise, practise, practise. Preparing food should be an art.
I am not sharing javanese recipes today (sigh) although I did whip up some fritters with some leftover coconut turmeric rice. That is so easy to make! You simply substitute some of your water for coconut cream, add a few lime leaves or some pandan leaf and some turmeric (fresh or dried). I cook mine in the rice cooker. This rice is really special and turns a simple meal into something decadent. In Java it is presented for all of theΒ special celebrations.
Todays healthy assortment of recipes are REALLY simple and the quantities don’t matter too much at all. Add “just enough” as you like it. Improvise and use what you have too. This makes for a simple life; long gone are my days of popping up the road for one left out ingredient. Those days are so over!
The recipes today are all plant based focused on things I could regrow in my small above ground garden bed. Let me know if you enjoy them?
Silverbeet Rice Fritters
1 cup leftover rice ( I used some yellow coconut rice that I had )
1 large handful fresh silverbeet, sliced
3 eggs
1 tbs plain flour
chilli flakes, just enough
pinch nutmeg
oil for shallow frying
Mix the ingredients together and shallow fry in enough oil until golden and crispy. I served with garlic mushrooms and baby cos with a little dressing.
Garlic Mushrooms
1 tbs butter
1 onion, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 green chillies, sliced
2 handfuls of mushrooms sliced
pinch of your favourite herbs, I used some sage
Heat the butter, saute the onion, garlic and chillies. Add the mushrooms and cook for just a few minutes. Serve while warm.
Raw Beetroot Salad
2 large beetroot, peeled and grated
juice of one lemon
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper
sprinkle of pepitas or some nuts
Whisk the lemon juice and garlic, season to taste then toss in the grated beetroot. Serve sprinkled with the seeds or nuts.
Paprika Cucumber Salad
My neighbour popped in yesterday with some beautiful home grown cucumbers. My hubby is detoxing this week so I didn’t add any dairy but you could. Add a little cream, yoghurt or sour cream if you want. This recipe reminds me of my croatian stepfather Robert.
2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, grated
2 lemons, juiced
handful of roughly chopped fresh mint
a good sprinkle of paprika
MIx together and season to taste.
Potato Salad with Mustard Egg Dressing
500g small red potatoes, boiled
1 egg
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp sriracha mustard (or any mustard that you have)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
3 green onions sliced
Boil the egg for just one minute. Cool it down under cold water and scoop the egg into a mixing bowl. Whisk together with the mustard and lemon juice and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Don’t add it all at once as it can curdle. Season to taste and toss with the roughly sliced potatoes and the green onions.
Sundried Tomato Pizza
3 cups plain flour
7g sachet of dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt
about 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
a really generous splash of olive oil
some tomato passata
sun dried tomatoes
a handful of fresh bocconcini, torn
rocket & silverbeet to serve
Preheat your oven to as hot as it goes. MIx the flour, yeast, salt and warm water to a sticky dough. Add a good splash of olive oil this is the secret for a crispy base. You can set aside to prove the yeast if you want I didn’t this time. Knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth. then using oiled hands press the dough between two oiled trays. Spread with a smear of tomato passata. Top with drained sundried tomatoes and bocconcini. If you want to add anything else at this stage just go for it! Bake for about 20 minutes. Top with some fresh garden greens.
This is delicious!
No Waste Preserved Lemons
I used a tonne of lemons making all of these salads and I like to try my best to practise using everything that I have. Stuff the washed lemon rinds into a jar with some salt crystals and leave in a dark cupboard for about 3-4 weeks, give it a shake now and then. You can add some bay leaves, dried chilli or some peppercorns if you like for extra flavour. Chopped preserved lemon is delicious chopped in dressings, casseroles, rice dishes and couscous.
Replanting Tips
The bottom of the cos lettuce- soak it in a small saucer of water for a few days until it sprouts then replant.
Green onions- soak the roots in a small glass of water and they will grow like magic!
Mint- cut the stem on the diagonal and replant into a small pot or straight into the garden bed. You can also strike this in a glass of water on the windowsill.
Silverbeet- just harvest the leaves that you need from the stem and new ones will quickly grow back for next week. I highly recommend growing your own silverbeet, it is so good and so easy to grow.
Rocket- same for the rocket just trim the leaves off that you need with the right weather conditions this one grows like a wild weed!
Garlic- poke any leftover garlic cloves into your garden bed, keep them damp and watch them grow.
Chillies- dry out the chilli seeds and them sprout them in an egg carton filled with a little potting mix. Transfer the seedlings to your garden bed when they are sturdy enough to be transplanted.
Save your lemon seeds and dry them out for a few days. Soak them in water for a few hours, then wrap them in a damp piece of paper towel. Place this into a container or a ziplock bag and place into a dark cupboard for a week. Plant the little sprouted seeds in a pot and start some trees happening.
What are you cooking and growing? Thank you for being so conscious.
love & light
M + E
Check out some more vego recipes here
You must log in to post a comment.
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Pingback: somatic healing & grounding - eKa Circle on 7th January 2022
1 COMMENT