what’s to eat?

Hello eKa Circle,

As promised- here are a few recipes I have splashed across my insta stories and little chat about using what you have. This weekend I had a house full again, hubby wanted to grab some takeaway after a big day and today my girl came and asked me to cook for a sick friend and each time it is very tempting to mindlessly go out and buy food for each event. Yet I didn’t. Before you knee jerk react and run up the road have a little prayer and check the cupboards. I was gifted fresh veg after a speaking engagement, my neighbour brought in some lovely fresh chokos on saturday. I have herbs and spices that have been given to me this week. I ran out of plain flour and improvised with my focaccia so now I have a new recipe. What is the worst that could happen? Use what you have give thanks and it will all expand and bless others. This is all part of conscious living.

What are you cooking this week?

love & light

M + E

Tomato, Fennel & Rosemary Focaccia

Fresh rosemary from the garden, some preserved garlic I made months ago and some tomatoes gifted to our household. Now I am a purist but I don’t let myself get stuck on that! I figured if I didn’t have enough plain flour I could reduce the amount of yeast and use some SR flour. Yep the texture is different yet delicious nonetheless. And I didnt have to go up the road to make it happen-win!

2 cups plain flour

2 cups sr flour

1 tbsp dried yeast

big slug of olive oil

1 tsp pink salt

tepid water, just enough

2 tomatoes, sliced

1 large sprig of rosemary

4 cloves garlic, fresh or preserved in olive oil, sliced

1 tsp dried fennel seeds

extra olive oil to drizzle the pan

Mix the flours, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add a good slug of olive oil ( I am always generous with this as it gives the bread its flavour) pour in enough tepid water to mix to a sticky dough. This should be much thinner than a normal bread dough. Stretch the dough around with your hands to develop the gluten for a few minutes. Cover and set aside to prove until the dough doubles in a warm place. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C. Pour a few tbsp of olive oil into a heavy based deep dish baking pan and tip the dough into the pan. Press it in evenly using your hands, a little oil on them will stop this dough from sticking. Top the dough with the  sliced tomato, rosemary, fennel seeds and a grind of salt. Bake for 35-40 mins or until golden brown and cooked through when tapped. It will sound hollow when cooked.

 

Cauliflower & Asparagus Soup

My solution instead of take away. It took less time to prepare than going up the road to order something. A much healthier option & I had some leftovers for my lunch the next day. I used some cauliflower and dried oregano that had been gifted to me. Hubby was happy. He has currently cut lectins out of his diet so he skipped the bread and because of that I didn’t add any cream to the soup but you could if you like I imagine sour cream would be quite delicious-win!

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/4 cauliflower, chopped roughly

4 spears of fresh asparagus, trimmed and sliced

1 litre vege stock

pinch of white pepper

crumble of dried oregano

Heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and saute for a minute or until soft. Add the cauliflower, asparagus and toss over the heat for a few minutes. Top with the stock a crumble of dried oregano and a pinch of white pepper. Simmer for a few minutes or until veg is just tender. Blend until smooth using a stick blender. Serve warm. Add a dollop of soup cream if you want to.

Good Old Mac Cheese

This is comfort food for me that I never ever make; when guests popped in I remembered I had a bag of macaroni in the pantry and most people love it as a treat. I love mine with a big splash of hot chilli sauce it’s how the Indos eat it; if you haven’t tried that you don’t know what you are missing. If you are dairy free you can try substituting milks but I would say this one is much better with milk and cheese. I often used powdered milk to make it even creamier-win!

1 packet of macaroni (400g) , cook according to pack directions until al dente, drain

100g butter

1/4 cup plain flour

1 litre milk or use powdered milk and water if you prefer

salt and white pepper

1/2 cup grated tasty cheese

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

pinch hot paprika

a little extra butter to dot on top helps with browning

Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Melt the butter in a large heavy saucepan. Stir in the flour and using a wooden spoon stir over the heat for a minute. Add the milk, salt and pepper and stir over the heat until the mixture comes to the boil and thickens. This will take a few minutes. Don’t stop stirring or it may go lumpy. Add the tasty cheese and remove from the heat. Stir in the macaroni. I leave mine in the pot (saves washing up) scatter with breadcrumbs, parmesan and a sprinkle of paprika. Dot with a little butter and bake for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Lentils with Choko 

This is a gentle protein based dish for a friend of my daughters who is currently quite sick. I avoided the hot spices for her and chose subtle alkaline flavours to balance out the lentils which are a little more acidic; yet packed with healing plant protein. Chokos gifted, home grown from my neighbour; some salted lemons I made for the blog a while ago add a lovely fresh taste to boost the flavours up. and some turmeric because tumeric heals almost everything. Lots of love into this one. Win!

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 potato, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 tomato, diced

1 choko, diced

1 litre filtered water

1/2 cup red lentils

2 tsp tamarind

1 tbsp finely chopped preserved lemon

pink salt and white pepper

Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan saute the onion and garlic for a minute. Add the ginger, turmeric, vegetables and toss over the heat to coat evenly. Add the water, lentils, tamarind and preserved lemon. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until everything is cooked and tender. Season to taste with pink salt and white pepper.