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Vegan &/or Raw

Millet Mash

Ever tried it? Millet is the sort of food the Smurfs might eat – full of bounce and sufficiently mythical. Think creamy couscous meets blank canvas. It loves a spice with muscle, and is garlic’s most faithful mistress.

This grain is best known for its nutritional chops, and not for its timid taste. 500g should set you back €2, providing immodest amounts of B vitamins and cardio-loving magnesium. B vitamins act like spark plugs in the body, most important for new parents and idle cabinet ministers. B6 in particular helps to optimise your chances of reaching Snoozeville by helping produce the sleepy hormone melatonin. No B6, no zeds.

Despite playing a central role on many dinner plates across the globe, we Irish have yet to be convinced of millet’s charm. Lets remedy that.

Millet Mash

Feeds 4

You could serve this mash alongside roast chicken instead of potatoes, or as a bed for curries. This recipe is terrific for young children – easy to digest, non-allergenic, highly nutritious and very economical. They might prefer you leave out the garlic, but do load it in for adults. Raw garlic is nature’s best antibiotic, and conversation stopper.

1/2 cup millet grain
1 & 1/2 cups cauliflower florets (broken from its head)
1 & 1/2 cups chicken or veg stock
2 tablespoons extra virgin coconut or olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
Sea salt flakes to taste

Turmeric will give a wonderful 70’s glow

Sweet curry powder will deliver comforting warmth

Cumin powder should boost its exoticism

Herbs like thyme and parsley can add extra nutrients and make it look very swanky

In a heavy-based saucepan, bring the millet, cauliflower and stock to the boil. Reduce to a low heat, cover tightly, and cook for 12-15 minutes or until the millet soaks up all the liquid and looks fluffy. Remove from heat, and keep the lid securely on for a further 10 minutes. This allows the ingredients to continue gently steaming without burning the base of your saucepan.

Once it looks ready, start mashing with enough olive oil and raw garlic to your liking. Finish with a light flurry of flakes, black pepper and fresh herbs if you have them.

September 7, 2014

Lunchbox, Sides, Vegan &/or Raw

Oven-Roasted Chickpeas with Caramelised Banana and Cavolo Nero

Cavolo Nero is the George Clooney of cabbages – tall, svelte and suave. Its short and pudgy cousin goes into hibernation from July to October when the cavolo reigns.

Health divas have already dubbed this Dark Green Leafy as Tuscan kale, with its Italian sophistication and unlikely elegance. The cavolo may have already slammed curly kale off its number one spot (horrah!) One look at a model’s Instagram account shows how frequently this DGL is papped. Alarming and perplexing, with equal measure.

So why the excitement? Cavolo nero is an excellent source of folate, often associated with great quality nookie. Looks like folate can regulate the production of histamine – a very important chemical released during orgasm. No, a cabbage smoothie will not bring you to climax but you’re welcome to try.

You probably don’t need another reason to watch your folate intake, but here’s an additional fireworks display you’ll be interested in. Folate plays a large role in our mental and emotional health. It is in fact a B vitamin – think B for Brain and Battery. Or Bergman and Bogart (okay, that’s probably E for Electricity, but you get the picture).

Cavolo’s bumpy dinosaur skin hides some other champion vitamins like K, C and A. Lutein, a nifty carotenoid, can help strengthen our vision and beef up ocular health. That’s Doctor Speak for 20-20 vision.

Not worried about your eyes? I bet your granny is. Ageing is cruel. Just when you need your sight the most, it starts to dull. Maybe that’s Mother N’s way of restricting the pain of seeing your magnificent mane growing grey, or your chin turning hairy.

Cavolo Nero won’t save your sight, but it can help. Think of DGLs as ammo against ageing. Kale, cabbage, cavolo, the entire cast are at your disposal to help improve the quality of your vision.

Oven-Roasted Chickpeas with Caramelised Banana and Cavolo Nero

Serves 2

This makes a groovy side and will have your nostrils doing the Mexican Wave. It particularly thrives in lazy kitchens and time-pressured zones.

That holy honk associated with onion-breath contains an entire pharmacy of compounds for the body. Get this: foods rich in sulphur are thought to help manufacture synovial fluid. We need this fluid to bathe our bones and stop them from squeaking on the dance floor. Onions and Brussel sprouts have loads of sulphur compounds – but you already guessed that right?

Other goodies packed into these red veggies include quercetin to help relieve inflammation (especially hangovers) and to help copycat antihistamines during Sneezy Season. Onions also have fabulous amounts of inulin, known to work as a pre-biotic in our gut. Prebiotics help by feeding the good bacteria in our internal eco system, keeping our digestive system smiling and our skinny jeans on speaking terms with us.

1 tin chickpeas, drained

1 small red onion, roughly chopped

2 ripe bananas, sliced

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon coriander seeds (optional jazz)

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin coconut or olive oil

1 bunch cavolo nero

Fire up your oven to 200 Celsius /180 fan-assisted. Let it get really hot while you prep the supper.

Toss the chickpeas, red onion and banana discs onto your largest roasting tray and coat with the spices and preferred oil. Curry powders can vary wildly, so add a pinch of luminous turmeric powder if you fancy a healthy neon glow. I do.

Roast for 15 minutes, or until the banana looks caramelised and the chickpeas are turning crispy. If your roasting tray is small, everything will sweat and turn soggy instead of caramelising so it might be worth spreading over two small trays.

While the chickpeas are raving in the oven, tear the green parts of the cavolo nero off its tough stalk. Gently rip into bite-sized pieces, and tumble into the hot chickpeas. You might need an extra splash of olive oil if everything looks dry. Return to the oven for 3 minutes.

That’s it. Any leftovers make an awesome dining-al-desko lunch at the office the following day. A few sun dried tomatoes or olives will give it a new identity. No need to submit to dodgy petrol station sangers!

August 31, 2014

Treats & Snacks, Vegan &/or Raw, x For Freezer x

Popsicles for Little Ones

With one flicker of the sun, my little thugs will feign heatstroke and demand clinical amounts of ice pops. You need to up your game hanging around toddlers.

I’m guessing you already know I derive unusual amounts of satisfaction from sneaking vitamins into my gosling’s food. Soaked goji berries in Bolognese, pureed avocado with pasta, ground sea veg into pancakes – I’m more Mary Poppins than Mary Berry.

These ice pop recipes are The Snazz. Great hunks of frozen watermelon to gnaw on, and creamy banana popsicles with brittle chocolate to nourish your little one, and at the same time gift you with ten minutes of celestial silence.

Air. Punch.

The watermelon’s striking red is a visual of the lycopene content, famed for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant dance moves in the body. Watermelon has some ace immune-boosting vitamins too, like A and C.

Frozen bananas will deliver a consignment of B vitamins to recharge your battery and smile-dial. These chaps also house lots of potassium, an important mineral to help with hydration in the sun. Have a good holiday y’all! September is breathing upon us …

Watermelon Ice Pops

Serves 8-12

1 small watermelon

8-12 wooden lolly pop sticks

Slice across the circumference of your watermelon with a very sharp bread knife and even sharper concentration. You’re looking for 2 thick circular slices that look a little bigger than a side plate.

Cut each circle into quarters. If you landed a massive watermelon, you will need to cut each quarter in half again. Mine usually looks like a bloodbath, but I manage to use some of it, even if it ain’t perfect.

Pop a wooden lolly stick into the skin of each triangular piece of watermelon, to resemble an ice pop. It’s easier if you make an insert with a sharp steak knife first.

Line a non-stick tray with your lollies, and freeze for 4 hours before looting.

You could also use a cookie cutter to make funky shaped watermelon bites for toddlers from each slice. Dinky, huh?

Chocolate Banana Popsicles

Serves 4

Another virtuous popsicle to tickle your dimples this summer. When banana freezes, it tastes and feels exactly like ice cream.

2 bananas

30g dark or raw chocolate

1-2 tablespoons hazelnut butter (optional)

4 wooden lolly pop sticks

Chop each banana in half (not down the middle like a banana split). Insert a wooden lolly stick into the bottom of each half to make 4 banana popsicles. Place on non-stick parchment and freeze for 4 hours.

Meanwhile, slowly melt the chocolate and optional hazelnut butter over a Bain-Marie. This is basically a pot of simmering water, one-inch in depth, with a bowl sitting on top where a lid might otherwise have gone. The contents of the bowl will gently melt by the steam of the water underneath. The trick is not to let the water boil, or to let the bowl touch the water underneath.

Dip the top of each frozen banana into the melted chocolate and return to the freezer for an extra 5 minutes to set.

First appeared in The Sunday Independent, August 17 2014

August 23, 2014

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Vegan &/or Raw

Millet Mash

Oven-Roasted Chickpeas with Caramelised Banana and Cavolo Nero

Popsicles for Little Ones

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