Goodness is….

I love basil. And when I enjoy something, I tend to overdo its availability.  Rather than plant one plant every so often, I plant 4 or 5 at once.  So hence, I have 4 very large basil plants that are growing vigorously.  An earlier plant I let go to seed.  We picked off the brown seeds and spread them in a bowl that now sits on the kitchen table.  Every day, a little shake, and the seeds give off a wonderful aroma, almost lavender-like in its scent.  I must admit though the bowl has been getting some strange looks as it looks very much like some sort of mind-altering substance that requires some burning.  I do assure everyone that it is pure basil.  Heady enough on its own power.

With basil leaves in abundance, I have created a variety of pestos over the last few weeks.  This one is by far my favourite.  Basil, rocket, feta, parmesan, pistachios, olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and pepper and salt to taste.  Simple, but very tasty.  Uses are endless. Tossed through pasta, a salad or roasted vegetables; dip for crackers; spread on turkish bread with roasted capsicum strips and toasted;  a side for fish or patties of choice……..and on and on.

Basil, Rocket & Feta Pesto

fresh basil leaves (from 2 large bunches)

2 handfuls rocket (arugula leaves)

250g feta

1/4 cup fresh, grated parmesan

approx. 1/4 cup extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil

2 tab pistachio nuts

good squeeze of lemon juice

fresh cracked black pepper

sea salt

sprinkling of dried chilli seeds/flakes (optional)

Add 1/2 the basil, rocket, parmesan, olive oil & pistachios to a mini-processor (or a large one if suits).  Process till all ingredients combined.  Add remaining basil leaves & extra oil if needed to blend smoothly.  Process again.  Add feta, lemon juice, pepper & salt.  Process again.  Taste & adjust ingredients to taste.  Store in a sealed glass jar in fridge.

Goodness shared from Donna

I had used up all my oats so when I went to make my morning porridge, I could feel the disappointment well inside.  And honestly how my day goes, really does depend on fulfilling my foodly desires.  Then it occurred to me, why do I need oats when there are so many delicious grains in front of me.  And recently, I have been reading many posts using a variety of combinations of quinoa, millet, amaranth, buckwheat or rice as a porridge form.  Just remember to choose grains with relatively similar cooking times.  For my first experiment, I decided on millet and amaranth with a few spoons of red quinoa, because I love the earthy colours.  It was so delicious with a drizzling of maple syrup, banana, a handful of raw granola and my freshly made almond and hazelnut milk.   My husband preferred his with a drizzling of ghee and an avocado chopped in.  Definitely enjoying this tomorrow again, but this time I will soak the millet tonight, ready for my morning feast.

Millet is a gluten free, easily digestible grain that is one of the most outstanding alkaline foods in the world, as well as one of the least allergenic.  It is wonderfully nutritious, contains an abundance of minerals and vitamins, and is the most complete protein of any true cereal grain.  Millet is rich in fibre and silica, which detoxifys the intestines.

millet porridge

(generously serves 2)

1/2 cup millet

1/4 cup amaranth

2 tablespoons red quinoa

1 to 1  1/2 cups water

pinch of salt

Rinse the grains very well and place in a saucepan.  Add the water and the salt.  Bring to the boil, reduce and simmer until the water is absorbed, which takes about 20 minutes.

Place your millet in a bowl.  Stir in milk of your choice.  Drizzle with maple syrup, add nuts and chopped fresh fruit.

Goodness shared from Stacey

This post was written way back this exact time last year and sat in my drafts waiting patiently to be posted.  And finally a year later, another Spring and with all the family once again here, I ask myself, where did that time go?

Spring is here.

The doors and windows are wide open and the scent of jasmine fills the house.  The jasmine vine is in full flower, so delicate and fragile and pure, these flowers are white gems. I have planted so much of it, all different types and the garden and house is filled with the intoxicating glorious scent.  Just the enchanting scent refreshes the heart and soul, while at the same time leaves you with a feeling of softness and calmness.

Its smell takes me back to India, where one of the traditions is centered around the act of giving and  these aromatic jasmine garlands.  The garlands are seen everywhere strung around rickshaw lights, doorways, in the women’s hair, and are sold by men pushing or riding bicycles.  There are big baskets filled high with jasmine flowers in the market where the Indian women in their beautiful saris sit quietly and weave simple or elaborate garlands to sell.  They are used as a daily offerings in temples, and they adorn the images of gods and goddesses.

They are God’s own flower.

Jasmine flowers are seen as the perfect symbol of what a person’s life should be like.

That is,

simple

and

pure,

giving off the fragrance of spirituality.

This is the month my daughter, Yasmin was born.  ’Yasmin’ – my fragrant flower.  Jasmine flowers and fresh strawberries I associate with March, and her birthday cake is always lavishly decorated with both.  It finds its way into our hair and in vases throughout the house.  We make garlands and sprinkle our bath with these flowers.

Last year, my daughter had  just turned 12, and each year we have a ritual of making her favourite two birthday cakes.  I can’t remember how it came about that it was to be two birthday cakes.  Maybe because they are so equally delicious that we could never decide on just one, or which one.  Each year we make the chocolate roulade and these meringues, which we pile high with whipped cream, strawberries and a passionfruit sauce.  So light and full of texture.   And oh so good!!!

Turning 12 is a very special juncture in the Jewish tradition for a girl, or 13 for a boy, moving from childhood to adult.  As my teacher wrote in his blessing for her, “It is a year where the journey of realisation of truth starts.”   With the help of Anna and Leon, we created a blessing book for Yasmin where all her family and friends wrote a heart-felt blessing to guide her later in life.  And as part of my blessing, I put in this meringue recipe as it is associated with her and her birthday.  We make them together working side by side in the kitchen.  Mother and daughter.

Depending on the occasion, I sometimes make these individually, or I make one big, round meringue which I fill and cut as if it were a cake.

With all meringues, the success of a good meringue depends on the use of room temperature eggs and very clean, grease-free utensils.

Mini Meringues

(makes 18 mini meringues)

4 large eggs at room temperature

1 cup of castor sugar or very fine sugar

1 tspn of white vinegar

1/2 Tab of cornstarch

1/2 tspn of vanilla extract

1 punnet of whipping cream

extra 1/2 tspn vanilla extract

fresh strawberries (raspberries, or in Summer – mangos)

fresh passionfruits

Pre-heat the oven to 275F and place the rack in the middle of the oven.  Line a baking tray with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a clean, medium-sized metal bowl, beat the egg whites with a clean electric mixer on medium speed.  Beat until the egg whites form soft peaks.

Gently sprinkle the sugar into the egg whites, a tablespoon at a time.  Your egg whites should now be glossy and form stiff peaks.

Sprinkle the cornstarch and vinegar on the meringue, and fold gently with a plastic spatula.  Add the vanilla, and gently fold the mixture again.

Now gently spread the meringue in 3″ circles on the lined baking sheet.  Make sure the edges of the meringue are slightly higher than the center so you have a very slight well in the middle.  The edges should be 1.5 inches tall.

Bake the meringues for about 50 to 60 minutes.  They should be crispy on the outside with a slightly chewy, marshmallow center.

Turn off the oven and leave the door slightly ajar to let the meringues cool completely.  As the meringues cool, they will crack slightly, which gives them  the perfect hole to put the whipped cream in.

Just before serving, take the meringues out of the oven.  Remove them gently from the baking sheet and place on plates.

Whip the cream with the extra vanilla extract until it forms stiff peaks.  Prepare the fruit by washing and slicing.  Scoop out the pulp of the passionfruit and place in a serving jug.

Fill with cream, dollop with strawberries and drizzle with the passionfruit sauce.

Goodness shared from Stacey

Spring is here and the garden is exploding in colours and fragrance.  The jasmin is in full bloom and the wisteria is in its full, lilac beauty.  This also means there is so much work to do in this explosion of growth and enthusiasm.  I just unloaded my car with bags and bags of manure and a whole box full of summer seedlings, which need to be planted today after I write this post.  But first, my favourite – Almond Butter.

My favourite way of eating almond butter is smeared  on two halves of a date for a sweet at the end of a meal.  My son loves to eat crunchy apple slices dipped in almond butter and enjoyed with fresh strawberry jam on bread.

Roasting the nuts before grinding is totally optional.  I like how it brings out the wonderful nutty aroma in the almond.  You don’t have to stop at almonds – get creative  and try  hazelnuts, cashews or  even start combining sesame – cashew, almonds – hazelnuts.  You could also add honey or maple syrup or spices like cinnamon, vanilla or orange rind??  If you choose to use honey or maple syrup, add at the very end, otherwise it siezes up the mixture.

If the nut butter doesn’t come together or you need to speed up the process, you can add a tablespoon of walnut oil or oil of your choice after the first 4 mins of grinding.  The process is a bit daunting, but just have patience and don’t quit too early.  I also find that the almond butter needs to sit for an hour or two after making it for the flavours to intensify and come together.  You will never want to buy nut butters again!

Makes a wonderful present for someone.

Almond Butter

Makes approximately 1 cup

2 cups of raw/natural almonds (not roasted or salted)

1/4 teaspoon of salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.  Spread the almonds out in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes until a good fragrance comes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Transfer the almonds to a food processor and blend, using the highest setting for 1 – 2 minutes to grind them to a powder.  Scrape down the sides of the container.  The whole process takes about 12 minutes with continual scraping down the sides of the container.

After two minutes, it should look like  this:

Continue to process.

After 4 minutes, it will look like this:

After 6 minutes, it will look like this:

After 8 minutes, it will look like this.  Keep going…..

After 10 minutes, it will look like this.  Keep going….you want to wait until the oils are released.

And finally…….two more minutes, and you have a lovely creamy texture.

Enjoy!

Goodness shared from Stacey

I just arrived back from India from our yearly retreat with our teacher Archarya.  It was a wonderful time.  The teaching was a continuation from last year on Ayurveda and Yogic Ideal Living and focused on the way we eat, what we eat and how this impacts our mind, body and emotions for our spiritual journey.

Food, because we take it directly into our bodies on such a consistent basis, is one of the most powerful ways to make a change in our physical and mental state.   A suitable approach to food will support our inner journey and will influence other people to bring much needed love, service and peace through our own sense of joy and self-contentment.

We all have minor symptoms of ‘disease’.  Aches and pains, tension, upset stomach, skin rashes, mood swings occasional cold and flu.  Some of us have a constant stream of these, others just have them every now and then.  All these things just don’t happen to us; we have an active hand in creating them by the choices we make in our daily lives.  How we exercise, how we cope with stress, what we eat –  especially how we eat!  Snacking for example causes a lot of disturbances to our digestion by adding undigested food to partially digested food.  Due to this, food which enters into our blood stream is the main source of our mind disturbances and body diseases.

So experiment and go a whole day of being conscious of eating only when you feel hungry and reflect on how you feel and how little food you actually need and notice how eating usually comes from a place of boredom and/or emotional needs!   It is a difficult one, I know!  Usually our body needs 3 – 4 hours to digest the previous food, however we seem to be constantly putting in food, regardless of whether the previous food has been digested or not.  

I find taking the time to prepare meals which are based on whole grains, seasonal vegetables and fresh produce helps in making that step towards a healthier body/mind  for practice.  It keeps me satisfied long after eating and I am less inclined to snack.

Idlis are my favourite out of all the delicious Indian breakfast foods.  So soothing and easy to digest.  It took me a while to master this true art of a perfect idli.   They need to be soft, fluffy, moist and spongy but not too sour, mushy or hard.  A lot lies in perfecting the fermentation.  I found this helpful site for the do’s and don’ts in making idli and dosa.

Idli’s are made with a special idli steamer, but I came across this site using banana leaves or using this method, or you could even use an egg poacher.

Idli

1 cup brown rice (short-grain is good, but long grain will work)

1 cup white basmati rice or arborio rice (I used basmati)

1/2 tablespoon fenugreek seeds

filtered water

1/2 teaspoon salt

oil/ghee to grease the moulds

Wash well and soak the rice in one bowl with just enough water to cover .  Wash well the dahl with the fenugreek seeds, and soak in another bowl with just enough water to cover.  Allow to soak for at least 6-8 hours.

Drain both seperately and reserve the water.  Grind the dahl with the fenugreek, adding just enough water to be able to grind. Do not make it too watery.  This is very important for idlis.  Grind until soft and foamy.  Pour into a large bowl.

Now grind the rice with the reserved water, using only a little to allow it to grind.  Remember do not make it too watery, just enough to be able to grind.  Continue to grind the rice until smooth.

Grinding dahl seperately will make it fluffy, resulting in excellent fermentation.  It will also volumise the batter when fermenting.

Combine both the batters, add the salt and mix well.  Mix the batter with your clean hands.  The body heat from your hands will help kickstart the fermentation.  Make sure there is enough room in the bowl for the fermentation to take place.  It should double in size.  Cover the bowl loosely. I usually use a tea towel to cover and put the bowl in the warmest place in my house and let it ferment overnight.  Ideal idli batter fermentation is around 90F or 32C.  In colder climates, the batter may take up to 18 hours to ferment.

The batter should have doubled.

Pour three-quarters full into each mould (they will rise) and steam for 12 – 15 minutes.  Try not to overcook them.  Allow to rest for a few minutes before scooping them out of their moulds.  For the true Indian traditional experience, serve them on a banana leaf with a spicy sambar or a fresh coconut chutney and finish with a sweet version of a drizzle of ghee and maple syrup.

Goodness shared from Stacey