This is a simple and foolproof tart. The dough is mixed in one bowl and pressed into a tart pan, so there is no kneading or rolling. The fruit can be changed to what you have on hand. Peaches, plums, pears, or frozen berries are great, and the spices can be changed to suit the fruit. Delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream!
~ first day of spring ~
apple blackberry crumble tart
recipe by Aran Goyoaga.
preparation 20 mins
baking time 50 mins
serves 10
tools – 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom
base ingredients
1 cup/140g superfine brown rice flour
1 cup/100g almond flour
½ cup/100g light brown sugar
1 tsp fine rock salt
10 Tbsp/140g virgin coconut oil, not melted
2 Tbsp ice water
⅓ cup/25g pine nuts
filling ingredients
1½ cups/180g blackberries, fresh or frozen
3 small or 2 large apples/300g – halved, cored and thinly sliced (2-mm)
1 small lemon, juiced and zested
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 – 2 Tbsp tapioca or cornstarch
1 tsp pure vanilla extract ½ tsp ground cinnamon
preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180C/375F. Grease a 9-inch tart mould.
prepare the base
- In a bowl, toss together the rice flour, almond flour, sugar and salt. Add the coconut oil and work it into the flour using your fingertips until you have a dough that resembles coarse sand. The dough should clump up but feel slightly dry. Add 2 Tbsp ice water and mix it with your hands, it will feel more like a crumble than a dough.
- Take approximately two-thirds of the dough and press into a 9-inch tart mould, bringing it up around the edge.
- Mix the pine nuts into the remaining dough to make the crumble topping. Refrigerate both the tart crust and the crumble topping while preparing the filling.
prepare the filling
- In a large bowl, toss the blackberries, sliced apples, lemon juice and zest, sugar, tapioca starch, vanilla and cinnamon. If the filling is very wet, add 1 more tablespoon of tapioca starch.
- Add the fruit filling to the tart mould and sprinkle with the crumble topping, paying particular attention to filling the spaces close to the rim and leaving some of the fruit pieces showing.
- Bake until the crust is golden and filling is bubbly, 45 – 50 minutes. Allow the tart to cool slightly before slicing.
variation
- Replace apples and berries with seasonal fruits.
- Replace the rice flour with all-purpose or spelt flour.
helpful tip
Place a tray under the tart when baking to prevent leakage.
- Categories: autumn, pies, tarts & crumbles, sweets
I like to serve this sauce over sauteed broccolini or roasted vegetables. Any leftovers get drizzled over leafy green salads or scooped up with homemade bread.
~Kasbah Bab Ourika, Atlas Mountains, Morroco~
zesty turmeric tahini dressing
Recipe from Amy Chaplin’s – Whole Food Cooking Every Day.
makes 1½ cups
preparation time 15 minutes
ingredients
½ cup/115g tahini
½ cup/100g water
2 Tbsp/22g olive oil
2 Tbsp/25g freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ tsp fine rock salt, plus more to taste
one 4-inch(10cm)/30g piece fresh turmeric, peeled and finely grated (2½ Tbsp)
¼ cup/60g freshly squeezed orange juice
2 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
¼ tsp cayenne pepper, plus more to taste
preparation
- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
- Taste and adjust the salt and cayenne to taste.
The colour intensifies as it sits!
Use immediately, or store the sauce in the fridge for 2 – 3 days. Bring to room temperature before using, and add water or orange juice to thin if needed.
note
- If using a high-speed blender, there is no need to grate the turmeric, just roughly chop. Pit the dates and add whole to the blender.
- If you have a particularly runny tahini, reduce the water by half and add more as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
other favourite tahini dressings
anne’s magical sesame-tahini-ginger dressing
I planted a chuchu vine two years ago; the first year, it took off with great enthusiasm, climbing up and over anything in its path. By the middle of Autumn, it was covered in small white flowers, which sadly fell to the ground. This year, those white flowers turned into little buds, which grew into tiny, then small, then medium, then big chuchu. Lots of them! There are so many hidden amongst the leafage that when I think I have picked them all, I come away with another basket full a few days later!
~locally known as Chuchu, Seemebadanekaayi in South India, Chayote in Mexico and Choko in Australia~
chuchu palya
preparation 25 minutes
serves 2 – 3
Use heaped spoon measurements unless otherwise stated.
ingredients
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 medium/360g chuchu
½ cup water
⅓ cup dried shredded coconut
1 tsp fine rock salt
1 tsp jaggery
¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped
voggarane
½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 Tbsp channa dal
⅛ tsp asafoetida powder
⅛ tsp turmeric powder
15 curry leaves
to serve
carrot palya (Instead of grating, cut the carrot into small uniform cubes. Add a ¼ cup of water and simmer uncovered until the water evaporates.)
yoghurt
spicy amla pickle
round brown rice
preparation
- Peel the chuchu and finely chop into small uniform cubes. Set aside.
- In a skillet, over medium-high heat, pour in the oil, add the mustard seeds and split the channa dal – fry until the mustard seeds pop and the channa dal starts to turn golden brown.
- Add the asafoetida, curry leaves, and turmeric and fry for a few seconds.
- Add the water and stir in chuchu, simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then cover and simmer, stirring often for approximately 5 minutes or until the chuchu is cooked and water has been eliminated.
- Turn off the heat, and add the dried coconut, salt, jaggery, and coriander. Stir to combine.
variation
Towards the end of cooking, stir in ½ cup full-fat yoghurt.
- Categories: autumn, Indian & Ayurveda, indian recipes, vegetables & salads
For this recipe, I used Amy Chaplins gluten-free muffin base recipe from her new book ‘Whole Food Cooking Every Day’ and combined it with two of my favourite recipes – Peach Ginger Muffins and Pear Ginger Cornmeal Cake.
She goes on to say, “I discovered textural magic (and a gorgeous golden crumb) with a combination of millet flour, oat flour and almond flour. These flours, along with plenty of ground flax seeds, becomes a winning base from which an endless number of variations have stemmed.”
~marigold~
there are four parts to this recipe
- pear topping
- wet ingredients
- dry ingredients
- macadamia crumb
Once these four parts are assembled and ready, the muffins come together easily. In this photo, I used the variation option (see below) and cut the pear into cubes, adding ¼ cups to the batter and remaining on top.
pear ginger macadamia muffins
To make the different flours, place separately and in small quantities, whole millet, almond and oats in your high-speed blender and grind to a flour. Make in larger amounts and store in the freezer.
preparation 20 minutes
baking 35 minutes
makes 10 -12 muffins, depending on the size of your muffin cups
pear topping
2 small/165g pears (the smaller fit nicely on top)
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp maple syrup/coconut sugar
1 heaped tsp grated ginger
macadamia crumb
¾ cup/100g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp coconut sugar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
cake
¼ cup/22g ground flax seeds
1 cup/225g almond milk
⅓ cup/70g melted coconut oil
¼ cup/75g pure maple syrup or coconut sugar
¼ cup/75g orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
½ tsp fine rock salt
1 small/80g pear, grated (skin and all)
2 heaped Tbsp/25g crystallized ginger, finely chopped
2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
~
1 cup/130g millet flour
½ cup/45g oat flour (gluten-free)
½ cup/45g almond flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
preparation
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a standard muffin pan with 10- 12 paper liners and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the ground flax seeds and almond milk from the cake ingredients, whisk to combine and set aside while you prepare the pear topping.
prepare the pear topping
- Halve the pears, remove the seeds, cut into quarters and then each quarter into three slices about ¼-inch thick. Set aside.
- In a skillet over medium heat, add the oil, sugar, and ginger. Melt the mixture, stirring gently to combine. Cook until the mixture begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Then add the pears. Toss the pears to coat them with syrup, cover, and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
prepare the macadamia crumb
- In a small bowl, combine the macadamia nuts, sugar, and maple syrup, stirring to combine. Set aside.
prepare the cake
- To the flax mixture, add coconut oil, maple syrup, orange juice, vanilla, salt, grated pear, ginger, and crystallized ginger.
- In another bowl, combine the millet flour, oat flour, almond flour, and baking powder, breaking up any clumps of almond flour. Using a spatula, stir the wet ingredients into the dry until combined. Then, spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them three-quarters full.
- Toss the pears to coat them with the pear juices and lay 2 – 3 slices over each muffin. Spoon any extra juices over the muffins.
- With your fingers, crumble the macadamia crumb on top of each muffin.
- Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow the muffins to sit for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely before serving, this allows the structure to set resulting in a tender crumb.
tip
If melted coconut oil is added to cold ingredients, it will clump and harden. If wet ingredients are cold, not at room temperature, don’t add the coconut oil until right before combining the wet and dry ingredients.
variation
- Replace the orange juice with maple syrup or coconut sugar for extra sweetness.
- As mentioned above, chop the pears into cubes instead of slivers, add ¼ cups/90g to the batter, and the remaining on top.
- Categories: autumn, cupcakes, muffins & scones, sweets
These cookies have crunchy edges with a soft centre, a rich buttery flavour, and studs of walnuts, oats, and carob chips. It’s surprising how delicious they are!
Chocolate contains theobromine – a stimulant. Like all stimulants, it is unsupportive for yogic practices that require focus of the mind. Carob is an excellent replacement for chocolate and has hardly a trace amount of theobromine. I have made them with both chocolate and carob, and prefer the softness of the carob.
carob walnut chip cookies
preparation 25 minutes
baking 12 – 15 minutes
makes 12 medium or 8 large cookies.
The recipe is slightly altered from Healthier Together by Liz Moody.
ingredients
1 flax egg (2 Tbsp/12g ground flax seeds + 3 Tbsp/33g water)
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup/120g homemade almond butter
¼ cup/25g almond flour
¼ tsp fine-grain rock salt
½ cup/65g coconut sugar
½ tsp baking soda
¼ cup/25g chopped walnuts
¼ cup/25g rolled oats (gluten-free)
¼ cup/35g unsweetened carob chips or chopped carob bar
preparation
- Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Mix the ground flaxseed and water in a medium bowl. Allow to sit for 15 minutes to thicken.
- Add to the flaxseed, vanilla and almond butter – mix together with a spoon until well combined.
- In another bowl, mix the almond flour, salt, coconut sugar, baking soda, walnuts, oats and carob chips.
- Add to the flax-almond mixture, mix, and work the dough to distribute everything evenly (the dough may seem a bit dry and thick, so keep mixing). If it is still dry, add 1 – 2 Tbsp of water.
- Scoop a heaped teaspoonful into your hand and squeeze into balls. Place them on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between them, and slightly press down with your fingers.
- Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through until the edges turn golden. Remove from oven and let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. These cookies are best eaten warm from the oven, or later that same day.
note
For freshly baked cookies anytime, refrigerate some of the dough for later.
variation
Replace the carob with small currants or chopped raisins which have been soaked in water for 10 minutes.
- Categories: cookies, bars & biscuits, sweets
After being away from the garden for one month, I wasn’t sure what to find on my return. Caterpillars munched down everything green; however, to my surprise, there were lots of cherry tomatoes hanging off dried skeleton branches and small but healthy bell peppers. I collected them all and made this comforting, nostalgic soup. Their flavour was enhanced by a month of neglect.
My daughter has been making her version of this soup. It’s so simple and creamy, served with a big spoon of cooked barley. The added coconut cream removes the acidity’s edge and softens the soup.
tomato soup by Yasmin
preparation 35 mins
serves 2
ingredients
2 Tbsp coconut oil
½ large fennel or 2 sticks celery(70g), roughly chopped
½ medium/80g bell pepper, roughly chopped
few sprigs thyme
1 fresh bay leaf
400g/2½ cups cherry tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato paste
¾ cup water
1 tsp fine rock salt
1 tsp jaggery
¼ – ½ cup coconut cream
to serve
ghee or olive oil
preparation
- Add the coconut oil, fennel, bell pepper, thyme, and bay leaf to a heavy-based pot over medium-high heat. Fry for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the whole cherry tomatoes and tomato paste, stir to combine, then cover, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add in the water, salt, jaggery and coconut cream, and stir to combine.
- Remove the sprigs of thyme and bay leaf, then puree until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
to serve
Ladle the soup into bowls with a spoon of cooked barley. Garnish each with a sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves and a few rounds of pepper, and drizzle with coconut cream.
Goodness shared from Stacey
Whenever my sister visits or we meet up in Australia, I always request one of her soups. She is the queen of soup-making! This was a soup she made recently when staying with us here in Portugal. It is a very simple, quick, no-fuss soup.
~Autumn
Donna’s simple mid-week soup
preparation 40 minutes
serves 3
ingredients
1 Tbsp ghee
2 fresh bay leaves
1 x 10cm rosemary sprig, leaves stripped
2 pinches asafoetida powder
2 stalks/300g celery, roughly chopped
1 tsp fine Himalayan rock salt
1 medium/150g potato, diced
1 medium/250g sweet potato, diced
¼ cup/50g brown basmati rice, rinsed
6 cups water
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
to serve
grated parmesan or pine nut parmesan
preparation
- In a heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat, heat ghee, add rosemary leaves, bay leaves and asafoetida and fry till fragrant, approximately 2 minutes.
- Add celery and salt, fry for 2 minutes, occasionally stirring.
- Reduce heat to medium and add potatoes. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid sticking. Add rice and fry for a further minute.
- Add water, bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Remove bay leaves. Using a hand blender, puree to the desired consistency.
- Add pepper and extra salt to taste. Serve with a spoonful of ghee and grated parmesan.
tip
To save time, saute all vegetables together.
This cake base originated from Amy Chaplin’s first book, ‘At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen’ and has been adapted, posted and baked many times with different variations to suit the seasons.
In Spring, there is this rhubarb cardamom cake or these raspberry quinoa muffins. In Summer, I replace the base with the recipe below and make these ginger peach muffins or, when the tree is heavy with plums, the original plum millet cake. When the cooler days creep in, and the leaves start to fall, Autumn arrives, and I halve figs to place over the top and sprinkle with almond flakes or a pear and macadamia based on this recipe. With Winter close behind, this cinnamon apple walnut crumble is a good place to be, or a spiced pumpkin version sounds inviting.
As you can see, the variations are endless when you have a good base recipe!
~ dried fennel seeds
~ leaf and light
~ fennel flowers
apple walnut cake
preparation 40 minutes
baking 35 minutes
serves 8 or (9 muffins baked for 35 minutes using half the apple filling)
ingredients
¼ cup/50g millet
¾ cup/185ml water
walnut crumb
¾ cup/90g walnuts, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp/40g coconut sugar
2 Tbsp/40g maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon powder
apple filling
4 small/2 large apples (245g), peeled and chopped into small uniformed cubes
1 Tbsp ghee/coconut oil
1 Tbsp brown sugar/maple syrup
½ tsp cinnamon powder
cake ingredients
1½ cups/210g whole-spelt flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine rock salt
¾ cup/220g maple syrup (can replace with ½ cup/65g raw brown sugar plus ¼ cup/50g almond milk)
⅓ cup/65g mild-tasting olive oil
¼ cup/50g almond milk
2 Tbsp/20g vanilla essence
prepare the millet
- Rinse the millet, drain and place in a pan with water, bring to boil, simmer rapidly for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until water has evaporated. Remove from heat; let sit for 10 minutes before removing the lid. Measure out 1 cup/180g cooked millet – set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line an 11 x 7-inch baking pan or favourite cake tin with baking paper.
prepare the walnut crumb
- Place the walnuts, sugar, and maple syrup in a small bowl, stir to combine, and set aside.
prepare the apple filling
- Add the ghee/oil and sugar to a pan over medium heat. Melt the mixture, stirring to combine. Cook until the mixture begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Then add the apples and cinnamon, toss to coat them with syrup, cover, and allow to simmer for 3 – 4 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
assemble the cake
- Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine millet, maple syrup, oil, almond milk, and vanilla essence—whisk to combine. Pour into the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon; do not overmix.
- Spread the batter evenly in the baking pan and place the apple cubes over the top, and let them rest on the surface. Crumble over the walnut crumb.
- Bake until golden, approximately 35 – 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove and allow to cool.
Serve with a generous dollop of thick cream.
Are you looking for a sparkling, refreshing drink? I was heading out to the garden to pick some rhubarb to make the sparkling rose rhubarb when Donna suggested pomegranate.
Living in Israel, we had the luxury of abundant fresh fruit and vegetables. In the Jerusalem markets, it was wonderful to walk past many stallholders using a hand squeezer to release the vibrant ruby-coloured liquid. Inspired by this memory, I instinctively reached for the hand squeezer used for lemons and oranges. Two squeezes later, and there was a ½ cup of that ruby-coloured liquid.
Pomegranate is often referred to as the ‘Divine Fruit’. It is considered a sattvic fruit with restorative properties and promotes appetite. Sweet pomegranate is tridhātu sāmya, balancing all three doshas. Sour pomegranate is especially useful in reducing heat in the body.
“Pomegranate, if of good quality, is especially beneficial for yogic practice.”
~The Sacred Tradition of Yoga – Dr. Shankaranaravana Jois~
easy pomegranate juice
preparation 2 minutes
serves 2
ingredients
2 pomegranates
2 cup/500ml sparkling water
1 -2 tsp sugar or sweetener of choice (optional)
preparation
- Cut the pomegranate in half and use a hand juicer or citrus press to extract the juice. Squeeze out as much juice as possible from the pulp and seeds.
- Strain and pour into glasses. Drink as is, or add sparkling water and sweetener.
Enjoy!
Puliyogare is a traditional Karnataka-style tamarind rice made by tempering pre-cooked rice in a spicy tamarind paste. It is very flavourful, slightly spicy, sweet, and sour. Puliyogare is also prepared on auspicious days and festivals and offered as prasadam (offerings).
~ sunflower (genus helianthus)~
~ Sunflowers are known to be the ‘happy’ flowers. They symbolise adoration, loyalty and longevity.
~ Each sunflower is actually thousands of tenny flowers.
~ When sunflowers are young, they track the sun throughout the day—this is called heliotropism. It is believed that they do this because they follow a circadian rhythm like humans—they face east at dawn and slowly turn west as the sun moves across the sky before resetting themselves overnight. Mature sunflowers stop tracking the sun and only face east.
puliyogare
Don’t be tempted to go light on the sugar; this dish relies on the perfect balance of sweet and sour.
preparation 30 minutes
serves 3 – 4
ingredients
1 cup/200g white basmati rice
2 cups water
voggarane
⅓ cup peanut or coconut oil
½ tsp heaped black mustard seeds
1 tsp heaped split channa dal
½ tsp heaped split urad dal
1 heaped Tbsp peanuts, chopped
⅛ tsp asafoetida powder
12 fresh curry leaves
⅛ tsp heaped turmeric powder
2 heaped tsp/25g puliyogare gojju*
½ cup/40g dried shredded coconut
4 heaped tsp/30g jaggery/brown sugar
1 heaped tsp fine rock salt
1 flat tsp rasam powder
*If you don’t have pre-made puliyogare gojju, make your own by mixing 2 Tbsp tamarind concentrate, 1 heaped Tbsp jaggery and 1 flat tsp rasam powder – mix to a paste.
to serve
cucumber slices
yoghurt/curd rice
preparation
- In a saucepan, wash the rice until the water runs clear. Drain and pour in 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a rapid simmer—simmer for 8 – 10 minutes, uncovered, or until the water has evaporated.
- Turn off the heat, cover and set aside to cool. Measure out the remaining ingredients.
prepare the voggarane
- In a skillet, over medium-high heat, add the oil, mustard seeds, channa, urad dal and peanuts; when the seeds turn grey and both dals are golden-brown, turn down the heat, add asafoetida, turmeric powder, and curry leaves – fry for 30 seconds, stirring to allow the spices to fry evenly.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the puliyogare gojju. Then add coconut, jaggery, salt, and rasam powder.
- Add the cooked rice, and gently combine, ensuring the rice is mixed well with the spices. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding salt or jaggery. Garnish with a handful of coriander leaves and serve with a spoon of ghee.
- Categories: Indian & Ayurveda, indian recipes, rice & grain
