Recipe catch-up & some news

I HAVE ONE more recipe catch-up after this one and then I will be back to posting new recipes. Just to explain to a few newly subscribed readers, I am collecting all the recipes I put out when I first began my substack, three months ago, and posting them into a section for easy access.

I’ve been moving through a learning process with the substack platform – on going – and I realised that while I enjoyed sending out three posts a week that had a recipe, some warm words and simple introductions to Ayurveda in them, this meant that the information wasn’t easy for you to go back and access in the archives. So I recently created sections which you can access from the menu at the top of my homepage, for the different types of things I post.

Having said that, I really enjoyed combining all three things together, and someone told me it felt rich, so I would like to continue that too. I am having a think. Perhaps I could do a post like that on Sundays, then offer a post in the week specifically on Ayurveda, health, digestion and stress management, and on Fridays have a food focus. I’d love to know your thoughts, in case you feel like putting them in the comments. I really want to create something that supports you at a time when main stream media focuses on all the stressful things, which has a negative knock on effect to our health because it undermines the brain and body’s natural ability to rebalance, heal and regenerate. Everything I post has this aim.

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New things to come

One of the things I will be doing later in the year is a podcast about Ayurveda called the Ayurveda series. I will also be putting out my book ‘Your Peaceful Belly’ serialised as an audio, and I will be writing a new book serialised on my substack through audio and the written word, which will be a quick ‘how to’ for healing digestion – I healed 15 years of digestive issues in 3 months with an Ayurvedic approach. I’m also going to write a cookbook in serialised form which will give information about supporting a healthy digestion, anxiety, anger and depression, as well as how to eat for your Ayurvedic type; plus I will be recording my ‘fall asleep’ stories and warm words, to support you to relieve stress and fire up those positive neural networks.

Some of these things will be behind a pay wall, at £3.99 per month, but the free weekly post on Sundays could go back to the old format of a recipe, warm words, Ayurveda and support for managing stress. It could have links in it to the other things I am creating posted on Wednesdays and Fridays, for anyone who would like to know about them, in case they decided they would like to pledge support too.

I had thought about offering everything in unconditional gift, but it takes time to produce things, and I need to free up two days a week from the paid work I do to ha e time to produce these things. And so, I thought a monthly subscription that’s a little less than £1 each week for the books and some of the recordings, could be affordable for most people. I’d love to know what you think?

I know a few people have already pledged and I’d like to say a really big THANK YOU, you have given me the confidence to actually move ahead with my ideas.

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Recipe catch up

Beetroot Risotto Kitchari

The word kitchari means muddle or mixture, it refers to a mix of bean and grain. A traditional Ayurvedic kitchari is made with rice and mung dahl. You make this dish by sautéing some spices in ghee, then adding the soaked dahl and rice with water and vegetables, and simmering until cooked.

The first risotto, as we now make it, is believed to have been created in the early 1800’s, in Italy. You sauté rice in oil/fat then slowly add wine/stock until creamy. Adding other things like cheese, fish/meat, vegetables, and flavourings like lemon juice/zest, spices, herbs. It is often served as a starter in Italy. So I thought I would play with small plate risotto recipes.

You might like to try making this beetroot kitchari with the risotto method and using arborio rice, to see if you can notice a difference in the texture. I’d love to know in the comments if you found it came out creamier.

INGREDIENTS (2 starter portions)

• 1/2 cup arborio rice

• 1/2 cup split mung dahl soaked and cooked

• 4 cups stock

• 2 tablespoons ghee

• 2 inches freshly grated ginger root

• 2 inches freshly grated turmeric root or 1 teaspoon powder

• Pinch black pepper, Hing (asafoetida) & fenugreek

• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

• 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon

• Rock salt

• Fresh lime juice to your taste

• 2 beetroots

METHOD

Cook and purée the beetroot. Sauté the spices, ginger and turmeric root in the ghee, then add the rice. Next add the stock little by little as you would for risotto. Once cooked add the beetroot purée and mung dahl, and season with the lime juice and rock salt.

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Sweet Potato & Cardamon Mash, Cannellini & Tahini Purée

Sweet Potatoe & Cardamon Mash

INGREDIENTS (per person)

• 1 good sized sweet potato cut into chunks and cooked

• 2 teaspoons ghee

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamon

• 1/4 fresh lime juice

• Rock salt to season

METHOD

Mash all the ingredients together.

Cannellini & Tahini Purée

INGREDIENTS (per person)

1 cup cooked cannellini beans

1 tablespoon light tahini

Juice of 1/4 - 1/2 fresh lemon

2 teaspoons olive oil

Rock salt

Black pepper

METHOD

Blend all the ingredients tasting to see how much lemon juice, rock salt and black pepper you like; then pile up the wild rice, sweet potato and cardamon mash, and the cannellini purée.

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Salmon Squash in Tomato & Coconut sauce

INGREDIENTS (per person)

• 1 salmon fillet

• 2 cups TOMATO COCONUT SAUCE (further on)

• Slices of crown prince squash or other squash

• Freshly cut coriander leaf

• Fresh lime

• Ghee

METHOD

Pop the slices of squash on an oven tray with toasted sesame oil and bake until cooked — 15 minutes in my oven on high. Saute the salmon fillet in ghee or butter or oil for a minute on each side then turn down the heat and poach for about 5 minutes depending on the size. Take the salmon out of the pan, then add the sauce (recipe from ing up next) to the pan to heat through and stirring to get any salmon bits off the bottom of the pan. Serve with the salmon, squash, coriander leaf and lime.

TOMATO COCONUT SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of tomato passata

• 2 cups coconut milk

• 1 small red onion chopped small

• 2 good sized cloves of garlic roughly chopped

• 1 red pepper chopped small

• A big handful of green leaves finely sliced

• 2 teaspoons tamari

• 1 teaspoon maple syrup

• Rock salt

• Black pepper

• 1 inch fresh turmeric root grated

• 1 tablespoon ghee or butter

METHOD

Saute the onion, garlic and pepper in the ghee/butter in a pan. Add the turmeric, tamari and green leaves. Saute for a minute then add the maple syrup, coconut milk and tomato passata. Simmer for about 10 minutes, season with black pepper and rock salt.

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Sweet Potato Rosti

This sweet potato dish can balance all constitutions and it is cooling for the pitta summer months. It brings the sweet quality for pitta and vata types, and the light quality for kapha types (feel free to post any questions in the comments).

For those moving through the winter season, you can benefit from the sweet potato as a comfort food by including in stews, or pans of roasted root vegetables, to bring a grounded warmth into your body and mind.

The more orange the colour of the flesh, the more beta carotene which converts into vitamin A – for vision, immunity, skin. Sweet potato also supports gut health, providing fibre to feed the bacteria in your colon that produces the short chain fatty acids needed for gut health – the short chain fatty acid butyrate feeds your intestinal cells, helps your gut resist pathogens, lowers inflammation and supports your intestinal lining.

I served this potato rosti with cooling tsatziki a few white beans and some steamed chard.

INGREDIENTS (per rosti)

• A sweet potato grated

• A handful of chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves) chopped

• 1 tablespoon flour (I used chickpea)

• 1 egg

• Salt, black pepper and cardamon to season

METHOD

Mix the ingredients together, form a ball, squash and sauté until brown on both sides. Serve with steamed chard and a dip - pitta types cooling tzatziki, vata types sweet mango chutney, kapha types pungent harissa.

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Sautéd Clementine & Banana

This is a lovely desert for vata types – here’s a quiz to get an idea of your Ayurvedic constitution – in the winter because it brings the unctuous and sweet qualities. Fine for pitta types. The ghee and banana can be unbalancing for kapha types.

INGREDIENTS (per person)

• 1 banana

• 1 Clementine

• 3 tablespoons ghee

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

METHOD

Melt the ghee in a pan then add the sliced fruit and spices and sauté for a few minutes, then serve drizzled in maple syrup. Lovely with thick cream too. I enjoy eating this curled up on the sofa on a rainy day.

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Pesto risotto

The pesto used in this recipe (recipe comes next) is great for the spring season or whenever you want to clear out stagnation that is turning up as excess mucus, it always puts a bounce in my step.

INGREDIENTS (per person)

1/2 cup uncooked arborio rice

2 cups stock

1/4 cup white wine

1 tablespoon ghee/butter/olive oil

1/2 cup pesto

Rock salt and black pepper to season

1/4 fresh lime

Freshly chopped coriander leaf

METHOD

Melt the ghee/butter/olive oil in a pan, then add the rice stirring for a few minutes. Next add the wine, stir around then add hot stock little by little — as the liquid is absorbed add a little more until cooked. Finally stir through the pesto and season with the salt and pepper. Serve with the lime and coriander leaf.

Pesto

INGREDIENTS

• 2 packed cups fresh wild garlic leaves

• 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

• 1/2 cup grated paramsan or cheddar (leave out if you prefer vegan version)

• 1 cup pumpkin seeds

• Olive oil

• Lemon

• Rock salt

METHOD

Pop the seeds into a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Add the other ingredients. Begin with 1/2 cup of olive oil, juice of half a lemon, 1/2 teaspoon of rock salt and process. Next adjust for a runnier consistency with more oil, and for a taste that fires up your taste buds by adding more fresh lemon juice and rock salt if needed (sea salt is fine to use but get one that hasn’t been processed for the taste and mineral content if possible).

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I hope you enjoy these recipes, and I would love to hear what you thought of the ideas I shared at the beginning.

Till Sunday, warmest wishes,

Lucy x