spicy moroccan chickpea and lentil soup

serves 6

1 tbs olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves crushed garlic
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
3 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
half tsp chilli powder
half tsp saffron threads soaked in 2 tbs boiling water
can of chopped tomatoes
1 litre veggie stock
1 cup dry red lentils, rinsed
can of chickpeas, drained
1/3 cup chopped coriander
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley


Heat the oil in a large, heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-7 mins. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin and chilli powder and cook, stirring, for 1 min.
Add the saffron and its soaking liquid, tomatoes, stock, lentils and 1 litre of water to the pan. Cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 30 mins. Add chickpeas and cook for another 10 mins.
Remove from heat and stir in fresh coriander and parsley. Season to taste.

warning - does make you a bit FARTY!! but tastes delicious :)

Vegan Paella

I have never made or eaten a Paella before, so I had no idea how this was going to turn out. Well, it turned out to be a delicious success so I will share the recipe with you.

Ingredients
1 tbs oil
1 spanish onion thinly sliced
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp regular paprika
1 cup basmati rice (I used Jasmine instead)
small pinch of saffron
500 ml vegetable stock
1/2 red capsicum
1/2 green capsicum
1 truss tomato (de-seeded and diced)
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup frozen peas
100 grams firm tofu (cut into 1 cm chunks)
half a small jar of artichoke hearts cut into thin wedges
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts

You will need to pre-roast the capsicums first so quickly chop into strips and de-seed and put onto a roasting tray and drizzle in olive oil. Cook on each side for 10 mins at 165 degrees.
I also suggest adding your saffron to the stock at this point, just to be extra prepared.
While this is roasting heat the oil in a cast iron pot. (We have a fancy new La Chasseur French oven that works perfectly.) Keep on a medium low heat and add the onions stirring occasionally for about 5 mins.
Then add the garlic and stir in for another minute. Add the paprikas and cook for another minute. Add the rice to the pot and coat evenly with the spices.
Pour in the stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and let simmer for 20-25 mins or until all the stock is absorbed.
By this time the capsicums should be ready, let cool for a few minutes, peel off the skin and dice.
Add capsicum, tomato, corn, peas and tofu to the rice. Combine well and cover again and cook for a further 5 mins.
I suggest while this part is cooking you toast the pine nuts.
Remove from heat and and stir in the artichokes. Top with pine nuts and enjoy!

a few things from the oven

I made a few edible christmas gifts this year.
Cute candy cane cuppies. Green, mint flavoured frosting with crushed up candy canes sprinkled over the top.

Sugar cookies and gingerbread men (which were eaten before i could get a photo)

Egg-free meringue made with the angel food packet mix. (They also have a vegan marshmallow kit.)











Lastly, for new years eve, I made mocha cookies. These were coffee flavoured cookies with melted chocolate drizzled over the top. Best cookies I've made in ages.

diets and me just don't mix

I always start off with the best of intentions but my short attention span can't stand doing the same thing for too long. As healthy as the kind diet sounds, being a super hero is hard work. Soaking beans, having rice ready-made and always having fresh veggies on hand is a lot of work, especially of you don't have the time. I usually plan the weeks meal ahead so that we can shop for the week but sometimes things can't be planned. Holiday eating, going out, accidentally waking up after lunch time. Ooooops.
Anyway, I stuck to the diet for 2-3 weeks but i couldn't take it any longer! Too much rice, too much soy sauce, only  piece of fruit per day and not enough flavour or selection for my liking. I think i'll just stick to being vegan.
The next thing i want to do is start cutting down on soy and after the whole bonsoy debacle i think i might just stick to rice milk permanently from now on.
Any hints or tips on how to keep soy to a minimum?

The Kind Diet. Superhero Week One - Ende

Wednesday
Breakfast -   Quick Oats w/ rice syrup
Lunch -  leftover tabbouleh
Dinner -  Azuki and Kabocha Casserole
Snack - gingered green beans
Exercise - none (naughty!)

Thursday
Breakfast -  Kamut Cereal
Lunch -  Ginger Pasta w/ zucchini
Dinner -  Polenta Casserole (I used tempeh instead of seitan)
Snack - apple. sampled a turkish apple tea from t2
Exercise - none, too rainy

Friday
Breakfast -  Kamut Cereal
Lunch -  brown rice and miso
Dinner -  leftover ginger pasta
Snack - oreo and a hot chocolate
Exercise - damn rain! no exercise today

Saturday
Breakfast -  Toast w/ vege melange
Lunch -  fruit salad
Dinner -  mini pizzas
Snack - seaweed snacks
Exercise - 

Ok, so a quick review of the week! No sugar, lots of wholegrains........ouch. I get a weird headache when i eat something with a lot of sugar in it . Dealing with the cravings at the start of the week was hard but it got easier, it's just the habit of tea and biscuit before bed that's killing me now.

Honestly, the diet is pretty bland most of the time. Yeah, i know that is a big thing to say BUT apparently this diet is all about reducing salt and making things simpler, even though soy sauce is in almost EVERYTHING!

Best thing i have made this week was definitely the black eyed pea croquettes with dipping sauce.

My goal for the next week is more exercise and keeping my sweet tooth at bay.

The Kind Diet. Superhero Week One - catch up

Having a camera with flat batteries makes it hard to blog as well as i want to but here is what i have eaten this week so far.

Sunday
Breakfast - Quinoa with brown rice syrup
Snack - Fruit platter (rockmelon/watermelon/kiwi/honeydew)
Lunch - Nori Burritos
Dinner - Teriyaki Noodles

Monday
Late Brunch - Quinoa with basil and pinenuts (leftovers)

Snack - half an apple/half a banana

Dinner - Alicia's magical healing soup

(Accidentally woke up really late this day, about 1pm. YIKES!)

Exercise - An evening walk around the neighbourhood for an hour

Tuesday
Breakfast - Quick oats with soy milk and brown rice syrup

Lunch -  2 Vine leaves

Dinner - Black eyed pea croquettes and salad with tahini dressing

Snack - homemade peanut butter cup

Exercise - An evening walk around the neighbourhood for an hour

Basically i try to begin the day with a whole grain, I should probably switch the soy milk to rice milk, but we have a few bonsoy cartons in the pantry that we should use up first. Eating leftovers is a good idea for a quick meal and i have lots of pre-soaked beans ready to whip up into something tasty.

In my regular self sabotage routine, I made a batch of peanut butter cups which stare me in the face every time i open the fridge, but i have been pretty good so far.

There have been a few weird side effects so far for both me and the boy. Definite coffee withdrawls. I had to give in to the craving a few times, it's too hard to do cold turkey! While we were shopping the boy had a bit of a dizzy spell probably due to low blood sugar. I told him about Alicia's theory that chewing each mouthful of food 30 times helped with this. So we sat down and had something to eat. The weird changes in weather aren't helping much either. Feeling a bit sluggish but i'm sure it's just detox from not eating such processed foods.

So far, so good. Hopefully my body will start adapting to the wholegrains and beans and OCCASIONAL treat. I'm so used to having a tea and biscuit before bed every night for the past 5 years that it has become a routine. Time to break it and start better ones, i say!

Day ONE of the kind diet!

Day one has been a success. I have made it through my first day on a diet! yay! Now to go to bed before I ruin it all!
I'll keep a small meal plan here just to let you know what I have been eating so that when you decide to try to the kind diet, you can just steal mine or take ideas for yours.
Last night I made the Quinoa with Basil and Pine Nuts. Pretty basic but i love fresh herbs and toasted pine nuts in anything really. We had some radish tabbouleh on the side. The boy also said this was his new favourite tabbouleh. SUCCESS!!
Today's breakfast was scrambled tofu. A diet with scrambled tofu you say? Why, yes. YES INDEED! We made ours with broccoli, zucchini, spanish onion, red cabbage and mushrooms. Fresh coriander on the top made it delightful. The boy had his with toast but I had mine on it's own.
Alicia's meal plan mentions that you can eat out at a sushi place, so for lunch we had some fresh sushi. I had a seaweed salad, edamame and an avocado roll. I also had a green tea which didn't quite give me the caffeine hit my body was asking for.
For dinner i made the clean, mean burritos. These are not actually burritos in any way, shape or form. Basically you put a bunch of stuff onto a tortilla, wrap it up and eat. We used wholemeal flat bread and I piled brown rice, kidney beans, lettuce, cucumber and avocado onto mine. After one i was pretty full. I ate the rest of the avocado so it didn't go to waste.
Waited a little while for dinner to settle and took a walk around the neighbourhood as our daily exercise.
All in all, a good day. Missing my coffee a lot and i would love a cup of tea and an oreo right now though.
This diet does require a bit of planning. I already have beans soaking for tomorrow's dinner and have a bit of prep to do for lunch tomorrow too. Alicia recommends that you prepare in bulk for the week but I don't like things sitting in the fridge for too long, waiting to be reheated/cooked.
I have been reading the kind life forums and noticed people asking if the diet was a scam because they had been drinking the weight loss tea for 5 (i think) days and hadn't lost a single pound/kilo. This stuff always makes me laugh. It took months/years to put the weight on, how on earth is it supposed to disappear in 5 days, you crazy, delusional fool?!!? I'm not into this diet for a quick fix. I want my body to be as healthy as I can make it. I tried the tea drink, I didn't like it. Probably wont try it again, but i'm not going to write to Alicia Silverstone on her forum and whinge about it! SHEESH!
So not only have I made it through my first day on a real diet, I have also written my longest blog ever!

so long, winter

As summer digs it's heels into another year, my body starts telling me to eat better. That is until my brain tells me it wants chocolate at every waking moment. But, this summer will be different i tells ya!
I got my copy of Alicia Silverstone's, The Kind Diet from amazon a few weeks ago and have been inspired to change my vegan junk food ways. Armed with a shopping list to make your parents proud and a meal plan to last at least two weeks i will embark into a journey of the unknown - eating healthy foods!
Of course i will revive this ridiculously neglected blog with a breath of organic and cruelty free air with lots of lovely pictures and recipes to fill your voyeuristic requirements.

If you haven't read The Kind Diet yet, you should. It's full of useful information and easy to read. Not anything like the textbooks, medical journals and essay styles that i'm used to reading to get my information from.

The Super Hero Diet is all vegan, with a lot of japanese influence, which i really like. I've never been on a diet before, so let's see how long this will last!