healthy Archives - Page 2 of 2

Take that, Coffee. You brute!

August 1, 2012 by India Leigh

The bitter, rich aroma of coffee does it for me.

I have often been known to waltz into a coffee shop or specialist coffee seller, to plant myself in the midst of all the rows of exotic varieties and ‘roasted this’ and ‘Columbian that’, to just allow the lids of my eyes to fall as I inhale, so deeply that I get a little spacey, and exhale slowly with erotic pleasure at the provocative, sensual aromas that cause me to temporarily loose my mind.

But the taste, or should I say the aftertaste, doesn’t. I couldn’t drink it. I order herbal tea in the ‘coffee house’ and drift, my head full of clouds of pungent smelling air, out of the specialist store empty handed. I just didn’t get it. The foul covering languishing on the tongue, the aftertaste that turned sour. No, no, no!

UNTIL…!

I was doing my monthly wholefoods shop online. I was feeling open minded and ‘down with it’, and was ordering new products to sample at my leeesure. Loves, I spied something I’d long relegated to the hippy bin, along with Jesus sandals and tie dye (I know, now I’ve said it, it will bite me on the ass and become the height of fashion..AGAIN!), but, being swingy and floaty from the effects of sudden sunshine in Britain, I ordered a box of coffee I swore could never hit the spot.

When my groceries arrived, I tore into the box and tapped the button on the kettle. I was ready for this. I ground, spooned, poured and plunged and filled my lungs with bitter scent. Transported to heaven. My best and never used, coffee cup was dusted off and became a vessel for the thick, dark, liquid. My stars! It was DELICIOUS!….AND, not a coffee bean in sight. What? Loves, it was DANDELION COFFEE. I kid you not, it is a very deep and dark horse and it is mighty, and bitter, and rich, and SATISFYING. Mick Jagger would be changing the lyrics of his Chart topping ditty, if he imbibed this baby!

UTTERLY, SUPREMELY DELICIOUS. Caffeine free. Made from the roasted root of the dandelion. It’s FREE, probably sunning itself in your back garden. You can make it yourself.YouTube tutorial) Reported to be blooming good for you (protects liver, reduces acid indigestion & heartburn, improves memory, rich in potassium, blood purifying, cleansing…). Remember in school when kindly fellow classmates would chide you if you innocently picked a dandelion and put the fear of God into you that you’d wet the bed?! An old wives tale that got bandied about the playground. Well, old wives tales are factual more often than not (clever Mrs.). Dandelions are diuretic and can help relieve water retention (good for PMS). For more benefits go here

yep… There you have it. And it isn’t just me. I taste tested it on a few of my coffee loving friends and they, like the clocks on a dandelion, were blown away! I am drinking copious amounts of it! It delivers a hit!

When you purchase it from the store. Make sure it is 100% roasted coffee root (some add sugar and other unnecessary crap…leave those tins on the shelf!). The brand I tried and am drinking copious cups of is Cotswold Dandelion Coffee. Smooth and utterly satisfying!

Breaded vegan ‘fish’ and chips- low fat gluten free and healthy..how? you say…come, I’ll tell you, says me

August 31, 2011 by India Leigh

I have been following my friend Chow Vegan for quite some time now and they always have lots of exciting recipes and world cuisine on the website to make you salivate. The other day a blog post recipe popped into my email box and it looked so simple, and I was pushed for time, that I thought I’d give it a bash. The recipe was Crispy Baked Tofu I put it together with some healthy oven baked ‘doorstep’ chips (or fries as my American friends call them), sprinkled on fresh coarse ground pink salt and apple cider vinegar (which is so damn good for you..achieve weight loss, shiny hair, even said to relieve arthritis and many other uses due to health enzymes…way back in the day, as far as the BC’s, Hippocrates was using it..wise ole thing).

I made the recipe gluten free by using (Hale & Hearty Gluten Free Breadcrumbs) and sprinkled into the mix a few pinches of kelp powder, which is also a wonder sea veg - 23 minerals, get you! (the kelp low down)

The recipe is so good…AND good for you (tofu is low fat and has been used in the East for centuries for health benefits..though some say soya is not great…everything in moderation I guess).

The chips - fries - wedges call them what you want…are healthy too. Keep the skin on (all the goodness lounges under the skin) pop them onto a baking tray, then just spray lightly with olive oil , release a few pinches of Himalayan salt over them, shake (the roasting pan) and bake for approx 30 mins until soft in the middle, crisp on the outside and invitingly golden.

*the salt here is for photographic purposes and NOT an indicator of how much to use..but you knew that.

When you want a low-fat crispy, salty snack…think CHICKPEAS!

May 20, 2011 by India Leigh

I am a sucker for salty snacks that pack a crunch..I’d been hooked on soya beans lately, I wanted to wean myself off them and find an alternative. I’d tried roasted chickpeas before, bought from a store but they threatened to cost me dear in dentist bills. HARD!? Like eating rocks.

This morning I decided to be adventurous (oh the headiness of it all) and have a go at making my own.

I grabbed a carton of garbanzos (chick peas) and drained off the water. Rolled the little mites over a kitchen towel and then threw them on a baking sheet, doused liberally with herbsalt and ground black pepper, and popped them into my fan oven at 200 degrees with fan. I left the overndoor open slightly so they wouldn’t steam. It took about 20mins to get them nice and crunchy on the outside. I returned to jiggle them around the baking sheet to let moisture escape two or three times.

I was pleased with the result and went on to polish off half of the results within minutes.

The are healthier than potato chips/crisps….go on give them a go. I also tried them with a dusting of chili powder and made a savoury sprinkle for my soup and pasta by grinding the roasted beans in a coffee grinder. I expect curry powder would be a good seasoning too.

What is your favourite salty snack?

Getting steamy in the kitchen….Tamales you HAVE to try!

December 25, 2010 by India Leigh

Even though the food in San Francisco had been keeping my mind pretty much occupied I still hankered after sampling the organic, vegan tamales I’d picked up a flyer for in Silverlake, LA. If fact, I carried it around in my bag and would re-read it over and over imagining the flavours! Sad but true.

The first morning of my return to Silverlake I fished out the flyer and rang La Guera Tamalera.

Deborah, the ‘White girl tamale maker’ as her business name translates, remembered me instantly, which of course made me feel fab. I begged her yet again to teach me how to make tamales but she said she had no time right now, but in 2011, ‘exciting new plans’ were being cooked up. I thought well, hey, let’s not jump the gun anyway, her tamales might not be anything to write home about. I ordered the vegan choices; sasquash, sesame kale and spinach shitake. They arrived in a huge foil tray, still piping hot from the kitchen, the lovely Deborah greeted me like an old friend (notice I mentioned the food first! naughty me….but the way I see it, you can get to know people through their food..see I’m not just all about the tucker you know!)

It was 10am, breakfast not yet digested, but I’d waited for five weeks to taste these babies so I figured it was ok to try one whilst it was still hot. I grabbed my camera and carefully unwrapped the husk. Inside was a smooth tube of masa, the colour of caramel, the rising steam scented with corn and cinnamon. I took a few hasty mug shots, for which it posed quite happily as you can see, and sat down to try my first ‘white girl tamale maker’ tamale. It was light, spongy, soothingly sweet, the flour and the baked yam and butternut squash spiced just right.

The red bean filling was subtly sweet, salty and delivered a teeny tiny chilli kick. I kept lifting it to my nose to breathe in the steam. Dense enough to be filling, light enough to be savoured and so bloody perfect that it rendered me a very happy (and full) turtle!

That day I ate three. For research purposes and not because I was being a pink porky. The spinach and kale was my favourite savoury, it has seasoned well and married SUBLIMELY with a bowl of hot black bean soup.

Deborah is a GENIUS tamale maker. Her tamales ignite a burning flame of happiness. If everyone in the world ate one of her tamales everyday there would be world peace. Amen.

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