Thursday 10 May 2012

Cooking day today...

I love working from home! Let's face it, I don't love commuting 3 hours a day (on a good day) and I LOVE my sleep. So today the alarm went off at 7 instead of 5:30, the sun was out, and so were the cats for a change. I decided that as I was at home today, I would make a real effort with my meals.

Breakfast was my usual bombshell spell, followed by a cup of tea. Then I had the main meal of 2 "fried" eggs, and 2 slices of ezekiel sprouted bread.

Mid morning I had a lovely Green Monster smoothie

2 c spinach
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp maca powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 scoop plain protein powder
1/2 scoop of amazing greens powder
1/2 tsp green tea powder
1 cup vanilla rice milk
2 Tbl of PB2
1 small frozen banana

Whizz it all up, and let sit for a couple of minutes for the chia seeds to swell. Lovely refreshing and I felt so healthy afterwards :-)

For lunch I went crazy in the kitchen, making lunch and future lunch!


For lunch today was an adaptation of a recipe from Joy the Baker called Crunchy Kale and Coconut bowl.

I had farro, but it takes ages to cook, so I used basmati rice instead. My recipe serves 1 hungry person or 2 less hungry people :-) I ate it all!

Ingredients:
100g chopped kale
1/2 cup sliced fresh coconut
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sriracha chilli sauce
1 tsp coconut aminos
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 T rapeseed oil
 1 cup cooked basmati rice

I cut way back on the soy sauce and oil used in the original recipe as it was pretty salty and oily. In a roasting pan I mix the kale and coconut, then drizzle on the rapeseed oil and mix well until all are coated. Then I mix the sesame oil, chilli sauce, coconut aminos and soy sauce (at this point, taste it to see if it's too salty for you, if so, add a tsp of water). I then drizzle 1 tsp of this mixture over the kale and then put in the oven at 160 C fan assisted oven (180 C regular oven or 350 F) for approximately 15 minutes or until browned but not burned and the kale should be crispy. I usually check on it after 10 minutes and mix it up and pop back in for 5 minutes. I didn't use parchment paper, but the original recipe called for it and it does help with clean up!

I served the kale over basmati rice, a drizzle of the left over mix, and 1 japanese style tofu patty for protein (optional).

It was delish, can't wait to make it again later this week! I am going to try it without soy sauce/coconut aminos later this week when I make it again as hubby finds the soy sauce too salty.


In the meanwhile...

I have had a craving for black bean burgers, so last night I soaked my black beans ahead of my cooking today. Dry beans are a bit time consuming to use, but so much better than tinned!



Smokey Black bean burgers

4 servings

2 cups cooked black beans
1 tsp epazote (online from cool chile in the UK), optional
1 heaped tsp sweet smokey paprika
4 cloves black garlic (if you use regular garlic, limit to 1/2 - 1 clove only)
1 medium sweet onion, copped
1 T flaxmeal (ground flaxseeds/linseeds)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp rapeseed oil

I soak the beans overnight in cold water (1 part beans to 5 parts water). Drain and rinse the next morning. I then cook the beans with the epazote for 40 minutes on simmer in water, again 1 part beans to 5 parts water. Once ready, I drained reserving some of the bean water.

In a sauce pan I add the rapeseed oil, garlic and paprika and cook until the onions are translucent. I then stir in the beans and cook for about 5 minutes until the flavours mix, then season with S&P to taste. Once the mixture cools a bit mix with a stick blender until smoother but with some whole beans still visible (or mix by hand), then stir in the flax, mixing well. If the mix is too dry to form patties use a scant teaspoon of the bean water to bind.

Then form the mixture into 4 patties and cook on each side in a non stick pan for 3 minutes on each side.

The epazote is optional, however it does make the beans more digestible for those who have issues with beans. :-) The black garlic is the most lovely stuff ever, I like to put it in everything. It's lovely squishy and sweet, and adds a lovely hint of garlic but it's really light and does not give you garlic breath!

The burgers are lovely with veg or salad, I will have mine with rice and a rocket (arugula) salad. The beans also taste great whole with rice and avocado, or blended until smoothe and made into refried beans or simply used as black bean dip.

So that's lunch for tomorrow after my yoga class. I feel so healthy I could hug a tree! :-)

Have a good day!

2 comments:

  1. Wow! What an amazing food day!! I LOVE the bombshell spell. I dilute it with equal part water to the pineapple juice, though, because I find the pineapple juice too sweet on its own (even the unsweetened kind!). Your Green Monster smoothie sounds amazing!! Maca gives me the biggest energy boost, so I love to have it early in the day or else I'll be cleaning the house at 2am! LOL!! I'm going to have to try those black bean burgers. They look like they'd be really filling and "meaty." :)

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  2. Hi there

    I will have to try adding water to mine as well to make it last longer :) my hubby always wrinkles his nose up at the vinegar smell though.

    You know I really do love the bean burgers and they seem to freeze well too. I find I have too many separate means from my husband and they really make me feel like we are eating the same when hubby has burgers.

    PS I love your blog!!
    x Steph

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