A couple of weeks ago, determined to put some balance back into my life, I acquired a new cookery book and a bicycle. It’s been a bit of a wobbly start so far but I am confident I’m on the way to a somewhat healthier lifestyle.
What attracted me to Real Fresh Food: Healthy Meals for Busy People is that the authors are not rigid in their approach .They encourage us not to have a strict eating plan but to experiment and to find out which healthy foods make us feel our best. Their food, made from fresh and wholesome ingredients can be put together easily and quickly. And much of it is gluten free.
The recipes start with breakfast. For this meal the authors, Anna and Roger Wilde, recommend that we should eat food that is easily digestible and with sufficient protein and healthy fats to prevent overeating later in the day. Perhaps a softly cooked egg, a fruit smoothie or a bowl of Bircher muesli. But for weekend brunches they entice us to be a little more adventurous and to try brown rice and pomegranate muesli, or buckwheat pancakes with blueberry and apple compote.
They suggest that the best kind of lunch is the one you make at home and take with you, as it’s cheaper and you know exactly what you are eating. You can simply make sandwiches from good bread with healthy fillings. But if you want to go a step further there are lots of recipes for healthy spreads, salads, dips and soups in this section of the book. I liked the idea of a wild weed pesto but as I wasn’t quite sure where to forage for chickweed or puha I decided instead to make the tomato and coconut soup with fish dumplings.
The dumplings were flavoured with fennel and coriander. They floated in a tomato broth enriched with coconut cream. Lemon juice provided a little zing, rice some body, and red curry an exotic spiciness. It was delicious. Although the weather is becoming more summery now it will still be perfect for light evening meals.
In the vegetable and salad chapter there were some great flavour combinations. Our favourite was the balsamic roasted beetroot with goat’s cheese and rocket salad. And dressings like umeboshi and toasted sesame dressing made a nice change from good old vinaigrette.
The pulses and grains chapter was a little more challenging as millet, buckwheat and tempeh are not part of our usual diet and will take some getting used to. But the red quinoa salad with pears and feta was an instant hit.
Now many healthy cookbooks are strictly vegetarian, but not this one! Anna admits that after being a vegetarian for several years she dreamt vividly one night about rigorously chomping on a leg of lamb, cave-woman style . This dream confirmed the growing sense that her body needed some animal protein and it sure felt good to eat meat again. But only in moderation and from healthy animals that have been raised and killed humanely. I am rather glad she re-adopted a carnivorous diet as the chicken tagine with lemon and olives, and the smoked fish frittata were well worth the effort.
Anna also admits to a sweet tooth acquired during time spent in India practicing yoga and indulging in irresistible Indian sweets. But she now tries to satisfy this with desserts and snacks made from natural sweeteners. We nibbled her Persian delights after dinner one night. These dates with a rosewater scented pistachio nut filling were addictive! And it was also easy to indulge in several serves of the pina colada ice-cream which was made in an instant in the food processor out of frozen pineapple pieces, ½ a banana and some coconut cream.
This book is motivational but some of the recipes are so delicious that they tempt one to over eat. Still I can always balance this out by a few extra kilometers on that bike. Wish me luck!
Real Fresh Food: Healthy Meals for Busy People
Written by Anna and Roger Wilde
New Holland, $39.99
Persian delights
Plump, moist, fresh Medjool dates are a treat as they are, and this simple pistachio-nut filling makes them an exotic and elegant after-dinner surprise.
¼ cup shelled pistachio nuts
1 teaspoon honey
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
rind of 1 orange, chopped fine
1 teaspoon rosewater or orange juice
6 fresh Medjool dates
Grind the pistachio nuts in a mortar and pestle almost to a powder, but with a few chunks remaining. Add honey, cardamom, orange zest and rosewater or orange juice. Continue to grind until it is well combined and sticks together.
With a small knife, split each date in half and remove the pit. Stuff each halved date with about 1 teaspoon of pistachio mixture.
Serve on a beautiful platter and decorate with rose petals.
Makes 12 bite-size treats
Tomato and Coconut Soup with Fish Dumplings
A colourful, nourishing soup that warms the heart and belly, this is a genuine meal in a bowl! Add calamari, scallops or prawns if available.
Soup
2 tablespoons peanut or rice bran oil
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon red curry paste
⅓ cup long-grain rice
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups water
400ml can coconut cream
juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon sea salt
chopped fresh coriander for garnish
Dumplings
400g fresh, boneless, white-fleshed fish
1 egg
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted (or 1 teaspoon ground cumin)
small bunch coriander, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
Heat oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion until softened slightly.
Add red curry paste and rice. Cook for several minutes. Add tomato, turmeric and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make fish dumplings. Cut fish into small chunks and place in a food processor fitted with an S blade.
Add remaining ingredients and process for 20–30 seconds until
well combined.
When rice in soup is well cooked, add coconut cream. Bring to a low boil. Using a dessertspoon, scoop some of the fish mixture, squeeze it gently in the hand to form a dumpling and add to soup. They can be
any shape but a consistent size is best. Continue making dumplings, adding to soup as you go, until all the fish mixture is used up. Add lemon juice and sea salt. Simmer for about 5 minutes until dumplings are just cooked.
Serve in individual bowls, garnished with coriander.
Serves 4-6