Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups dried dates
• ¼ orange juice
• 1 dessert spoon carob powder
• ¾ cup ground almonds (or hazelnuts)
• Dessicated coconut (in a shallow dish for rolling)

Method

• Place dates and juice in a food processor and process until well chopped
• Add carob and ground almonds and process until mixture forms a ‘dough’.
• Take a small teaspoon of mixture and roll into a truffle sized ball in your hands then roll in the coconut to coat.
• Store in the refrigerator and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 carton of bon soy (1 litre) or ½ litre mixed with ½ litre of water
• 2 tbspn of chai tea (original tulsi chai masala)
• Honey to taste

Method

• Add bon soy and chai tea to a saucepan
• Stir on low heat
• Just before it boils remove from heat, strain and pour into mugs
• Add 1 -2  tspns of honey to each mug to taste and stir

Ingredients

• 1 cup spelt flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup coconut (another successful substitute is ground almonds or hazelnuts)
• 1 breakfast bowl filled with chopped fresh fruit – apple and berries (can use frozen berries)
• 1 cup liquid made up of ¾ milk (or juice for dairy free)
• ¼ cup sunflower oil
• Sliced apple segments (for top)

Method

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
• Put into a greased tin, lined on the base.
• Arrange sliced apple segments on top.
• Cook in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Ingredients

• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ tsp coarsely ground pepper
• ¼ tsp salt
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• ½ cup sliced shallots
• 1 kg cooked medium prawns (peeled and deveined)
• 2 tbsp fresh dill

Method

• Stir together mayonnaise, shallots, prawns and dill.
• Cover and refrigerate for 1hr before serving.  For best results, refrigerate overnight.

Ingredients

• 500g sea scallops
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp low salt soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

• Combine lime juice, vegetable oil, honey, soy sauce and ginger in a bowl.
• Add scallops and toss to coat.
• Cover and refrigerate for an hour, stirring occasionally.
• Remove scallops from marinade, reserving marinade.
• Thread scallops evenly onto four skewers.
• Place skewers on shallow baking pan that has been sprayed with oil.
• Grill for 2-3 minutes.
• Turn and baste with reserved marinade and continue cooking 2 – 3 minutes.
• Place sesame seeds on wax paper and roll each skewer with sesame seeds.

Nuts and seeds contain enzyme inhibitors that put a strain on the digestive tract, and make the nutrients less available.  In order to neutralize the inhibitors, we can copy the practice of ancient people who soaked nuts and seeds in a saline solution.

Most importantly, this soaking neutralizes phytic acid, a substance present in the bran of all grains and seeds that inhibits absorption of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc.

Ingredients

• Most nuts or seeds that you like - for example, almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

Method

• Throw nuts and seeds into a large bowl filled with filtered water or whey.
• Add a tablespoon of sea salt.
• Let stand for 24 hours, then drain through a colander, rinse.
• Dry out the nuts in a low temperature oven 150 degrees Celsius.

DELICIOUS!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon organic coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon  pear/apple concentrate
• 1 cup organic soy milk
• ½ cup blueberries/strawberries/mango/banana
• 1 tablespoon of quality protein powder

Method

Blend together and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 zucchini, grated
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dry English mustard
• 5 eggs
• 200g cheese, grated
• ½ cup cream (you can substitute full cream milk also)
• a pinch of salt
• pepper to taste
• chopped fresh parsley or dill (optional)

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees.
• Place grated zucchini in a colander and drain to get rid of excess moisture, or use paper towels.
• Combine all ingredients together, mix well.
• Pour into a greased 9×11 baking dish.
• Bake for 40 minutes, until golden and set.

Serves 6.

You can often somehow measure the generosity of a shopkeeper by the thickness of the banana bread slices they tempt you with. Their buttery, oily loveliness is offered to us in shiny glad-wrapped goodness as we take our change…and anxiously await the pleasure or slight distaste that awaits us.

Whatever they may taste like though, they often seem to give you the blues anyway. For you realise you’ve spent four dollars of dough, on an ungodly thin slice that’s also going to add a bit of dough to your tummy. Essentially a no-dough-win situation I think.

Unless of course, you bake your own. With ingredients slightly tweaked, this recipe should replace your banana bread blues with a thick bit of wholesome loveliness.

Method

• One cup of wholemeal flour
• Two tsp baking soda
• One tsp cinnamon
• One cup mashed ripe bananas
• One third cup olive oil
• Two free-range eggs
• Half cup honey or fruit juice

Ingredients

• Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Grease a loaf tin well or line with baking paper.
• Sift together flour, baking soda and cinnamon.
• Using an electric mixer, beat olive oil and honey/fruit juice until frothy and well combined.
• Add eggs and beat until thick and pale.
• Very gently add flour mixture and bananas, alternating until just combined.
• Turn batter into pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
• Cool loaf in tin before turning out.

Ingredients

• 500g fresh, frozen or canned crab meat
• 4 ripe avocados
• 4 tsp mayonnaise
• Salt to taste
• Pinch ground pepper
• 2 drops Tabasco sauce
• ½ cup finely sliced celery
• 2 lemons

Method

• Check crab meat for pieces of shell or membrane.
• Split avocados in half lengthwise, remove seeds.  Gently widen the cavity towards the stem end.
• Remove the avocado pulp and mash it.  Mix the pulp and mayonnaise, add salt and pepper to taste and add Tabasco sauce.
• Gently fold in the crab meat and celery.
• Divide crab mixture among the eight avocado halves.
• Serve with a slice of lemon on the side.

Serves 8.