This recipe is a staple for me – whenever I see some really good looking exotic mushrooms they go into my trolley, and making Mushroom San Choy Bow is one of my favourite ways to use them. But it’s great even with regular mushrooms. After you’ve cut all the mushrooms up it’s pretty quick and easy to make, and the ratios of the ingredients can be flexible, I don’t measure precisely when making this – a splash here and there of the various sauces and balance to taste.

Mushrooms are so good for you!

Mushrooms are a very healthy food – they are good for your brain health, good for your immune system and they’re a prebiotic, so they feed your good gut bugs.

Learn more about medicinal mushrooms here – Medicinal Mushrooms Podcast

There is a lot of naturally occuring sulphur in this dish with the onions, cabbage, leek and garlic, so it’s also very good for your liver, hormonal detoxification and your skin.

Don’t want a vegetarian san choy bow? Fodmap issues? Check my options at the bottom of the recipe.

The Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
• Half leek – halved vertically and washed, then thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded green cabbage
• 1 full bag paper mushrooms, or equivalent quantity of mixed mushrooms (I use mostly button mushrooms, and add shiitake, king oyster and enoki mushrooms)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp soy
• Splash fish sauce (omit if vegan)
• 1 tsp mirin
• Splash rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 lime, juiced
• Small pinch of salt
• 1/4 cauliflower, very finely chopped/shredded
• 1-2 green onions
• 1 Iceberg or cos lettuce (see step 5 – you may want to do this in advance if you’re not confident).

Method

1. Heat some olive oil in a large fry pan on medium heat and sautee the red onion until soft. Add the leek and continue to fry for a further minute.
2. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft.
3. Add the cauliflower, cabbage, ginger and salt and cook until it’s all adequately softened, then add the sauces. Balance to taste.
4. Dice up the spring onions and stir most of them through, reserving a little to garnish with.
5. Take the iceberg lettuce apart into leaves (allow some time for this a it can be fiddly, you want to avoid tearing the leaves). Wash and dry them, then assemble on a plate.
6. Put the mushroom mixture into a bowl, sprinkle with the remaining spring onions or some sesame seeds, I also like to drizzle a little sesame oil over the top.
7. Now you can eat it – take a lettuce leaf, place a couple of spoonfuls of mushroom mixture into the lettuce, wrap up the lettuce so you can hold onto it and take a bite.

Tweak it.

Add some unflavoured medicinal mushroom powder into this mix before you serve it for some extra oomph! I like to use Lion’s Mane, or a blend of Reishi, Cordyceps, Shiitake, and a few others.

Not keen on a vegetarian dinner? Use pork or beef mince to replace 1/3-3/4 of the mushrooms. Sautee the mince off after the red onion, then proceed with the rest of the steps.

If you’re fodmap sensitive this recipe may give you some gas so you may choose to swap the mushrooms for pork or beef mince, skip the red onion and use the green part of the leek and spring onions only. You can probably handle some mushrooms, but maybe not this much.

The post Mushroom San Choy Bow appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

By Lee Holmes from Supercharged Food (This recipe is from her new book Eat Right for your Shape)

Lee has adapted the traditional Baji recipe to make it more suitable for the fiery types:

“The absence of spicy heat makes it the perfect snack to balance out the Pitta dosha which is commonly fiery and ‘hot’ in its inherent characteristics of competitiveness, irritability, and the physical symptoms of skin rashes, inflammation and hypertension when in an unbalanced state.

My version will also be seen majoring on the superstar ingredient; broccoli. Broccoli is an excellent source of vitamin C, folate, vitamin K and chromium. It’s also high in fibre to aid in detoxifying the digestive system. As broccoli contains subtle bitter qualities that mimic the energy of air and ether; the effect on the fiery pitter is one of lightening, refreshment, toxin removal and cleansing.

The combination of the chickpea flour and brown rice flour makes a coating of complete protein; transforming it into a snack that’ll fill and satisfy your hunger for longer, as well as stabilising blood glucose levels. “

Broccoli Baji

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 300 g (10½ oz/2½ cups) besan (chickpea) flour
• 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
• pinch of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• Himalayan salt, to taste
• 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) filtered water
• extra virgin coconut oil, for shallow-frying
• 120 g (4¼ oz/2 cups) broccoli florets

Chia jam and Carrot and beetroot raita, to serve (recipes below)

Method

• Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a medium bowl. Gradually add the water, stirring well to avoid lumps.
• The mixture should have a smooth, paste-like consistency.
• Heat some coconut oil (about 4 cm/1½ inches deep) in a medium, heavy-based saucepan over medium–high heat. Once the oil is hot (a small broccoli floret should sizzle and float), working in batches, dip the broccoli florets in the batter to coat well.
• Drop into the pan and cook until crisp on all sides. Lay on paper towel to drain off any excess oil while you cook the next batch.

Chia Jam

Serves 4

This natural, sugar-free jam suits all doshas. Fruit jams are delicious, but obtaining the desired consistency and firmness usually requires a large quantity of white sugar. This recipe uses chia seeds to create a perfect consistency, and rice malt syrup to add sweetness to the apple and berries. Delicious on its own, it can be used as a topping for pancakes – or a dollop added to the mixing bowl will sweeten up cakes, and a spoonful added to the pan will highlight curries.

Ingredients

• 1 apple, cored and grated
• 125 g (4½ oz/1 cup) mixed berries
• 250 ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) filtered water
• 90–120 g (3¼–4¼ oz/¼–1⁄3 cup) rice malt syrup, to taste
• 35 g (1¼ oz/¼ cup) chia seeds

Method

• Combine the apple, berries, water and rice malt syrup in a small, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the consistency is thick.
• Remove from the heat, stir through the chia seeds and transfer to a sterilised jar.
• The jam will keep in the fridge for 5 days.

Carrot and Beetroot Raita

Serves 3–4

• 520 g (1 lb 2½ oz/2 cups) sheep’s milk yoghurt (use greek style coconut yoghurt if vegan)
• 1 raw beetroot (beet), peeled and grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 small capsicum (pepper), finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• Himalayan salt, to taste

Method

• Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl by mixing gently with a spoon.
• The raita will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–4 days.

The post Broccoli Baji recipe appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Want something tasty and fresh to serve with your New Years meal? This recipe is a big crowd pleaser. The dressing is asian inspired but it can easilly be served with a big variety of meals.  Not just suitable for a big day though, this dish is a great salad for mid week dinners or lunches as well.

~Serves 4-6~

Ingredients

• 2 carrots
• 1 red onion
• 2 tsp sea salt

• 1 large handful coriander, mint and basil or dill, roughly chopped.
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced into batons or ribbons.
• 2-3 large handfuls (about 700g) red or wombok (Chinese cabbage) leaves
• 1 long red chilli, finely chopped.
• 1 handful bean sprouts

Dressing

• 125ml rice wine vinegar
• 55g brown sugar
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 tbsp soft brown sugar or grated palm sugar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger
• 2 garlic cloves

Method

Julienne the carrot and thinly slice the onion, then combine with the salt in a non metal bowl and allow them to sit for 30 minutes.

Grate the ginger into your serving bowl (or a plate, and squeeze out the juice from the ginger). Crush or grate in the garlic, then whisk together with the rest of the dressing ingredients.

Shred the cabbage with a knife or with the slicing attachment in a food processor and dump on top of the dressing. Add the cucumber, bean sprouts and chilli and mix through.

Squeeze out the liquid from the carrot and onion then add to the rest of the slaw along with the herbs, then mix through again and serve.

[fb_button]

The post Asian Coleslaw appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

[fb_button]

This ice cream is dairy free, calcium dense and so easy to make. I love making this to serve after asian inspired meals. Tahini (ground up sesame seeds) is a fantastic source of calcium, and the black tahini has an extra nourishing nutrient hit to it.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup black tahini (ground black sesame seeds)
• ½ cup finely dessicated coconut
• ½ cup coconut nectar (or whatever sweetener you have in the house maple syrup, rice malt syrup or agave syrup)
• 1 can coconut cream
• 1 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (you may need to warm is slightly so its melted)
• 1 tsp chia seeds soaked in 30ml water to form a gel
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
2. Pour into container or silicon molds. Cover and place in the freezer for 1-2 hours.
3. Remove from freezer and stir. Repeat process again in another hour. This helps break up the ice crystals and allows it to freeze evenly.

Should be ready to eat in 4-6hrs.  If consuming on another day, be sure to let sit out of freezer for ½ hr to defrost a little.

I served this with a crumble of toasted mixed nuts.

[fb_button]

The post Black Tahini Coconut Ice Cream appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

[fb_button]

This recipe is a bit different to your usual stuffed eggplant recipes, which are usually based around tomato and cheese, and bound with breadcrumbs and egg. The contents of this are much looser, but it’s tasty, fresh, and not difficult to make.

Okra is probably not a vegetable many people like or are familiar with, but when I learnt about it’s healing properties for the digestive system (that gooeyness that grosses people out is very good for you) I endeavoured to come up with a way to make it more palatable. Roasting did the trick for me. It’s got a different texture than you’d be used to but I really enjoyed it. Go on, be brave, give it a try!

While baking potatoes whole takes time, I think it’s worth it because all you have to do is put it in the oven and let it do it’s thing, leaving you free to make the rest of dinner, and the end result is always scrumptious. I like to cut a cross into the top of the potato once it’s cooked, give it a quick squeeze and then put a teaspoon of butter in the top where let it melt down into the fluffy insides. So good.

~Serves 2~

Ingredients

• Stuffed eggplant
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• ¼ fennel bulb, or 1 tsp fennel seeds if fresh fennel is out of season
• 1-2 button or swiss brown mushrooms, diced.
• Small handful flat leaf parsley
• 1 tray okra
• 2 small potatoes
• Pinch dried chilli

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Scrub the potatoes them wrap up in foil with a small knob of butter and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Place in the oven, you can put them directly onto the oven racks. These take at least an hour, preferably an hour and a half. Have a bit of a break before you start of the rest of the meal.

Trim the stalk off the top of the eggplant then halve it lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh from the inside (keep this), leaving approximately 1cm of a shell.

Place the eggplants in a tray, skin side up and drizzle with olive oil and crack on some pepper. Place in the oven while you’re preparing the stuffing.

Heat a frying pan on medium heat, and add some olive oil, butter, ghee or coconut oil. Add the onion and fennel and cook until it starts to soften. Crush in the garlic and continue to stir for another minute.

Dice up the flesh from inside the eggplant and add to the pan along with the mushroom.  Cook for another 2 minutes, then season with salt and pepper.

Take the eggplant shells out of the oven, turn them over then spoon in the stuffing. Place back into the oven and cook until the eggplant shell is cooked through and the top of the stuffing looks like it is starting to turn crispy, about 20-30 minutes.

Trim the ends off the okra and place into a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and dried chilli flakes. Place into the oven and cook until they start to turn golden, about 20 minutes.

Place everything onto a plate to serve, sprinkle over the parsley leaves, and enjoy!

So were you brave and gave okra a try? I’m keen to hear how you went!

[fb_button]

The post Stuffed Baked Eggplant with Baked Potato and Okra Recipe. appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

[fb_button]

Tasty, filling, simple to make and easy on the wallet. This is a great mid week meal that is light and refreshing but packed full of nutrients and fibre. Cinnamon and chilli are both great for your metabolism, cinnamon in particular being good for keeping blood sugar levels balanced.

~Serves 2~

Ingredients

• 1/3 Butternut pumpkin
• 1/2 cup Red kidney beans (you can use other types of beans if you wish!) I like to cook up a bigger batch to have some left to use in other meals that week, or you can freeze them in some of the cooking water.
• 1 bunch english spinach, thoroughly washed to remove dirt and cut into chunks.
• 1 red (spanish) onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1 pinch dried chilli flakes
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon powder
• salt and pepper

Method

To cook the beans:

Scan the beans thoroughly for any bits of grit, then rinse. Cover with cold water and allow to soak overnight.

Drain the beans and put into a pan and cover with fresh cold water, then bring to the boil for 10 minutes then reduce to a simmer and cook for 45-60 minutes or until the beans are tender. Drain and put to the side.

It may be tempting to just use canned beans, and if that’s the only option you have then go for it, but soaking your beans overnight and cooking them yourself will mean you are able to break down a lot of the properties that cause digestive symptoms such as bloating and reduce the absorbption of nutrients. The beans will also have a better taste and mouth feel when you prepare them yourself.

To cook the pumpkin:

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Start this after you’ve put the beans on to boil, or if you’re using beans you’ve already cooked then allow 60-90 minutes (including prep time).

Cut a 1/3 off the pumpkin, then cut that into halves so it’s easy to work with, and then cut that into 1 cm slices. I like to leave the skin on, it goes nice and crispy when you bake it. Cut those slices into wedges or thirds, then arrange on a flat baking tray.

Sprinkle with the dried chilli, salt and pepper and the cinnamon powder, then drizzle with olive oil or some melted coconut oil. Pop into the hot oven. If you’ve got the pumpkin crammed together in a smaller tray you will want to move them around a couple of times to maximise the crispy areas. Otherwise you’ll probably just need to turn the slices once.

Cooking the rest:

When the beans and pumpkin are done, heat a pan on the stove top to medium.

Slice the onion into wedges, and put into the pan with some olive oil, coconut oil, butter or ghee. Stir around a few times, and when it is softened to a consistency you would like, crush in the garlic clove and stir through.

Add the stalks of the spinach and cook for a minute, then add in the beans and the spinach leaves. Stir through, and add the tamari (you can add more or less to your taste), cooking until the greens are wilted.

Serve alongside the pumpkin.

Optional – sprinkle with some sesame seeds or toasted pine nuts. (If you’re a vegan or vegetarian I’d recommend adding this, as it helps to complete the amino acid profile).

Did you like this recipe? Let me know what you think.

The post Roast Cinnamon Pumpkin with Beans and Spinach appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

If you can’t have or don’t want to have regular rice, this is an awesome substitute. It tastes great, it’s easy to make and good for you as well. Yay!

Ingredients

• ¼ cauliflower per person
• ¼ onion per person
• Oil, salt and pepper and spices to your taste

Method

1. Heat 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

2. Finely chop the onion and sauté until soft and translucent

3. Blitz the cauliflower in a food processor or grate, and dump into the onion. Stir through to coat in the oil and mix the onion through, then cover and cook for 5 minutes until the cauliflower is soft and translucent. Uncover and stir through again, season with salt and pepper and whichever seasoning you’d like (I usually add cumin and coriander powder, or Chinese 5 spice, whatever goes with the meal you’re serving it with), turn the heat up a little and stir frequently, it is done when the cauliflower starts to turn golden.

The post Cauliflower ‘Rice’ appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

I just love cooking this soup, but especially so in winter time. Mushrooms are a great source of nutrients and if you add some more of the fancy mushrooms like shiitake mushrooms you increase the health benefits of this meal.

~ Serves 4 ~

Ingredients

• 400g mixed mushrooms (I usually use about 250-300g button, swiss brown or field mushrooms and a 150g packet of assorted fancy mushrooms or shitake mushrooms.)
• 500mL chicken or vegetable stock
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• Small handful dried chopped porcini
• Truffle oil – optional
• Cream – optional, omit if vegan
• Bacon – optional, omit if vegan/vegetarian

Method

1. In a small bowl cover the dried porcini with a little boiling water (about 100mL) and allow to sit.
2. In a large pot heat some olive oil and a small knob of butter over medium heat, then add the mushrooms. Cooking, stirring for a couple of minutes then add the garlic, thyme and onion.
3. After a few minutes add the porcini and it’s soaking liquid, and continue to cook, stirring regularly for about 15 minutes.
4. Add the stock, some salt and pepper if you like, and bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
5. At this point I like to use the stick blender to whiz it up smoothly, however you could reserve some of the mushrooms and only blend up a portion of it to retain some texture or to use to garnish at the end.
6. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.
7. I don’t usually feel it needs cream but if you like you can stir through a spoonful or so of cream.
8. Serve into bowl. I like to drizzle over some truffle oil at the end.
9. Sprinkle with some finely chopped parsley or thyme, the reserved mushrooms, some sautéed bacon, add some extra cracked pepper if you like and enjoy!

The post Mushroom Soup appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

[fb_button]

With the cooler months approaching, soups become more of a regular meal for me. I love the comfort they bring and potato and leek soup is one of my favourites.

Not only delicious, but super easy.

 You’ll need:

• 1 leek
• 4-5 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 1L veggie stock
• Milk of choice or cream.
• Half bunch of silverbeet.
• Pinch of cumin.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Few rashers of bacon to garnish, finely chopped (optional, omit if vegan/vegetarian)
• Fetta to garnish (optional, omit if vegan)
• Parsley (to garnish)

 Method:

In a large pot, sauté the leek and garlic in a little butter or olive oil until soft. Add in the potato and silverbeet stems and stir through to coat in the oil, and add the cumin.

Pour in the stock, and bring to the boil. Simmer, covered for 30 minutes or until the potato is soft and cooked through. If the liquid gets too low, add more water.

Using a stick blender, blitz until smooth. Put back on the heat and check for seasoning. You can add a splash of cream or milk to make it a bit creamier if you wish. Add in the chopped silverbeet leaves, and let them cook until wilted down.

Meanwhile sauté the bacon until crispy (if using).

Serve up the soup into bowls and sprinkle over the bacon, fetta and parsley. If I’m feeling lush I’ll sprinkle over a little truffle oil as well.

[fb_button]

The post Potato, Leek and Silverbeet Soup appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

I love my dehydrator, and in summer I seem to have it running almost every second day. I like to make all sorts of snacks in it like jerky, kale chips, dried fruit and even good old fruit leather (I loved roll ups as a kid).

Store bought dried fruit often has sulphur added to preserve it and retain the colouring (especially so for apricots) which can flare up the symptoms of asthma and other allergies. Making it yourself is easy, affordable and satisfying.

These are some of my favourite things to make with the dehydrator, if you don’t have one at home you can use the oven at really low setting and it will usually turn out just as well.

Dried fruit

SO simple to do, all you need to do is to cut the fruit into bite sized pieces and lay them out on the trays, then dehydrate at the lowest setting for a few hours or until dry. They will keep for a month or so in an airtight container, if they don’t get eaten before then that is! 

Fruit leather

In a blender blitz the washed and diced fruit until it forms a paste. If you wish you can add a little water, sugar or lemon juice to thin it if if it particularly thick. If using fruits like plum, apple or pear you may need to cook them down a little first.

Line the dehydrator trays with baking paper (allowing a gap at the outside for air to move through) and pour on the paste, spreading into a thin layer. You could sprinkle with chia seeds at this stage to add a bit of extra crunch.

Dehydrate at the lowest setting for 4 hours or until it turns into the right texture (it may need longer but you don’t want it to dry out too much so check it every hour after 4 hrs).

Flavour ideas:

• Strawberry
• Strawberry and Peach
• Raspberry and Peach
• Blueberries and Pear
• Blueberries and Goji
• Banana and strawberry
• Banana and Peach
• Plums
• Green apple, cinnamon and baby spinach
• Apricot, honey and lemon

Kale chips

You can make these in the oven, but it’s also super simply to make these in the dehydrator. Just cut or tear the kale leaves into bite sized pieces and lay out on the trays. You can sprinkle with a little salt or spice. If you want to get fancy with oil based flavourings these may be best done in the oven.

‘Cheesy’ Capsicum and cashew kale chips

• ½ red capsicum (finely chopped)
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
• Pinch of garlic powder, cumin, smokey paprika, cayenne (optional)
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 bunch kale (the curly leafed version is best)

In a small blender whiz up a handful of pre-soaked cashews, half a capsicum (finely chopped), lemon juice, nutritional yeast, the spices, salt and pepper. Blitz together until it forms a paste, adding a little water if needed to make it blend more easily.

Wash and dry the kale and spread the paste onto the leaves, trying to get it evenly distributed. It probably won’t stick to it perfectly, so you’ll need to pat some extra on once you’ve laid them out.

Spread the kale leaves onto the dehydrator trays and leave to dehydrate at 45C for a few hours or until crispy. Alternatively you can lay them on a tray and bake in the oven at a low heat for 40-50 minutes.

[fb_button]

The post Dehydrator Fun appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.