Day 17 - Calzone

Everyone knows that calzone is simply a pizza folded before it's cooked and as such I've already assessed my version as acceptable within a healthy diet however it is incumbent on me to issue this extremely important health message for anyone who might be considering eating one.

Warning: After cooking, pie contents may be hot.

Day 16 - Pancake Tuesday

Today, Shrove Tuesday in the UK and any number of other carnivals and festivals elsewhere around the world, has a somewhat religious theme of using up all the eggs and milk before commencing on a period of fast before Easter.

There are two reasons why this means nothing to me, but the most important one by far is that vegans don't use eggs and milk so the concept of using them up is a bit redundant.

I planned to push the envelope by making dosa, pancakes from the Indian continent, made with fermented ground rice and lentils but of course, forgot to get started in time so in the end resorted to my standby batter for pancakes or crepes served with the usual South Indian trimmings.

Make a number of pancakes (crêpes if you're not in the UK), stack them up somewhere warm or ideally fill as you make them.

Make a potato curry stuffing. Cook some boiled potatoes and chop into small cubes. Fry off an onion, lots of garlic, some grated ginger in a little oil until softened. Add a finely chopped chilli and a tablespoon of mustard seeds and allow to get hot. Add the chopped potatoes and a few splashes of water to help everything combine. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the water is gone then season with a little salt and lemon juice. It's entirely up to you if you want to add a teaspoon of your favourite curry powder to the cooking onions, I think it's best to keep this simple.

Use the stuffing to fill the warm pancakes and serve with a coconut and coriander leaf chutney.

Day 15 - Noodle Bowl

The last couple of times we've eaten out it has been at Japanese restaurants. I wanted noodles at Itadaki Zen but was talked out of it because I would have had too much food. At Oishii I had the Yasai Tofu Ramen and felt it just missed the spot I was aiming for.

With loads of delicious beetroot consommé and other leftovers from Valentine's day, I thought I'd make my own version.

The stock for the soup is usually dashi based, but the depth of flavour from the vegetable broth is a good substitute, particularly flavoured with a few slices of ginger and spring onions. I also add a tablespoon of soy sauce and a small teaspoon of chilli miso to enrich it.

Precook, rinse and cool some Japanese noodles, soba or ramen, and arrange them in the bottom of your large soup dish. Add some slices of tofu, I had marinated oven baked tofu in stock but you can use fresh tofu or fry some slices if you prefer. A handful of blanched kale - softer leafy vegetables like spinach wouldn't need precooking, some sliced mushrooms, some hijiki seaweed (presoaked), carrot flowers, some sprigs of leaf coriander and anything else you'd like in there. Fill the bowl with boiling hot stock and serve with chopsticks for the noodles and vegetables and a big spoon to finish all the soup.

Day 14 - Valentine

Just pictures...

Kir Royale with home made Cassis

Starter of Chilled Beetroot Consommé and Root Vegetable crisps


Tofu Hearts on Baked Mushrooms with Fondant Potatoes and Kale

Toffee Fruits

all photography by Paul.

Day 13 - Pizza

Well, why not pizza? With home made dough consisting of wholemeal flour, water, yeast and a pinch of salt, a tiny drizzle of oil to grease the tray and dot over the top and plenty of vegetables it is as healthy a meal as any self denying, misery inducing bran filled buckwheat burger and much nicer. Just try not to eat too much of it.




This was particularly easy to put together because the dough was ready and waiting in the fridge. Made bread dough will keep quite well chilled in a sealed plastic bag for up to a week and needs only a few minutes at room temperature to warm up enough to make pizza bases. If you're planning to make a loaf from chilled dough, shape it and allow it to rise before baking.

We topped our pizza with mushrooms, olives, fresh basil and Cheesley and it was brilliant.

Day 12 - Coffee

Coffee beans, green and roasted.

We're going out tonight to eat, again a Japanese restaurant but a more mainstream version this time where I may even allow myself some fried food, their tempura is pretty good. So since that's not particularly healthy I thought I'd talk about something else that gets a lot of bad press but actually has quite a lot of health benefits and few downsides, coffee.


Coffee making kit, espresso machine, cafetiere, stove top espresso pot.

Coffee is a drug that many people are addicted to, this may have introduced some experimental bias but in recent years it has been shown that regular doses of coffee can help with a wide range of conditions from Alzheimers to stroke, with protective influences shown on the liver, the kidneys, memory function and even those at risk of diabetes.

Of course, there are still plenty of other researchers who want to put a dent in all this cheerfulness, you'll have to make your own mind up about that. However, the worst thing that's ever happened to me from coffee is the suffering that comes from giving it up for a few days.



And with coffee, what's nicer than a couple of chocolate biscotti.

Day 11 - Lentil Nut Pâté

This makes a lot of pâté, enough for 10 or even 12 if served as a starter with bread or crackers, so you might want to halve the ingredients or try, as I'm trying, to freeze some portions for later. If the freezing experiment doesn't work, I'll come back and update this entry.

The recipe is based on one I found here and have made a couple of times for celebration meals but it is actually low fat and packed with nutrients, ideal for this healthy eating month.

170g puy lentils (or those other grey green lentils that are the same but don't come from Puy)
1 bay leaf

200g mixed nuts (Brazil, hazel, almond and walnut. I was using up a bag of shelled nuts from xmas, but you could use all one sort of nut if you prefer)

2 tbsp. olive oil
300g onions, finely chopped
2 eating apples, cored and chopped, leave the skin on
3 (or more) cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
Calvados - a big slug
2 tbsp. light miso
1 tbsp. coriander seed crushed in pestle and mortar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. ground black pepper

Cook lentils with the bay leaf in lightly simmering water until they are soft. The time will depend on your lentils but between 25 and 40 minutes should do it. Drain and allow to cool a little before putting in the food processor.

Toast the nuts under the grill or in a hot oven for 5 minutes or so. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the onions, apples and garlic. Allow to melt gently over a low heat until softened through. Mix in the coriander, ginger and black pepper, then add a big slug (say a double, about 50ml) of Calvados or Brandy. Keep stirring over the heat while the alcohol cooks out and the sauce reduces. Turn off the heat and mix in the miso and vinegar. You need only a touch of vinegar, start with one teaspoon and see how you like it. Because the miso is so salty you shouldn't need to add any salt at all.

Put everything into the food processor and process until smooth. This will take a few minutes but shouldn't be a strain on the machine as everything is quite soft.

If you want to turn it out for serving line a mould with cling film, pack the mixture in and chill for a few hours. It should hold its shape but won't slice very neatly. Otherwise, make quenelle shapes or serve from individual ramekins.

This is better the day after making so it's great for catering for parties, and leftovers will keep for a week in the fridge. No mushrooms either!

Served tonight with lettuce, a bulgar salad and some of my precious little alfalfa sprouts.

Day 10 - Sprouts

Getting a bit behind, not every day is worth reporting.

Anyway, these are some sprouted seeds that have finally become ready to eat. They were planted on the 1st and, I suppose because it's been so cold here, have taken this long to grow. The beetroot didn't make it at all.

I love alfafa in sandwiches and the mustard is hot and spicy, excellent for garnishes as the winter is stopping most chances of growing or buying parsley and coriander leaf.

Planning for more sprouts to come, mung beans, ful, wheat berries so there should be a reprise of this in another 10 days!

Day 9 - Bread Making Day

Bread gets a hard time from 'healthy' eaters, too high in carbohydrate and calories, too easy to eat too much, too full of gluten and other allergens.

I love it. Even more, I love home made bread. There is almost no purchased bread I've ever tried that comes close to it (one bakery in France stands out) and as for supermarket pap, forget it.

The dough was started yesterday but because I was using a slow raise method it wasn't ready to bake until this morning. I've made three loaves from my 5kg of dough, one to eat now and two to freeze for later, and put the rest by to make flat breads, pizza bases and grissini during the week, which will leave just enough old dough in 9 or 10 days time to start the next batch.

The slow rise, low added yeast approach addresses most of the problems that are associated with modern bread and I can nothing better than to point you in the direction of Bread Matters by Andrew Whitely where he expounds on the issue in great and interesting length. If you can afford it, taking one of his courses is well worth while too.

Left over bread shouldn't be wasted either. I've just made some great croutons with some old hard crusts I found in the bread bin, so hard that they had to be cracked through with the bread knife to make cubes. Spread out on a baking tray and left for 20 minutes in a medium oven they turned golden and crispy without the need for any added oil at all. Ideal for eating with the leftover soup from Monday.

Day 8 - Rainbow Bean Soup

A pretty picture of some of the vegetables.

Brightly coloured fruit and vegetables are considered healthy because their colours are complex compounds of chemicals which are good for the body. The simplest way to ensure you are getting the full range of these useful components is choose vegetables in a variety of colours.

I give you Rainbow Bean soup.

Use the type of beans you prefer. I used pinto beans but red, black or navy beans would all work as long as they are really properly cooked and not at all crunchy when they are added to the soup ingredients.

Panch phoran is a Bengali spice mix comprising mustard seed, cumin seed, fenugreek seed, fennel seed, and "black onion seed" which is actually no relation to onions but the seed of Nigella sativa. If you don't have it substitute what you will from what you have.

Makes plenty for four.

300g approx cooked pinto beans (cook your own from dry or open a tin)

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 small onions, peeled and chopped finely
1 medium (2 small) orange fleshed sweet potato, peeled and chopped.
1 yellow pepper, cleaned and chopped into small cubes
2 stalks of celery, cleaned and chopped
1 small beetroot, peeled and chopped
6 or so button mushrooms, chopped
10 kalamata olives, stones removed and chopped
400g tinned chopped tomatoes with juice
1 dry red chilli
1 tbsp. dried basil
2 tsp. panch phoran
1 tsp. salt reduced vegan stock powder

Lime wedges and gomashio to serve.

Soak for 8 hours and cook your dried beans in a pressure cooker on high for 20 minutes, or open one or two cans and drain and rinse the beans.

Fry all the prepared vegetables except the tomatoes in the oil until they are warm and start to soften, add the beans, herbs, spices and stock powder, the tomatoes with their juice and enough hot water to cover everything comfortably.

Cover the pot and simmer for 30-40 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked through.

Serve in big bowls with a squeeze of lime juice and gomashio to taste.