Winter Comfort

So this week we have been told, we will be seeing the real start of winter - not a very cheering prospect.  But it happens every year, so we should be used to it.  And as the great Ranulph Fiennes once said "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing"....so get your thick vests out!
Much the same also applies to food.  We were having a discussion this week about how, in the winter, you really fancy comforting foods.  One person described it as 'stodgy' food - think of those great steamed puddings, or meat pies - that is certainly comforting.
But equally comforting, and possibly more nutritious, are great colourful stews and curries.  Just because it's winter doesn't mean we have to leave the bright colours of summer behind.  Going back to the clothing theme, it's interesting how all the clothes available to buy in the winter are devoid of colour - why?  When surely we want to brighten the dreary days?
So forget the beige and brown puddings and pies and pile on the colourful veg!
Adding spices to your food also adds heat, so you are warming yourself from the inside, as well as getting other great benefits from these foods, for example - ginger (anti-inflammatory), garlic (anti-oxidant), turmeric (anti-inflammatory), black pepper (rich in minerals) - the list is endless.
So even though this recipe uses a ready-made sauce for convenience, I still add lots of other spices to improve it.  Or you could make your own sauce completely from scratch.


Vegetable Thai Curry

Serves 2-3

2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
3cm piece root ginger, peeled and diced
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
1 red pepper, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp red Thai curry paste
1 x 400 ml can coconut milk
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
5 stems of tenderstem broccoli, halved
small handful green beans, halved
6 cherry tomatoes, halved 
3 tbsp almond flakes, toasted

Heat the coconut oil in a wok or large frying and and cook the seeds for 2-3 minutes, until the mustard seeds start to 'pop'.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute.
Add the onion and pepper and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes before stirring in the curry paste and cooking for a further minute.
Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
Add the vegetables, then simmer for 8-12 minutes, until the sweet potato is tender.
Serve with cooked quinoa or rice and sprinkle with the toasted flaked almonds.

Enough cake already?!

To satisfy the request for more cake, my healthy blog is turning into a cake blog, so this has to be the last, for a while at least!  
This recipe idea came purely from having some great products delivered to my kitchen - firstly a box arrived from Naturya, with their great superfood ingredients, and then more personally, my lovely friend Gail (founder of Kandula Tea) arrived fresh off the plane from Sri Lanka, with her latest blend of delicious teas.
Obviously the first thing we did was to have a cup of tea and catch up with all the gossip, but then I felt the need to use the tea for something more.......so cake it was!  
If you are a lover of mint tea I have tasted none better than Kandula - it tastes really fresh and tangy - as if there were fresh mint leaves dropped into the cup, with no tannin aftertaste that you find with a lot of other teas.
In December I will be visiting Sri Lanka, so will hopefully find out more about not only the tea, but also the wonderful food - lots of great vegetarian dishes and delicious fresh fish - watch this space!

Kandula Maca Tea Bread

Makes 1 loaf

200 g mixed dried fruit
250 ml Kandula Moroccan Mint tea (made with one bag)
125 g wholemeal self-raising flour
100 g self-raising flour
1 tbsp Naturya Maca powder
100 g golden caster sugar
25 g pecans, roughly chopped
50 g Coconoil, melted
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180°C (375°F) Gas mark 5.  Grease and base line a 2 lb loaf tin.
Place the dried fruit into a bowl and pour over the hot tea.  Leave to stand for at least 4 hours.
Place the flours, maca powder, sugar and pecans into a large bowl.
Beat together the Coconoil and egg.
Add the dried fruit, tea and egg and Coconoil mixture to the dry ingredients and gently mix together - do not overmix.
Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a sharp knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a rack (if you can wait that long - I couldn't!)

Happy cake-eating!

J xx