Gujerati-style Cabbage with Carrots

A delicious, light, nutrient-packed side dish found here (replace the sugar with agave):

Gujerati-style Cabbage with Carrots

1/2 lb cabbage
1/2 lb carrots
fresh green chilli to taste
3 tbsp oil
1 pinch asafeotida (hing)
1 tbsp black mustard seed
1 dried red chilli
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tsp lemon juice

1. Core the cabbage and cut into long shreds; grate the carrots; thinly slice the green chilli.

2. Heat the oil in a heavy pan; when hot add the asafeotida (hing), a second later add the mustard seeds; when they begin to pop add the dried red chilli; stir once.

3. Add the cabbage, carrots and green chilli; turn the heat down; stir for a minute.

4. Add the salt, sugar and coriander; cook for approx 5minutes or until the veg are just done; add lemon juice, stir, serve.

You may wish to moderate the use of fresh and dried chilli!

Recipe: Carrot and Potato Rosti

Rude veg by Silversprite

A delicious, quick and easy recipe:

Carrot & Potato Rosti

Makes one large rosti, which will serve two as a side dish, or one as a main course.

3 medium carrots, washed and peeled

3 medium potatoes, washed and peeled

butter or olive oil spread

salt and pepper

grated goats cheese (optional)

Grate the carrots and potatoes. Place in a bowl. Season to taste and mix well with hands.

Heat a knob of butter/olive oil spread in a small non-stick frying pan. Squeeze excess water out of potato/carrot mixture with hands, or in a clean tea-towel.

When the butter/spread is nice and bubbly, add the carrot/potato mixture, pressing it into the pan. Cook on a moderate heat, turning every five mins or so (it helps to turn the rosti out onto a dinner plate, before sliding it back into the pan), until golden-brown and crispy on both sides (around twenty mins).

For an extra treat, add grated cheese to the top of the rosti and allow to melt in the pan.

Recipe: Sesame Beef with Carrot Kinpara

Carrot Love by Chris Campbell

I've just eaten a delicious dinner based upon two recipes recently uploaded by Maki to her excellent Just Bento blog:

Easy Sugarfree Carrot Kinpara (try not to inhale the chilli fumes, like I did!)

Sesame Flavoured Beef (I omitted the mirin and substituted the brown sugar for xylitol)

I served the beef and carrots with boiled broccoli and King Soba (would provide a link, but their website appears to have mysteriously disappeared) brown rice noodles.

Highly recommended!

Soup

As I type I'm trying out the tin of Suma Carrot & Coriander Soup I picked up at Waitrose yesterday. It's not bad; well seasoned, fairly spicy. Not as good as my own of course, but takes considerably less time to prepare!

It was, however, the only soup in their range available at that particular supermarket, that didn't contain any prohibited ingredients (I'm assuming corn syrup is a bad thing). Still, it is encouraging to note the increasing range and availability of Candida diet friendly products in British supermarkets. Food shopping is certainly much easier now, than when I started the diet in December 2004.

New recipes

I had a fairly successful day of culinary experiments yesterday. I'd been invited to a party where everyone was asked to bring a national dish (I belong to an international community of research students). So, I decided to make my own 'national' dish, Suffolk Rusks and a vegetarian Shepherds' Pie, just in case the rusks were revolting, which they weren't. :)

Suffolk Rusks

Traditionally these are eaten with lashings of butter, but they're equally good with a soft goat's cheese.

225g self-raising flour
85g butter
1 egg, beaten
pinch of salt
goats milk or water

Pre-heat the oven to 230 degrees. Place flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the beaten egg and enough liquid (milk or water) to produce a smooth dough. Roll out onto a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1 inch, and cut into 2 1/2 inch rounds (I used a tall glass, in place of a cutter). Place on a greased baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cut in half (width-ways). Reduce the temperature of the oven to 190 degrees. Return the rusks to the baking sheet, cut side up, and cook for a further 10 to 15 mins, or until the rusks are crisp and golden-brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Vegetarian Shepherds' Pie

Rather than finely dice the vegetables, I left them quite large which stopped them turning to an unidentifiable mush!

1 tin of mixed pulses
tomato puree
1 onion, finely sliced
1 clove of garlic
1 large carrot, sliced and chopped
About 5 mushrooms (okay, not strictly anti-candida friendly, but a few won't hurt!)
Couple of large potatoes
1/2 yeast-free stock cube
sunflower/vegetable oil
boiling water
salt and pepper

Peel and chop the potatoes. Place in a saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Simmer until cooked. Meanwhile, slice the garlic and lightly fry in the oil. Add the onion and carrot and cook until the onions start to soften. Chop about three of the mushrooms into fairly small pieces. Add to the pan and cook for a further couple of minutes. Then slice the remaining mushrooms and add to the pan with the tin of pulses. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the the stock cube and a good quirt of tomato puree (about a dessertspoon full). Season to taste.

Mash the potatoes, season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the vegetable mixture in a deep dish and top with the mashed potato. Cook in the oven (at about 200 degrees) for about 15 mins, or until the potato starts to brown.

Book Review: 'Healing Foods: A Practical Guide to Key Foods for Good Health' by Miriam Polunin

I found a copy of Miriam Polunin's 'Healing Foods' in my local Oxfam for £1.99 the other day. It's packed with great advice on the nutritional and health benefits of different types of food and includes some fantastic healthy recipes designed to support the body and counteract the effects of a range of conditions (inc. candida overgrowth). Recently I've made Carrot and Corinader soup (good for heart health and the body's defences, apparently) (p. 100) and Dhal (which helps to protect against respiratory infections, anaemia and support circulation, heart and diabetic health) (p. 127). Both recipes were easy to follow and the results were very tasty. Looking forward to having a second helping of carrot and coriander soup for my lunch shortly!