A word about porridge

I eat porridge for breakfast virtually every day. And have done for 10 years, without getting bored!

I use whole oats (Jordan's chunky organic oats to be precise). I soak them overnight - i.e. add some water to 50g of oats and store in a tupperware pot in the fridge overnight. The next morning, I add a bit more water to the soaked oats and heat either in a pan at home or in the microwave at work.  To serve, I add a tablespoon of milk.

Work colleagues often exclaim as to how I can eat porridge without milk or sugar.

Last week I ran out of oats. I borrowed some oats from a friend. They were not whole oats. And they were disgusting. Really.  No wonder people need to add milk and sugar.

Whole oats, pre-soaked makes the end result creamy and tasty without having to resort to milk and sugar.

It was a revelation for me and one that may prove helpful to others trying to avoid dairy and sugar.

Other tips include:
Add 10 blueberries to the top.
Add sliced apple and flaked toasted almonds. Perhaps a few raisins and a teaspoon of cinnamon too.
Add a couple of squares of 85% dark chocolate.

Cheesy Ham and Leek Bake (Serves: 3, Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 35 minutes)

Comfort food at its best. I sometimes ignore the bread as it's quite time consuming and eat the bake with wholemeal pasta instead.

BREAD

60g wholemeal flour

Pinch bicarbonate of soda

150ml cold water

50g butter

2 eggs, beaten

40g cheddar cheese, grated

FILLING

400g leeks, sliced finely

200g white mushrooms, sliced

120g cooked ham, diced

small handful of fresh oregano

SAUCE

25g butter

25g wholemeal flour

300ml mlk

1tsp wholegrain mustard

60g cheddar cheese, grated

First, weight and prepare all the ingredients and heat the oven to 180 / Gas 4.

Start with the filling:

Gently fry the leeks and mushrooms  in a littel olive oil, for 5 minutes. Add the ham and oregano. Set to one side. 

Next, the bread:

Put the water and butter together in a pan and heat gently until the butter has melted.

Remove from the heat.

To the liquid, gradulaly add the flour and bicarbonate of soda, stirring continuously.

Gradually add the eggs and stir until fully mixed in. Finally, add the cheese.

Now the sauce:

Melt the butter in a pan. Remove from the heat. Gradually stir in the flour.

Gradually add the milk and stir until there are no lumps.  Add the mustard and cheese.

Finally, build and bake:

Put the filling in a baking tray and pour over the sauce.

Pour the bread mixture into each of the holes in a 12 hole bun baking tray.

Bake both trays in the oven at 180 for 25 minutes.

When cooked, serve by heaping 1/3 of the filling over 4 of the bread buns.

Bircher Muesli (Serves: 1, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: none)

I often eat this for breakfast on days when I don't have time to make porridge, although it also makes a filling dessert or snack. It is creamy and rich yet super healthy. 

40g oats

2 tsp linseeds

juice of 1 apple (approx 50ml)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

8 raspberries (frozen or fresh)

30ml natural yoghurt

Put all the ingredients except the yoghurt into a small bowl, mix, cover and leave in the fridge overnight.

Before serving, add natural yoghurt, stir through and enjoy!

Lentil & Celeriac Shepherd's Pie (Serves: 6, Preparation time: 45 minutes, Cooking time: 30 minutes)

Celeriac is a good alternative to potaotes. It tastes a bit like mild celery and complements the rich tomato base in this dish. I reckon this is one the tastiest things on my blog, it's awesome! 

Sauce

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 sticks celery, sliced finely

1 carrot, sliced or grated

1 courgette, sliced or grated
1 red  pepper, diced

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes (I use Waitrose Organic with chopped herbs)

1 tbsp tomato puree

Splash Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

Content

250g puy lentils

250g mushrooms, in quarters

1 red peppers, diced

100g fresh spinach
25g fresh basil 

Topping

2 x celeriac, peeled and diced into 1cm squares

500ml water or stock

100g cheddar cheese, grated (use more or less, as you wish)

First peel and dice the celeriac. I sometimes do this the day before. Fry the diced celeriac in oil for 5 minutes, then add 500ml water or  stock, add the lid and cook  over a medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. (when cooked, drain and set aside)

Meanwhile, put the lentils into a large pan and cover with water. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Whilst the celeriac and lentils are cooking, you can slice the veg for the sauce. Fry the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, courgette and 1 red pepper in a pan over a low-medium heat for about 5 minutes.  

Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree and a good splash of lea and perrins.
Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and blend into a smooth sauce, using a hand blender.

When the lentils are cooked, drain them and  return them to the large saucepan. Add the blended sauce, mushrooms, the second red pepper, torn basil and spinach. 

Simmer gently in the pan for approx 10 minutes. 

Transfer to a pyrex dish or individual ramekins.

Cover the top with the diced, cooked celeriac and grated cheese. Bake in the oven at 180 for 20 minutes. 

Italian Fish in Foil (Serves: 1, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 25 minutes)

This is super easy and tastes very refreshing and light. The olives add a good Italian flavour twist to delight your palette. 

1 fillet of hake or haddock

A drizzle of olive oil

4 small tomatoes, sliced

4 green olives, sliced

4 mushrooms, sliced

1 eggcup of fresh oregano (or 1tsp dried)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 clove garlic

25ml white wine

Pre-heat the oven to 200 / Gas 6.

In a pyrex dish, place a large piece of aluminium foil. Fashion it into a bowl at the base.

Add all the ingredients into the foil, except the fish and olive oil.

On top of the bed of vegetables, place the fish fillet and drizzle olive oil on the top.

Close the foil over the top of all the ingredients to form a loose parcel with plenty of air in it.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.  Check fish is cooked thoroughly before eating. 

Serve with buttered spinach or a green salad. Or new potatoes.

Guacamole (serves 2, preparation time: 5 minutes, cooking time: none)

This is a great accompaniment for almost any dish. I had it for lunch today as relish to accompany an organic beefburger (I've been craving red meat since an operation 3 days ago!). I used half the recipe as it was just for me and I am currently making a dark chocolate mousse with the other half of the avocado. Perfect energy-boosting food :)

1 ripe avoado

6 cherry plum tomatoes, cut into 3 or 4 slices each

1/3 red onion, diced finely
1/4 red chilli, diced finely

juice of 1/2 lime

handful of coriander

Scoop out the flesh of the avocado and mash in a bowl.

Add the onion, chilli and lime and mix in.

Add the tomatoes and coriander and stir in again.

Hot and Creamy Mushrooms (serves: 1 as a main course or 2 as a side, preparation time: 5 minutes, cooking time: 10 minutes)

This is food for your palette not for your eyes. Maybe eat it blindfolded? It is a great combo of creamy and spicy but looks a bit anaemic. I usually eat it with pan-fried Sea Bass or Mackerel, although it can also be eaten as a Stroganoff-type dish by itself with rice.

1 small onion, finely diced

200g chestnut or white mushrooms

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 small red chilli, finely diced

juice of 1 lime

60ml natural yoghurt or creme fraiche

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan.

Add the onion and garlic and fry on a low heat for 5 minutes until soft.

Add the sliced mushrooms, chilli and lime juice and fry over a higher heat for 2-3 minutes.

Take off the heat, allow to cool for 1 minute and then stir through the yoghurt / creme fraiche.

it tastes a lot better than it looks!

Puy Lentil Salad (serves 2, preparation time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 20 minutes)

This is my fall-back dish that I return to again and again. It is so simple and yet surprisingly delicious and really verstile. Ideal served with fish and / or with baby plum tomatoes , rocket and feta cheese.

200g puy lentils

1 small red onion, sliced finely

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 tbsp capers

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

8 green olives, sliced

a handful of fresh mint

a handful of fresh coriander (or parsley if you prefer)

In a pan, cover the lentils, onion and garlic with water (or 450ml of chicken or vegetable stock). Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are cooked.

Menawhile, in a jar, add together the capers, olive oil, white wine vinegar and mustard. Shake up to mix thoroughly.

When the lentils are cooked, drain and mash up the garlic clove. Pour the dressing over the lentils and mix together. 

Finally, add the olives, mint and coriander.

The amazing benefits of my diet: incredible but true.

What are the amazing benefits of my diet?

• I don’t put on weight;
• I don’t have (much) cellulite;
• My skin looks radiant;
• I don't get blackheads and spots;
• My nails don’t split;
• I have less grey hair than I used to 3 years ago before the diet (lentils help keep your hair colour);
• I don’t have any trouble sleeping at night;
• My teeth stay whiter for longer (sugar yellows them);
• I never go hungry (low GI foods are slow for the body to process and keep me fuller for longer).
• I don’t feel bloated after eating; 
• I don’t suffer from IBS, diarrhea or constipation;
• I don’t feel guilty for over indulging;
• I don’t have energy slumps in the middle of the afternoon; 
• It is a long-term sustainable way of eating - I have been following this diet for 3 years now. Before that I only ever managed 3 days on any eating plan!

Here are the simple principles of my diet

• Each plate of food should feature 50% veg, 25% complex carbs and 25% protein.
• Only eat complex carbohydrate and definitely no sugar. This keeps the glycemic index low.
• Eat fresh.  Fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, fresh meat, fresh fish. Ideally organic produce to avoid nasty toxins. 
• Avoid processed food. 
• Minimise alcohol - choose drink red wine and vodka as they are lower in sugar.

What is a complex carb?  
A complex carb is one that your body breaks down slowly. it's slow to digest, so your blood sugar doesn't shoot up and you don't get overloaded so that your body converts half of it to fat because it doesn't have time to process it properly. By eating complex carbs, our bodies can burn it slowly as fuel and stay energised instead.
Say NO to white flour, no white pasta, no white rice, no cous cous, no arborio rice, no egg noodles, no potatoes except boiled new potatoes.
Say YES to wholemeal flour, spelt flour, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, quinoa, pearlised spelt, buckwheat noodles

What are the rules for protein?
Protein should comprise only 25% of your meal. Protein sources should be eaten in the following priority order:
1. beans
2. fish (ideally small fish as they have less toxins because they are further up the food chain)
3. white meat
4. red meat
Red meat should be eaten only once per month.

If you wanted to be REALLY good what else could you do?

• Eat raw - try to avoid cooking as it changes the chemical make up of food and reduces the nutrients. 
• Drink green juice - for over a year I drank green juices made of any ABOVE ground green veg. I can divulge that cabbage and broccoli juice are the least offensive. But no pure green vegetable juice is actually enjoyable. 
• Drink smoothies - avoid fruit juice because without the fibre it's actually full of sugar and high GI. But if you make a smoothie full of fruit, some freshly squeezed apple juice or water, oats, linseeds, wheatgrass and sometimes a sneaky glob of coconut oil, you'll be super healthy.  The downside is that can be pretty foul, unless you get the right balance.

A note about cheating

I am not a Saint. Sometimes I want a roast potato. Sometimes my son offers me a biscuit and he enjoys his more if I eat one, too. Last night I went for dinner and ate hot chocolate pudding. It was very nice, thanks Raymond Blanc :)

The trick is to set rules for cheating e.g. once a week. otherwise the cheat becomes the norm and you're back where you started. 

The tricky bit?

There are 2 hard things

1. Finding tasty recipes that stay true to the principles of my diet. Hence this blog - a collection of Low GI, Anti-cancer, sugar-free recipes and tips for a diet with a heavy bias towards vegetables and pulses.
2. Eating out and making the right choices in restaurants and cafes. 

French Bean Cassulet (serves: 4, preparation time: 10 minutes, cooking time: 20 minutes)

This is a surprisingly meaty-tasting dish - the secret is the red wine. It's rustic, simple and tasty. Et voila!

2 x 400g tins butter beans, drained

2 leeks, sliced finely

150g chestnut mushrooms, diced

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes 

1 large clove garlic
180g ham or gammon, diced
100g fine green beans, halved

1 tsp miso paste (optional)

100ml red wine

150ml stock (beef, chicken or veg)

In a large saucepan, fry the leeks in a tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes until soft.

Add all the other ingredients, stir together, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes. 

imagine you are in a backstreet French bistro