Quick Fix: Every Occasion by Alyce Alexandra

It has been a while since I trawled through a cookbook. Blame it on a busy life with too many commitments, or perhaps I needed to coast for a while. But now I have the perfect book to refocus my attention.

 I am reading Quick Fix:Every Occasion by Alyce Alexandra with recipes specially designed for the Thermomix. I love the concept of a quick fix as it ties in so neatly with simplifying my life. This cookbook is sure to help as many recipes can be completed and on the table in less than 30 minutes.

First cab off the rank has been the Zucchini Cupcakes recipe which encouraged me to play with extra flavourings. All I bought was a zucchini as I had the remaining ingredients or easy replacements. A little too much kefir yoghurt in lieu of sour cream made the mix a little too moist but resulted in delicious cupcakes with the addition of pecans contributing to the richer flavour.

After the nice light taste of the zucchini cupcakes, next I played with the Spicy Pork Balls recipe. Despite careful weighing, I managed to add a titch too much liquid again which led to a fortuitous discovery. While the pork balls were in the oven, I cooked some leftover mix in a frying pan. I have made rissoles in the past with limited success because they never held their shape. But this recipe mix worked beautifully in the frying pan which means that I can now add rissoles as an option for my dinner. Eating the balls with a dipping sauce was a pleasure with the herbs and other condiments combining to produce a tasty treat.

I have often enjoyed some cooked quinoa with fruit for breakfast. So imagine my delight when I found the Quinoa Salad recipe and realised that I had all the ingredients on hand, with the slight adjustment of replacing parsley with young celery leaves. My taste test went down well with the addition of nuts and dried fruit providing bursts of flavour along with a refreshing tang from the mandarin segments.

The cookbook is a delight to browse through with recipes grouped in three different ways at the beginning of the book to assist with meal planning.  All angles are covered with special symbols used to highlight dairy free, gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options. Clear instructions along with a photo opposite each recipe help make the decision to indulge. Alyce’s recipes provide a memorable taste sensation while combining familiar foods. This cookbook is a keeper.

For more details about Alyce's cookbook, visit the website: Alyce Alexandra Cookbooks

Pineapple Salad

Yummm. It might seem like an unusual dinner but I had some pineapple, carrot and sweet potato that I wanted to use up before picking up my Food Connect box tomorrow.
Pineapples are very juicy. I had enjoyed half of the pineapple chopped up with my lunch and as a mid-afternoon snack. The remainder formed the basis of a chunky souped up salad comprising just three ingredients.

Recipe ingredients:
320g pineapple
210g carrot
120g sweet potato

Instructions:
Process the ingredients together in the Thermomix on speed 6 for 6 seconds.

Naturally there was some chewing involved but the sweetness and liquid nature of the pineapple made it very easy to eat. I added some chick peas just to make sure I was getting enough calories.
After having eaten almost a whole pineapple over two consecutive meals I couldn't finish off the last of the mix as the amount of pineapple I had eaten was affecting my tongue and gums. So the remainder will make it on to my lunch plate tomorrow.
Trying this combination has reminded me that I can mix just about anything together into a soup or salad. This combination would make a great side salad option in a buffet.

Raw Broccoli Salad with Beetroot Dip

Sometimes I feel like I’m in an episode of Ready Steady Cook. I had some broccoli, a beetroot, a tomato and some lemongrass along with other ingredients that I keep in my fridge and pantry.

Fortunately I found a Raw Broccoli Salad recipe that would fit the bill along with some raw beetroot dip made along the same lines as the beetroot hummus from earlier this month.

Recipe Ingredients:
30g pumpkin seeds
Lemon grass stalks
Small piece of ginger
Clove of garlic peeled
Sprigs of parsley and basil
2 cups broccoli florets
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lemon ice cubes from freezer 
1/2 tsp salt (optional as the salad ended up tasting too salty)
65g peeled beetroot
60g tomato
 
Instructions:
Cover pumpkin seeds with water in a sprouting jar and set it aside.

To make the broccoli salad:-
Mill the lemon grass, ginger and garlic for 15 seconds on speed 9.
Add parsley and basil and chop for 2 seconds on speed 6.

Add broccoli florets, cumin seeds, olive oil, 1 lemon ice cube and 1/2 tsp salt and chop for 4 seconds on speed 4.
Place the mix in the fridge to allow the combined ingredients to soften the broccoli.

After an hour - to make the beetroot dip:-
Rinse the pumpkin seeds and place them along with 65g peeled beetroot, 60g tomato and the second lemon juice ice cube into the Thermomix bowl and process on speed 4 for 5 to 10 seconds. 
Blend again at speed 5 or 6 if it is too chunky.

I noticed the difference between chick peas and pumpkin seeds as the pumpkin seeds kept their shape while previously the chick peas had gracefully merged into the hummus. Perhaps I need to soak the pumpkin seeds overnight rather than just for 1 hour… After tasting the dip I knew that I was quite happy with the taste of it but blending again at speed 5 and then 6 gave me what I thought was a better looking dip.

When I tasted the broccoli salad I decided that it was too salty so I combined the salad and dip together very nicely for my lunch which didn’t end up being entirely raw as I added some cooked chick peas.

I think I could safely say I’m having difficulties in letting cooked grains, beans and chick peas go. I’d like to say I’m working on it, but in the meantime would you believe I have weighed what I eat over an average day which comes in roughly at 1 kg of food, and have worked out that I can safely call myself a raw foodist – who is someone that eats 75% or more raw food - if the only cooked items in my day are the cooked grain (100g) with my breakfast, 2 mini muffins (35g) for morning tea, some cooked beans or chick peas (50g) with my lunch, and some more of the cooked beans or chick peas (50g) with my dinner. I can’t see myself managing this when I’m out for lunch or dinner, or visiting family or friends, but this is certainly do-able for the much of the time. I suppose time will tell…

Buckwheat Tabouleh and Chia Seed Gel

I already regularly sprout seeds and beans along with chick peas and I have recently become interested in soaking and sprouting grains after attending the Brisbane Organic Growers meeting earlier this month. Graham Sait from Nutri-Tech Solutions spoke on the decline in human nutrition over the past three generations. My ears perked up when he mentioned raw food and after subscribing to his newsletter read that we were supposed to eat a large percentage of raw food. It seems earlier cultures soaked or sprouted grains and he suggested we do the same to get rid of phytates and enzyme inhibitors.

So being curious about how well grains sprout, I decided to try the Buckwheat Tabouleh recipe from Thermomix’s A Taste of Vegetarian cookbook which includes buckwheat soaked overnight with tomato, cucumber, some herbs and a few extras. And then I noticed on the web that buckwheat is not a grain. But I soldiered on and after chopping for 3 seconds on speed 4 in the Thermomix and then spreading over a bed of alfalfa and lentil sprouts, the mix provided a nice light raw lunch.

The consistency of buckwheat after soaking was quite pleasant and edible and has now become a breakfast option that can be combined with some fruit. And so it made me wonder which of the other grains or rather grain equivalents might be suitable for soaking or sprouting. I have tried sprouting the occasional grain in the past and found the result to be too chewy but I’m willing to try the alternatives particularly considering my interest in raw foods.

But as I mentioned buckwheat is not a grain. Wikipedia tells me that “despite the common name and the grain-like use of the crop, buckwheat is not a cereal or grass. It is called a pseudocereal to emphasize that it is not related to wheat. ” and I have italicised this and other Wikipedia quotes in this post.

Quinoa is the same, being a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. I currently cook quinoa to enjoy with fruit for my breakfast, but just out of curiousity I have tried soaking it to see how it turns out. What I particularly like about quinoa is that it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source...unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine).

I decided to test Wikipedia’s suggestion that only 2–4 hours resting in a glass of clean water is enough to make quinoa sprout and release gases. I tried some soaked quinoa after 4 hours and I’m pleased to report that I could see sprouted tails on the quinoa – and I realise that it’s probably hard to see the same on the photo below after adding some chopped banana. I added some honey after taking the photo and was more than happy to finish off the dish.

Since I’ve moved off talking about grains, I can mention that I regularly make Chia Seed Gel.

Chia Seed Gel Recipe Instructions:
Mix 1 tbsp of Chia seeds with ¾ cup of water and stir for a minute or two to make sure the seeds have separated properly before storing the mix in the refrigerator.

I then use a few teaspoons of this mix each morning in my grain and fruit breakfast. I found the idea on the web and unfortunately didn’t keep the link. However, I have found a new link that explains the process here under the heading of How To Make Chia Seed Gel. I’ve also ground chia seed occasionally and have noticed that chia seed can also be sprouted.

After all of this I haven’t forgotten about my interest in working out how to successfully soak or sprout grains. I have found another web page supporting the soaking or sprouting of nuts, seeds and grains. It seems that this softens them, removes harmful enzyme inhibitors, and enhances their nutritional value prior to eating so now nuts will go into my list of things to play with.

Yam Yum and Jicamashed Potatoes

I didn’t quite know what to expect when I varied the Yam Yum recipe from Raw Sacramento’s web page to suit the Thermomix. But my taste test revealed a very pleasant mix and I plated and ate it all very happily for my lunch.

Yam Yum Recipe Ingredients:

200g red sweet potato, peeled

1 small clove garlic, peeled

1 shallot, peeled

1/2 small onion, peeled

A few sprigs of mint and parsley

1 tbsp Tahini

1 tbsp lemon juice

Dash of Shoyu sauce

Optional: 1 tbsp sultanas

Plus:

Lettuce leaves to put on the plate under the Yam Yum.

Basil for garnish

Instructions:

Process garlic on speed 6 for 5 seconds

Add the sweet potato, shallots and onions and process on speed 8 for up to 30 seconds

Add the remaining ingredients and mix on speed 4 for a few seconds

Place mounds of Yam Yum onto a bed of lettuce

Sprinkle cut basil leaves as a garnish

I subsequently threw a few sultanas on top and they merged in very nicely with the overall taste sensation. I must remember to include them in the future.

Raw Sacramento says this makes a nice appetizer or side dish. Well for me, this made a very nice lunch.

And then for dinner I decided to try a second recipe – Jicamashed Potatoes - again from Raw Sacramento’s site. I had some more sweet potatoes that I wanted to use up before I pick up my next Food Connect box tomorrow. Naturally I varied the recipe to suit by adding in half a carrot sitting in my fridge and included some ingredients from Rawlicious’s Carrot Ginger Soup recipe.

Jicamashed Potatoes Recipe Ingredients:
Garlic clove
3cm ginger
2 cups sweet potatoes
Half a carrot
Avocado chopped
Green apple peeled and cut into chunks
½ tsp salt
Pinch allspice

Instructions:
Process garlic and ginger on speed 6 for 5 seconds
Add sweet potato and carrot and process at speed 8 for 15 seconds.
Add chopped avocado, green apple chunks, salt and allspice and process on speed 4 for a few seconds.

I then did an amazingly un-raw thing by placing some homemade baked beans on top and proceeded to demolish it. My apologies for forgetting to keep a photo of this one! However you haven’t really missed much as the Jicamashed Potatoes looked pretty much the same as my lunch did – minus the lettuce bed and basil garnish…

Nori

I found this wonderful website called Raw Sacramento Recipes with loads of recipes just for raw food. I jumped straight to the recipes and started looking through them thinking I’d be happy to make these. This surprised me because I generally flick through recipes in a book or web site and only find a few I’d like to try. But this web site was different.

I think this site resonated with me because the collection of recipes is for day to day use rather than gourmet special occasion use. And they’re absolutely perfect. The introduction suggests applying the 5-5-5 rule to get the most benefit: "... it doesn't have more than 5 ingredients, doesn't take more than 5 minutes to make, and doesn't cost more than $5 for ingredients...", while some braver souls move towards 3-3-3... This all sounds very similar to what I read in the book “12 Steps to Raw Foods” by Victoria Boutenko, so it is no surprise to find recipes attributed to the Boutenko family.

So I’ve started on a new trip of trolling through this web site just to see what I might find.

The first recipe I have attempted is Salsa and Avocado in Nori (copy the recipe name as you will need to paste and search for it on the web page). Now I have bought and eaten nori in the past but haven’t really worked out the best way to use it so this has been my first project.

For lunch I made the salsa along with some hulled sunflower seeds sprouted overnight and wrapped it in a nori sheet and I really enjoyed the taste of the salsa. I think it was the novelty of the lemon/salt combination as I haven’t yet acquired the habit of adding lemon to most meals I prepare. I found the nori wrap didn’t work out as well as I would have liked as it can be quite chewy if the moisture hasn’t sunk into it. I suspect that’s why buying and trying nori in the past hasn’t translated into a permanent habit.

The second time I cut the nori up into little pieces and included it in the salsa rather than as a wrap which was better because the nori became softer when mixed in with the other ingredients. Some cooked chick peas finished off the meal perfectly.

I haven’t given up on finding other options for nori. I have found suggestions to wet the nori so that it becomes more palatable. Sushi beckons but I realise that there is an art to making sushi so will tread carefully. What I know so far about sushi is that I need a special mat, plus I have seen sushi rice in various health food stores so will buy some so I can try it out. In the meantime, I have found a sushi recipe using quinoa which might work for me.

It feels pretty good to be checking out these options. I like the idea of reducing the number of foods in a meal as I could consider this – dare I say – as simplifying my diet, not that I’m on one!

Curry Sauce, Honey Soy Sesame Dressing, Fruit Nut Slice, Citrus Dressing and Raw Flax Crackers

This is catch up time. I’ve been checking through the list of recipes in the Rawlicious booklet and have noticed the Curry Sauce recipe from the Rawlicious booklet that I made a while back but haven’t yet mentioned in this blog. Fortunately I took a photo of it at the time.

I’m not sure why I didn’t post about it. I must have been a bit busy. But I certainly do remember cutting up the ginger, turmeric and galangal. The turmeric powder that I’ve used in the past seems to be a much deeper colour than the real thing, but that didn’t worry me as the combination of all three produced a very satisfying sauce that was all used up on my lunches over the next few days.

Yesterday I made the Honey Soy and Sesame Dressing recipe again from Rawlicious. This was easy to produce in just a few steps although I did vary it a bit by not including the raw chilli sauce because I finished that off a while back. I also didn’t include the rice bran oil as I didn’t have any on hand. Again today my lunch-time salad benefited from the lovely tangy taste. I even had some raw broad bean seeds on top which were a real treat.

I feel I’m on the downhill slide with only seven recipes remaining to try in the Rawlicious booklet. So I’ve been energetic late this afternoon and have tried two more recipes.

The Fruit and Nut Slice sounded appealing. I modified the recipe a little and just made a mix of soaked dates and almonds which were then rolled in sesame seeds. I really enjoyed this. I’ve found that I prefer simpler tastes and this isn’t too rich for me. Plus it was really easy to make. This is certainly a keeper.

Then dinner time came around and I started saying “yum” again just after the first spoonful. I made the Chilli Citrus Dressing although there was no raw chilli sauce for the same reason I gave a few paragraphs back – I finished it all some time back. However I faithfully used all the other ingredients and poured the dressing over some avocado, asparagus and zucchini. And the word “yum” just kept coming to mind. The only thing I’ll change next time – and there will be a next time – is to leave out the garlic. I’ve never really liked garlic and using it multiple times while toying with Rawlicious hasn’t changed my mind. I imagine there are lots of people who don’t agree with me but all I can say is “Vive la différence”.

So then I had five recipes left in the Rawlicious books and all of them require dehydration in some form. But as I looked at the instructions for each recipe, I realized that I had basically tried the Raw Flax (Linseed) Crackers as my earlier rendition used similar ingredients and was cooked at the temperature suggested in the recipe. So I consider that I now have four recipes to go.

The only problem is that I’m not ready to start playing with dehydration whether driven by electricity or solar. So I imagine I’ll hold off on the Buckwheat and Mushroom Quiche, the Ginger Pecan Cookies and the Muesli Bars until I’m ready. Now the remaining recipe is the Chocolate Mousse Tart which only needs some nuts to be soaked and then dehydrated. I reckon I’ll try it sooner rather than later and just not bother soaking/dehydrating the nuts

I’ve been marking off the recipes that I’ve completed from the Contents page on the inside cover of the Rawlicious booklet and would you believe the item I see placed on the inside back cover of this booklet? It is “Raw Recipes in other Thermomix Publications”. I already know that the Thermomix book “A Taste of Vegetarian” has some raw recipes but when I turn to the back cover I find 27 of them! The back cover also mentions that the Everyday Cooking along with the Gluten Free, Wheat Free Cooking books have raw recipes in them. This is all very helpful and I will appreciate it later on. I have said “yum” so many times. So I suspect that I’ll be back sooner rather than later as I want to compare any differences between the Rawlicious and Vegetarian recipes so I can work out which ones I’ll try. Plus I still need to prepare three meals a day and it is more fun trying new recipes. Wish me luck!

Carrot and Avo Mash

Sometimes I look at a recipe and am not quite sure whether I would enjoy it. I thought this about the Carrot and Avo Mash recipe in the Rawlicious booklet, but now that I’m eating it I can’t understand why it took me so long to try it. The mash has a lovely light flavour which blends in very well with its capsicum shell.

A few of the Rawlicious recipes including this one use Dulce leaves. I looked around for the leaves and the best that I could find was handpicked, organic sun dried flakes which sounded pretty good to me. The best part about using Dulce is that it is a sea vegetable which means that I’ve added another dimension to my cuisine and I’m looking forward to dabbling further with sea vegetables in the future.

I’m on a countdown as this is now 21 recipes that I’ve made out of the 32 in the Rawlicious booklet. I’m already thinking about what I’ll focus on next. There’s a course on tomorrow that I can’t attend on making sourdough bread as well as sauerkraut, korean kimchi, fruit and nut ferment and a batch of fruit wine. I have made sourdough bread and fruit wine before but would be interested in refreshing my memory on making the sourdough bread as well as getting the starter. I dabbled with fruit wine for a little while until I decided that I was starting to enjoy it too much. The other items on the list sound really interesting especially the sauerkraut.

I’d also like to try some more Japanese cuisine. I’ve already dabbled with it by making miso soup – well, I made ramen soup which included miso – and also like the idea of raw fish which fits perfectly in a raw food regime.

Ah, so many options to consider.

'Tuna' Salad Mix

Ah, lunch time. I’ve made up the ‘Tuna’ Salad Mix recipe from the Rawlicious booklet using some soaked almonds, capsicum and greens from my patios, and have placed it on top of a bed of lettuce leaves and sprouts.

This both tastes and feels good to eat. I know the soaked almonds are beneficial as I’ve found a web site saying that “Nuts are easier to digest and their nutrients are more readily available if they are first soaked overnight” along with other comments.

I’m glad I made this and will remember it for the future, particularly when I want to add some nuts to my salad.

Favourite raw recipes

I googled “favourite raw recipe” and found some inspiration from others’ successes.

A lot of the ingredients of the Raw Creamy Zucchini Salad are what I often use in my own daily salad, but not necessarily in the same way. I tried a simple combination of some grated zucchini over sliced avocado together with a shallot, some lemon juice, salt and pepper, then added some green beans and a not so raw flax cracker, and it all tasted lovely.

Not that simple combinations are unknown to me. Mango and avocado are a long-time favourite of mine, which conjures up a familiar image of both sharing a plate with prawns and crusty bread. Tomato and cucumber salad or cabbage and apples both seem popular on Google. Next time I have a vegetable or fruit that I don’t know what to pair it with, I’ll google its name followed by “and” just to see what comes up.

And then it was time for desert again, which I didn’t mind.

I was intrigued when I found this Raw Shortbread Recipe. So I bought some Lucuma powder from Flannery’s. It’s not cheap at $25 for 250gm. The recipe is very vague about quantities so I decided to put roughly the same amount of each ingredient as a first pass. I used ½ cup almonds ground, 2 heaped tbsp lucuma powder and 2 heaped tbsp raw honey blended for about 10 seconds until the mixture started forming clumps. And it’s very nice and does remind me of shortbread with a tinge of apricot in it. It would be interesting to find the original fruit that the powder is made from. It was an easy dish to make, particularly since I just rolled the balls as I took the mix out of the Thermomix and placed them straight into a Pyrex container.

And then the pièce de résistance…

The little pies are truly decadent and well worth making. I might experiment a little with the crust, but won’t change anything with the filling as it was very nice. I'll be making this for friends or family next time I need to take a dish.

Despite having a sweet tooth, my favourite out of these three recipes is the avocado and zucchini salad. I am starting to find some deserts to be a little too rich for me. Perhaps the more I delve into raw eating, the more my taste buds are acclimatizing to simpler fare.

Simple Fennel Salad

I love fennel, even though I’ve had nothing to do with the vegetable until now. But I am well acquainted with the essential oil.

Since the early 1990s, I’ve often dabbled with aromatherapy. I found a couple of books that gave me recipes for healing mouth ulcers, a persistent cough and tennis elbow, which both I and my friends happily took on board. My favourite book which I still use is "The Fragrant Pharmacy" by Valerie Ann Worwood. It is chock full of aromatherapy recipes for just about any condition or situation, even including an insect deterrent. The second book that I have sometimes found helpful is “Aromatherapy for Scentual Awareness” by Karen Downes and Judith White.

I dabbled so much with essential oils that I have a small collection of mostly out of date oils, including some fennel oil with a use by date of June 2003. It has a lovely aroma similar to aniseed when heated in an essential oil burner.

So to find this raw recipe based on fennel was a godsend, thanks to the Rawlicious booklet.

After blending for a few seconds, the fennel salad looked like mashed potato. It tasted fine, but I just knew it wouldn’t translate well in a photo on its own. Having watched as much of MasterChef as I could, I have become very aware of how I “plate up” my meals – particularly for this blog. So I added some ingredients and end results to my meal that just happened to be sitting in the fridge.

A smattering of coriander leaves circling home-grown tomato slices with a plump serving of fennel salad drizzled with raw curry sauce and some fig puree. A small dollop of the fennel salad tops off the meal. And it was delightful, if I can say so myself.