Eat It readers! If you are still out there...  I am so sorry for disappearing for this long! But exciting things are brewing (at last!). 

Here is a little taster of what is to come...

https://www.facebook.com/eatitwholefoodswholehealth
See you soon with fresh new gears x

I haven't forgotten about you!

Mid Jan - My first attempt at growing celery. These babies are nearly ready to eat now! 

To my lovely readers! What can I say other than, I'm sorry for the delay in posting recipes. The new website is under construction, and I am adjusting to my new life back at school - what an amazing adventure it has been. But boy, time disappears very quickly. I'm really excited to share with you the changes I've been making and there are a lot of things happening in April to make that possible for you!

In the mean time, I will try and get a few recipes up for your eating pleasure. But today I thought I would just share a couple of my snaps from the beautiful summer of 2012/2013. 

Growing our first ever vegetable garden - I had to put this one up... This was a couple of months ago and I love looking back at this to see where it all began.

One of my favourite summer salads - roasted beetroot, avocado, rocket and red onion on brown lentils with creamy yoghurt tahini dressing. I might have to post this recipe soon while the last of the avocados are making there mark on the early autumn.

Sunsets from my deck. Delicious!

Keep your eyes peeled - there is more to come, I promise! 

oaty coconut slice, with lemon and pistachios

Moving to a big new city is full on. Luckily, I'm loving the change, grounding my roots and enjoying all of the busy-ness. I grew up in a place that boasts many city-like qualities, but its small scale - petite and modest . I like it like that and up until a year or so ago, I'd never imagined living in New Zealand's Big Smoke - the intensity and fast paced nature of it all, seemed a bit too much for me. However, when I decided I wanted to seriously head down the holistic health and food path, the Auckland doors opened with some opportunities for me to study nutrition. I opened my mind to it and great things happened. I'll gladly admit this new Auckland adventure packs a lot of punch and I'm loving every minute of it.

Naturally, I've been seeing and experiencing many new things here, and all of this exploring has seriously got the creative juices flowing. I'm buzzing with ideas for the blog. I've been so energised with all things new (along with a lovely holiday after leaving Korea to really clear the mind and fill it with lots of new goodies and thoughts), that I couldn't help myself... I've decided to revamp the blog!

I'm not going to give away too many hints. But there are definitely going to be some big changes. I'm excited about it, and hopefully you are too.

So as a (pre) celebration for the blog's new look and a 'hooray' to new beginnings, I thought I'd whip up this coconut slice. I love it because it's not as rich and dense as many sweet treats can be. But it's very definitely still treaty! I've actually grabbed this recipe from one of my new (and favourite!) cook books - Sprouted Kitchen, by Sara Fort with photography by her man Hugh Fort. I've been wanting to share one of Sara's recipes for a while now. I love her work, writing and food. And considering I'm on a creative and motivational buzz right now I thought I'd share a recipe from someone who very seriously inspires me to stay in that frame of mind.

Coconut is also something that gets me inspired! It's delicious, versatile, really, really reeeeeally good for you and did I mention it already??... DELICIOUS! From a nutritional perspective, coconut oil wins all round. However, I've decided to pull back a little with my nutritional facts until I start studying (don't worry my first day of school is tomorrow!). The internet is packed with a whole load of information about what might be good for you, and what might not be and I'm by no means discrediting the wonders of the interweb. Therefore, I really want to make a conscious effort to start sharing in-depth facts about food as I learn them through my education. 

But for a bit of background on coconut oil (because really, I just can't help myself!) - it contains medium chain fatty acids that are quick and easy for our bods to process, digest and convert to energy. So, if combined with a healthy balanced diet, and eaten in moderation, coconut oil is not a fat to be feared, but rather celebrated! It's important to know that our bodies need particular fats to work properly; just like putting oil in our cars to make them run - without it, you just wont go.

I've adapted this recipe a little. Mainly because I didn't have the exact ingredients on hand. When I made it, it did look a little different to Sara's, and it set differently to what I'd imagined. But I was still satisfied. I really enjoyed the addition of a little salt, and wholegrain oats - it gave it an earthier and wholesome flavour. Perfect with a cuppa in the evening when you need a little extra something, but don't want a super sweet hit.

Give this a try if you like and see what you think. Thank you Sara for your inspiration!

oaty coconut slice with lemon and pistachios 

(adapted from Sprouted Kitchen's Coconut Lime Tart)

base

1 cup wholegrain oats

1/4 cup spelt flour (or whatever flour you fancy)

1/3 cup pistachios

1 Tbl honey

5 Tbl coconut oil

1/4 - 1/2 tsp flaky sea salt

1-2 Tbl water

filling

1 can coconut milk 

1/3 cup natural cane sugar (I used light muscovado)

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbl coconut flour (you could try another flour)

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp flaky sea salt (ground a bit if you are using rock salt)

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

toasted shredded coconut to sprinkle on top

Line a baking tin (I used 20cm by 20 cm tin) with baking paper. Sara suggests using a pan with a removable bottom. I didn't have one but positioned the baking paper in such a way that helped me to lift out the slice from the tin with the edges of paper. Add the first three ingredients to a food processor and pulse until it becomes a coarse flour. Next add the honey, coconut oil and salt. Pulse again to combine. You may like to rub the ingredients together a little with your hands if the honey and oil holds together. Continue to pulse while slowly adding the water till the mixture starts to hold together (you may need a little more or less). Evenly press the mixture into the prepared tin and encourage just a little up the sides. Cover and leave in the fridge to chill for 1-5 hours.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C on bake. 

With a fork, pierce the base a few times and put in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until it just begins to warm in colour. Set aside to cool. Turn down the oven to 160 degrees C. In a sauce pan add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar, lemon zest and flour (sifted). Let it cool a little and then whisk in the lemon juice, egg, egg yolk, salt and vanilla. Leave again until it reaches room temperature then pour it over the cooled crust. Bake in the oven until the filling is just setting in the middle. The original recipe suggested 25 minutes, but I had it in the oven for about 40 minutes. Just keep an eye on it. When it's cooled a little, sprinkle over some toasted coconut and set in the fridge for a couple of hours (ideally overnight).

Slice into your desired size squares, eat and enjoy!

Fabulous Fermentation Week - tempeh with greens, goats cheese and fresh strawberries

Things just got really exciting! Two of my food blogging guru's (they don't know it, but I've been geek-ing out on their recipes and blogs for a while now!) - Sarah Britton (My New Roots) and Elenore Bendel Zahn (Earthsprout) - banded together to spread the goodness of fermented foods and created the wonderfully delicious "Fabulous Fermentation Week". The pair devoted this week to posting yummy and interesting fermented food recipes and invited a load of other bloggers to do the same. I very quickly jumped at the chance to get involved and add my own fermented-food-inspired dish.

Both Sarah and Elenore got right down to it and shared with their readers just how easy it is to ferment your own food. I was especially excited to see Sarah's Kimchi post - after returning to New Zealand from my year in Korea, I have been craving and seriously missing my daily dose of Kimchi, but thanks to Sarah I've learnt just how easy it is to make it yourself at home! And taking a look at Elenore's Sauerkraut... well I've never seen purple cabbage look quite so delicious! Sarah and Elenore's do-it-yourself Fabulous Fermentation Week efforts are such a treat to read and learn from. Make sure you check them out.

Rather than attempting the fermentation process myself, I've decided to share a dish that has a fermented food as its star ingredient - my Fabulous Fermentation Week contribution is a fresh throw together bowl of tempeh with greens, goats cheese and strawberries. 

Tempeh (as pictured above) is indeed made from soy beans and there is no doubt a lot to talk about when it comes to soy products and where you stand with regards the soy-controversy. I personally am not a fan of many soy foods because they are usually heavily processed, genetically modified and mass grown and contain a load of toxins we should stare clear of. 

As many of you may already know, Chinese cultures have been eating soy beans for years. But it is their well mastered technique of fermenting the bean to rid it of toxins, unlock its nutrients and increase our ability to digest it that much of the western world has managed to forget, or rather, ignore. Although I've skimmed over it a little now, it is not my purpose in this post to educate you on the truths behind soy - I am still learning myself, but there is information out there that I encourage you to read so that you can come to your own conclusions.

Thankfully, there is some light at the end of my soy tunnel. When you eat soy beans that have been fermented and produced in a conscious and organic nature, you are boosting your bod with a serious protein hit. And let's not forget about the whole purpose of this weeks post - fermented foods are packed with bacteria (don't worry - the good stuff) that help our bodies go go go (pop on over to My New Roots or Earthsprout to learn a load more about the abundance of nutrients in fermented foods). 

Tempeh is a soy food that I don't mind dabbling in thanks to the fermentation process. It has strong roots in Indonesian culture and is made with whole soy beans that are fermented in a starter culture (a fungus called rhizopus oligoporus, if you'd like to know). Tempeh has a very strong flavour - nutty, tangy and quite rich. It is an acquired taste for sure, but one that I recommend trying out a few times. It grows on you. Luckily, there are tempeh producers out there who are going about getting it in our stores ethically. Check out a health food store and you're bound to find some in the refrigerated section. Many manufacturers add in other grains which you might like to look out for and avoid. Just have a good read over of the pack! 

I've packed a load of greens into this bowl. Namely rocket (or arugula) to add a spicy crunch that I find helps balance the deep earthy-ness of the tempeh. I've combined fresh raw greens (mainly rocket, but feel free to top it up with kale or lettuce greens etc) with some sautéed silver beet, zucchinis and leeks and then just heated through the tempeh. I like this combination as it adds more guts to the dish and makes it enjoyable in the current southern and northern hemisphere climates. To give it a creamy salty finish I've happily crumbled over some goats milk feta and topped it off with some fresh strawberries that give bursts of sweetness to excite your taste buds even more. 

Feel free to skip out the feta if you'd prefer to keep this a dairy free meal!

Fabulous Fermentation Week!

tempeh with greens, goats cheese and fresh strawberries

serves 2

for the pan...

approx 1 Tbls olive oil

bottom 1/3 small leek - thinly sliced

1 small zucchini - cut into small rounds 

150 grams of organic tempeh - cut into small cubes (as seen above)

1-2 Tbls organic wheat free soy sauce or nama shoyu

1 packed cup silver beet - roughly chopped

for the salad bowl...

two decent handfuls of rocket (& your choice of roughly chopped greens) per person

to finish...

100 grams goat's milk feta - crumbled

6-8 strawberries - leafy top removed and roughly quartered 

juice of half a lemon

a few good glugs of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil 

rock salt to taste

Chop and prepare the leeks, zucchini and tempeh as outlined above. Heat 1 Tbls of olive oil in a hot pan and then add the sliced leek. Once the leek begins to soften and starts to turn translucent in colour add the zucchini and stir together for about a minute. Next add the tempeh. After 30 seconds or so, poor in the sauce soy and quickly stir through. The pan will steam up nicely. Reduce to a medium heat and continue to cook for another minute or two. Add the silver beet and cover with a lid to encourage it to wilt down. This should take a minute or so, then remove lid and stir together. Turn off element and leave aside to cool a little.

Divide the handfuls of rocket into two salad bowls - one bowl for each person. Prepare the strawberries and set aside. Layer the pan-cooked vegetables over the rocket bowls. Divide the feta and crumble over each dish. Add the strawberries, a light squeeze of lemon juice and a good dashing of olive oil. Lightly toss through. Finish with a little crunch of salt if you'd like, bearing in mind the saltiness of the feta.

I hope you can give this dish a try. Luckily, everyone can take their part in Fabulous Fermentation Week! If you don't have a food blog then just get cooking and try out some fermented foods. Enjoy xx

  

cheery and almond clafoutis with lemony coconut whipped cream

I'm a little excited to say that my first post for the New Year comes from my darling friend Emily Lucas. This wonder woman writes a fantastic foodie-blog called Super Foodie Adventure and I'm a huge fan of what she rustles up in the kitchen! 

Last week I made the move from Dunedin to Auckland and prior to the big drive north I was ridiculously busy getting ready to go. During my last Dunedin-date with Emily (for a while anyway), we chatted about all of the usuals - friends, family, christmas, our New Year plans and of course... Food! We'd thought about collaborating together with some food-magic for a while, and decided we'd start with some shared posts. The timing couldn't be better for me, as I must admit, I've been a tad frantic with this whole moving business and leaving little time for my blog. 

So Emily dearest, thank you very much for sharing this delicious recipe with me and everyone who visits this space. I'm so happy to share your work and I'm especially grateful that we could do it now while I wade through suitcases, house hunt and settle into this new city!

Enjoy...

Emily's Cherry & Almond Clafoutis with Lemony Coconut Whipped Cream 

(from Super Foodie Adventure) 

To me, there is nothing more quintessentially French than clafoutis. The wunderkind of French desserts, clafoutis (kla-foo-tee) lies somewhere between a frangapine tart and a baked custard. Clafoutis hails from the Limousin region of France and is traditionally baked with the pits of the cherries still in tact, in order to ‘saveur le flavour’. To protect your precious pearly whites, my recipe requires the pits to be laboriously removed. This initial slaving over the stove is short-lived, as the simplicity of this dessert is its saving grace. A spread, a splash, a whisk, a sprinkle and viola! Pop it in the oven and await the sweet cherry almond scent to permeate the house.

Cherries are aplenty right now. The cream of the crop are grown in Central Otago, just a few hours away from where we live in Dunedin (New Zealand). These cherries are renowned for being the sweetest, juiciest, shiniest you’ve ever had the pleasure of laying your mitts on. Cherries are however not just a pretty face – they are one of Mother Earth’s most powerful anti-inflammatory sources due to the presence of anthocyanins, which research has unveiled prevents free radical damage and improves memory. Cherries also contain melatonin, a hormone which assists in regulating sleep cycles.

I’ve made this dessert with almond milk which works superbly, but clafoutis also works well with other milks especially cow’s milk. I’ve adapted the recipe from the Australian Taste website and given their clafoutis recipe a Super Foodie makeover, ensuring the recipe is dairy-free (if you prefer), gluten-free and using a minimally refined sugar. I’ve used coconut palm sugar, but you can use any sugar you like, as long as it’s not the over-processed, bleached and filtered white variety. Coconut palm sugar is made from coconut tree nectar and has a naturally low glycemic index compared to other sugars. It also has a higher nutrient content and is a source of potassium, zinc, iron and magnesium. When choosing coconut palm sugar, ensure it is the purest you can find in the organic section, as some brands can be mixed with cane sugar.

This photo was taken by my delightfully Hilarious Sidekick Rachael Lawrence Lodge, who provided the creative direction for the shoot. Before we demolished the clafoutis, naturally. Dankeschön, Liebling!

Cherry and Almond Clafoutis 

Coconut oil for greasing the dish

500 grams of fresh cherries, pitted

2/3 of a cup of ground almonds

1/2 a cup of coconut palm sugar or coconut sugar

A tablespoon of honey

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups of almond milk (or cows milk if you prefer)

A vanilla pod, deseeded or a teaspoon of vanilla essence or paste

The zest of a lemon

Lemony Coconut Whipped Cream

A can of refrigerated coconut cream

A vanilla pod, deseeded or a teaspoon of vanilla essence or paste

The zest of a lemon

A teaspoon of honey

1/3 of a cup of sliced almonds

A sprinkling of fruit, a sprig of fresh mint or lemon zest for garnishing

Heat the oven to 180 degrees. In a frying pan, toast the almonds until golden brown and allow to cool. Grease a large dish with coconut oil. Pit the cherries and place evenly in the greased dish. In a bowl, mix the ground almonds and sugar together and form a well.

In a jug, whisk the eggs and add the almond milk, vanilla and the zest of one of the lemons. Gently pour the liquid into the sugar and almond well and combine. Pour into the dish and sprinkle with toasted almond flakes.

Cook for 30 minutes or until the middle is springy. Allow to cool until slightly warm.

Separate the creamiest part of the coconut cream by gently spooning it out of the refrigerated can (use the  surplus liquid for smoothies or Banana, Date and Coconut Baked Porridge).

Add the vanilla, zest of the second lemon and honey and whisk to form peaks. Transfer into a serving bowl and refrigerate. Garnish with whatever you please and serve with the warm clafoutis. Bon Appetit!