This soup is Marco’s – he made it the way he remembers his grandmother’s soup, but without peeling the potatoes (because who has time for that, and there’s so much fibre, vitamins and other good things in the peels!)
Berry Breakfast Smoothie
My best days are the ones that start with a smoothie. Really, I function so much better with this boost of nutrients! (In winter, I chase it with hot tea so my body temperature doesn’t take a dip.)
The Daily Dozen Challenge
The most helpful guide for a healthy diet that I’ve ever come across, hands-down, is called the Daily Dozen Challenge. It’s created by Dr Michael Greger (founder of NutritionFacts.org), from having researched the special benefits of different plant-food groups. It’s all very well to say that it’s best to eat a whole food plant-based diet, but different foods have very different benefits that are often not shared …
Soba Noodles with Edamame & Shiitake Mushrooms
This is a new favourite of mine! Perfect for a weeknight dinner (because it’s quick & easy) or a dinner party (because it’s beautiful & tasty). Maybe a little tricky to find the ingredients, depending where you are, but check your local Asian grocer and other specialty shops. It’s worth it!
13 ways to eat more beans
I’ve talked about how important it is to eat beans (or other legumes) every day: they’re a super important source of protein, fibre, iron and many other good things. But when we’re not used to the idea of eating beans regularly, our imagination might not stretch much further than emptying a can of beans into a bowl. We forget that there are hundreds of …
Easy Pesto with Beans
Pesto fans, rejoice! Here’s an easy blender-friendly recipe! It’s vegan, but packed with flavour and a cheesy tang. It’s quick and easy, and you can use whatever fresh herbs you have on hand: I used parsley, basil and coriander. No cheese necessary, because nutritional yeast packs a cheesy flavour punch.
Fun facts about nuts & seeds
You know how health blogs always harp on about the benefits of nuts and seeds? Well this one is no exception. Indeed, plenty of nutritional studies (including rigorous interventional trials) have found that regular consumption of nuts and seeds significantly reduces the risk of lifestyle diseases and premature death overall. And despite their high calorie-density, they are causally linked to …
The golden spice you should be eating daily
Turmeric’s been trending on health blogs recently, and with good reason. Curcumin, the pigment that makes turmeric yellow, has been shown in countless studies to be a powerful anti-inflammatory compound, and has actually been used medicinally for thousands of years. Why do we care so much about anti-inflammatory foods? Well, because chronic inflammation (typically caused by our food choices) leads to chronic disease. …
Lentil Soup
I grew up eating lentils so often, they were a staple in our home. My mom’s Mauritian upbringing meant that lentils were always available to be served alongside a curry with rice, and my dad was always a big fan of a big bowl of lentil soup—and now, so am I.
Quinoa Banana Muffins
I tried out a variation on vegan banana bread that is gluten-free and sugar-free, using quinoa flour as a one-to-one substitute for wheat flour. And it’s wonderful! I used the quinoa flour from Woolworths, but you can also just buy quinoa and process it into a flour using a food processor or Nutribullet. This flour is a fantastic option for gluten-free baking, since it’s much more nutrient-dense than other gluten-free flour blends that use potato starch and other low-protein flours.
Savoury Chickpea Pancakes
When I was thoroughly into my “veganising everything” phase, one of the holy grails of vegan cuisine that I was trying to crack, was a vegan ‘omelette’. As you can imagine, there are a bunch of recipes online and I tried a few: some were cool, some not so much, but all were a bit complex with a long list of ingredients. So when I realised that the most important ingredient of a vegan omelette is chickpea flour (besan), and that there’s actually a very old Indian tradition of savoury pancakes made with besan, I was like, damn—that’s all I need.
Loaded Sweet Potatoes
When it comes to weeknight dinners, it doesn’t get much easier than this: just pop a sweet potato in the oven (or microwave), sauté some beans with onion and spices, and load up those spuds. You can pretty much use whatever you have on hand, but beans are great (for protein and iron), some spice for flavour, guac and vegan cheese for richness, and a sauce or condiment for freshness.
Falafel
If there’s one legume I could eat every single day, it’s chickpeas. They’re incredibly versatile: sprout them to eat in a salad; grind them into a flour to make savoury pancakes, cook them to make hummus, or soak them to make falafel. Amazing little things, and true superfoods (they’re high in protein, fibre, iron and other minerals).
Roast Butternut Soup
I had a couple of butternut squash that I’d bought pre-lockdown and almost forgot about them: a couple of months later and they were still sitting there, waiting to be turned into something tasty. I can’t believe how long those things last! Talk about pandemic survival foods, squash is where it’s at.
Classic Tomato Soup
I’m so into soups right now. Butternut soup, mixed veg soup, lentil soup, tomato soup… They’re easy, pretty quick, and they warm your soul.
Piña Colada Smoothie
Smoothies have become a regular feature in my daily meals when the weather’s warmer, I like making one in the late morning (I’m a coffee-no-breakfast kind of person). I always keep frozen banana chunks in my freezer, and often other fruit, too. When pineapples are in season, I’ll buy a couple, chop one up and freeze it for smoothies. The rest are all easily available pantry items that keep for months.
Red Lentil Curry
I grew up eating black lentils all the time, but I only really discovered red lentils as an adult. And I love them. They’re beautiful, nutritious, easy to cook, and cheap. While most legumes (especially beans) are best soaked overnight before cooking, these guys don’t need any of that forethought that organised people have. Especially split red lentils (same thing, but each bean is in two halves): their cooking time is way shorter than whole red lentils. It’s a wonderful thing for busy (or lazy) people.