THE GOOD AND THE BAD

I lasted one week on a spring cleanse and am now in a modified version of the cleanse.  I sort of had plans to keep it up for four weeks (if you can believe it!) but for now I am happy with the decision to increase my intake of vegetables and proteins, limit grains, and omit cane sugar and refined grains.  So a little menu update for you:

The pictures below are a little peek into a couple of the dishes I've been eating over the last week.  Trust me, most of the time it was so boring it's not even worth mentioning.  The lovely spring dandelion greens that I told you about the other day can also be served boiled with olive oil and lemon juice, sea salt and pepper.  I grew up eating dandelions and have fond memories of my dad's cousin Anna scouring our property looking for fresh dandelions.

That amazing tahini sauce made it's way onto our table again, this time lavishly drizzled on steamed quinoa, broccoli, and kale with roasted sweet potatoes and tofu, and some fresh raw radish, carrot and nori squares.

Today I was busy getting ready for the market and baked up some fresh vanilla cake for the Lamington's I sell every Saturday.  Even though I am not eating sweets, that is no reason for Scott to not indulge.  So I made him a little something that goes like this...

MAPLE VANILLA CAKE with Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, Dried Apricot, Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Chips

Vanilla Cake: (from Sweet and Natural by Meredith McCarty)

1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups organic unbleached white flour

1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 organic vegetable oil

1/2 cup local maple syrup

1/2 cup organic brown rice syrup

1 1/2 cups organic soy, rice or cow's milk

1 Tbsp vanilla

Method:  Preheat oven to 350*.  Line bottom or pan with parchment paper, and brush sides with oil.  Mix together the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients.  Add wet to dry.  Pour batter into pan.  Bake until middle is cooked when you pierce with a toothpick - 20 mins for muffins, 25-30 for standard cake pans, 30-45 for larger pans.  Transfer to wire rack to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then invert.

Nativa Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Organic Unsulphured Apricots, chopped

Organic Chocolate Chips

Organic Vanilla Ice Cream

Method:  Warm the cake up, then slice.  Spread each piece with the hazelnut spread.  Top with ice cream and sprinkle with apricots and chocolate chips.

CLEAN

I just want to say how much I am missing posting on here.  I am in the midst of a much needed spring cleanse and so all I've been eating lately is salad with Braggs, lemon juice, and olive oil.  For breakfast!  Imagine what you would eat if you couldn't include grains, fruit, sugars or dairy.  I find breakfast the hardest, so I've resigned myself to just eating what I'd have for lunch or dinner.  The past two days it's beens the above mentioned salad, and today I fried a couple of eggs on top for fun.  Last night was my special birthday out dinner and it was very tricky avoiding everything on the list.  Seeing as it was my birthday after all, I did indulge in some goat cheese in my salad, and some flour in my frito misto.  Believe it or not I even managed to resist a bite of Scott's Peanut Brittle Sundae!  It's all for the best though, and the greatest birthday gift I can give myself is willpower and love to my body.

CLEAN

I just want to say how much I am missing posting on here.  I am in the midst of a much needed spring cleanse and so all I've been eating lately is salad with Braggs, lemon juice, and olive oil.  For breakfast!  Imagine what you would eat if you couldn't include grains, fruit, sugars or dairy.  I find breakfast the hardest, so I've resigned myself to just eating what I'd have for lunch or dinner.  The past two days it's beens the above mentioned salad, and today I fried a couple of eggs on top for fun.  Last night was my special birthday out dinner and it was very tricky avoiding everything on the list.  Seeing as it was my birthday after all, I did indulge in some goat cheese in my salad, and some flour in my frito misto.  Believe it or not I even managed to resist a bite of Scott's Peanut Brittle Sundae!  It's all for the best though, and the greatest birthday gift I can give myself is willpower and love to my body.

STEAMED QUINOA, DANDELION AND HALIBUT with Lemon Tahini Sauce

So I am on a Spring Cleanse that requires I forego most carbs, sugars, fruits, fermented foods, vinegars, yeasts and dairy.  Which led me to the idea for this meal tonight.  You can't really see it because it is hiding underneath this AMAZING tahini sauce.  I used to make this sauce all the time using tamari, but now I have to use Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead, and boy am I glad.  The stuff is amazing.  I love it!  Hope you do too!

LEMON TAHINI SAUCE

1/4 cup freshly squeezed organic lemon juice

1/4 cup e.v olive oil

1/4 cup organic flax seed oil

1/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos

1/3 cup organic tahini

3 cloves organic garlic

1 Tbsp maple syrup (or for this cleanse I used one pouch of stevia powder)

1/8 cup water

Method:  Blend all ingredients together and serve over broiled fish, boiled dandelion and steamed quinoa.

DANDELION SALAD and My New Tablecloth

    You know Spring is definitely here (although with all this snow who would have guessed) when you can buy a bag of wild dandelion leaves at the Farmer's Market.  I was so excited I bought two.  I thought for sure we would have eaten them by now, but when I got home I found some greens from last week that needed to be eaten first.  Anyway, so tonight we had them and they were bitter good.  You can only see half of them in the picture though because I wanted to show you the lovely linen tablecloth I found today.  Oh and that Pain au Levain I made yesterday, it makes great garlic cheese bread.

DANDELION SALAD with Lemon and Olive Oil

1 bag of Pasture Hill Farm wild dandelion greens

juice of half an organic lemon

4-6 Tbsp e.v olive oil

sea salt and pepper to taste

Method:  Gently tear the cleaned leaves in a bowl and toss with lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  Let sit for 10 minutes before eating.

GARLIC BREAD

4 thickish slices of Pain au Levain Sourdough Bread

4 Tbsp organic salted butter

4 cloves organic garlic, smashed and minced

a pinch of Tom's Spice (available from my Etsy shop)

1 Tbsp e.v olive oil

1/2 cup organic cheese

Method:  Combine all ingredients except cheese in a bowl.  Spread on bread, top with cheese and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated 375* oven for 5-10 minutes or until cheese melts.

LEMON GINGER TEA with Honey

I went to bed last night knowing a sore throat was on it's way in.  

SOURDOUGH BREAD

     There is something about baking bread that is very satisfying.  I thought making bread from instant yeast was pretty impressive (these days).  That was until I mastered the art of making bread from my very own sourdough starter.  The anticipation heightened with each day waiting for the juice to ferment, then feeding it, tending to it like it was my second child!  Oh Happy Birthday Bread!   Today was your day to rise to the occasion.  And rise it did.  This ain't no heavy, brick like sourdough bread my friends.  Oh no.  This is delicious Pain au Levain like they make in France, made from an organic apple juice starter.  There is no need to line up at the Boulangerie at the market anymore..

     The recipe and inspiration for this delicious bread came from a novel I read called By Bread Alone by Sarah Kate Lynch.  The book centres around this woman who visits France as a teenager and falls in love with a naughty French baker.  To my delight at the end of the book there was this gem of a recipe.  

SOURDOUGH STARTER

juice from 3 fresh organic apples, strained 

organic unbleached bread flour

Method:  Leave the apple juice in a partly covered jug or jar for 7-10 days.  When the juice is bubbly and fermented, add it, in a glass or ceramic bowl to 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cups water and leave, covered with plastic wrap poked with holes or a loosely tied plastic bag.  

     Then, stir in another 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cups water, recover and leave overnight.  Discard half the mixture and add another 1 1/2 cups flour and 3/4 cup water.  Repeat this, and do so every day until you know your starter is alive and kicking because it will rise up the sides of the bowl or container in between feeds and will be bubbly and smell sharp and cidery.  

     The starter will keep in the fridge unfed for up to 2 weeks.  When you want to use it, bring it out, get it to room temperature and feed it for a couple of days before you use it.  The starter is best used in the bread dough 8-12 hours after its last feed.

PAIN AU LEVAIN

makes 1 round loaf

adapted from Sarah-Kate Lynch

1/3 cup organic rye flour

2 cups organic unbleached white bread flour

1 3/4 organic whole wheat bread flour

3/4 cup starter

1/2 Tbsp sea salt

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp water

Method:  Mix all ingredients except the salt in a large ceramic or glass bowl, by hand for 5 minutes.  The mixture will be quite wet but if you are having trouble mixing it, try just using 1 1/2 cups water.  Rest for  5 minutes, then add the salt.  Mix another 5-10 minutes on a countertop, without adding any extra flour, until mixture is smooth and elastic.  Then put it in a lightly oiled bowl and leave for 3-4 hours loosely covered so air can still get in.

     Punch it down with a gentle fold, then leave for another hour.

     Tip the dough out and gently premold the loaf by folding it in on itself and turning it over; let sit for 10 minutes.  Then give it a final mold, dip it in flour and put it in a round basket (10" diameter) lined with a heavily floured linen or cotton dishtowel.  Rub the flour well into the dishtowel and don't wash it between uses.  If it's not floured enough, the dough will stick to the towel.

     At this stage you can leave the dough for half an hour, put it in the fridge overnight, then bring it out and let it sit for an hour before baking.

     Or leave for 3 hours in the basket, then tip out onto a preheated pizza stone.  With a very sharp knife, cut your first initial in the top of the bread so the gases can escape and bake at 500* for 15 minutes, and then 425* for 10 minutes, remembering to steam the oven when you put the loaf in by spraying the sides of the oven with a waterbottle and quickly shutting the door.  This makes the crust crunchy.