Coconut Pasta Sauce

Stay with me here, because I know this sounds weird. But I had this ½ tin of coconut milk leftover from the rice pudding I posted in the last post and I was going to make a Thai red curry. But M’s tummy was being sensitive, so she suggested I use it to make a pasta sauce instead of something spicy. I lightly stir-fried some spring greens in sesame oil, added sugar snap peas, and then threw in the coconut milk. We had this with farfalle and it worked out really well. It was full of flavour and lightly sweet. You could also add smoked fish for an extra dimension, if you eat fish.

Dairy-Free Rice Pudding

Since my sweetie can’t have dairy but wanted rice pudding, I tried to think of a way of making a nice dairy-free pudding for her. You need very little sugar since the coconut milk is quite rich and sweet on its own.

Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

oil to grease the dish

½ cup pudding rice

2½ tins of coconut milk (save the other ½ tin for something else)

4 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste

1 tsp nutmeg, or more to taste

2 tsp vanilla, or more to taste

2 tbsp coconut palm sugar (or regular sugar), or to taste

½ cup raisins, or more to taste (I soak them in boiling water first, to plump them up)

Instructions:

1. Grease an oven-safe dish and put the pudding rice, 1½ tins coconut milk, and 2 tsp cinnamon in it.

2. Bake at 150 C for 40 minutes

3. Stir, then grate in the nutmeg. Add another ½ tin of coconut milk and the vanilla. Bake for another 20 minutes.

4. Stir again, then add the rest of the coconut milk and cinnamon, and the raisins.

5. Bake for another 20 minutes, then serve.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Serve this with bananas or berries. We had it as a comforting dinner one chilly winter evening.

Ingredients:

1 cup buckwheat flour

½ cup plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 tsp sugar

2 eggs

1½ cups milk

oil

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together except the oil.

2. Warm the oil in a frying pan.

3. Fry the pancakes on both sides until browned.

Happy Birthday, M!

Today is my beloved wife’s birthday, so I just want to wish her a wonderful day. She makes every day a joy – I feel like the luckiest person in the world because I wake up next to her.

So here’s to you, M. Many, many more happy and healthy birthdays to you.

I love you!

Artichoke Pie

This was delicious with Jules and Sharpie’s spicy mint sauce.

Ingredients:

100 g spring greens or spinach

oil

1 tsp honey

2 tsp tamari

1 tin artichoke hearts

1 container tofu

2 eggs

phyllo dough

Instructions:

1. Wash and chop the greens/spinach. Steam or stir-fry with the oil, honey, and tamari until wilted.

2. Drain and chop the artichokes and chop the tofu. Mix them and two eggs with the greens.

3. Lightly oil an oven-safe dish. Place two sheets of phyllo on the bottom. Top with some of the mixture.

4. Place another sheet on top, then add the rest of the mixture. Top with another sheet of phyllo.

5. Fold the dough so it forms a package and brush a little oil on top.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 200 C.

Seasoned Chickpeas

This is easy to vary, as you can add any spices you like. You can have this as a snack (instead of crisps, for example) or with rice. I served it with red rice and radish sprouts recently and it worked out very well. A dollop of sour cream or yogurt would go well with it too.

Ingredients:

1 tin or container of chickpeas

olive oil

spices (I used 1 tsp smoked paprika, 2 tsp crushed chilli flakes, 2 tsp mint, 1 tsp ginger)

Instructions:

1. Rinse and drain the chickpeas.

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the spices, cook for a minute or two, then add the chickpeas.

3. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring once in a while. Then increase the heat and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the chickpeas are popping a bit.

4. Serve as is or with rice.

Sweet Potato and Aubergine Curry

I had sweet potatoes leftover after making the pancakes I posted the other day, so I thought I’d make a curry with them. I also had an aubergine that was verging on too old, so I decided to use it up. I wasn’t sure how well they’d go together, but luckily, it actually did work out quite well. The sweet potato tasted great with the spicy curry sauce and I would like to try it with courgette as well some time.

Ingredients:

1 aubergine

1 sweet potato

oil

1-3 tbsp red curry paste, depending on taste

1 tin coconut milk

rice

water

Instructions:

1. Wash and dice the aubergine. Peel and chop the sweet potato. If you want, you can boil it for 5-10 minutes first, to soften it.

2. Stir-fry the vegetables in oil until soft, then add some red curry paste and a bit of the coconut milk. Continue cooking.

3. Cook the rice in water. When it’s almost done, add about 1 tsp of the curry paste to flavour it and some of the coconut milk.

4. Add the remainder of the curry paste and coconut milk to the vegetables.

5. Serve the vegetables over the rice.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato

water

¼ cup milk

½ cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp sugar

1 egg

oil

agave or maple syrup to serve with it

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop the potato, then boil it in the water for 10-15 minutes.

2. Mashed it with the milk and combine it with all the other ingredients through the egg.

3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the pancakes a few at a time.

4. Serve with agave or maple syrup.

Mushroom Pasta

This is a fast but tasty meal for a weeknight, great with a salad.

Ingredients:

olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

mushrooms (5-7 large mushrooms or about 10 small ones)

tarragon, parsley, and/or other herbs

pasta (about 50 g per person)

water

2 eggs

truffle oil

black pepper

Instructions:

1. Warm the oil in a frying pan and chop the garlic and add it to the pan.

2. Brush the mushrooms clean, slice them, and add them to the pan. Sprinkle with the herbs.

3. While the mushrooms are cooking, boil the pasta in the water.

4. When the pasta is al dente, drain it, then beat the eggs in with the pasta, stirring the whole time.

5. Stir in the mushrooms, season with truffle oil and black pepper, and serve.

The Joy of Salads

Salads are such an easy, healthy dinner, and they can be varied endlessly. A recent salad consisted of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, radish sprouts (for some zing), hard-boiled egg, and flaxseeds, and I made a simple dressing from olive oil, ume plum seasoning, and tamari. It was delicious and filling.

To vary, use different nuts or seeds or sprouts. Add peppers, olives, shredded beetroot or carrots, or other vegetables. Even some fruits, such as apples, work well. For dressings, use lemon juice, yogurt, herbs, vinegar, and various oils. And so on. Be imaginative!

Vermicelli Dessert

This is like rice pudding, but with noodles instead of rice, and not baked.

Ingredients:

½ cup – 1 cup milk (I used rice milk)

1-2 tbsp sugar (I used coconut palm sugar)

1 tsp cinnamon

50 g raisins

50 g almonds

75 g vermicelli noodles

Instructions:

1. Warm the milk with the sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan for about 5-10 minutes, until the milk reduces somewhat.

2. Add the raisins and almonds and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

3. Add the noodles and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Pour into bowls and serve.

Cashew “Cheese”

This is similar to the almond cheese I posted not that long ago, but it has a more distinct cashew flavour, somewhat like cashew butter. This means that it’s not the best raw cheese to use in pasta, for example, unless you like cashews. It is good on toast or as an appetizer. You can season it however you like (I give a suggestion below)

200 g cashews

water

2 probiotic capsules (from a health food store), or about 2 tsp probiotic powder

1-2 tbsp yeast flakes (such as Engevita)

1 tbsp coconut palm sugar or honey or regular sugar

1 pinch salt

1 tsp black pepper, optional

Instructions:

1. Soak the cashews in water overnight.

2. Drain the cashews and grind them in a food processor or blender until fairly small (they can look like the ground almonds you buy in the store or a bit bigger). Add a little water if you need to.

3. Open the probiotic capsules and pour the powder in.

4. Mix well. Put in a bowl, cover the cashews with plastic wrap so the plastic is touching the cashews, and then leave the cashews to ferment for 24-48 hours. Taste after 24 hours to see if it’s sour/cheesy enough for your taste.

5. Season the “cheese” by mixing in yeast flakes, sugar, salt, and black pepper, or any other combination of flavours.

6. Serve on crackers or toast or in a bowl as a dip.

Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients:

1¾ cups flour (200 g)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp sugar

1¼ cups milk (about 300 ml) (I used rice milk)

1 egg

200 g blueberries (I used frozen)

oil

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients except the oil together.

2. Warm oil in a frying pan and make 2-4 pancakes at a time.

3. Serve warm with agave or honey.

Queer Quotes

These names: gay, queer, homosexual are limiting. I would love to finish with them. We're going to have to decide which terms to use and where we use them. For me to use the word "queer" is a liberation; it was a word that frightened me, but no longer.

--Derek Jarman

I'd add that we're not yet at a place where we can get rid of labels, but I'm hopeful that we will some day... 

Pasta with Raw Cheese

One evening, I was feeling weak and told M I was just going to make a simple, dull pasta dish. It turned into anything but dull. It was delicious and I couldn’t wait to eat the leftovers the next day for lunch. The raw cheese added a great flavour.

Ingredients:

broccoli

pasta (about 50 g per person)

olive oil

1 tin artichoke hearts

1 tin tomatoes

olives

raw cheese (see recipe a few posts back; you can also use regular cheese if you prefer)

truffle oil

Instructions:

1. Wash and chop the broccoli and boil it and the pasta together for 10-15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Drain and add the artichokes and warm for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and simmer.

3. Slice the olives and add them.

4. Serve the pasta and broccoli topped with the tomato sauce. Add spoonfuls of raw cheese and drizzle with truffle oil.