Modern Greek Salad

I love traditional wholefoods made with a modern twist.  This way we can still reap all of the nutritional benefits of foods that we are designed to eat and make us thrive, but frocked up for this contemporary world. A bit like a hopeless romantic with a dirty mind (it is Valentines Day after all).

I recently shared a recipe for Fig Brie and Rocket salad now that figs are in season. Figs are still afoot (I picked some up yesterday in Just Organics) and I happened upon some pomegranate in my gathering expedition which sadly is not organic… I bought it from the supermarket (gasp!)  but i figure that its thick outer skin acts as a pretty good protectant from any chemicals that may have been sprayed on it…. and for me pomegranate  is a one-a-year purchase, so I’m not so phased. So with figs and pomegranate – 2 quintessential wog staples- my mind went to work on reinventing the Greek salad.

Ingredients

4 handfuls of rocket
8 fresh small ripe figs (or 6 large figs), cut into quarters (I prefer to leave skin on)
70 grams feta, cut into cubes
4 radishes, thinly sliced (optional)
½ pomegranate
½ cucumber, thinly shaved on the diagonal with a vegetable peeler
½ small red onion, thinly sliced in rounds
handful of green olives
2 tablespoon extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
unrefined salt
cracked pepper

Directions

1. Blend the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice with a stick blender or whisk until well mixed to make a dressing.
2. Arrange rocket on a round serving plate. Arrange the figs, feta, radishes, pomegranate, cucumber, red onion slices and green olives all around the plate.
3. Dress with oil/vinegar/lemon dressing, and season with salt and pepper before serving.
4. Serve as an entrée or a side to a main meal.

Serves 4.

Tonight this was prepared and served within 15 minutes post-beach as a special Valentines dinner with my 2 greatest loves – Will and Michaela- with seared pastured steak drizzled with Worcestershire sauce, my cultured veggies and a cup of gelatinous chook broth. Frangipanis, assorted shells and candle on the table care of Michaela “because this is a special day mummy”.

Opa! ….. and Kali Orexi!

Raw Love

When I was younger I heard a story about this remote grotto that was renowned for its high concentration of air bubbles that naturally rose from the sea bed so when you dived into the water it was akin to being enveloped in 1000 kisses. Sounds blissful right?

Talking all things orgasmic, we are making these limited edition double love heart chocolates to celebrate the International Day of Love. They are hand-made with certified organic raw cacao powder, raw cacao butter, a pinch of sea salt and sweetened with pure Canadian maple syrup. With 81% raw cacao content you can rest assured that they are real raw deal. Retailing for $10 for a bag of 5 double hearts (just over 100g). 

Did you know that raw cacao is ranked as the fourth most nutrient-dense food on the planet (Dr Matt Lalonde nutrient-density scale)? All the more  reason to not feel guilty if the chocolate you are eating is  made from quality ingredients and is at least 75% raw cacao content.
 

Raw cacao powder has a myriad of health benefits:

• High in polyphenols (anti-oxidants) particularly flavanols (higher than green tea, red wine, goji berries, acai berries). Anti-oxidants prevent the effects of aging, DNA damage, heart disease and cancer.
• high in mineralsesp. magnesium (healthy heart and brain function; muscle relaxant; bones density; mitigates feelings of stress), chromium (assists pancreatic health and regulates blood sugar) and iron (promotes oxygen transport in the blood).
• positive effects on the brain, circulatory and cardiovascular system. Eg lowers Alzheimer’s risk, lowers blood pressure, improves blood lipid profile (lowers oxidised LDL), improves insulin sensitivity, improves exercise endurance, protects against pre-eclampsia in pregnancy.
• anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, anti-thrombotic (anti-blood clotting)
• anti-depressant/ feel-good chemicals (eg dopamine, serotonine, tryptophan)
• protects the liver against alcohol (wine and chocolate = winning pair!)
• protects against UV damage
• it’s theobromine content (bitter compound) has a stimulating effect producing higher levels of physical energy and mental alertness. It has 1/4 of the stimulating power of caffeine.

So what’s in commercial chocolate that is so nasty? Most popular brands of chocolate contain:

• refined sugar (which is highly processed), glucose syrup (made from wheat starch) or agave syrup (which is over 90% fructose which causes metabolic issues, digestive distress and weight gain);
• soy lecithins and/or other emulsifiers (soy comes from a highly processed, industrially grown legume, often of GM origins)
• cocoa (which is the processed version of cacao – note the difference in spelling!)
• milk powders (which are heavy processed and devoid of nutrients)
• barley malt extract (which is heavily processed and contains gluten and phytates)
• vegetable oils or hydrogenated fats (in a word, toxic)
• preservatives (usually 220 which affect asthma sufferers), flavours and colours (eg 122).

And don’t kid yourself in thinking that world famous brands of chocolate  or even many that are certified organic are immune from this litany of ingredients. The first (and hence dominant) ingredient in one certified organic brand I picked up the other day is rapadura sugar and the fourth ingredient was soy lecithin. And while rapadura is much less processed than white refined sugar,  if that is the main ingredient in what is going into the chocolate then I’m going to think twice about it.

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If these love heart chocolates don’t take your fancy, there’s always my sokolata (raw dark chocolate slabs…choose from 10 different flavours retailing for $8.70/100g) or my raw cacao coconut balls (sweetened with whole medjool dates retailing for $16.50/bag of 6). Or I can fill a glass jar of your choosing with raw cacao coconut balls upon request.

To purchase any of my products, simply text me 0407 871 884 and collect from my workshop in Waverley at a mutually convenient time.

WISHING YOU ALL A LOVE-FILLED VALENTINES DAY AND HOPE YOU ARE SHOWERED WITH 1000 KISSES AND ORGASMIC CHOCOLATE!!

Fig, Brie & Rocket salad

Figs remind me so much of my dad and his precious fig trees. In true Cypriot style, he has built his own enclosure for them to keep those pesky birds away, fully netted and complete with fake rubber snakes. Gotta love it. One of the numerous reasons why I LOVE summer is because figs are in season, although their time on the produce store is always fleeting- so try to get your hands on them quick before they disappear! I bought some of these deliciously sweet and delicate fruit of the Gods other day in my gathering expedition, and threw this salad together which was a big hit with the kids.

Ingredients

4 handfuls of rocket
6-8 fresh ripe figs, cut into quarters (I prefer to leave skin on)
1 small round of brie (or camembert) cheese, cut into thin wedges
½ cucumber (I prefer the Lebanese variety), thinly shaved on the diagonal with a vegetable peeler
½ small red onion, thinly sliced in rounds
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
unrefined salt
cracked pepper

Directions

Arrange rocket on a round serving plate. Arrange the figs, brie, cucumber and red onion slices all around the plate. Dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and season with salt and pepper before serving.

Serve as an entrée or a side to a main meal.

Serves 4.

When figs are out of season you could substitute rehydrated dry figs but nothing beats the fresh variety for its unique taste, texture, nutrition and appearance.