Herby pistachio falafel

I have recently moved out west and have finally found time to visit the Avondale farmers market. It was quite fabulous - I don't think I have ever seen so many vegetables in one place in Auckland before, or so many people buying vegetables for that matter - it does pay to get there early! After walking up and down the rows of stalls, trying to figure out who was doing the best deal, I eventually decided to stop worrying about prices and just buy the most beautiful produce instead. I think it worked out alright... especially because we managed to make a tasty dish out of the expedition.

The Infamous Chia Pudding and Raspberry Chia Jam

I’m no rice pudding or porridge girl… which is why I was pleasantly surprised by my first taste of chia pudding. This delectable breakfast (or dessert) is creamy, smooth on the tongue, and incredibly satisfying. I had it before a day of work and it took me through till lunchtime.

In all honesty, I was particularly dubious about the health food craze around chia seeds. A tiny quantity of small seeds soaked in liquid overnight to be demolished the next day, didn’t exactly represent a meal in my mind, but had more in common with a smoothie. How wrong was I?! 

Moroccan meatballs and cauliflower couscous

Meatballs are a sort of soul warming food,  especially today when the weather isn't quite warm enough for comfort.  I have always found meatballs somewhat difficult to pull off, namely the "ball" part.  Despite tasting fine, mine always seemed to turn out a little bit more like mini meat patties.  It turns out that one way to achieve effortless, low-mess meatballs (that look like meatballs) is to cook them in the oven. This takes (most of) the worry out of ending up with a charred or flattened product. 

When I was a university student in Dunedin, I along with most Scarfies, became pretty good at finding different ways to use mince.  Moroccan spices are a great option to bring beef or lamb mince to life.  These gluten-free beauties are flavoured with cumin, coriander and cinnamon making them aromatic, warm and oh-so-tasty.  We served them up with a cauliflower 'couscous', a great natural alternative to normal couscous, which is made from durum wheat.  

Feel free to experiment with flavours here, we've come across recipes that have dried apricots in the meatball sauce- something we'll have to give a go!

Quinoa, Buckwheat, Maple Nut-ola and a Lesson on FAT…

I make this once a fortnight, store it in a large jar, and slowly watch it reduce in volume. It’s seriously that good. But not only is it worth the taste buds of an exceptional palette, when accompanied by a good quality fat, it acts as great fuel for the body.

There has been a lot of flak given to fat in the past few decades, which has impacted our understanding around the many advantages of ingested fat.

We are here to advocate fat!

Side series: the humble brussel sprout

Oh how we hated these all as children.  I remember my brother used to hide his in a little cavity inside our family table.  The main reason I remember this is because I was the one blamed when my father found them there.  I felt this was particularly unjust because I had already suffered the punishment of eating my brussel sprouts in the first place.

Two theories on why brussel sprouts tasted so bad when you were 7 years old:

1) The average adult reportedly has approximately 10,000 taste buds, but children have more.  Infants seem to arrive hard-wired to react to bitterness because most natural poisons also have a bitter taste.  So it is really a survival mechanism.  After time we learn that bitterness won't kill us and learn to enjoy the flavour more, and some of our taste buds die off.

2) Boiling brussel sprouts in water until they are translucent really doesn't do them much justice.

Brussel sprouts are actually a delightful vegetable when cooked well.  Here is one way you can do it but there are many more.  Some particularly tasty versions involve bacon.